Why Write Down Your Ideas?



Learn Management Articles on management-info.biz. Why Write Down Your Ideas? article will help answer your questions on Management Articles.We at management-info.biz specialize in Management Articles. Management Articles at management-info.biz provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

Whether you're a manager, professional, or entrepreneur you need to think ahead. When you do it in a formal sense, it's called it planning, when you do it informally it's something like speculating.

Whether you're planning or speculating, the exercise represents just the tip of the iceberg. For the plans or scenarios to amount to something, they have to be implemented. In turn, that usually involves other people.

Which takes us to the subject of communication: How do you convert those ideas in your head into instructions or position papers or even real plans?

I recommend writing, as in the sense of spending at least a few minutes to put the ideas to paper. Several benefits come out of the writing process:

First, you'll force yourself to clarify what you're doing and what you want others to do. As long as an idea remains in our heads, it's not made accountable, so to speak. We don't subject our ideas to rigorous scrutiny when they're just thoughts.

But, when we write out an idea, the strengths and weaknesses show up rather quickly; we force ourselves to look at the idea more critically. When I wrote the publishing plan for Abbott's Communication Letter, for example, the writing process uncovered many key issues.

But, writing it down assumes even greater importance when we need to communicate with others. Since most thoughts for the future are inherently complex or uncertain, a written version of your plan enables you to explain much more.

As you've probably noticed, you can't really deal with much complexity verbally, unless you're making a speech or presentation. In face-to-face communication, for example, a train of thought often gets derailed by questions or interjections by the other person.

A written plan also communicates to others a broader scope than a verbal plan. After all, when you're writing, you can bring in the past, cover the present, and look into the future. Or, you can illustrate your points with more detail than you can in a verbal report.

So, let's subject this article to the writing test, to see if hangs together.

First, the article opened with the idea of looking or thinking ahead, and I assumed -- note, I assumed -- that this thinking implied future action.

Second, you'll see the idea that to take action, or to get others to take action on our behalf, we need to be clear about the 'what' and the 'why' before we start. Of course, not every action needs this kind of launch; perhaps I should have said 'For important projects....'

Third, I suggested the way to get this clarity is to write it out, but in retrospect, perhaps that simply reflects my bias toward writing. Perhaps you manage well simply by thinking, and don't need to write.

Fourth, I next listed a couple of benefits that flow from writing, and looking back I see a that I had bigger projects in mind when I wrote it.

So, all in all, subjecting this article (at least the first part of it) to the writing process did have the desired effect, and I discovered a couple of assumptions that I wasn't conscious of while writing. And, if I was writing a plan, especially a plan for a big project, those would be worthwhile discoveries.

In summary, the act and process of writing down an idea will help you implement the idea, because it will help uncover some of the assumptions and expectations underlying your idea.


Stand-Up Comedy Secrets! - Next Generation System For Quickly Developing Funny Stand-up Comedy Material. Eliminate Writers Block & Get The Big Laughs!
Practical Report Writing. - Write greats reports with this report writing kit.


Article Index: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81


More Articles:


1. Questions To Ask Employees You Want To Retain By Lora J Adrianse
Times of cost cutting and downsizing has dramatically impacted the way employees look at their careers. Employees at all levels now know better than ever that job security is no longer something they can count on. They've been required to think bigger, look at other options and do whatever it takes to prepare themselves for the future. In essence, they have let go of their corporate commitment and become "free agents" in search of the best opportunity available."Retention of talent" has bec…

2. So, You Want to be in Management? Five Essential Factors that Will Determine Your Chances By RJ Lancaster
The following information is based upon over 500 interviews with senior executives with whom I conducted over the past four years. These senior executives represent a variety of industries and organizations. It is interesting to note the similarities of their responses. The research concentrated on five areas:1. How they gained their experience and knowledge to become a senior executive.2. What are their attitudes and opinions concerning the youth of today?3. What are they most concerned about…

3. Never Punish Yourself or Others for Failures By Bright Johnson
If you want to find success in various ramifications, be it in business or personal relationship, don’t punish yourself or others for mistakes, or blunders, or failures, instead encourage yourself.Kim Woo—Choong, founder and chairman of Daewoo, said, “One of my employee went to a casino and lost $10, 000 of the company’s money which would certainly get him fired by a normal manager. I didn’t fire him, but paid the money back to the company myself and gave him a second chance.”“Why didn’t you f…

4. Spinning Gold from Straw: Low-Cost Employee Retention and Motivation Tools in a Changing Economy By Sharon Terry
New York, NY, February 25, 2005 – Employee retention and motivation…why should employers care? A storm is brewing. National productivity was up 3.9% in the second quarter and 1.9% in the third quarter of 2004. At the same time, the unemployment rate was up 5.5% in October 2004.“Productivity is up, but fewer people are doing more,” said Jennifer Loftus, SPHR, CCP, CBP, GRP, and National Director of HR consulting firm, Astron Solutions. “In addition, the number of 25-34 year old workers will…