dreadedmonkeygod . net

A while back, I saw a West Wing episode where the speechwriters, assistants, etc. were trying to come up with seven-word answers to the questions they knew were going to come up in a debate. It was an excercise in clarity.

More recently, I saw a post on dive into mark that mentioned nailing down an idea in ten words or less.

And even more recently, communication has been an issue at work. (More on that in my next post.) I like my coworkers, and they're all intelligent people, but sometimes...sometimes.

So, I have made a rule. The rule is:

When I ask you a direct question, you must answer it in ten words or less, or go to a special jail for dumb people.

Let's see this rule in action!

1. Me: Can I have a grande non-fat latte, please?
2. Dude: Sorry, we're out of non-fat milk. Is 2% okay?
3. Me: Sure.

See how easy that was? Everyone wins, and nobody goes to dumb people jail.