Tip: An extra set of eyes means no surprise!
Tip of the Week
09/02/13
Tip: An extra set of eyes means no surprise!
I don’t know about you, but I have gotten to the place where I just don’t trust emails or text messages any longer. I mean, it is unbelievable how quickly we all text, type and send messages only to discover later that we sent something different than we intended to write. In fact, just the other day I sent my daughter a quick text message and I can’t even put in print here what it said! She immediately shot back, “WHAT?!?!” I am learning to slow down and double check my text messages and my emails as well before I hit the “Send” button!
We often have to communicate through the written word and the challenge comes when there is a gap between what we think we are saying and what we actually put in writing. This has nothing to do with how smart or how educated we are; it has more to do with the kind of hurry we may be in at the time of writing.
Recently I produced a booklet and had two top-level people go through the entire booklet. They spent several hours editing it, reading it, proof-reading it, double checking it, and spell checking it to get it ready for press. I have learned very painfully over the years that before I send something to press to print a large quantity, I need to have someone else look it over…one more time.
Anyway…after this booklet was completely ready and I was confident that everything in it was perfect, I had one more person read through it and yes, you guessed it…mistakes were found! I was so glad that I had another set of eyes look through the booklet so there would be no surprises later.
Years ago, I had 30,000 copies of a booklet printed at a cost of about $1.00 per booklet. Unfortunately, I was very young in my business experience and did not take the time to have it edited for mistakes. The first time I presented it to a large audience, I saw people snickering and talking to each other about how many errors were in the booklet. I had to bite the bullet and throw away 29, 500 booklets all because I had not let a second set of eyes look it over before sending it to press! Now I have gotten to where I want a second set, a third set, a fourth set…well, I guess you get the idea. The more eyes that look at something, the better off I will be and the better off you will be, as well.
I have watched other people quickly text message and send emails without proofing them. It seems as though no one is willing to take the time to proof read anything anymore! And, I certainly understand that. When I was in high school, my attitude toward the teachers was, “You should be glad that I did it at all, much less take the time to proof read it and go over it again!” What a poor attitude to have! It is much wiser to think before sending something out, “There is a mistake in here…I must find it.” It would have served me well to have had that attitude the other day when I sent my own daughter the crude text message I mentioned earlier. I am so glad that I sent it to her and not to some other adult woman. It would have been really embarrassing!
I heard a funny story the other day about a dad who sent his daughter a text message that said, “Your mother and I are going to divorce.” The daughter became understandably upset, and answered. “What? Why are you and mom getting a divorce?!” The father was confused and then looked at what he had sent. “Oh, I’m sorry! I meant to text that your mother and I are going to Disney!” he answered. See what I mean? Without checking your auto-text or what you are typing or writing, it could lead to heartache or worse yet, a heart attack!
All of us are on the journey. We are learning and growing. Just be careful to check what you write, email and text. Read it over…one more time. And, if it is something important, let someone else check it before you hit “send”!
By the way, I am now hitting SEND!
Tip: An extra set of eyes means no surprise!
Have a great week! God bless you!
Dr. Robert A. Rohm
