How to Keep Your HR Communications from Turning Into a Playtpus

[Photo credit: Tasmanian Government]
Paul Byron of the NYT called the platypus a classic animal design by committee. Look at that thing. He cites a poem about the composite animal:
I like the duck-billed platypus
Because it is anomalous.
I like the way it raises its family,
Partly birdly, partly mammaly.
I like its independent attitude.
Let no one call it a duck-billed platitude.The Duck-Billed Platypus, Ogden Nash
Sure, the platypus looks “cute.” But I’m afraid a lot of your HR communication ends up looking like it, too. You start out with a good idea, then it morphs into something else, then there’s a committee that makes edits. Etc, etc, etc. You know the story. What started out as something great turns into a HR version of a platypus.
How to Keep Your HR Communications from Turning Into a Platypus
- Listen to the experts. Just because you took a “graphics design” class in high school doesn’t mean that you’re a designer.
- Get an executive editor. One person has to make decisions. None of us is as stupid as all of us.
- Choose good words, but don’t obsess about single words. Great communication isn’t about picking the “perfect” word in paragraph 11, line 3.
- Take a step back. Groupthink is a surefire way to create an HR platypus.
- Have some guts. Great communication requires hard decisions and some nerve. “Yes men” build platypi (I just wanted to write that word).
Check out this movie that’ll give you a good idea how it goes. This group wants a designer to create a stop sign. Here’s what happens when a committee gets involved to do creative writing and design. [via Vincent Ferrari.]




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