Working On Me

Google Alerts is an essential resource for anyone who has to work for a living. Here's why.

These days, a cv or resume is only one information source for potential employers or clients. Most will now Google your name to find out more about you. You ought to be interested in what they will find when they do so, and most people will periodically Google their own names to see what comes up.

I share a name with a Catholic Priest and an American wrestler, and whilst there's not much I can do about that, it is at least fairly obvious to the casual surfer that these people are not me. But new content is added to the web every day, and you can't know when someone is going to be searching on your name. So to stay up-to-date with what the web says about you (and your namesakes!) set up a Google Alert that will email you with new hits on your name in a digest every day.

While reviewing some standard letters with a company last week, I found some interesting redundancies:

• I write to advise you that I have now received details of your missing payment.
• Please do not hesitate to contact me with any queries.
• Please be advised that if you do not respond within 14 days your plan will lapse.
• I would be most grateful if you would please complete and return the enclosed form.

I got out the editing pen and made some deletions. I don't think the meaning is changed at all. See what you think:

• I write to advise you that I have now received details of your missing payment.
• Please do not hesitate to contact me with any queries.
• Please be advised that if you do not respond within 14 days your plan will lapse.
• I would be most grateful if you would please complete and return the enclosed form.

Earlier this week, I wrte about the pointlessness of the phrase 'going forward'. At the other end of the tenses spectrum, we have a similarly redundant phrase: in the past. Here are some examples of its usage in the business environment:

• In the past we used to give away promotional goods
• No-one wanted to buy our advertising in the past
• In the past, we've held monthly meetings

Now, how do these sentences sound when you remove 'in the past' from each of them? See if you can spot any change in meaning:

• We used to give away promotional goods
• No-one wanted to buy our advertising
• We've held monthly meetings

So did you find any? No, neither did I. Let's all stop using this silly phrase.

If you have any exposure at all to corporate or politicial rhetoric, you'll be familiar with use of the phrase 'going forward'. It crops up all over the place:

• Going forward figures will be provided monthly
• We have introduced a range of initiatives, which will make a big difference going forward
• Going forward we need to get better at this

It seems to mean 'from now on', which is already indicated by use of the future tense. Consider the three examples again, this time without 'going forward':

• Figures will be provided monthly
• We have introduced a range of initiatives, which will make a big difference
• We need to get better at this

The sentences seem entirely unharmed after this surgery. Indeed, I have yet to find any sentence in which 'going forward' in any way changes the meaning. Let's all agree just to stop using it. Please.

Having abandoned mind maps, I have been looking for alternatives that might actually work for me. I'm not there yet, but in my search I stumbled on PigPog's excellent nowMap. The concept is very simple. I've downloaded and used the forms a little and whilst I'm not yet convinced they are far away enough from mind mapping to be right for me, the addition of some structured information around it is a big step towards usability.

The accepted wisdom is that mind maps are the way to go. It is claimed that they mirror the way your mind works, that they help cement associations and can store a lot of detail in a comparatively small space.

I've tried using them many, many times. I have always found they offer me no advantage at all over a conventional, written list. Sure that I must be missing something, I have come back to them several times - I've bought and read books on them - but they still just don't do it for me.

So I'm moving on, saying goodbye to mind maps for the last time.

Now then, what's the next thing?

Last week I wrote about retro word processing and suggested an online resource you could use to try it. If you liked the experience and want a piece of resident PC software, you can download the freeware application Dark Room.

If you've spent much time reading blogs recently, you'll have encountered the retro word processing phenomenon. Word's complications distract from the pure business of writing. First the Mac user, then those of us with PCs found tools available on the web that would give us a significantly downgraded WP experience: green text on black, no toolbars and no fancy options at all.

There is now a cross-platform way to try this approach on line without downloading anything. Why not see if it helps you focus on just the words.