Your Writing = Your Competence

“If officials can’t even get my correspondence right, how can I trust them to manage the Immigration program?”

When I heard a Canadian Minister of Immigration say that to the Deputy Minister, it piqued my curiosity.  What if officials approached the task of writing as a measure of their competence or credibility; how different might their attitudes and products be?

I share that exchange when I’m delivering public sector training programs because most officials don’t have first hand experience of how Ministers think. Unless you’ve worked at the top of organizations, around Ministers’ and Deputy Ministers’ offices or regularly attended meetings of the federal Treasury Board committe of Ministers. But those are other stories, for other posts or trainings.

For now, remember that practice and training can improve public sector writing. What else can it do? Ask yourself, could how I write be a metaphor for how I script my life? Do I pay attention, am I clear and direct? Do I get the point? Can I effectively communicate the point of it all, to myself and others?