When I interviewed Constance Hale in 1998, I lauded her book, "Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age," for offering "a spirited interpretation of an unfolding revolution."
The revolution is still unfolding. But the pace of change has accelerated year by year — and now, it seems, month by month.
In his April 30 New York Times op-ed column, "It's a 401(k) World," Thomas Friedman recognizes the uneasiness we're feeling about having gone "from a connected world to a hyperconnected world."
Friedman's take on the transformation is that we live in a tough new world without boundaries, one that rewards the "self-motivated" and leaves behind the less motivated, a world in which "just showing up will not cut it."
My take is that we've lost our consensus on what constitutes effective communication, with some writers bemoaning the loss of traditional standards and formality, others grasping for core values and principles in a rapidly changing environment and yet others — perhaps those most bedazzled by the wonders of technology — overlooking the importance of basic writing skills.
In the past few months more and more clients have asked me to offer training to their younger writers — bright, talented, hardworking staff members, emerging leaders whose writing skills lag behind their other accomplishments.
"They don't know the basic rules of grammar," I'm told. "They don't know how to write anything but short messages," I hear. "They lack a sense of business etiquette," they tell me, not only in communication practices but also in table manners and other "social graces," to use an outdated phrase.
And yet the younger generation is so bright. They're so quick, adaptable and comfortable in our rapidly changing environment. Even as they excel in the new, however, they still need to learn the old. They need to know grammar, punctuation and correct word choice. They need to know how to write.
