'Life with Punter', – 9 years on
In this (August 02) issue, all members were invited to write something, and until the mag is printed only a few souls know whether there are any contributions. I’m not one of them, so I’m writing this ‘blind’ as it were. If past history is anything to go by, there won’t be many – I will be pleased if I am wrong.
What stops people from contributing? Let me offer some thoughts:
Ownership:
Members don’t fully appreciate that People and Performance is their journal. It is owned by the membership – that’s all of us. It is our ‘voice in print’. One of its several purposes is to provide a common forum for discussion on topical issues. Every member who has something to contribute must feel, or be made to feel, that they can ‘pop something in writing’ and have their say, where all other members can read it. It transcends local committees, and is open to all.
Fear
of ridicule/reprisal:
One thing I have learned over the years is that (1) everyone knows a lot about a few things, and a little about a lot of things, and (2) No matter who you are or where/how you work, you will have something to contribute – even if it is to provide a contrasting argument about something that has already been written. That’s what the ‘Letters to the Editor’ is for, but it’s depressing how few ever put finger to keyboard.
I have joked with mine Editor before along the lines of “What would I have to write in my column ‘Life with Punter’ in order to kick the slothful beast called NZATD membership into life” – how controversial would I have to be? Bring back Hanging? Deport all the Eskimos? Abolish Parental Leave?
All of us experience and accept differences of opinion in our working lives – yet for some reason people who could contribute interesting stuff or points of view in a professional Journal, are somehow frightened of peer group ridicule. If you want to contribute, get in front of your keyboard, say what you want to say in the best way you know how, use your spell-check and grammar check to pick up the obvious errors, and email it off. Let the Editor work out how to Edit. That’s why they’re called Editors.
As to ridicule – I write for 4 professional journals and have been doing so for many years, and in all that time I have only had three pieces of hate-mail:
1) because I dared to suggest that ‘customary rights’ did not include a 30 tonne commercial fishing trawler but did include a canoe and a bone hook (you can see what that got me),
2) because I suggested that all people in NZ are equal, all cultures deserved equal recognition, and we desperately need some balance (that got me a ‘don’t set foot in our place’ – which just happened to be a central North Island employer with 99% of the staff being from one ethnic group), and
3) the last from a gentleman who became angry because I criticised the tendering process for Government work as a complete waste of time, which it is, unless you’re using a generalised ‘fit-all’ template, and only spending 5 minutes on it. Said gentleman worked for a Govt department that asked 28 training organisations to tender for one job, which prompted my article. I’m sure he still thinks he’s right.
So, forget about ‘what people might think’. There are three main types of contribution – (a) Letters to the Editor which is really easy, (b) informal articles where you’re allowed to express feelings or put forward points of view without having to do a heap of research, and (c) formal articles which are meant to be serious and should tell us all about something you’ve learned, or something you’ve tried, whether it succeeded or failed, and why that happened, along with the supporting evidence.
Have the courage of your convictions, obey the usual rules of courtesy, avoid the obvious stuff like slander and libel (what’s the difference – anyone know?), avoid naming people or organisations unless it’s complimentary or you absolutely have to, and contribute away. If you’re unsure, ask the Editor – hell, you can even email me, I’m probably not a shining example of the professional writer but I can answer questions!
Happy writing
Steve Punter ANZIM,
Dip Bus (PMER), FHRINZ
Staff Training Associates Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand.
© Steve Punter 2002 All rights reserved by the author.