Harvard Business Review Guides Ultimate Boxed Set (16 Books)

Chapter 8

Be relentlessly clear

Clarity can be a double-edged sword. When you’re forthright enough to take a position or recommend a course of action, you’re sticking your neck out. People who don’t want to commit make their writing muddy. Perhaps they’re trying to leave room for their views to evolve as events unfold. Or perhaps they’re hoping they can later claim credit for good results and deny responsibility for bad ones.

The fact is, though, that many readers will perceive them not as savvy wait-and-see participants but as spineless herd-followers who are slow to see (much less seize) opportunities within their reach. So clean up the mud.

Adopt the reader’s perspective

Always judge clarity from the reader’s standpoint—not your own. Try showing ...