One of the things on my to-do list is to write a manifesto for Articulate. It might not end up as a manifesto but as a promise or guarantee or a webpage: ‘what we believe.’ Still thinking about it. But there are a handful of things that I think are central to what we do even if I’m still working out the best way of putting them.
I really want to avoid the ghastliness of most mission statements. I thought A A Gill put it nicely when he ate at a restaurant with a mission statement on the menu:
There’s nothing I like more than to start dinner with a banal generic truism, delivered with smug patronage.
So, in a rough-and-ready sort of way, here is the first (alpha) draft:
- We have no automatic right to readers’ time or trust. They must be earned.
- What we write must make sense to the readers – it must address their concerns and understand their world.
- We must try to do the best work we can. This means getting the spelling, grammar and punctuation right (as far as humanly possible – it makes my day when I see a glitch in the Economist) but it also means trying to become better writers ourselves.
- Our work has to be human. People have conversations and tell stories. These are the elements of good writing too.
- We must avoid cliches, hype, jargon, waffle, self-importance and all the other sins of bad writers.
It’s not finished and it’s not perfect and it is, perhaps, a high standard but there you go. It’s a start.
I am looking at different kinds of extranets that would let me coordinate work with colleagues and clients. I came across Basecamp during my research. They have a particularly excellent manifesto. On first glance, I really like their website too.
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