Wrap This In An Enigma! About Giving Advice In Blog Posts.

 

I try to avoid giving advice in blog posts. Before you know it people start taking you serious. And we already have enough of that. People taking themselves very seriously.

I am not good in attempting this. I give way too much advice in what I write online. So. I dress it up in … well … my own voice. This reduces the number of people that read the text. Limiting the people that read the advice. Yes. Really.

I try to have consideration for the poor PMs that go online for relaxation. Suppose you run a project. It's doing ok. Not great. Ok. In the bathroom you read your favorite blogs on your fancy mobile device.  You read something about planning. That's timely. You have some planning to do. Let's see what advice is given.

"You need to use tool X." Hmmm. You are stuck with tool Y created in The Dark Ages.
"You need to involve every stakeholder." Hmmmm. Most of them are still on holiday.
"You need to use this new  spirally incrementally strategy." Shoot. You are only allowed to use this linear thing.
"You need to have Planning hair. All shiny." You're bold.

Stress hits you. Hard. You totally freak out. And you start to look for advice on "stress".

"Be yourself." Uhm. Who else!
"Take a break." Oh crap. Give me one!

You stay longer in the bathroom than normal. Adding to the problem. The problem you didn't have before the "advice".

So. I dress it up. The advice.

Wrap it in the culture of Project Shrink. Shrinkonian culture, if you wish. Using long posts that go on for ages without seeming to reach to a conclusion. Using strange words for things we already have words for.

Oh. Yes people. I am creating "a context".

You know when people answer a question with "it depends"?

"Is this the way to San Jose?" "It depends."
"Are you the girl from Ipanema?" "It depends."
"Is this my life?" "It depends."

This "depends" is "context".

Circumstances. All "advice" is given in a certain "context". Jeez. I really have to ease down with the quotes.

So.

If you read something that resembles "advice" while you are in Shrinkonia (that's here), you know I mean well. You know you don't have to do anything. It's just a friendly suggestion. Without any guarantee of course.

With "advice" people assume "guarantee".  If life doesn't give you any guarantees, who am I to start giving you any?

A while ago, someone asked me for advice on starting a successful blog. I said: "Give great advice." "Will I make any money with that?" "Of course! For sure!"

You see. Not helpful.

If you make this Context Wrapped In A Culture as weird as possible … hum …. expressive as possible, those who make it through the jungle of obscurity, start appreciating your advice with all it's implicit assumptions.

You see. If you understand this last sentence, you have reached the ultimate understanding of the advice in this post.

If you have no idea what the heck I just said, I would just say: "World peace." (which of course is an inside Shrinkonian joke)

I should try harder to avoid giving advice in blog posts. Don't you think?

Bas de Baar is a writer who draws about people in transition. He loves to make visual maps and travel guides for the collaborators of our brave new world.