4 ms·

I think the point of the story is that his son used the process instead of panicking. It’s easy to say he said the wrong thing, but compared with a panicked ph

I think the point of the story is that his son used the process instead of panicking. It’s easy to say he said the wrong thing, but compared with a panicked phone call, it’s pretty good. A process like this helps override the natural response to a situation. People often think they would be cool in a crisis. But panic makes you do weird things.

lisper 3y ago
Yes, but my point is that it's a really bad example, chosen to optimize for marketing rather than illustrating actual effective communication. In and of itself there is nothing wrong with marketing, but intentionally sacrificing effective communication in a piece whose topic is effective communication strikes me as particularly ironic, and it really rubbed me the wrong way.
adammarples 3y ago
His son literally didn't use the process. Status is supposed to be step 2 but he opened with "I'm ok". The correct report would be "I hit a bull but I'm OK". Which is boring, obvious, natural, and not a click bait style headline which leaves us wondering what it means. Whether the bull survived or not is also superfluous information which shouldn't even have been reported at all.
- torstenvl 3y ago
  "I'm ok" is the punchline, not the status. The status is "police are on their way, car is operable, I can explain more soon (no rush)"
  - adammarples 3y ago
    "I crashed the car" is definitely the punchline, it's what happened. "I'm ok" is reporting your status. "the police are coming" is also status. But if someone just texts to say that they're OK and the police are coming, I still have no idea what's happened.
    - torstenvl 3y ago
      No. You are grossly misinterpreting the point of both the story and this system of communication. You don't need to know what happened. You do need to know your kid is okay. Being so preoccupied with the "story" that you think it's more important than your kid being okay is unconscionable.
      - lisper 3y ago
        Sorry, but you are mistaken. From TFA: > 1. Punch line: The facts; no adjectives, adverbs or modifiers. > 2. Current status: How the punch-line statement affects the project. The facts are: I crashed the car. The status is: I'm OK. (The real lesson here is that this methodology is not always a good idea.)
        torstenvl 3y ago
        I literally do this for a living. You fundamentally misunderstand the principle you're trying to apply. This is HN, not StackOverflow. I encourage you to act in the spirit of intellectual curiosity instead of being self-satisfied with misguided attempts at language lawyering.
        lisper 3y ago
        > I literally do this for a living. Is that supposed to impress me? Some people do feng shui for a living, or sell homeopathic remedies. Just because someone does something for a living doesn't mean it has any merit. The world is chock-full of wealthy charlatans.
        torstenvl 3y ago
        You are entitled to your opinion that effective communication has no merit. That reflects more on you than it does on me. In any case, your opinions about specific methodologies in fields toward which you are outright dismissive... are of extremely limited value.

lisper 3y ago

Yes, but my point is that it's a really bad example, chosen to optimize for marketing rather than illustrating actual effective communication. In and of itself there is nothing wrong with marketing, but intentionally sacrificing effective communication in a piece whose topic is effective communication strikes me as particularly ironic, and it really rubbed me the wrong way.

adammarples 3y ago

His son literally didn't use the process. Status is supposed to be step 2 but he opened with "I'm ok". The correct report would be "I hit a bull but I'm OK". Which is boring, obvious, natural, and not a click bait style headline which leaves us wondering what it means. Whether the bull survived or not is also superfluous information which shouldn't even have been reported at all.

torstenvl 3y ago
"I'm ok" is the punchline, not the status. The status is "police are on their way, car is operable, I can explain more soon (no rush)"
- adammarples 3y ago
  "I crashed the car" is definitely the punchline, it's what happened. "I'm ok" is reporting your status. "the police are coming" is also status. But if someone just texts to say that they're OK and the police are coming, I still have no idea what's happened.
  - torstenvl 3y ago
    No. You are grossly misinterpreting the point of both the story and this system of communication. You don't need to know what happened. You do need to know your kid is okay. Being so preoccupied with the "story" that you think it's more important than your kid being okay is unconscionable.
    - lisper 3y ago
      Sorry, but you are mistaken. From TFA: > 1. Punch line: The facts; no adjectives, adverbs or modifiers. > 2. Current status: How the punch-line statement affects the project. The facts are: I crashed the car. The status is: I'm OK. (The real lesson here is that this methodology is not always a good idea.)
      - torstenvl 3y ago
        I literally do this for a living. You fundamentally misunderstand the principle you're trying to apply. This is HN, not StackOverflow. I encourage you to act in the spirit of intellectual curiosity instead of being self-satisfied with misguided attempts at language lawyering.
        lisper 3y ago
        > I literally do this for a living. Is that supposed to impress me? Some people do feng shui for a living, or sell homeopathic remedies. Just because someone does something for a living doesn't mean it has any merit. The world is chock-full of wealthy charlatans.
        torstenvl 3y ago
        You are entitled to your opinion that effective communication has no merit. That reflects more on you than it does on me. In any case, your opinions about specific methodologies in fields toward which you are outright dismissive... are of extremely limited value.