March 3, 2008
Embracing the pedantic primates
Michael Hyatt is a brave man. Along with his fellow executives, the boss of Thomas Nelson, a private equity-owned publisher specialising in Christian titles, is compiling a book laying out the group’s long history - which dates back to 1798 - and its way of doing things.
Mr Hyatt decided to post a draft of the first chapter of the book on his blog with the aim of soliciting comments from employees and other interested parties that would help him to hone his prose. His post provoked a mixture of back-slapping and nit-picking. A response posted by ‘Nicole’ paved the way for the nit-pickers:
Fascinating story.
(Two copy editing errors in the final paragraph–first and third sentences.)
A second nit-picker claimed that the writing lacked creativity. A third suggested that the authorial point of view was inconsistent. A fourth fretted about whether he had missed out a couple of commas. A fifth claimed he had contradicted himself at one point. A sixth said the number “81″ should be spelled out and hyphenated. A seventh claimed his style was a little lacklustre.
Some bosses would never tolerate being corrected by their juniors in public. But nitpicking isn’t a bad thing if you view it from the primate’s perspective.
When primates pick nits out of each other’s fur, they are strengthening the social bonds holding them together as a group. Wittingly or unwittingly, Mr Hyatt has offered his staff a similar chance to demonstrate their shared sense of purpose by grooming him publicly.
Ook! An underling spots a split infinitive lurking near the ceo’s armpit, expertly nips it between her fingers and eats it. Ook! An incorrect usage of “that” is changed to “which” by another member of the troop. Ook! There goes a grocer’s apostrophe.
Precise use of language is central to any book publisher and no author is expected to submit an error-free manuscript. Given those two points, I can’t see how the public nit-picking could be harmful to Thomas Nelson and its leader. On the contrary, beware the ungroomed ceo.
