When nothing teaches something..

One of those times when you think you have done some work (and actually you have done) but the end output has nothing what you contributed. How would you react it? Feel happy that task is complete, so what if your work is not directly reflected in it? Or Feel frustrated thinking why the hell you were told to do the task, when anyways it would have gone through sea change at end? OR what a waste of time, you would done something else instead?

In a perfect world scenario, you would be happy and satisfied that work is done, irrespective of who does it. But they say nobody is perfect and I am a perfect fit in the imperfect category. When I went through this experience recently, my first reaction was.. What a waste of time !! I had some other tasks piled up and a new one came in between. I kept aside everything and focused on this one. According to me, mine was a decent output, if not great. However the person assessing it had different views and so my document was scrapped entirely.

I did not (for a change) feel bad for work being discarded, but was feeling miserable for my other incomplete tasks. That episode was over and later on I was pondered over it. I knew our working styles are different, I knew whatever I write would go through serious and significant editing. I could have easily said no, still why I accepted this task. Not as a challenge, but probably I knew there would be lot of learning for me in this process. The person with whom I had to work was one of the most well-known journalist of his times. My experience (and also my skills in this area) is small compared to that of his.

So what did I learn..  

• Don’t get intimidated, no matter who you are working with. They may be far more experienced but remember you are working so that you gain that experience.
• Be yourself and trust your skills. I was told to be aggressive in my writing. By nature and also in any work i do, I more of a balanced and diplomatic person. I tried to bring in that aggression. The final output was drafted in a subtle way, with a slight hint of aggression. If I had stuck to my style of writing, may be that would have been more closer to what was needed and then not 100% of my work would have been waste.
• Don’t get disheartened by the feedback. The tone of feedback could make it sound like  like criticism. Even worse if changes are made in complete silence and you are made to sit beside and watch. Try to read between the lines and get the message and ignore the mode and means of communications (This probably is the most difficult part)
• If you don’t capture the interest of the reader in the headline and the first para, you have lost them. (Therefore my remaining document was not even read)
• Keep it simple. Smaller sentences, and simple words. Use your judgement as you know who your target audience is.

Some of these things we already know, and I guess it’s important to keep these in mind, at the right time.

Now time to implement the new and the not-so-new lessons..

(Quotes – Courtesy ..www)