How to Manage Your Company by 6 Words or Less Using the Hemingway Communication Method!
by Paul DiModica

On the Internet, there is a web site called "six word stories" located at http://www.sixwordstories.net that is a tribute to Ernest Hemingway. According to history, the great life writer Ernest Hemingway was challenged to pen a short story in six words or less.

The word "story" according to Webster's Merriam Dictionary means:
"A statement regarding the facts pertinent to a situation in question"

Hemingway's 6-word story:

"For sale: baby shoes, never used."

 It's short, to the point and communicates the complete message.

This historical antidote got me to thinking about some of the elongated meetings I have been involved in when trying to craft with management teams company success models, sales value propositions, business objectives, scorecards, corporate mission statements, tag lines and business strategy goals.

Often, communication both internal and external gets very convoluted in theory, abstracts, perceptions, ego and expectations and limits the receivers' understanding of the actual message and the potential action steps required for success.

Hemingway's 6-word story format forces both the communicator and the receiver to focus on each word, their meaning and the specific sequence each word falls in. When done correctly, 6-word stories become a guidebook to follow and philosophy to absorb for business management, leadership and stated business process.

Here are eleven 6-word business stories I have developed for you to ponder:

1. Selling
   Value, Communicate, Demonstrate, Negotiate, Contract, Commission
2. Management
   Listen and Lead, Achieve and Succeed
3. Marketing Research
   Gap Found, Strategy Developed, Execution Delivered
4. Strategy
   Strategy is important, execution is better
5. Business Success
   Hunt Now or Be Eaten Later
6. Prospects
   Value First, Brand Second, Revenue Third
7. Prospects
   Find Now, Qualify Now, Sell Now
8. Financial Management and P and Ls
   Track and Measure, Manage and Improve
9. Training
   Investment Made, skills Improved, Performance Enhanced
10. Customers
    Value Understood, Lifetime Value Generated
11. Leadership
    Objective Communicated, Motivation Supplied, Results Delivered

Can you manage your company goals, objectives and departments by 6 words or less?

Try this exercise yourself. It will help you crystallize who you are, what you need for your company or department to be successful and help your team specifically know what is expected of them without rhetoric, inaccurate perceptions, miscommunications or corporate gubligoop getting in the way.

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