Using Shakespeare in Business Dealings

Julius Caesar

In yesterday’s examination of universal health care legislation in terms of Dickens’ Christmas Carol, I mentioned E. D. Hirsch’s Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (1988).   Hirsch believes that cultures need a set of common texts to function effectively.  While I have some reservations about that work, I wholeheartedly support Hirsch’s contention that we need to be reading the classics more.  I hope yesterday’s discussion helped make the case.

Hirsch provides his own great example, this one involving his father and Shakespeare.  Hirsch’s view of the past may be rosier than is warranted, but I love what he does with Julius Caesar:

My father used to write business letters that alluded to Shakespeare. These allusions were effective for conveying complex messages to his associates, because, in his day, business people could make such allusions with every expectation of being understood. For instance, in my father’s commodity business, the timing of sales and purchases was all-important, and he would sometimes write or say to his colleagues, “There is a tide,” without further elaboration. Those four words carried not only a lot of complex information, but also the persuasive force of a proverb. In addition to the basic practical meaning, “act now!” what came across was a lot of implicit reasons why immediate action was important. For some of my younger readers who may not recognize the allusion, the passage from Julius Caesar is:

There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.

To say “There is a tide” is better than saying “Buy (or sell) now and you’ll cover expenses for the whole year, but if you fail to act right away, you may regret it the rest of your life.” That would be twenty-seven words instead of four, and while the bare message of the longer statement would be conveyed, the persuasive force wouldn’t. Think of the demands of such a business communication. To persuade somebody that your recommendation is wise and well-founded, you have to give lots of reasons and cite known examples and authorities. My father accomplished that and more in four words, which made quoting Shakespeare as effective as any efficiency consultant could wish. The moral of this tale is not that reading Shakespeare will help one rise in the business world. My point is a broader one. The fact that middle-level executives no longer share literate background knowledge is a chief cause of their inability to communicate effectively.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.

2 Comments

  1. WordPress › Error

    There has been a critical error on this website.

    Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.