During a meeting earlier this week I spotted a well thumbed copy of Eats, Shoots & Leaves on an office book shelf. This discovery sparked an enjoyable conversation on the power of language. Of course if you’re working in Public Relations then language is occupational currency.
Later in the week I was absent mindedly browsing Netflix and happened upon an old gem, the entire series of Yes Minister.
For the uninitiated “Yes (Prime) Minister” is a 30 year old BBC television comedy that follows the career of a Minister in her majesty’s government (and later as he assumes the role of Prime Minister) and his daily struggle with the powers of the civil service.
If you love language then this is something you should watch.
“No buts,” the Minister snapped. “All I get from the Civil Service is delaying tactics.”
“I wouldn’t call Civil Service delays “tactics”, Minister,” Sir Humphrey replied. “That would be to mistake lethargy for strategy.”
In today’s climate of “transparency” and “plain English” the use of language in the series – purely for the sake of obfuscation and deceit – is truly a joy!
From a PR perspective there’s an interesting potential parallel between the Minister’s relationship with the Civil Service; and a dysfunctional client-agency relationship. (Obviously this doesn’t reflect any of my client relationships when I worked on the agency side, or god forbid my agency relationships since I crossed the table :-))
Witness a memo between two Civil Servants:
Bernard,
A Minister’s absence is desirable because it enables you to do the job properly:
- No silly questions
- No bright ideas
- No fussing about what the papers are saying
One week’s absence, plus briefing beforehand and debriefing and catching up on the backlog on his return, means that he can be kept out of the Department’s hair for virtually a fortnight.
Furthermore, a Minister’s absence is the best cover for not informing the Minister when it is not desirable to do so – and for the next six months, if he complains of not having been informed about something, tell him it came up while he was away.
Substitute “Minister” for Client and “Department” for Agency 🙂
Watch the series or better yet, exercise your mind and buy the books which give you time to savor the plots, the thinking, but most of all the language.
Fantastic.
Murphy's Law 