Organizing Articles

What is a Professional Organizer?

A Word on Organizing

A Word on "ADD" and Organizing

Why We Need to Organize

On Being Organized: Time Management Skills

Filing System

Creating a Filing System - Introduction

The Left Handed File System

Maintaining Your New System

Organized Categories

How to Set Up Hanging File Folder Tabs

Tackling Those Piles of Paper

Feng Shui

The Art of Feng Shui ~ Introduction

The Art of Feng Shui: The Five Elements

Closet Reorganization

Take Charge of Your Closet

Tackling Your Closets Limited Space

Cocktail Hour Clothing

Children's Organizing

Cube The Clutter in Children's Rooms

Education

Follow The Paper

Red Pencil Fever Original Article

Red Pencil Fever Part Two

Red Pencil Fever Update

Organization Can Get You an "A" in School and in Life

Red Pencil Fever ~ Part Two Comments
By Ellen K. Jordan

Quick Note from Ellen K. Jordan

This is a follow up article to Red Pencil Fever. It is the original comments that were sent in back in 1973. Like the article, the comments are as true today as they were almost thirty years ago.

Red Pencil Fever: Comments
By Bertha Kitover

From Diversified Systems, Inc, Grand Rapids, Michigan, F.H. Monson wrote a letter in response. Here is what he wrote:

“I would like to add support to your “Red Pencil Fever” article. This element is usually harbored by incompetent, unimaginative, unproductive, non-people oriented managers (or whatever).

I just recently finished a two-year – service to society – experience at Ferris State College at Big Rapids, Michigan. I completely redesigned, implemented, and taught the one-year sequence of systems classes, which is the Capstone series of one of the best four-year Business Data Processing curriculums in the country. Research, creativity, organization, and life experience were at the forefront of everything that the students were involved in. Some of the written material was grammatically atrocious (for seniors no less).

It was easy being an editor my first term until I realized the exact point you brought up. To be in tune, I spent more time on content, its logic, organization, and approach to its audience.
Comments were extremely limited and students were required to review the project with me personally after hours. Productivity and originality went up drastically after that. Once a student’s time was spent on content and his ideas were heard, I then suggested polish was needed on the sales end. A good idea needs a good sales job. This, of course, goes beyond split infinitives and dangling participles. A good systems person knows where he resources are and I told them to find an editor before finalization. They did, and it worked.

A little sidelight. Carrying that through to the classroom, I opened up a two-way channel with student to teacher, Vis versa, and student-to-student challenges, they were always permitted close to the point of utter chaos. Normally, only the debaters, strong charactered people, salesmen, class brains or brown nosers spoke out. It didn’t turn out that way in this environment however. It was after thoughts, questions, and reason only, so as in the “Red Pencil Fever”, I did not restrict the conversation.

It got borderline violent, dirty, provocative, extremely humorous, but very positive in class wise participation. Ethnic or social backgrounds didn’t hinder participation. No one was marked, graded, or criticized for this verbal participation.

The non-penalties and the resulting desires to participate produced a large percentage of positive attitudes on the part of the student. The success rate of my first year’s graduates proved this to be correct.

Keep up the good work; the business of systems (and the world) needs it!

From The Director of Publications – Association for Systems Management:

“Thank you for sending an article that tells it like it is. Corporations are finally beginning to realize that their administrations are in a marathon of mumbling that encourage the implementation of dynamic inaction. By writing reports without content, the administrator keeps things from happening and thereby prevents mistakes from being made.

Since your article is short, it will run in our “Opinion” column. We don’t usually pay for articles of this length. Does that bother you? I can make an exception in your case.

Congratulation on an article that faces up to the inefficiencies and empty jargon of many corporate communications.

From The Office – We report with satisfaction publication of the informative article you contributed.

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