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July 23, 2009
Experts' Expert: Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe Systems, gives a lesson in email management
"... unless I am the sole person on the 'to' line, I don't feel the need to respond."
My sentiments exactly.
I happened on Narayen's comment toward the end of Adam Bryant's interview with him, which appeared on page two of this past Sunday's New York Times Business section.
I take his advice one step further: whenever I send email, I never, ever address it to more than one person.
If I think something might be of interest to 100 people, I will send 100 individual emails.
I don't trust those shortcuts that let you do that with one click, which means I literally have to go down my address book one person at a time, stopping when I come to someone I want to send to, then going over to my email program, putting their name in the "to" box, and filling out the subject and inserting the content.
I've gotten pretty fast after years of doing it that way: I can go through my entire address book and send maybe 100 individual emails with identical subject and content in maybe 45 minutes.
Pretty dumb, huh?
That's how I like things.
July 23, 2009 at 04:01 PM | Permalink
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Comments
I never c.c. anyone, nver have, never will. One on one is the key to the most effective communication.
Posted by: Jesse | Jul 24, 2009 12:49:12 AM
And sometimes you just need to get the message out for conversation and this requires email.
If I have 3 people that I want to discuss something, I TO all of them...email isn't a 1:1 conversation, it can be a 1:∞.
Posted by: clifyt | Jul 23, 2009 6:43:46 PM
Not dumb. You just like things your way. All of us do. And we are specific about the order of how we do things also. There was a show years ago called Veronica's Closet. A male character in it was challenged by another to put his clothes on in a way utterly contrary to how he normally did. Why? the guy asked. Because, the other one said, every single day you put on your clothes in the exact same order. First socks, then underpants, then pants, then shirt then tie. Today put on your underpants on BEFORE you put on your socks. I bet you anything you can't do it. Sure I can, the guy says. And so he put it all on in the incorrect order. I was breaking out in hives just watching him do it because that guy was ME. Of course he couldn't handle it and had to start from scratch, his way.
Moral of the story: Some people do the things they do in the way they have to do them.
I challenge you though - send a mass e-mail Joe... betcha can't do it...
Posted by: Milena | Jul 23, 2009 5:44:19 PM
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