Observed

When you work for popes, you have more than your share of client satisfaction ups and downs. So, naturally, Leonardo liked the calming rationalism offered by Vitruvius, the great first-century Roman architect and polemicist. In his "10 Books on Architecture," for example, Vitruvius advised that owners hold their architects accountable for any cost overruns. Reward your architect when the projects comes in on budget or better. "But when more than one-fourth of the estimate was exceeded, he was required to pay the excess out of his own pocket."

The New York Times told a fascinating story this morning.  It’s a quintessential New York City story, combining sex, political power and (of course) real estate.

What really caught my eye was the piece of the report that dealt with the design and construction of the subjects’ over-wrought bay-side mansion in Brooklyn.  In referring to Luchese mob boss Anthony Casso, the prior owner, the Times explains…

It was Mr. Casso who originally conceived of the giant complex, only to order the execution-style murder in 1991 of the architect who designed it, for fear that the man, Anthony Fava, could become a witness against him. F.B.I. agents stormed the house looking for evidence, punching holes in the walls as they searched for hidden bodies.

I doubt that either da Vinci or Vitruvius could ever codify what to do when your client pays your invoices in stacks of small bills. (more…)

Janus, the Roman's great unifier god, used its two faces and other attributes to reconcile past and future, fact and fiction and more. The result is a divine clarity that might have benefited Richard Blumenthal.

Candidate’s Words on Vietnam Differ From History.

I can’t help but wonder who wrote this headline for an article in this morning’s New York Times. An editor?

More likely, it was the paper’s corporate counsel.

A lawyer would be more sensitive to referring to Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut’s attorney general, as a liar.  Even though that’s what you may rightly call someone who offers *facts* which they know aren’t factual.

Politics aside, this headline bothered me.  At least initially.  It bothered me for its lack of clarity and its unwillingness to confront the distorted facts cleanly.

The more I thought about this, however, the more I wised up and calmed down.  First, (more…)

Clients often give me content that is bulleted…or lends itself to be listed that way.  This usually turns into a teachable moment.

If they’re attorneys (a lot of them are), they tend to be VERY linear thinkers.  They believe the most important thought or item in the list ought to go first, with whatever follows coming more or less in descending order.

While they didn’t sign up for the lecture, I give it to them anyway.  It goes something like this:

I say, “Not all readers are as linear as you are.  Whether it’s a list, an article or magazine, studies suggest that people are likely to skip around.  They MIGHT even begin at the bottom.”

Once this heresy has soaked in for a moment, I offer them the science behind that kind of graze-as-you-go reading behavior. (more…)