Genesis

I came upon this section on the Management book that I'm (still) reading:

One of the best methods for improving your writing skills is to use mental imagery. Instead of being intimidated by the blank piece of paper or screen, get a mental image of the person you are writing to. See that person in your mind. You might even go so far as to imagine the person seated in an easy chair at the office drinking a cup of coffee and reading your note. Or you could visualize yourself sitting in a coffee shop telling the person the message you want to convey.

Imagine that you are having a conversation with the person in a friendly environment. Now speak. Use words you’d use in conversation. If you don’t use four-syllable words in your conversations,don’t use them in your written communication. Psychologists tell us that people who only use certain words, these fancy types of words, when they want to impress others in theirwriting are actually showing signs of having an inferiority complex.Even if you do feel uncomfortable with your writing, don’tadvertise it—keep it to yourself.

This reminded me of one meeting that I had a couple of months back. There was this woman from the Marketing department who arrived late and didn't know exactly what the ongoing discussion was. When asked for her comments, she simply said:

"What is the genesis of the issue?"

Wow meeeeen. Major inferiority complex alert! Hehe.