Why I Am Grammar Obsessed

I have taken some solace that a recent Harvard Business Review blog post on grammar has been one of the most read and commented posts the past thirty days. Its title is intriguing: “I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why.” The author, Kyle Wiens, is the CEO of iFixit, the largest online repair community. He truly has a zero tolerance for grammatical mistakes in his organization.

I understand. In fact, I heartily embrace his attitude.

Those of us who are grammar obsessed must endure the chuckles and the bewilderment at our perceived misplaced priorities. We must likewise accept the moniker of grammar cop. It goes with the territory.

My organization is the largest Christian resource company in the world. More than one-third of our revenue comes from publishing. Grammar better be a high priority. I would be, however, the same stickler in another organization. Good grammar is that important to me. Allow me to share why I am so grammar obsessed.

Your grammar shapes how others view you. For better or worse, poorly written and spoken grammar leaves others with a poor impression of you. In a day when first impressions are the only opportunity we may have, it is foolish to lose that opportunity with grammatical mistakes. I recently spoke to a person in an organization that eliminated a candidate for a job because he had grammatical mistakes on his resume. Poor grammar is an indicator of laziness. It can mean that you didn’t take time to learn or relearn basic skills. It can also mean that you didn’t take the time to proofread or have someone proofread your work. Why do you capitalize certain words? Don’t you know the difference between “its” and “it’s”? A basic grammar and spellcheck would have shown you the mistakes you made. Why didn’t you take the time to do so? Sometimes words are all you have. Much of our world is words. You communicate by email, text, social media and, on rare occasions, letter. For most of those who hear from you, they only know you by your words. When you communicate those words poorly, you are often perceived poorly. Those with good grammar tend to be interested in their ongoing development. Learning good grammar is a lifelong process. The more you practice good grammar, the better you become. When I notice that someone has taken the time to practice good grammar, I know that he or she probably excels in other areas. Organizations and individuals will often succeed or fail based on the clarity of their communication. While grammar is but one element of communication, it is a vital element. If we compromise grammatically, communication begins to break down. Clarity is critical in organizations and leadership. Good grammar is critical for clarity.

I have heard from some in my organization and beyond that they didn’t have good basic grammatical training in their educational process. That is no excuse. Anyone can take just a few minutes a week and learn basic grammar skills.

Indeed, I do identify with Kyle Wiens in his Harvard Business Review post. His stand is pretty firm: “If you think an apostrophe was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, you will never work for me. If you think a semicolon is a regular colon with an identity crisis, I will not hire you. If you scatter commas into a sentence with all the discrimination of a shotgun, you might make it to the foyer before we politely escort you from the building.”

I may not be a grammar cop to that level, but I’m close. At the very least I’m grammar obsessed. So please know your rules for capitalization. Don’t use “myself” as the subject of your sentence. Kindly add an “ly” to those adjectives that should be adverbs. And, if for any reason, you mess up on subject-verb agreement, allow me to leave the room for a few moments. The scream you will hear down the hallway is likely my own.