Death of an editor? Please stand back

The first thing that strikes me about blogging (blatantly obvious when you think about it), is the lack of editorial control. Clearly this has huge benefits in the immediacy and authenticity of messages, and as is oft quoted these days, information wants to be free.

But it makes me think for a number of reasons. Firstly, I’m lucky in a sense that after spending so many years as a lawyer (which many people might say is in itself unlucky!) I have learnt to write and edit my own work fairly ruthlessly. This doesn’t mean I’ve got anything interesting to say, just that I *should* be able to communicate it clearly. So I wonder how many messages are diluted because people don’t have the tools or skills to communicate effectively.

The other reason it makes me think, is that the end is in sight for my eldest child’s compulsory education, and I really wonder whether children are getting taught the skills they need to be successful in today’s fast changing world. The syllabus doesn’t seem that different to when I went to school, yet the world of work is vastly different (The Future of Management by Gary Hamel was the last book I read on the subject, but more importantly I have seen the vast changes as I’ve worked).

So death (or lack) of an editor; probably a good thing in this context, but in other areas it could be a problem if people are not given the skills they need to compensate for this.