Is There Such A Thing as 100% Accuracy?
Issue #52 - March 31st, 2025
While working with one of my clients on a website revitalization project last week they mentioned that one of the reasons they were slow in publishing new content was a desire among senior staff to ensure that everything they posted was 100% factual. As a result they had a multi-step approval process that bottle-necked with a senior executive for whom the approval of web content was a low priority.
In one of those wonderful moments of synchronicity, the day after I’d had that client conversation, someone posted on one of the book-related FaceBook groups I frequent asking if there were any non-fiction writers who could explain why he often found mistakes in published books.
This was my response:
As a primarily non-fiction author, one of the things I discovered early on is that you can only go with the “facts” as you understand them from your research and sources at the time of writing . Which is why I always cite my sources. I also try and find two or three subject matter experts as early beta readers to fact check me. But even then things change. Just as an example with my second book just a week after publication I had an email from one of my sources letting me know a photograph that he’d dated for me was in fact taken a year later than he’d originally thought. So that date in my text is now “wrong.”
In short, in writing non-fiction you will never be 100% correct about everything.
Which brought me back to the conversation with my client. Wanting everything you publish on a website to be 100% factual is a laudable goal - but is it a realistic one? As in life, in business things change rapidly and what was ‘fact’ today may soon be outdated.
The best you can do is go with the current understanding (and cite and link your sources if you are building on other’s work or articles) and be prepared to update as and when needed.
You need:
A content strategy that details your organization’s risk tolerance.
A content operation workflow that eliminates bottlenecks and allows for easy change.
A content governance that includes rules on citation and regular review.
A willingness to assign content ownership to those best suited to create content in a specific area of expertise.
And a willingness to realize that not everything will be 100% correct 100% of the time. But it can be the best you can make it at a specific point in time.
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Newsletter Schedule Update - Due to recently taking on a new role as a board member for the non-profit Ian Fleming Foundation alongside my existing consulting client activity, and my current writing projects has meant I’ve had to take a hard look at how and where I’m spending my time, so I still have time to also relax and enjoy my family. As a result I’ve decided to change this newsletter from a weekly to a biweekly one and move the publication day to a Monday . - Thanks for your understanding as I try out this new schedule.
Alan
A Note of Appreciation
Thanks to the folks who have reached out in recent weeks
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Thought of the Week
Every company, no matter what its size, exists to solve problems with its product or service. We are in business to fulfill a need, and that need is our customer’s need.
Talking About Storytelling
Upcoming Events
I’m looking forward to presenting “Is DITA Just a Story” at the ConVex conference in San Jose next week.
NEW - Happy to share that I'll be returning to The Content Wrangler webinar series to talk about Effective Storytelling in Personalization! Make sure to join us on May 22.
In June I’ll be making a return to the CX Behind The Scenes podcast to discuss the AI Hype Cycle.
NEW - I’ll be back at Lavacon this year - so come join me in Atlanta in early October where I’ll be presenting my thoughts on the adoption of generative AI.
Customer Focused Storytelling Workshops
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SECURE YOUR SPOT BY EMAILING US AT AJP@4JSGROUP.COM
“Weaving storytelling into the mix makes the content more compelling, accessible, and effective!”
Learn how to deliver content-driven experiences that your customers relate to on our two-day Customer Outcome Focused Storytelling workshop.
In this workshop, we will:
Examine content from the customer’s perspective.
Plan how to adapt content delivery to meet the needs of a rapidly changing marketplace
Examine why every business transaction is a story
Outline the 10 Rules of Storytelling as applied to Customer Experience
Apply proven storytelling techniques to your content.
Identify potential opportunities for incorporating storytelling techniques
into the production of your customer-facing content assets.Facilitate an interactive feedback session on your existing customer-facing content.
If you would like more details, or you like to discuss reserving a date for yourself and your team to benefit from a Customer Focused Storytelling Workshop, just email us at ajp@4jsgroup.com to reserve your date.
In The Bookstore
If you enjoy the contents of this newsletter and would like more, we have three books always available from XML Press.
You can also check out The Content Pool website or follow us on FaceBook. - you can also find Alan on most of the social media platforms @alanjporter.
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Till next time - have fun paddling in The Content Pool.
Alan J. Porter
The Content Pool™ is a division of the 4Js Group LLC