Benjamin Hoff - An Exercise in Analysing and Solving the Real Problem

Benjamin Hoff had a huge influence on me through his books, “The Tao of Pooh” and “The Te of Piglet” that detail the principles of the ancient philosophy of Taoism through the characters and stories of Winnie the Pooh. I thoroughly enjoyed the books and the relief that I felt by reading about Taoist principles. These principles influenced me enormously and changed my thinking and hence my interpretation of events in my life. As a result, I have a great fondness and sense of gratitude towards Benjamin Hoff even though I know precious little about him.

I was dismayed recently, when I finally came across his official website, to find that he is turning his back on writing. You can read all about that on his website benjamin hoff essay. He writes a long account of the troubles that he has always had with publishing companies and how this has frustrated and disappointed him to the point where he will no longer carry on with it. I find that sad because he is a man with ideas and a voice that can and has influenced millions of people. The fact that he has taken what amounts to a vow of silence is a great shame for the world. It is a great shame for twofold reasons a) the politics and power of big media business starves us of enlightened (but not commercially viable) voices and b) that Benjamin Hoff has totally misinterpreted the problem.

Fundamental Analysis

Through a short analysis of Mr Hoff’s thinking and responses I want to highlight common mistakes of problem analysis so as to give you pause for thought about how you too perceive problems.

In his essay of complaint he lists in great detail all the problems that he has encountered in his efforts to get published. The whole essay revolves around a central point: a fixation with books. However, books and the problems in getting them published are a symptom of the real problem and not the root cause. In order to assess the root cause we must go behind the problems further caused by reacting to the symptoms of the problem rather than the problem itself. We do that through a process of questioning.

What do books do? They are a form of written communication.
Why bother with it? Books allow a single body of communication to be replicated and delivered to a multitude of people.
What does writing do? It converts spoken communication into an abstract form of speaking that can be understood through reading as opposed to the normal way through listening.
Why bother with it? It can permanently record information that would be quickly lost or corrupted through relying upon repetition by other people or relying on personal memory.
What does speaking do? It allows a person to communicate their thoughts and knowledge to another person via auditory means.
Why bother with it? It is often the only way to convey thoughts and knowledge accurately that could only otherwise be done through miming or attempting to get others to have the exactly the same experiences.
What is the common link between these things? The theme running through all of this analysis is ‘methods of communication.’
What then, is the root cause of all of these problems? The desire to communicate thoughts and ideas to other people and the lack of an effective means to do so on a mass scale.

The communication of his thoughts and ideas is what Benjamin Hoff should focus upon. That is the root cause of his purpose and ultimately the source of all of his frustrations. Unfortunately he seems fixated on books as the only medium for him to communicate to the masses in the way that he would like to. This rigidity of thought enslaves him to all of the rigours and horrors that dealing with publishing companies puts upon him.

A New Wealth of Communication

I find it tragic that during one of the greatest evolutionary expansions of methods and freedoms of communication that mankind has ever witnessed that a voice like Benjamin Hoff’s is silenced, in part due to the shenanigans of dinosaur publishing companies, but also due to his inflexibility and his poor methods of problem analysis. If he could only change his thinking from “author of books” to “communicator of ideas” then vast options and opportunities would open up to him.

Each of us now lives in a miracle age where, for the cost of a PC, a modem, and an internet service we can each of us become our own publishing companies. We can each of us have as much creative freedom, editorial freedom, marketing freedom, niche focus freedom as we care to have. The costs to each of us for sharing our voices has never been cheaper or easier. Time is the factor that limits us. For almost all other things we exert enormous control and influence if we have the wisdom to find the methods and the attitude to apply ourselves steadfastly.

Let’s take a look at Benjamin Hoff’s specific grievances and see how blogging deflates everyone of them:

Difficult to find a publisher - self-publish at the click of a button
Ideas are easily rejected - publish what you choose
Arbitrary editing by others - control your own editing or get others to help but have the final say
Insufficient publicity spending - promote it how you like with as much resource and time as you care to give
Readers’ letters are not received - instant comments from readers
Reference of work to other sources not known - trackbacks tell you whose referring to your work
Presentation and layout are inadequate - format it yourself
Cover design is inadequate and unliked - have the final say in all of your graphic presentation
Reviews and critiques have too much influence - there are few voices of such weight in the blogosphere from whom a negative review would have any effect (in fact a bad review would still drive traffic to your communications)
Corporate power imposes too many limitations - you are your own publishing house
Middlemen interfere and cause stress all along the way - you can publish without any middleman interference whatsoever
Agents make bad deals - you manage yourself and your output
Limitations due to political stance or commercial viability - publish what you choose
Pamphleteering on new principles and better ways of life has stopped - and found new life in the blogosphere

He finishes with this:
“How many wise, inspiring, entertaining, or even basically well-written books can possibly be produced by an industry that treats authors like dirt on the corporate floor? Literary creativity and professional integrity cannot survive in such a deadly atmosphere.

At least, mine couldn’t.”

For the want of better problem analysis and an openness to new solution options Benjamin Hoff has silenced himself and the world has lost a beautiful voice. Please don’t let inadequate analysis and inflexibility limit you in this way.

A Voice is Missing

If Benjamin Hoff became a blogger then he would do amazingly well. He already has enormous kudos from the millions of books that he has sold and the preeminence that the teachings of his books automatically give him. A host of fans would love to read more about his ideas, his knowledge, his experiences and his wisdom. Even if he is not technologically savvy he could fairly easily get help from other people. There is a wealth of generosity and helpfulness on the web. That “what goes around, comes around,” seems to work better on the web than any other system that I’ve ever experienced.

So if any of you know Benjamin Hoff, or know someone who knows him, or know someone in his town of Wilson, OR who might know him then please get this message through to him. Tell him that he’s not an ‘author of books’ but that he is a ‘communicator of ideas’ and one of the best that the world has. Tell him that his voice will be welcomed in the blogosphere. Tell him that his voice will sing out loud and clear here. If he needs a helping hand with putting things into place then put him in touch with me. I’ll help him out and I’ll find the others to support him along the way too.

Related article: Incisive Questions

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