‘Stick to knitting’ reference not sexist
Re ‘He might as well have told me to go back to the kitchen,’ Keesmaat fumes,
Sept. 8 “Stick to the knitting” is neither a sexist remark nor bad advice. Unfortunately, this phrase is often misquoted as “stick to your knitting,” which makes it more prone to being perceived as a personal attack rather than the need to focus on an important business activity.
Therefore, Toronto deputy mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong actually got it right and shouldn’t have had to apologize. All the time spent on apologizing and fuming is simply not well spent.
“Stick to the knitting” alludes to one of the best strategies of successful individuals and organizations, as explained by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman Jr. in their 1982 book, In Search of Excellence. The advice is supported by evidence-based research of America’s best-run companies at the time (3M, Boeing, Dana, Delta, GE, Frito-Lay).
Nor is the advice just an American thing. One of the contributing researchers for this book was from Canada’s McGill University.
The lesson learned here is simple: it’s tough being a good communicator. It takes a lot of effort to get a message across, so start with simple, clear, concise and comprehensive explanations, then seek agreement and mutual understanding. Then, perhaps, collapse it into a cute phrase. Tom Bechtel, Next Step Business Education, Thornhill I was both amused and saddened by Jennifer Keesmaat’s reaction to Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong’s comment.
In the book In Search of Excellence, which many call the greatest business book of all time, there is a chapter titled, “Stick to the knitting — stay with the business that you know.”
Over the years, I have heard the phrase many times, directed at both sexes. Keesmaat’s reaction is an example of how society is so overly sensitive to comments that are well-intended but are taken the wrong way. John Stookes, Carlisle, Ont.