The March issue of Harper's has excerpts from a diary of "The Experiences of a Very Unimportant Officer," a Scottish Captain, Alexander Stewart.

Stewart's November 9, 1916 entry contains a good warning for employee communication people. Captain Stewart is muddy, wet, blistered and itching in a hole he's dug in the side of a trench:

"I am very much annoyed by the memos sent from Headquarters. They come in at all hours of the day and night and stop me from getting a full night's rest. Some of them are very silly and unnecessary. When I am just getting off to sleep with cold feet, in comes an orderly asking how many pairs of socks my company had a week ago. I reply, 14 1/2. Back comes a memo: Please explain at once how you came to be deficient one sock. I reply, Man lost his leg."

Let's make sure our internal communications are achieving something more than bothering today's mighty warriors about last week's sock count.