Can we kill the Cc?

A rant about antiquated corporate communication

As a society, can we get away from the "Cc"? Yes it is actually short for Carbon Copy for those of you who didn't know. This refers to the act of writing something on a piece of paper and putting a piece of carbon paper behind it. It actually creates a copy of what you wrote! Magic right? Write once and you have two copies. It's essentially the first instance of a photo copier.

Isn't it funny though that this antiquated way to make one note turn into two is still used in daily emails?

Specifically, within the world of Corporate America (and probably other countries too) we still use the Cc frequently. I am amazed at how often I'm told to Cc a colleague on a work email.

"Is so-and-so Cc'd? on that" "Can you be sure to Cc whatshisface so he's in the loop?"

It's pretty comical. There are times when work isn't so much about the quality of what you're creating or communicating it's just about if you’ve Cc'd the correct folks so they'e "in the know" about whatever you just sent even if it was poorly written or confusing.

How did we become a society of carbon copiers? What would our ancestors think about this? How will anyone know if we are actually doing our jobs if we don't carbon copy a slew of people who may or may not actually read the note?

It's almost like there is less pressure to do a good job if there are other people watching via Cc.

"Jim doesn't have to write the best email as long as Betty is Cc'd". "Carla will jump in if Chuck Cc's her on his note to Larry…"

I could go on and on citing examples and using generic office worker names. It's actually pretty fun but I think you get the idea of what I'm talking about. The point is that we are still far too reliant on email and specifically Cc'd emails in our work culture.

Sure, there are modern platforms like Slack, Discord, and a host of other communication hubs that companies rely on. But how is it that we're still so reliant on the "Cc"? How can we be still using this terminology that was pretty much an outdated concept before it even became associated with email? Who is going to be the one to kill the Cc?

You'd think that something as powerful as the Cc would only succumb to the likes of one of the big corporate super powers. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Oracle, Salesforce? Can one of these companies come up with a way to nix the Cc? If the email providers just turned off this functionality tomorrow, how would we fare? Would we survive?

Would Cathy in accounting just be cool without knowing that little detail that you mentioned in your note to Bruce about your expense report? Yeah, I think she'd get on with her life just fine. She could also use one of the other many means to get in touch with you if she honestly required the information. And you’d save her the two minutes she spent reading your email!

Maybe this is just me going on a rant, but can we all make an agreement? Can we all just agree to "un-Cc" just one person today? It's such a good feeling to make that email recipient line just a little bit shorter, cleaner, and easier on the eyes isn't it?

And no, don’t even get me started on the even more diabolical Bcc…

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