A recent article in the Wall Street Journal asked the question, “Why Can’t M.B.A. Students Write?” One of the answers was that “Not all students view writing…as important,” an observation supported by an example from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management. Executive students in this MBA program jumped to sign up for a speech class, but a business writing class offered at the same time had to be canceled for low enrollment.

The students’ undervaluation of writing contrasts sharply with the opinions of business leaders interviewed for the article. Chris Carlson, university recruiter for consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., describes how “new hires fresh out of business school aren’t permitted to work on a written proposal alone until they have perfected the craft.”

In an early scene from the film Limitless, down-on-his-luck novelist Eddie Morra is getting screamed at by his landlady for not paying the rent. But as she relentlessly berates him for being a shiftless loser, a wonder-drug he’s swallowed just a minute before begins to take effect, sharpening his senses and jacking his IQ into the stratosphere. What Eddie does next is very smart; he analyzes her behavior, recognizing quickly that her rage at him is out of proportion to the past-due rent. His quick, skillful analysis allows him to disarm her by asking what she’s really upset about.