Scott Monty | Timeless Wisdom

Lessons from The Brain Center at Whipple's

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What is it about technology that makes us think we're inoculated from the errors, pains, and foibles of what it means to be human? 
 
I'm a big fan of the old Twilight Zone series, and I was recently watching it on Hulu. One of the episodes in the final season is called "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brain_Center_at_Whipple%27s" target="_blank">The Brain Center at Whipple's</a>," and while it was made in the mid-1960s, it is remarkably timeless. 
 
The episode opens with Mr. Whipple previewing a film with his Chief Engineer: an update that Whipple is making to the board of directors. He assesses the W.V. Whipple Manufacturing Corporation by the numbers: 283,000 personnel, 13 plants, and 34,827 people in one plant. 
 
He says, "At Whipple's, we only take forward steps," and proceeds to introduce the X109B14 Automatic Assembly Machine, proudly announcing that it will replace 61,000 jobs, 73 machines, and save the company $4 million in employee insurance, welfare, hospitalization, and profit-sharing. And that the entire company would be automated within six months, running from a so-called "Brain Center" filled with similar machines. 
 
He says all of this without emotion or regret, much to the chagrin of Hanley, the Chief Engineer, who does not approve of "a lot of men out of work." He cautions Whipple about taking men's livelihood and  reason for being away from them, and about Whipple's lack of goodwill and compassion through his "heartless manipulation of man and metals." 
 
Whipple's response is one rooted in numbers: "I am here to provide efficiency. That is my only concern." And in Whipple's mind, efficiency only comes from machines. 
 
The episode ends with the board removing Whipple from his job, due to overexertion and the inability to make sound judgments. Cut to his office, where a robot is now handling all of his duties. 
 
Rod Serling reminds us that this is "the historical battle between flesh and steel. Between the brain of man and the product of man's brain." 
 
<h2>
Ethics, Efficiency, and Empathy</h2>
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"I think technology really increased human ability. But technology cannot produce compassion." </div>
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– Dalai Lama</div>
 
This isn't the first example of humans grappling with technology. The term "robot" was first introduced in the 1920s in the play "<a href="https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/the-origin-of-the-word-robot/" target="_blank">Rossum's Universal Robots</a>" by Czech playwright Karl Čapek. The word robota means "forced labor." And robots were certainly a central theme in Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/" target="_blank">Metropolis</a>. I'll spare you the recap, but it was about the conflict between man and machine and lives lost in the process. The film ended with an interstitial card that read: 
 
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4Ovhq09wwGw/XJMC7-e3GkI/AAAAAAABD1Y/nVV84S6XYswxz7lyyHLLov7xjEzsMzCQACLcBGAs/s1600/Metropolis%2B-%2BEpigram.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Final interstitial from Metropolis" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1440" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4Ovhq09wwGw/XJMC7-e3GkI/AAAAAAABD1Y/nVV84S6XYswxz7lyyHLLov7xjEzsMzCQACLcBGAs/s640/Metropolis%2B-%2BEpigram.png" title="The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must be the Heart" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must be the Heart</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
 
In Westworld on HBO, we witness android hosts at an American Old West theme park that are programmed with narratives and interact with each other and guests. Meanwhile, guests can do whatever they want to the robot hosts, including murder and rape. 
 
What is it about technology that makes us distance ourselves from the laws and customs that have been established for thousands of years? 
 
Part of the answer lies in the drive within Mr. Whipple, who was only concerned with efficiency. Looking at the history of technology, in every case, tools — however crude they were — allowed humans to be more efficient. Stone-tipped spears were more effective at hunting. The wheel allowed us to move large objects more easily. The machine gun and chemical weapons made warfare much more deadly. 
 
In every case of technology, it removed us one step or more from the task at hand: we didn't risk being maimed by a wild animal during a hunt, construction became less back-breaking, and we didn't have to murder with our bare hands. 
 
But that distance created a barrier of sorts. Because we aren't so viscerally connected to those and other instances of the infliction of pain, we're less likely to have the empathy that Whipple's chief engineer noted was missing. 
 
Fast forward to present-day. With artificial intelligence, mounds of data, the Internet of Things, and autonomous everything, we ostensibly have more technology at our disposal than ever before. As a result, we're experiencing a crisis of ethics that seems to take on a daily drumbeat: 
<ul>
<li>Elizabeth Holmes ran a massive fraud scheme at Theranos, keeping people in the dark about the true nature of the blood test she supposedly invented. The lie was promulgated such that Walgreen's signed a major deal with them, and investors were blinded by their own greed, seeing their paper worth balloon. Even a board member like George Shultz chose to protect his investment rather than to believe his own grandson, the whistleblower behind the downfall.</li>
<li>The Securities and Exchange Commission is suing the former CEO of Volkswagen for the "massive fraud" behind the diesel emissions scandal. By using a simple bit of software, Volkswagen was able to make emissions cleaner during testing, but left drivers' vehicles as dirty as ever, when they thought they were buying cleaner vehicles.</li>
<li>And Facebook. Oh, Facebook. They've used <a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2019/03/whens-last-time-you-heard-proper-apology.html" target="_blank">half-hearted apologies</a> as their strategy for too long. And the Cambridge Analytica scandal brought even more focus to them, as did their inability to curtail the Christchurch shooting video. Facebook has made it clear that they continue to <a href="https://medium.com/@scottmonty/a-little-matter-of-ethics-93e92af331ee" target="_blank">worship at the altar of the golden calf</a> rather than try to protect users. As Scott Galloway recently said on the Pivot podcast, "<a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/358-pivot-with-kara-swisher-an-29927080/episode/live-from-sxsw-its-kara-and-30695455/" target="_blank">Have any two individuals done more damage while making more money than Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg?</a>"</li>
</ul>
 
In every one of these instances, technology is at the core. But here's the thing: the technology isn't to blame. Humans are. In each of those cases, a human made the decision to say, "I have a choice between right and wrong. And I'm choosing wrong." 
 
The technology just made it easier for them to accept what they thought: that they weren't causing direct harm. 
 
I don't think it's any coincidence that there are three books that have just been released that all deal with this in one way or another: 
<ul>
<li>Shiv Singh and Rohini Luthra's book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Savvy-Navigating-Companies-Leaders-Post-Trust/dp/1940858720" target="_blank">Savvy: Navigating Fake Companies, Fake Leaders, and Fake News in the Post-Trust Era</a> addresses this head-on by looking at how technology has isolated us and engendered a dearth of trust in the marketplace.</li>
<li>Amy Webb's latest book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Big-Nine-Thinking-Machines-Humanity/dp/1541773756" target="_blank">The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans & Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity</a> deals with the unintended consequences that we're dealing with, following the implementation of vast amounts of online technology and artificial intelligence.</li>
<li>And Kate O'Neill's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Tech-Humanist-Technology-Better-Business-ebook/dp/B07GBHTX9K" target="_blank">Tech Humanist: How You Can Make Technology Better for Business and Better for Humans</a> gets to the core of what's needed: better-informed decisions based on how people are affected.</li>
</ul>
 
Is it any wonder that we're trying to wrap our heads around this lack of humanity in technology right now? The engineers and programmers that have contributed to this phenomenon have been brilliant technologists in their own right. 
 
But with any undertaking that affects such a mass of humanity — whether it's the 283,000 employees of the Whipple Manufacturing Corporation or the 2.3 billion people who use Facebook's services — needs to have a leader that understands how humanity may be impacted by decisions. 
 
In case you haven't been following closely, my theme here is Timeless Wisdom: putting things in perspective and reflecting on how similar struggles were met in the past. It's borne from my own degree in classics and from a collection of Great Books of the Western World. And that's what's missing in a technology-heavy culture: the importance of humanities and a fundamental understanding or awareness of how human beings will react to various forms of technology that are introduced to them. 
 
To study humanities is to understand humans, as flawed as we are. From head to heart. And we need technology that accounts for both. 
 
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“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” </div>
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– Aristotle</div>
 
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Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giovanni_Domenico_Tiepolo_-_The_Procession_of_the_Trojan_Horse_in_Troy_-_WGA22382.jpg">The Procession of the Trojan Horse into Troy</a> by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, 1760 (public domain, Wikimedia Commons)

Lessons from The Brain Center at Whipple's

Listen to this commentary What is it about technology that makes us think we're inoculated from the errors, pains, and foibles of...

When's the Last Time You Heard a Proper Apology?

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I’m sorry. 
 
How often do you hear those words? I mean hear them applied sincerely. These days, probably not much. 
 
The journalist Ambrose Bierce lived from 1842 to 1914 and in The Devil's Dictionary, he wrote that to apologize was “to lay the foundation for a future offence.” 
 
And isn't that what we constantly see from businesses, celebrities, executives, and more? They're only sorry that they got caught. Because if they were truly sorry, they would have caught the slip-up themselves – not waited until they were outed by the media. 
 
So they offer their meaningless apology, and it typically smooths things over. 
 
For a while. 
 
Until the next time they get caught, doing the same thing over again. 
 
Do we really need apologies? And for those who offer them, what's the art of making a good one? 
 
<h2>
How to Properly Apologize</h2>
As a father with young children, I had to teach them the art of saying sorry. 
 
Do you know what sorry means? Well, of course you understand it intuitively, but how would you simply describe what sorry means to a two or three year-old? Think about that for a moment. 
 
It was an interesting exercise for me as a father.  Here’s how I defined sorry to my kids: when you say sorry it means (a) you didn’t mean to do it and (b) you’ll try not to do it again. 
 
The first part of the phrase is the easy part. It's what we mean when we apologize for bumping into someone, or making a simple error. It's an instinctive proffer. 
 
But the second part – I'll try not to do it again – that's what takes effort. You really have to give that part some thought, and then commit to acting differently the next time. 
 
How often to you say sorry and really mean it? 
 
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“The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them.” </div>
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– P.G. Wodehouse [<a href="https://ctt.ac/7tVc3" target="_blank">tweet this quote</a>]</div>
 
Think about companies that have stepped in it in recent memory. Typically these are companies that have experienced data breaches or that have violated the privacy and trust of their customers – and in many cases have done so intentionally. 
 
Do you think we want apologies for those things? 
 
I'd say yes – but again, it's the second part of the apology that makes all the difference. 
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benjamin_West_-_Cleombrotus_Ordered_into_Banishment_by_Leonidas_II,_King_of_Sparta_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" target="_blank">Cleombrotus Ordered into Banishment by Leonidas II, King of Sparta</a> by Benjamin West, 1768 (Wikimedia Commons, public domain) 
 
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When's the Last Time You Heard a Proper Apology?

I’m sorry. How often do you hear those words? I mean hear them applied sincerely. These days, probably not much. The journalist Ambro...

[Facebook] Data Is the New [Standard] Oil

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You've heard the phrase "data is the new oil," right? 
 
It was <a href="https://www.quora.com/Who-should-get-credit-for-the-quote-data-is-the-new-oil" target="_blank">first used</a> by Clive Humby, a British mathemetician and architect of Tesco’s loyalty program called Clubcard, in 2006. He said, "It’s valuable, but if unrefined it cannot really be used." 
 
The phrase has been repeated many times since 2006, and most recently, many pundits have taken exception to it. The primary objection is that data is not scarce or in danger of running out, like oil is. In fact, there's a glut of data. 
 
But let's pause for a moment to reflect on old oil. Or, put in another way, the origins of Big Oil. 
 
In America, we have a strange way of treating celebrities, whether their business is industrial, tech, or entertainment. We don't have a monarchy in the States, but celebrities are the closest thing we have to royalty. 
 
We consider them, their children, and those who associate with them, as larger than life. And we've certainly been treated to a whole wave of news recently that indicates that they've got just as many flaws and foibles as mere mortals. Perhaps more. 
 
In the late 19th and early 20th century, we didn't have kings, but we had captains of industry. Names that are now legendary, many of whom made their mark in their respective industry. Astors, Vanderbilts, Morgans, Carnegies, and Fords were known for furs and real estate, railroads, banking, steel, and automobiles, respectively. For the most part, their names became part of their institutions. 
 
But there was one other name that became syonymous with "the rich." John D. Rockefeller. Modern citizens will of course connect his name with Rockfeller Center in New York City, but over the last 75 years or so, his business empire has become increasingly obscured. His company, Standard Oil, was broken up, and you probably know some of the companies that sprung from it: ExxonMobil, Chevron, Sunoco, BP, Marathon. Some of the biggest names in the oil and gas industry. 
 
For decades, Rockefeller ran Standard Oil with a tight grip. From his boyhood in rural New York, he was taught to be careful with money. He had to. His own father was a con man who often cheated his children out of their money. His mother was the thrifty one, and she impressed this upon him: 
 
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"Willful waste makes woeful want." </div>
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— Proverb</div>
 
He had an entrepreneur's spirit, being careful with his resources and tracking his income and his spending. 
 
When he founded Standard Oil, he was deeply involved in its operations and finances, and remained so for most of his time in the executive suite. When an enterprising journalist by the name of Ida Tarbell came along, she did what no one else had done: she exposed Rockefeller's methods of doing business that made it possible for Standard Oil to corner 90 percent of the oil market. 
 
Her methods — now known as investigative journalism — exposed business practices that helped to hone and redefine anti-trust laws for the 20th century. From colluding with railroad companies on rates to end-to-end ownership of the oil industry, and an eventual business structure that rolled all of the divisions up to the Standard Oil Trust, Rockfeller did everything he could to dominate the buinesss. 
 
He was ultimately known as "the single most important figure shaping the oil industry." 
 
That sounds remarkably like Mark Zuckerberg and the social network industry. 
 
Let's compare Facebook to Standard Oil: 
 
<table class="wdn_responsive_table flush-left" id="t416656"><caption></caption> <thead>
<tr> <th colspan="1" id="t416656_row_0col_0">Standard Oil</th> <th colspan="1" id="t416656_row_0col_1">Facebook</th> </tr>
</thead> <tbody>
<tr> <td colspan="1" data-header="Standard Oil" headers="t416656_row_0col_0">• Made backdoor deals with railroads</td> <td colspan="1" data-header="Facebook" headers="t416656_row_0col_1">• Made backdoor deals with apps for data</td> </tr>
<tr> <td colspan="1" data-header="Standard Oil" headers="t416656_row_0col_0">• Was criticized over price-fixing </td> <td colspan="1" data-header="Facebook" headers="t416656_row_0col_1">• Was criticized over privacy issues</td> </tr>
<tr> <td colspan="1" data-header="Standard Oil" headers="t416656_row_0col_0">• Complete vertical integration: drilling, refining, distribution</td> <td colspan="1" data-header="Facebook" headers="t416656_row_0col_1">• Control over distribution and holds power over publishers/media</td> </tr>
<tr> <td colspan="1" data-header="Standard Oil" headers="t416656_row_0col_0">• Consolidation of 34 entities within Standard Oil Trust</td> <td colspan="1" data-header="Facebook" headers="t416656_row_0col_1">• Consolidation of messaging apps: Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger</td> </tr>
<tr> <td colspan="1" data-header="Standard Oil" headers="t416656_row_0col_0">• Grew by acquisition</td> <td colspan="1" data-header="Facebook" headers="t416656_row_0col_1">• Facebook has acquired 79 companies</td> </tr>
<tr> <td colspan="1" data-header="Standard Oil" headers="t416656_row_0col_0">• Insider deals for shipping rates locked out and strangled those Rockfeller wanted to defeat</td> <td colspan="1" data-header="Facebook" headers="t416656_row_0col_1">• After Snapchat refused Facebook's acquisition offer, Facebook simply copied many of Snapchat features in Instagram as revenge</td> </tr>
</tbody> </table>
 
But is the call to break up Facebook a realistic one? Size alone is not a crime. Recall a previous post in which I mentioned how <a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2018/11/dont-stop-innovating-because-youre-big.html" target="_blank">the "Big" descriptor is automatically — and sometimes incorrectly —  seen as evil</a>. 
 
The two giants have done their part to improve our collective experience, and their founders are also known for their philanthropy. Facebook provides a service that has made the world a more connected place, allowed families to stay in touch, old schoolmates to reconnect, and the like. Just as the Standard Oil Trust "made notable strides in improving kerosene, developing by-products, and reducing the cost of packaging, transporting, and distributing petroleum products worldwide." (Chernow, Ron. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. New York: Random House, 1998. p. 228) 
 
That doesn't mean we shouldn't be concerned, or that their charity washes away the negative. Facebook's (and Google's and Amazon's…) control over so much data gives them extraordinary power. But if we're using anti-trust standards from 100 years ago, we're using outdated modes of thinking. Breaking them up either reduces the network effect that makes them useful, or it simply rearranges things like Standard Oil's 34 subsidiaries did. 
 
It's painful to say, but better scrutiny should have been applied by regulatory authorities upon the announcement of acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The purchase prices alone should have indicated there was something up. 
 
Regulators and trust-busters need to become more data-savvy, just as those of over 100 years ago had to try to get ahead of one of the most able business minds in American history. 
 
Theodore Roosevelt, the leading proponent of trust-busting, had this to say in 1895: 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Too much cannot be said against the men of wealth who sacrifice everything to getting wealth. There is not in the world a more ignoble character than the mere money-getting American, insensible to every duty, regardless of every principle, bent only on amassing a fortune, and putting his fortune only to the basest uses —whether these uses be to speculate in stocks and wreck railroads himself, or to allow his son to lead a life of foolish and expensive idleness and gross debauchery, or to purchase some scoundrel of high social position, foreign or native, for his daughter. Such a man is only the more dangerous if he occasionally does some deed like founding a college or endowing a church, which makes those good people who are also foolish forget his real iniquity. These men are equally careless of the working men, whom they oppress, and of the State, whose existence they imperil. There are not very many of them, but there is a very great number of men who approach more or less closely to the type, and, just in so far as they do so approach, they are curses to the country."</blockquote>
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True in 1895. True today.</div>
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Libro_Los_Viejos_Abuelos_Foto_68.png">Man at the Crossroads</a> by Diego Rivera (via Gumr51 <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, Wikimedia Commons)

[Facebook] Data Is the New [Standard] Oil

Listen to this commentary You've heard the phrase "data is the new oil," right? It was first used by Clive Humby , a...

Our Post-Privacy Fate

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Mark Zuckerberg's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/a-privacy-focused-vision-for-social-networking/10156700570096634/" target="_blank">announcement</a> last week that Facebook is throwing its efforts into private, encrypted messaging should have rung alarm bells, despite his plaintive concerns <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-interview-privacy-pivot/" target="_blank">about safety</a>. More on safety in a moment. 
 
First, it's worth pointing out that the move itself — putting more focus on private messages — is one of self-preservation, pure and simple. It's a move to control the platform where users are and to defend itself against a potential break-up. 
 
<h2>
Control</h2>
When a CEO pens a 3,200 word manifesto-cum-business strategy, it's not a knee-jerk reaction to something happening in the news. You can guarantee that this is something that's been discussed in board meetings and strategic planning sessions. 
 
Facebook sees user growth numbers before any of us. And they naturally want to shield any negative news for as long as possible. But Edison Research did its own independent research and found that <a href="https://www.edisonresearch.com/facebook-declines-first-time-infinite-dial-history/" target="_blank">the number of Facebook users was shrinking</a> from 2017 to 2018. We know that Facebook was continuing to see growth from Instagram, one of its other properties. 
 
So what's Facebook to do? Since we're seeing more people flee the always-public updates and seek out more intimate, private places (Facebook Groups, Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, and critically, SMS), Facebook is <a href="https://www.convinceandconvert.com/digital-marketing/facebook-messaging-push-privacy/" target="_blank">positioning itself to own private chat</a>. 
 
In some ways, it's amazing that it took us this long to get here. It's been about a decade of major public adoption of public social networks. And look what it's gotten us: contentious debates, irredeemable trolls, duplicitous bots, and misinformation. It's the exact opposite of what's needed. 
 
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"Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting men free from men."</div>
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— Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead</div>
 
While not explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution, <a href="https://www.livescience.com/37398-right-to-privacy.html" target="_blank">privacy is a fundamental right</a> that flows throughout a number of Amendments. And despite Facebook's seemingly magnanimous pivot to privacy, there are causes for concern. 
 
In <a href="https://www.convinceandconvert.com/digital-marketing/facebook-messaging-push-privacy/" target="_blank">a must-read essay</a>, Jay Baer lays out that Facebook's move is all about controlling the communications platform of the future. They have the critical volume: roughly 30 percent of the world's population is on one of Facebook's platforms. 
 
And by merging the four of them together, Facebook will then have a super-platform that will control the flow of private messages, integrate commerce, and distribute advertising. 
 
It's unparalleled in scope. 
 
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<h2>
Protect the Firm</h2>
At nearly the same time that Facebook published its new strategy, Senator Elizabeth Warren published her own position — a rather wide-reaching and sometimes incorrect one — on <a href="https://medium.com/@teamwarren/heres-how-we-can-break-up-big-tech-9ad9e0da324c" target="_blank">the need to break up Big Tech</a>. Ben Thompson, as usual, has <a href="https://stratechery.com/2019/where-warrens-wrong/" target="_blank">thought about this deeply over on Stratechery</a> and deserves a careful read. 
 
But Facebook's move in advance of any regulatory crackdown, in addition to positioning the company as an unstoppable communications juggernaut, also accomplishes something else. By <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/25/18197228/facebook-instagram-whatsapp-merge-messaging-services-mark-zuckerberg" target="_blank">merging the infrastructure of Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger</a>, it makes it more difficult to extract them from each other, should the government call for a break-up of Facebook. 
 
Just as Zuckerberg said it's <a href="https://www.recode.net/2019/2/20/18233640/mark-zuckerberg-explains-ad-free-facebook" target="_blank">nearly impossible to make an ad-free version</a> of Facebook, he might make the case that it would be too difficult to separate the messaging systems from one another. So merging the three in advance of regulatory oversight could be a way to protect the firm. 
 
As an aside, it's worth checking out Planet Money's three-part series on anti-trust matters: <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/02/15/695131832/antitrust-1-standard-oil" target="_blank">Standard Oil</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/02/20/696342011/antitrust-2-the-paradox" target="_blank">The Paradox</a>, and <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/02/22/697170790/antitrust-3-big-tech" target="_blank">Big Tech</a>. 
 
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<h2>
A Word About 'Safety'</h2>
Facebook says that it will protect our data in encrypted messages, which will lead to a safer experience on Facebook. There's no question that such moves will protect our data. But what's been happening on the platform in recent years regarding the spread of misinformation and fake news (real fake news, not the kind of news that reflects poorly on a world leader) demands more attention. 
 
We need our minds and our sensibilities protected from malignant forces, not just our data. 
 
In this regard, there's no evidence that private conversations will yield more safety. In fact, the opposite may be true: it will drive hate speech, misinformation campaigns, and other dangerous movements underground. It's a potentially insidious development. 
 
If anything, we need better monitoring of the very public systems we already have in place before doubling down on giving them more life elsewhere. 
 
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"Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman."</div>
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— Louis D. Brandeis</div>
 
Lest you think that Facebook is making any of these moves for the benefit of society, recall that the company has had every opportunity to do the right thing, to build trust, to develop its own set of standards and ethics before being called out. And at every turn, the company has failed to do so. 
 
How can we reasonably expect this time to be any different? 
 
 
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Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Mallord_William_Turner_-_The_Decline_of_the_Carthaginian_Empire_-_WGA23169.jpg" target="_blank">The Decline of the Carthaginian Empire</a> by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1817 (Wikimedia Commons - public domain)

Our Post-Privacy Fate

Mark Zuckerberg's announcement last week that Facebook is throwing its efforts into private, encrypted messaging should have rung al...

The Secret of Good Futurists

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<a href="https://soundcloud.com/fullmontyshow/the-futility-of-uninformed" target="_blank">Listen to this commentary</a></div>
 
We all know the tragic story of the Titanic. It's a story that could have written itself: the largest moving object in the world, the most technologically advanced ship ever, and man's hubris flying in the face of God and nature. 
 
The novel Futility by Morgan Robertson picked up on these very themes. Robertson chronicled all of the workings of the ship: 
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"She was the largest craft afloat and the greatest of the works of men. In her construction and maintenance were involved every science, profession, and trade known to civilization. On the bridge were officers…being the pick of the Royal Navy. The same professional standard applied to the personnel of the engine-room, and the steward's department was equal to that of a first-class hotel. 
 
"The bridge, engine room, and a dozen places on her deck the 92 doors of nineteen water-tight compartments could be closed in half a minute by turning a lever. These doors would also close automatically in the presence of water. With nine compartments flooded the ship would still float, and…this steamship was considered practically unsinkable."</blockquote>
He got all of the ship's stats right, or nearly right, as well: 800 feet long, 75,000 horsepower, and on her trial trip had steamed at a rate of 25 knots an hour. 
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"Unsinkable—indestructible, she carried as few boats as would satisfy the laws. These, twenty-four in number were securely covered and lashed down to their chocks on the upper deck, and if launched would hold 500 people. She carried no useless, cumbersome liferafts; but—because the law required it—each of the 3,000 berths in the passengers', officers', and crew's quarters contained a cork jacket, while about twenty circular lifebuoys were strewn along the rails."</blockquote>
 
You know how it ends. The ship, on its way from Southampton to New York, collides with an iceberg in the middle of the North Atlantic one starry April night. It then sinks with thousands of souls aboard. It's a morality tale we've all heard, rich in irony and steeped in tragedy. 
 
Only Robertson's book wasn't an eyewitness account of the sinking of the Titanic. His book, Futility, was originally titled <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Wreck_of_the_Titan.html?id=XUcLAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility</a>. 
 
No, he didn't get the ship's name wrong. You see, he wrote his tragic novel predicting the advances of transporation and warning of the inadequacies of maritime regulations — about a fictional ship called the Titan — nearly identical in every way to the Titanic. 
 
He wrote this book in 1898. A full fourteen years before the Titanic set sail. 
 
<h2>
Making Informed Predictions</h2>
After the Titanic's sinking, some people credited Morgan Robertson with clairvoyance. Robertson denied this, claiming that the similarities were explained by his extensive knowledge of shipbuilding and maritime trends. 
 
Imagine if the Titanic's shipbuilders Harland and Wolff, its owners the White Star Line, or its captain Edward J. Smith had been aware of Robertson's book. Or if they simply heeded his warnings, rather than thinking they had all the answers. 
 
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"My dear fellow, fellow,” said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, “life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the roofs, and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and unprofitable.” – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ("The Greek Interpreter")</blockquote>
 
That's Sherlock Holmes's way of saying truth is stranger than fiction. And in many ways it is — or can be. 
 
There are so many stories from our collective history — stories of victory and vanquish, of happiness and hopelessness, and of comedy and calamity — that we don't really need to go out of our way to find them or create them. 
 
"Ripped from the headlines" is an old trope in popular culture. It's most frequently used in the multiple Law and Order shows on TV. It's not only an easier task for the writers, but it also lends credibility to the plot, as we're more likely to connect emotionally with a subject or characters if we believe it could happen to us or someone we know. 
 
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 “The old wheel turns, and the same spoke comes up. It’s all been done before, and will be again.”</div>
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– Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (The Valley of Fear)</div>
 
Sherlock Holmes made it his business to study crimes of the past, and Scotland Yard sought his consulting skills because of the work he put in to learn his craft: 
 
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"When these fellows are at fault they come to me, and I manage to put them on the right scent. They lay all the evidence before me, and I am generally able, by the help of my knowledge of the history of crime, to set them straight. There is a strong family resemblance about misdeeds, and if you have all the details of a thousand at your finger ends, it is odd if you can’t unravel the thousand and first." – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (A Study in Scarlet)</blockquote>
 
It would behoove us to study not only business and marketing successes of the past, but to consume some of the <a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2019/03/the-seeds-of-time.html" target="_blank">Great Books</a> to understand human nature and motivations, and to save ourselves some time. 
 
While we may think that the use of Snapchat, Instagram or artificial intelligence puts us at an distinct advantage from any of the leaders who came before us, we should see how we might benefit from their mistakes or successes. Leading with hubris and willful ignorance isn't a good look. 
 
Just ask Captain Smith how that worked out for him. 
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander_Consulting_the_Oracle_of_Apollo,_Louis_Jean_Francois_Lagren%C3%A9e.jpg">Alexander Consulting the Oracle of Apollo</a> by Louis Jean Francois Lagrenée, 1789 (Wikimedia Commons - public domain)

The Secret of Good Futurists

Listen to this commentary We all know the tragic story of the Titanic . It's a story that could have written itself: the largest ...

The Seeds of Time

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We're all racing toward the future at the same rate. 
 
No matter what happens, nor when it happens, we'll all experience it at the same time. 
 
We do want to reach certain solutions before our competition, and increasingly as quickly as customers demand it. Which is why so many companies are racing toward digital transformation. 
 
You've probably heard a CEO use this quote to motivate employees to think ahead: 
 
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"Skate to where the puck is going, not to where it has been."</div>
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— Wayne Gretzky</div>
 
Not only is it trite and a cliche, but it's flawed. And we should stop throwing it around so freely. 
 
The problem in business is that the future isn't a sure thing. Futurists are good at flagging big trends, but customers aren't necessarily on the same path. We don't know how things are going to turn out. As the saying goes, "Where's my flying car?" 
 
In Act 1 Scene 3 of Macbeth, the two generals Macbeth and Banquo visit the three witches, who are gifted with the power of foresight. Banquo requests of them: 
 
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"If you can look into the seeds of time</div>
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And say which grain will grow and which will not,</div>
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Speak, then, to me."</div>
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— William Shakespeare</div>
 
 Most of us aren't witches. And none of us has the power to accurately predict what will happen in the future. 
 
However, we do have the power to look into the past, which in turn helps us understand human nature, motivations, and decisions made by leaders who may have been in comparable circumstances. 
 
In 1952, the publishers of the Encyclopedia Britannica put together a collection of works called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Books_of_the_Western_World" target="_blank">Great Books of the Western World</a> in a 54-volume set. The idea is that there are certain works in the canon of western culture that deserve exploring. This is referred to as the Great Conversation, or the ongoing process of writers and thinkers referencing, building on, and refining the work of their predecessors. 
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"We want them heard again—not because we want to go back to antiquity, or the Middle Ages, or the Renaissance, or the Eighteenth Century. We are quite aware that we do not live in any time but the present, and, distressing as the present is, we would not care to live in any other time if we could. We want the voices of the Great Conversation to be heard again because we think they may help us learn to live better now." [Emphasis mine - ed.] ("Preface," The Great Conversation, Great Books of the Western World Vol. 1, p. xii)</blockquote>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Great Books</td></tr>
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This may seem academic or esoteric, but when it comes to business, we're dealing with psychology and behavioral economics. In other words, we need to understand human nature, decision making, persuasion, storytelling, and other related factors that can all be found in such Great Books. 
 
It doesn't matter what your customers have read, because they'll act according to human nature, which is timeless and universal. History is replete with examples. 
 
All we have to do is study the past if we want to predict the future. Are you with me? 
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MacbethAndBanquo-Witches.jpg" target="_blank">Macbeth and Banquo Meeting the Witches on the Heat</a>h by Théodore Chassériau, 1855 (Wikimedia Commons - public domain)

The Seeds of Time

We're all racing toward the future at the same rate. No matter what happens, nor when it happens, we'll all experience it at th...

Shortcut to Success: Learning from the Mistakes of Others

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<a href="https://soundcloud.com/fullmontyshow/episode-66-clio-and-the" target="_blank">Listen to this commentary</a></div>
 
We can find inspiration in many places, if we take the time to look around. <a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2018/08/what-ceos-do-that-set-them-apart.html" target="_blank">Curiosity</a> is one of the greatest assets that any leader can have — it causes us to question things, find connections, and constantly ask "why?" 
 
Anyone who takes the time to study history or read the great works of literature and philosophy from our past shares that trait. Which brings me to what recently inspired me. 
 
I was a classics major. And as a result, I'm always thinking about history, literature, and philosophy — from the ancient to the more recent (let's say mid-20th century) — particularly with respect to business and the world we live in today. 
 
Everyone has heard of the Muses of Greek mythology: the 9 daughters of Zeus who were inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They are considered the source of the knowledge embodied in poetry, lyric songs, and myths. You've undoubtedly heard some of their names before: Terpsichore, Euterpe, Clio, Calliope. Some of these names have been used to describe objects or even brands — the Clio Awards in advertising, for example. 
 
In particular, I was inspired by Clio, the muse of history. Her name means "to make famous" and she is often depicted as holding a book or a scroll, and a horn. History is around us every day — either visibly or through the resulting course of events that have followed. 
 
You've probably frequently walked by statues, bas reliefs over doorways, brass plaques on the sides of buildings  without pausing to acknowledge them. And you're using devices every day that are due to the early and diligent work of people like Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, or Henry Ford. 
 
If you visit the United States Capitol, there in the National Statuary Hall —which used to be where the House of Representatives met — over the doorway you'll find a sculpture of Clio riding winged chariot called <a href="https://www.aoc.gov/blog/car-of-history" target="_blank">The Car of History</a>, created by Carlo Franzioni. She's recording history in her book, as a reminder to all in that room that they were part of history and their actions and words mattered. 
 
But how often do you pause to look at works of art like this, or consider events of the past, or read of the lives and challenges of great men and women? 
 
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"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for."</div>
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 – Socrates (<a href="https://ctt.ac/rce27" target="_blank">tweet this</a>)</div>
 
We seem to be too busy focusing on what's right in front of us, being distraced by notifications and more content online than we can read in 100 lifetimes. And yet, there's this wealth of wisdom just sitting there on shelves, waiting for us to uncover it. 
 
The problem, according to distinguished historian David McCullough, is that we live our lives like a digital watch. In his speech "Simon Willard's Clock" in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/American-Spirit-Who-What-Stand/dp/1501174215/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+American+Spirit&qid=1551372884&s=gateway&sr=8-1" target="_blank">The American Spirit</a>, he explains: 
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"I have decided that the digital watch is the perfect symbol of an imbalance in outlook in our day. It tells us only the time it is now, at this instant, as if that were all anyone would wish or need to know." </blockquote>
 
<h2>
Hubris and History</h2>
Everyone's got a story. We've gotten where we are because of a series of events that have happened to us and that we have caused to happen. In that sense, where you are right now — in your career, with your family and friends — everything has a context to it. 
 
And yet we tackle problems with great hubris, as if we're the first ones to discover fire. There's rarely a thought to what we can learn from the people who preceded us, as if they weren't quite as savvy or advanced as we are. That's arrogant and ignorant. There's so much we can learn from the past. 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
"The farther you look back, the farther you can look ahead." </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
– Henry Ford (<a href="https://ctt.ac/C4ds7" target="_blank">tweet this</a>)</div>
 
To give this some context, recall that I previously discussed <a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2018/10/the-future-has-already-been-here.html" target="_blank">the warnings of Dr. Conrad Gessner</a> regarding humanity being overrun with too much information. If you haven't heard that episode or read the essay, I won't spoil it — go back and <a href="https://smonty.co/fullmonty49" target="_blank">take a listen</a>. 
 
But going back to David McCullough's digital watch analogy, he said it only shows us what time it is now, as if that's all we would wish or need to know. Certainly the Apple Watch can tell us much more, but it's designed to keep us rooted to the present: our heart rate, text messages, news updates, and the like. 
 
McCullough points out that Clio's Car of History also includes a clock: 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Its inner workings, cut freehand by Simon Willard, ticked off the minutes and hours through debate over the Gag Rule, the annexation of Texas, the Mexican War, tariffs, postal service, the establishment of the Naval Academy, statehood for Arkansas, Michigan and Wisconsin…and the final hours of John Quincy Adams. 
 
"It is also a clock with two hands and an old-fashioned face, the kind that shows what time it is now . . . what time it used to be . . . and what time it will become."</blockquote>
 
Whether it's customer experience, launching or marketing a new product, digital transformation, team motivation or other modern challenges, we owe it to ourselves to learn about the past to inform the present and shape the future. 
 
After all, isn't it better to learn from someone else's mistakes? 
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Johann_Heinrich_Tischbein_-_The_Nine_Muses_-_Clio_(History),_1780.jpg" target="_blank">The Nine Muses - Clio (History)</a> by Johann Heinrich Tischbein, 1780 (Wikimedia Commons - public domain)

Shortcut to Success: Learning from the Mistakes of Others

Listen to this commentary We can find inspiration in many places, if we take the time to look around. Curiosity is one of the great...

The Wolf Among Us

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The decisions you make today will be with you for years. 
 
We often determine how we'll handle a project, a product launch, or an event as part of a set of annual or quarterly initiatives. We're driven by immediate needs to show results, whether it's to our boss, a client, or investors. 
 
And in the heat of those moments, as we're pressured to deliver according to schedule, we may miss longer-term implications because of short-term needs. 
 
A case in point is Facebook, which is back in the news, due to the Cambridge Analytica data dust-up and the U.K.'s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee. At issue is not only Facebook's questionable decisions about its data policy in past years, but how Facebook representatives "<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook-misled-parliament-on-data-misuse-u-k-committee-says/?utm_source=TheFullMonty">deliberately misled</a>" the committee in testimony late last year. 
 
The committee was so outraged with Facebook that they considered social network to be skirting along the criminal world: “Companies like Facebook should not be allowed to behave like ‘digital gangsters’ in the online world, considering themselves to be <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/17/uk-parliament-calls-for-antitrust-data-abuse-probe-of-facebook/?utm_source=TheFullMonty">ahead of and beyond the law</a>.” 
 
Even if we can forgive Facebook's decisions in the years leading up to the election and chalk it up as lack of foresight or a result of a lack of coordination internally, it's getting more difficult to overlook the transgressions above. The leadership has been given ample opportunities to come clean, and at every turn, they're guided by their <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/technology/facebook-data-russia-election-racism.html?utm_source=TheFullMonty">moral compass</a>, which is expressed through a series of delays, denials, and deflections. 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
“And those that deceive upon hope of not being observed do commonly deceive themselves, the darkness in which they believe they lie hidden being nothing else but their own blindness and are no wiser than children that think all hid by hiding their eyes.” </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
– Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan</div>
 
Even as Mark Zuckerberg continually expressed his idealistic desire to make the world a more connected place, the constant hunger for data and profits drove the company forward, ethics be damned. 
 
This kind of "culture creep" occurs when an original vision is blurred while day-to-day operations consume what people think about and do. The urgent becomes the essential, and can usurp even the most aspirational and high-minded mission in an effort to satisfy different stakeholders. 
 
An internal group at Facebook called the Analog Research Lab (ARL) is trying to boost morale and provide evidence of a larger meaning of employees' work at Facebook. But even they're having trouble <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90308216/want-a-glimpse-of-facebooks-soul-in-2019-look-at-its-internal-propaganda-lab" target="_blank">staying true to the mission</a>: “There’s a push-and-pull to doing the right thing, and doing the right thing when you have a lot of different things pulling at you is a really difficult task.” 
 
Well, no. If the things pulling at you are all driving in the same direction, and your company's culture is aligned around the same vision, doing the right thing should be no more difficult than putting on your shoes in the morning. 
 
If, instead, you're finding that you're being pulled in different ethical directions, then you need to make a decision on what matters most to you. 
 
It's perfectly illustrated with this old Native American folktale: 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
An old man spoke to his grandson: "Inside everyone there is a battle between two wolves. One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, inferiority, lies, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, and truth." 
 
The boy thought for a moment. Then he asked, "Which wolf wins?" 
 
A moment of silence passed before the old man replied. And then he said, "The one you feed."</blockquote>
 
Management guru Peter Drucker once said that culture eats strategy for breakfast. Well, Facebook's culture continues to cast a shadow over its strategy. Or perhaps it's a perfect reflection of it. 
 
When your company's culture pulls you so firmly in one direction that your strategy is compromised, then it's time to take another look at each. 
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oudry_wolf_%26_lamb.JPG" target="_blank">The Wolf and the Lamb</a> by Jean-Baptiste Oudry (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

The Wolf Among Us

The decisions you make today will be with you for years. We often determine how we'll handle a project, a product launch, or an eve...

Rumpole, Diogenes, and Authenticity

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<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/578638671&color=%23ef773c&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe> 
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/fullmontyshow/episode-65-the-purple-tutu" target="_blank">Listen to this article</a>. 
 
One of the most peculiar figures of ancient Greece was Diogenes of Sinope, the Cynic philosopher. He believed in living his values, rather than simply talking about them. 
 
Diogenes made it his life's mission to challenge established norms or customs. While his father minted coins for a living, Diogenes completely rejected that and made poverty a virtue. He spent his days in the marketplace, living in a tub or barrel, wandering the streets with a lantern in the daytime, saying that he was looking for an honest man. 
 
He didn't care what others thought of him; he lived as a preached. Even when Alexander—as in Alexander the Great—met him and asked if he could do anything for him, Diogenes responded with, "Yeah, move. You're blocking my sunlight." 
 
To him, it didn't matter whether Alexander was a king or a pauper; Diogenes treated everyone the same. There's something to that kind of free and easy and unconcerned attitude that we can all relate to. But can we put it to practice in our work? That's the challenge. 
 
In recent weeks, I've spent time talking about <a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2019/02/a-little-transparency-please.html" target="_blank">transparency</a> and <a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2019/02/culture-character-etiquette-and.html" target="_blank">reputation</a>. We know there's a balance that works for your brand. At the intersection of those is authenticity. And a purple tutu. 
 
<h2>
A Lesson from the Old Bailey</h2>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumpole_of_the_Bailey" target="_blank">Horace Rumpole</a> is a portly, curmudgeonly British criminal barrister who never pleads guilty, lives on his wits, cheap red wine (Château Thames Embankment) and small smelly cigars, and refers to his wife Hilda as "She Who Must Be Obeyed." 
 
In the short story "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rumpole-Carte-John-Mortimer/dp/0670832847/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=rumpole+a+la+carte&qid=1550725253&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull" target="_blank">Rumpole a la Carte</a>," we find Hilda angry with Rumpole because of the way he behaved at a fancy restaurant, and the years of dealing with Rumpole's idiosyncracies have pushed She Who Must to the tipping point. 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
 Hilda looked at me, weighed up the evidence and summed up, not entirely in my favour. “I don’t think you’ve made that terrible fuss because of what you thought about the commercial law,“ she said. “You did it because you have to be a 'character' don’t you? Wherever you go. Well, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to put up with your 'character' much longer.“ 
 “You have to be one all the time, don’t you?” She was clearly getting into her stride. “With your cigar ash and steak and kidney and Pommeroys Ordinary Red and your arguments. Always arguments! Why do you have to go on arguing, Rumpole?” 
 
 “Arguing? It’s been my life, Hilda," I tried to explain. 
 
 “Well, it’s not mine! Not anymore.“ 
 
 On the way to my place of work I spent an uncomfortable quarter of an hour thinking over what she who must be obeyed had said about me having to be a “character”. It seemed unfair charge. I drank Château Thames Embankment because it’s all I can afford. It keeps me regular and blots out certain painful memories, such as a bad day in court in front of Judge Graves, an old darling who undoubtedly passes ice water every time he goes to the Gents. I enjoy the fragrance of a small cigar. I relish an argument. This is the way of life I have chosen. I don’t have to do any of these things in order to be a character. Do I?</blockquote>
[If you like Rumpole, you can find <a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5v2nu7" target="_blank">a video of the story above here</a>.] 
 
 
Just like Diogenes, Rumpole is unapologetically himself. He has a credo—a brand—and he is consistent no matter the situation. 
 
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"No man can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true."  </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
– Nathaniel Hawthorne (<a href="https://ctt.ac/56QWa" target="_blank">tweet this</a>)</div>
 
 
<h2>
Authenticity in my Inbox</h2>
I recently checked the email notifications I got from the neighborhood social network Nextdoor. It was the usual set of complaints and announcements: a stray dog, someone needs a house cleaner, school registration, et cetera. 
 
But then, right there in the middle was the subject line: "Purple tutu." 
 
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Now, if that didn't get my attention, nothing ever would. I clicked on it and saw that Mona was asking where should could buy a purple tutu locally. While no one had a definitive answer for her, it was one of the most clicked on messages on the platform. Because Mona's question was so different from the usual groans and bleatings of Nextdoor. 
 
The lesson is to stand out. But stand out for being you, not just for the sake of standing out. Or, as W.H. Auden put it: 
 
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“Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about.”</div>
 
 
Authenticity is the true you – if you act the same way you think. People can tell when you're faking it. Why spend time trying to fit in with others when you can simply telegraph your own values, ideas, and personality to the world? 
 
Like Rumpole, you don't need to be a character. You need to have character. (<a href="https://ctt.ac/45kSd" target="_blank">tweet this</a>) 
 
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 </div>

Rumpole, Diogenes, and Authenticity

Listen to this article . One of the most peculiar figures of ancient Greece was Diogenes of Sinope, the Cynic philosopher. He believed...

Universal Specific

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Presidents' Day in the U.S. is a weird holiday. It's supposed to be an official federal holiday, but some businesses were open, some were closed. 
 
It used to be that we celebrated Lincoln's birthday on February 12th and Washington's birthday on the 22nd. It grew out of simply celebrating the birthday of our first president. 
 
But now it's supposed to honor all of the presidents. 
 
This is akin to businesses that constantly advertise their items as "on sale" or urgently announce that they're having a "Going Out of Business Sale." I'm looking at you, <a href="https://www.quora.com/Why-are-Oriental-rug-stores-always-having-going-out-of-business-sales" target="_blank">Oriental rug stores</a>. 
 
Or more recently, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/15/business/payless-closing-stores-bankrupt/?utm_source=TheFullMonty" target="_blank">Payless</a>, who are liquidating all 2,100 of their stores. Their only differentiator is that they sold cheap shoes. Well, there's always going to be someone who can undercut you on price. And when you're celebrating your low prices every day, a 40% off sale isn't really that newsworthy. 
 
Or, to put it in another context: it's the participation trophy—when every kid on the team gets a trophy just for playing rather than for achieving something. 
 
How can you celebrate specific and unique things if you're always celebrating? 
 
If we apply this principle to content marketing, the advice would be to scale back on the the sheer volume of content and instead focus on putting out fewer, more memorable or emotionally-driven pieces. 
 
That's the crux of the issue with Presidents' Day. We're losing the reason we honored Washington (and Lincoln) in the first place. It just seems so generic now. 
 
Pardon me if I don't break out the cupcakes for James K. Polk or Millard Fillmore.

Universal Specific

Presidents' Day in the U.S. is a weird holiday. It's supposed to be an official federal holiday, but some businesses were open, s...

Culture, Character, Etiquette, and Reputation

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[Editor's note: you can <a href="https://soundcloud.com/fullmontyshow/episode-64-reputation-is">listen to this article here</a>]</div>
 
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/574564134&color=0c69a5" width="100%"></iframe> 
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There's nothing quite like the feeling of fitting in. 
 
And when you're from an upper class family, it's not only preferred, it's required. 
 
That's precisely the world that Emily Price knew. Born in Baltimore in 1872, Emily came from a family with roots in the United States going back as far as the Mayflower. Her mother was a product of a coal empire, and her father was a successful and ambitious architect who moved them to New York, where he designed skyscrapers in the city and the stone-gated Tuxedo Park, a country escape for the rich. 
 
Miss Price was the portrait of the Gilded Age: attractive, regal, and indulged. She knew only the world of cotillions, Astors, Morgans, and country "cottages" that were more mansions than quaint bungalows. As was proscribed for her type, she met Edwin, a prominent banker, at a ball at a mansion on Fifth Avenue. They married in 1892 and honeymooned in Europe for six weeks. 
 
The couple settled in Manhattan, had two boys, and life seemed to go according to plan. Except that Edwin had a secret: he was a serial philanderer and a stock speculator. Emily knew of the infidelities, but because of society at the time, chose to remain married rather than besmirch her reputation with the scandal of divorce. 
 
However, that scandal became a mere trifle next to the one that erupted in 1905: Edwin's "tawdry affairs with chorus girls had left the upper crust man susceptible to blackmail. The scandal broke when Edwin refused to pay off a blackmailer who then made good on his threat to expose Edwin's philandering ways to the world." Edwin didn't have the funds to pay the blackmailer because of his questionable stock deals that left him nearly broke.<a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2019/02/culture-character-etiquette-and.html#1" target="">1</a> 
 
Emily then divorced her husband, weathering the two week public trial that ensued. After that, Edwin was a distant memory, who never warranted a mention and never appeared in her household again. Although Emily always set an extra place at dinner for the rest of her life. According to Emily's  grandson Billy, 
 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"She never once mentioned Edwin in my hearing. Nor did she ever speak of remarrying. I have absolutely no idea whether my grandmother wanted to divorce Edwin or not. What I do know without a doubt is that she did not wish her personal problems to become public, ever."<a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2019/02/culture-character-etiquette-and.html#2" target="">2</a></blockquote>
 
Is it any wonder? For Emily Price, who had to take up some kind of work to keep herself and her two sons at the same level, wrote a series of novels from 1904 to 1910. But her publisher recognized her knowledge and understanding of polite society and suggested that she write about something else -- something that is now synonymous with her name: etiquette. 
 
For Mrs. Edwin Post — Emily — guarded her own reputation so seriously that she was the perfect person to educate us about Etiquette: In Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home. 
 
 
<h2>
The Importance of Reputation in Business</h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
 
"There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
– Oscar Wilde</div>
 
One of the challenges of business is that you want to remain at the forefront of the customer's mind, but you want to be there for the right reasons. At any given moment, you're one crisis away from a tarnished reputation. Just look at Jeff Bezos and AMI right now. 
 
The key is to be consistent in all that you do and all that your brand stands for: online, in person, at retail locations, in print, and by every single employee. If there's any hint of insincerity or false promise in any one of those, all bets are off. 
 
In the very first chapter of Emily Post's Etiquette, she begins by discussing New York. In our case, we can substitute the customer for New York, to get an idea of what standards we need to live up to: 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"New York, more than any city in the world… loves to be amused, thrilled and surprised all at the same time; and will accept with outstretched hand any one who can perform this astounding feat. Do not underestimate the ability that can achieve it: a scintillating wit, an arresting originality, a talent for entertaining that amounts to genius, and gold poured literally like rain, are the least requirements."</blockquote>
 
When she goes on to talk about etiquette, we can just as easily think about the responsibilities of a business or brand as well as an individual, as etiquette is the gateway to reputation: 
 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
 "Etiquette must, if it is to be of more than trifling use, include ethics as well as manners. Certainly what one is, is of far greater importance than what one appears to be. A knowledge of etiquette is of course essential to one’s decent behavior, just as clothing is essential to one’s decent appearance; and precisely as one wears the latter without being self-conscious of having on shoes and perhaps gloves, one who has good manners is equally unself-conscious in the observance of etiquette, the precepts of which must be so thoroughly absorbed as to make their observance a matter of instinct rather than of conscious obedience."</blockquote>
 
People can see through inauthentic behavior. Customers know when you're simply paying them lip service or sharing platitudes online. 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
"Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing." </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
– Abraham Lincoln (<a href="https://ctt.ac/xV9F6" target="_blank">click to tweet</a>)</div>
 
In business, your character is your corporate culture. It defines everything that you and your employees do, whether you realize it or not. Your customer experience and customer service speak volumes about your culture. And that in turn defines your reputation. 
 
In the end, if you build a culture of decency, integrity, honor, and kindness, it will determine the employees and customers you attract and retain. 
 
And that's not only good etiquette, it's good business. 
 
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/10586">The Valley of Wyoming</a> by Jasper Francis Cropsey, 1865 (The Met, public domain) 
 
Sources: 
<a href="https://draft.blogger.com/null" name="1"></a>1. "Emily Post: Society, Scandal, and Etiquette," <a href="https://owlcation.com/humanities/Emily-Post-Society-Scandal-and-Etiquette" target="_blank">Owlcation</a> 
<a href="https://draft.blogger.com/null" name="2"></a>2. Claridge, Laura. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=2CVfUnnbPE4C&pg=PA178&lpg=PA178&dq=edwin+post+newspaper&source=bl&ots=peT_kEF4tm&sig=ACfU3U3dSFJLjP3_Vxlt1yDZ19RHXKspTg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj539a0_7TgAhWrrIMKHdD5DXUQ6AEwD3oECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=edwin%20post%20newspaper&f=false">Emily Post: Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of American Manners</a>, Random House: New York, 2009, p. 178

Culture, Character, Etiquette, and Reputation

[ Editor's note: you can listen to this article here ] There's nothing quite like the feeling of fitting in. And whe...

How Much Is Your Reputation Worth?

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What does reputation mean to you? 
 
Not your reputation, but the concept of reputation. 
 
It's how you're judged by others, rightly or wrongly. It's the sum of all of your behaviors, as observed over time. 
 
If you enjoy a good reputation, you might be thought of as any of the following: 
 
Reliable. 
Trustworthy. 
Respectable. 
Decent. 
Honorable. 
Esteemed. 
Consistent. 
Predictable. 
Agreeable. 
 
If we wanted to approach reputation as a mathematical equation, it's the sum of your words and actions over time, multiplied by your reach. 
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Note that in the formula, actions are outside of the bracket, because a negative action can result in a damaged reputation. It takes decades to build a good reputation, but it can be destroyed in minutes. 
 
Just look at this quote from Othello, in which Iago talks about the loss of reputation as compared to monetary wealth. When the phrase is centered, the layout perfectly depicts a diminishing reputation, as each line shortens (at least when you're looking at it on a desktop): 
 
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"He who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;</div>
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'Twas mine; 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;</div>
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But he that filches from me my good name</div>
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Robs me of that which not enriches him,</div>
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And makes me poor indeed." </div>
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– William Shakespeare (Othello)</div>
 
 
How much is your reputation worth? Perhaps another way of asking the question is: how much would you give to get a lost reputation back? 
 
Do the math. Then build the culture around it. 
 
 
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Image credit: <a href="http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=20104" target="_blank">Court of Honor, World's Columbian Exposition</a> by John Twachtman, 1893 (The Athenaeum)

How Much Is Your Reputation Worth?

What does reputation mean to you? Not your reputation, but the concept of reputation. It's how you're judged by others, rig...

Embracing the Improbable

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Sherlock Holmes knew a thing or two about analytics. 
 
Sure, he was a master of logic and inductive reasoning. But he had a way of preparing his mind to take in facts, sort them out, and determine what happened. 
 
And so it is that we need to prepare our eyes, ears, and minds — that is, our monitoring tools and our analysis — to understand the true impact of our business efforts. 
 
In Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore, Buttercup is a dockside vendor who boards the ship to sell wares to sailors. She carries with her a long-held secret, and offers this prophesy by way of song: 
 
   Things are seldom what they seem, 
   Skim milk masquerades as cream; 
   Highlows pass as patent leathers; 
   Jackdaws strut in peacock's feathers. 
 — Wm. S. Gilbert, H.M.S. Pinafore 
 
It's a lesson in not trusting our eyes alone. Often times, when presented with something, we'll simply look at what's in front of us or miss it entirely, rather than probing for more information. 
 
In the very first Sherlock Holmes short story, he said, "You see but you do not observe. The distinction is clear." 
 
In that case, he was chiding Dr. Watson for not knowing how many steps led up to their rooms at 221B Baker Street. It's something Watson must have passed hundreds of times, but he never thought to pay attention to how many steps there were as he ascended the staircase to that fabled sitting room. 
 
How many times are we presented with anlaytics or data, but we don't appreciate what they're telling us? We miss the true impact because we're not focused on the right thing. Or perhaps because we're distracted by something else. 
 
In another adventure, Sherlock Holmes finds a wax vesta half burned, which was so coated with mud that it looked at first like a little chip of wood. 
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   “I cannot think how I came to overlook it,” said the Inspector, with an expression of annoyance. 
   “It was invisible, buried in the mud. I only saw it because I was looking for it.”</blockquote>
 
Whether you have an analytics team or you're responsible for looking at business metrics yourself, you need to first understand what it is that matters and what you're looking for to help determine your success. That is, you need to prepare for what's ahead in order to be able to discern the essential from the incidental. 
 
You've heard the phrase "a canary in a coal mine." This is a metaphor for advanced warning of some danger. It originated from the times when miners used to carry caged canaries while at work. If there was any methane or carbon monoxide in the mine, the canary, being smaller and more sensitive to minor changes in the atomosphere, would die before the levels of the gas reached those hazardous to humans. 
 
It's a leading indicator that can help determine a broader impact. Your industry probably has leading indicators as well, from which you can infer other impacts. 
 
For example, when I worked at Ford, we knew that sales of Ford's F-Series trucks were tied to the performance of the U.S. economy overall. The thinking is that since many small business owners and contractors buy the F-Series (the best selling-vehicle in the United States), they're tied to home construction, which in turn is a factor in the economy. 
 
At the same time, what you're not measuring can be more important than what you are measuring. 
 
In another story, Sherlock Holmes had looked over the crime scene, questioned the household staff, and prepared to leave. It was clear that Holmes was onto something, but the local inspector was still baffled. He asked, 
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   “Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?” 
   “To the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime.” 
   “The dog did nothing in the night-time.” 
   “That was the curious incident,” remarked Sherlock Holmes.</blockquote>
 
It's the same concept as a black hole. Scientists can't observe black holes directly. Telescopes that detect x-rays, light, or other forms of electromagnetic radiation can't pick up a black hole. Instead, scientists study the effect of black holes on other matter nearby. Certain movements or absence of something they were expecting can indicate the presence of a black hole. 
 
So, how can you accurately determine the impact of a new product design or customer experience? Certainly by surveying customers and documenting their level of satisfaction before and after the change. The problem that that metric is that it can be biased, as those who are willing to answer might be skewed one way or another. Or they might not disclose their true feelings. But how can you put a dollar value on that? 
 
Another way is to measure what doesn't happen: perhaps there are fewer calls to your customer service department, fewer returns at the store, or a shift of interactions with customers from phone to messenger bots. All of these indicate a change and can result in lower costs. 
 
Analytics aren't always obvious — the indicator of your success might not come directly from your own work, but from the impacts that your work makes elsewhere. 
 
You just need to know where to look. 
 
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Embracing the Improbable

Sherlock Holmes knew a thing or two about analytics. Sure, he was a master of logic and inductive reasoning. But he had a way of prepar...

A Little Transparency, Please

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We know we're experiencing a historic trust deficit. 
 
Why, in an era when personal and corporate secrets can be unraveled with a few lines of code or clicks of the mouse, do we see companies and individuals go out of their way to be misleading or dishonest? 
 
Many companies have committed to being more transparent in their operations and communications. Doing so is clearly in their best interest. It’s one thing for a brand to tell someone what its position is; it’s more convincing to use earned media tell the story on the brand’s behalf. 
 
But the most powerful impact is when a company is confident enough in its process or operations to bring viewers in to see exactly how things are done. It’s the ultimate in show and tell. 
 
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"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom." </div>
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– Thomas Jefferson [<a href="https://ctt.ac/NcfeY" target="_blank">tweet this</a>]</div>
<h2>
Authenticity ≠ Transparency</h2>
Now, a word or two about authenticity with respect to transparency. As we know, transparency the quality of making something easily accessible. But once you’re transparent, are you authentic? Authenticity is the quality of being genuine, and ultimately of being trusted. 
 
Transparency gets your brand attention; authenticity allows your message to be heard and believed. 
 
But being authentic requires a little extra effort. More than just ensuring that access and message are on point, that the video or image or story are crafted just so, brands must ask: who are our messengers? 
 
Fundamentally, brands have three major groups to think about: influencers, advocates and employees. 
 
Influencers, such as bloggers or journalists, have the largest audiences; advocates love the brand and are excited about developments; and employees are the closest to the brand and therefore are able to speak more authoritatively about it. 
 
Time and again, the <a href="https://www.edelman.com/trust-barometer" target="_blank">Edelman Trust Barometer</a> indicates that we trust people like ourselves or third party experts. The above groupings consist of just that. 
 
There are no absolutes. Complete transparency—of the government or of businesses—doesn’t serve anyone well. But done strategically and appropriately, particularly in response to customer concerns, can leave the public better informed and more trusting as a result. 
 
Consider this: sometimes, just the gesture of providing transparency, rather than the transparency itself, is enough to inspire confidence. 
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://www.wikiart.org/en/jean-baptiste-greuze/the-village-bride-1761" target="_blank">The Village Bride</a> by Jean-Baptiste Greuze, 1761 (public domain)

A Little Transparency, Please

We know we're experiencing a historic trust deficit. Why, in an era when personal and corporate secrets can be unraveled with a few...

The Kinds of Interactions That Grow Your Business

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You need a pickle barrel. 
 
Not because you need more fermented vegetables in your life. But because you need more intimate and personal conversations. 
 
I grew up in a small town in Connecticut — the kind with a town green and a white steepled church, population 10,000. And I remember going with my mom or dad to the bank and the post office, and the teller or clerk behind the counter would know them by name. They might even ask how I was doing in school or on my baseball team. 
 
It seems like a data-driven fantasy now, but those were the days when you didn't need three forms of ID to pick up your mail or make a withdrawal. It was simply the way business was done. 
 
Going back a few generations, the general store was a center of small town life, where citizens would go for supplies. But more than being simply a retail shop, it was a place to see fellow residents, swap stories and even hear some gossip over the pickle barrel — a large, wooden barrel where pickles floated in brine and you picked one out. Typically, there was someone seated nearby, just watching, or maybe playing checkers. 
 
They knew you; you knew them. Maybe they'd strike up a conversation with you. Or make a remark to the clerk behind the counter. But it felt like an extension of family. When you walked away from the general store, you felt like a person and not a number. 
 
Outside of interacting with a small business, when is the last time you had a brand experience like that? These days, we're left to felt like we're a statistic or a cog in a system. Two forms of ID, login, and an encrypted password later, we're left feeling dehumanized. 
 
We were told that the great promise of social media was that it had the potential to bring back the humanity in business. In its earliest days, we heralded the opportunity to have conversations with customers, to get feedback from them directly, and to create 1:1 (or at least 1:few) interactions. 
 
And yet…  Where do we stand with that progress? 
 
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bRHo_Kev63M/XFKOz9Ha3CI/AAAAAAABCug/P7wMTAAFcBgItpK3dVwYKnNkPUZIxHYdgCLcBGAs/s1600/15534152421_b09d075c3b_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Generally speaking" border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="640" height="428" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bRHo_Kev63M/XFKOz9Ha3CI/AAAAAAABCug/P7wMTAAFcBgItpK3dVwYKnNkPUZIxHYdgCLcBGAs/s640/15534152421_b09d075c3b_z.jpg" title="General Store" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Redcrest Grocery & General Store by Kirt Edblom (<a href="https://flic.kr/p/pEGAja" target="_blank">Flickr</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
 
Every time a new social platform opens up, it falls prey to marketers. Now, I don't begrudge a company from making money, and there are few options for social networks that don’t include some sort of advertising, but it somehow feels like Groundhog Day. The Internet has been around for two decades, and yet we're seeing the same kinds of advertising that were prevalent when television was introduced. There has to be a better way. 
 
Back when upstart <a href="https://ello.co/" target="_blank">Ello</a> cast themselves as a Facebook alternative, they proudly declared their distinct lack of advertising: 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Advertisers buy your data so they can show you more ads. You are the product that’s bought and sold. 
We believe there is a better way. We believe a social network can be a tool for empowerment. Not a tool to deceive, coerce, and manipulate — but a place to connect, create, and celebrate life."</blockquote>
 
While it didn't result in a huge influx of users from Facebook, it did create a industry-wide conversation about the relevance of advertising on social platforms. 
 
Aside from platforms, advertisers themselves are under pressure with a huge increase in the use of ad blocking technology. The interruptive and annoying user experience is angering consumers, and they're increasingly making the decision to install software to prevent advertising from taking over their browsing experience. This is especially true on mobile, where there's even less real estate and there are concerns with data usage by ad units. 
 
The point of all of this is that while advertising is still a necessary part of the content ecosystem online, we marketers need to find a better way to meet the expectations of consumers. The decades-old, twice-broken model of advertising is outdated — the interruptive model didn't work for television, and it made its way to the Internet, and eventually to social media. 
 
We need to wake up to the need for human interaction and stories. Simply advertising to them is lazy. Perhaps it means a more hands-on style with a focus on community rather than on advertising. There's value in creating connections and leveraging relationships, especially when we have products and services that people genuinely care about or want to tell others about. 
 
With the incredible amount of data that we have on consumers, we stand at a threshold of personalized content that can be better than it's ever been before. But we need to take the time and effort to create it. If we want to create an emotional connection with consumers and leave a lasting impact, mass marketing is no longer the way forward. We need to show the humanity behind the brand and demonstrate an interest in connecting with consumers the way they want to engage. 
 
Then maybe we'll be able to reclaim the pickle barrel conversations. 
 
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Image credit: Photograph of mural <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:General_store_and_post_office_24943v.jpg" target="_blank">General store and post office</a> by Doris Lee at the Ariel Rios Federal Building, Washington, D.C. (Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons)

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