Scott Monty

Perchance to Dream

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There's something about underdogs, isn't there? We love to root for the little guy when he's up against a big bad enemy.<br />
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Why is that?<br />
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Well part of the reason is that when a team or entity isn't <i>supposed</i> to succeed, a win seems even more amazing and gratifying.<br />
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Another reason is that we want them to win because they're trying harder (or at least seem to be trying harder).<br />
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We know what it's like to give something our very best effort, sincerely wanting to pull off a victory. So we project that feeling onto our team, candidate, or hero that is similarly struggling.<br />
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It can be tough watching the big guys win constantly: they have more budget, more resources, better talent.<br />
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The dreamer in us makes it possible for us to summon the courage and fortitude to tackle an obstacle, regardless of the prospect of failure.<br />
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When we know we've worked hard and given it our all, there's no shame in failing.<br />
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And that makes victory even sweeter.<br />
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<b>Image credit:</b> <i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46859437" target="_blank">David und Goliath</a></i> by Anton Robert Leinweber - Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Perchance to Dream

There's something about underdogs, isn't there? We love to root for the little guy when he's up against a big bad enemy. Wh...

Why We Fall For It Every Time

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One of the great points of pride about young Finn Taylor's life was that by the age of two, he was a landowner. When he was still a baby, his grandfather gave him the deed to a sizable parcel of land called Ivy Island. <br />
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And from his youth, he reminded anyone who would listen that he was a landowner. It was drilled into his head at home, as his parents asked him to remember the family when he came of age and took possession of all of that property. <br />
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But he didn't let it change him —  he still gladly played with the neighborhood children, even though in his head he knew he would be a wealthy landowner one day. It didn't change him — until he turned 10, that is. <br />
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For the summer of his 10th birthday, Finn's father finally gave in to Finn's pleading to see Ivy Island and took him there to see it with his own eyes. And Finn's eyes and mind would never be the same after that. <br />
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You see, Ivy Island was nothing more than five acres of swamp with a clump of trees strangled with ivy. Finn's grandfather played a practical joke on him —  one of the most prolonged pranks of his life —  and Finn had been the butt of the joke among the family during that entire time. <br />
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That humiliating joke taught Finn a valuable lesson about himself and about humans: he truly disliked being fooled, and people will fall for anything. Right then and there he vowed to never be deceived again. <br />
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But Finn would go on to pull the wool over the eyes of millions of people worldwide. For Finn -- Phineas, to his family -- knew that there was a sucker born every minute, and he used that to his advantage to fool millions of people around the world as one of the greatest showmen on earth. You of course know him as Phineas Taylor… <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._T._Barnum" target="_blank">P.T. Barnum</a>. <br />
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<b>Living on a Chance</b></h2>
Recently I wrote about <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2018/10/smoke-and-mirrors.html" target="_blank">smoke and mirrors</a>, or the intentional—sometimes manipulative—deceptions that companies put before us. <br />
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It got me to thinking about Maria Konnikova's book <i><a href="http://ihose.co/ihose91" target="_blank">The Confidence Game</a></i>, which explored the long history of con men and the hapless victims of cons, who many times happen to be quite intelligent. She thought that it comes down to the very human nature of hope: how we'll gladly suspend belief if we think something might be true. <br />
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Or, as William James, the father of modern psychology wrote, <br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">"No fact in human nature is more characteristic than its willingness to live on a chance."</span></i></b> </div>
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[<b><a href="https://ctt.ac/58n9K" target="_blank">Tweet this quote</a></b>]</div>
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With advances in technology, we're seeing more chances to do things — things that give us hope. <b>Facebook </b>wants to make the world more connected. <b>Amazon </b>wants to make our wildest dreams of product consumption possible. <br />
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And who can forget <b>Elon Musk</b>, who gave us the great hope of self driving cars, not within our lifetime, but within the calendar year? And production volumes that are simply laughable by a company with no manufacturing experience. <br />
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While cheats and swindlers may be a dime a dozen, true con men are elegant, outsized personalities, artists of persuasion and exploiters of trust. And Musk is believed by a wave of acolytes who can't bear to hear a negative word uttered about him. As Konnikova wrote: "One man's confidence artist is another man's spiritual leader." <br />
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The latest news from Tesla is that the Model 3 will not have <a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/10/tesla-quietly-drops-full-self-driving-option-as-it-adds-45000-model-3/">the controversial fully self-driving option</a> and will be $10,000 more expensive than promised. In a conference call with investors two years ago, Musk promised that all Teslas would be equipped with hardware that would make fully autonomous driving possible. <br />
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Thanks to the hype around Tesla, Musk's penchant for <a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=twitterhea" target="_blank">twitterhea</a>, and our desire to believe, <a href="https://jalopnik.com/all-the-talk-about-autonomous-cars-is-confusing-the-hel-1829851764">71 percent of people</a> globally believe that Level 5 fully autonomous vehicles are available today. Tesla, the would-be leader in this space, produces vehicles at Level 2, which require a driver to be alert and behind the wheel, ready to take over at any moment. Yet Musk would have us believe that Level 5 is imminent. <br />
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<b>Improving Ourselves</b></h2>
But we go on believing. Why? Because we're convinced that someone smarter than us has the answer. Someone can impact climate change with alternative energy vehicles or help save lives by making cars safer. As Konnikova writes, "Nobody sets out to be conned: we set out to become, in some way, better than we were before." <br />
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As we see more lies exposed and we realize exactly how we've been conned, perhaps we need to turn to the sage words of another ancient philosopher: <br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">"Who's more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?"</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">— Obi Wan Kenobi</span> [<b><a href="https://ctt.ac/aE2ZU" target="_blank">Tweet this quote</a></b>]</div>
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If you think you don't be fooled at some point in your life, you're just fooling yourself.<br />
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Why We Fall For It Every Time

One of the great points of pride about young Finn Taylor's life was that by the age of two, he was a landowner. When he was still a b...

Tall Tales

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One of the reasons we enjoy stories is because they're relatable. They represent humanity and are emotionally driven.<br />
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The ancient Greeks and Romans knew this, as they spun yarns about the gods and heroic figures to explain aspects of nature or of the founding of their societies. The characters in their myths and legends had flaws just like we do, making it possible for their people to understand how it related to their own lives. Achilles' anger, Zeus' infidelity, Narcissus' self-infatuation. We could identify with them.<br />
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In the tradition of American tall tales, there's a similar tradition. Sometimes, the facts around a historical figure are embellished a bit, while other times characters are invented to explain a phenomenon. Johnny Appleseed was actually John Chapman, who planted nurseries of apple trees, while Paul Bunyan was a gigantic lumberjack who made the Grand Canyon while dragging his ax behind him.<br />
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And in more modern folklore, we have characters like SNL's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Brasky" target="_blank">Bill Brasky</a>, the indefatigable <a href="https://chuck-norris-jokes.com/" target="_blank">Chuck Norris</a>, and <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-most-interesting-man-in-the-world" target="_blank">the Most Interesting Man in the World</a>. Each one of these begins with a nugget of truth and builds on it in an entertaining way.<br />
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Which leads to this question: <b>in marketing, do you have to lie to get ahead?</b><br />
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Perhaps "lie" is too harsh a word (although Seth Godin wrote All Marketers Are Liars). All marketers are storytellers, certainly. And just like the examples above, the stories need to be pertinent and believable. When we feel like we're part of the embellishment — that is, when it's known to us — we'll go along with it.<br />
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When it doesn't work is when it's an outright lie and we discover we're being deliberately deceived. If our trust is breached, it feels like a violation.<br />
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There's a fine line between embellishment and lie. The difference is in how you inform your audience.<br />
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<b>Image credit</b>: <i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scene_from_the_Labors_of_Hercules_on_cassone_by_workshop_of_Apollonio_di_Giovanni_and_Marco_del_Buono_Giamberti.JPG#/media/File:Scene_from_the_Labors_of_Hercules_on_cassone_by_workshop_of_Apollonio_di_Giovanni_and_Marco_del_Buono_Giamberti.JPG" target="_blank">Scene from the Labors of Hercules on Cassone</a></i> by Apollonio di Giovanni and Marco del Buono Giamberti, c. 1460 (public domain, Wikimedia Commons)<br />
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Tall Tales

One of the reasons we enjoy stories is because they're relatable. They represent humanity and are emotionally driven. The ancient G...

The Stories We Tell Ourselves

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Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,<br />
And sorry I could not travel both<br />
And be one traveler, long I stood<br />
And looked down one as far as I could<br />
To where it bent in the undergrowth;<br />
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Then took the other, as just as fair,<br />
And having perhaps the better claim,<br />
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;<br />
Though as for that the passing there<br />
Had worn them really about the same,<br />
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And both that morning equally lay<br />
In leaves no step had trodden black.<br />
Oh, I kept the first for another day!<br />
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,<br />
I doubted if I should ever come back.<br />
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I shall be telling this with a sigh<br />
Somewhere ages and ages hence:<br />
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—<br />
I took the one less traveled by,<br />
And that has made all the difference.</blockquote>
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<i>The Road Not Taken</i> is by far Robert Frost's best known poem. So much so that it has inspired many other creative outputs from others: books, commercials, episode titles for a dozen TV shows… In fact, it may be the best known American poem of all time. <br />
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But most people get it wrong. The initial instinct is to view this poem as a celebration of individualism — of making a conscious choice and being reassured in our decision. <br />
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But if you read it or listen to it again, one road isn't really less traveled. He says he "<i>took the other, as just as fair</i>," and "<i>the passing there / Had worn them really about the same</i>." <br />
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So the narrator knew that both paths were comparable. And he just chose one of them, as it looked just as good as the other. <br />
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The key though, is when he says: "<i>I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence</i>," meaning that one day in the future, he'll be recounting this moment in time. And what will he do then? He'll tell everyone: <br />
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"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—<br />
I took the one less traveled by,<br />
And that has made all the difference." </blockquote>
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<b>Not Life Choices, But Story Choices</b></h2>
So this isn't really about making a difficult life choice; it's about how we concoct stories to make a narrative. How we perhaps look back at a situation and romanticize it a bit. Or infuse it with details that we didn't notice when it happened. Or embellish with larger figures or more expansive descriptions. </div>
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Humans are natural storytellers. We have been since our earliest days, before our ancestors could speak or write. They told stories by painting on cave walls. And then around a fire, handed down from generation to generation. And finally in writing. <br />
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Don’t you think it's reasonable to believe there were embellishments and improvements along the way? Of course there were. I mean, who's going to want to read or listen to a poem about a guy who comes to two grassy paths and just picks one at random? <br />
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So in that respect, yes, it's about choices. But it's about the choice to tell a story in a certain way. And each of us faces that every day as we choose to create our own narrative or a message for a brand or company. <br />
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<b>"We must take the current when it serves / Or lose our ventures"</b></h2>
We need to choose which details are essential to include, and which are superfluous to the story and should be omitted. In doing so, we capture the imagination and attention of the people we're trying to reach, whether they're in a room with us or in front of a screen somewhere.<br />
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The conditions in which we do this are ever-changing: platforms, moods, other priorities. And so elements of our narrative change accordingly. But always leading on to something better.<br />
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The alternative is unthinkable. <br />
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We, at the height, are ready to decline.<br />
There is a tide in the affairs of men<br />
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;<br />
Omitted, all the voyage of their life<br />
Is bound in shadows and in miseries.<br />
On such a full sea are we now afloat;<br />
And we must take the current when it serves<br />
Or lose our ventures. </blockquote>
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— William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (Act IV) </div>
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The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far a...

What You Choose Is Who You Become

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<br />Recently, we looked at <b>Newton's Laws of Physics</b> and <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2018/09/strategy-and-newtons-laws-of-motion.html" target="_blank">their application to strategy</a>. <br /><br /><b>Law 3</b> states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. <br /><br />Every day, we're presented with scenarios that can invite a visceral reaction from us. A boss places an unreasonable deadline on an assignment. A colleague takes credit for your work. A family member doesn't do what they said they'd do. <br /><br />In those situations, you have a choice. You can choose to be upset over what you perceive to be unfair – by those things that have already happened – or you can make a plan and determine a course of action. <br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>“Day by day, what you choose, what you think and what you do is who you become.” </i></b></span><div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">– Heraclitus </span>[<a href="https://ctt.ac/t16yz" target="_blank">tweet this quote</a>]<span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<br />It depends on what you want to be known for and how you want to inspire others around you. <br /><br />Complaining about fairness invites a downward spiral of less fairness. <br /><br />Reacting positively to an unexpected series of events will develop strength and resilience. <br /><br />What do you want to be and what do you want to be known for? <br /><br />It's your choice.<div>
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<i>Image credit: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclitus#/media/File:Utrecht_Moreelse_Heraclite.JPG" target="_blank">Heraclitus</a> by Johannes Moreelse, public domain</i></div>
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What You Choose Is Who You Become

Recently, we looked at Newton's Laws of Physics and their application to strategy . Law 3 states that for every action, there is an ...

How to Ensure Your Legacy

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Augie was an unlikely leader. His father died when he was four, his mother remarried, and his stepfather had no use for him. So poor little Augie was sent to live with his grandmother. At the age of 12, he had to give her eulogy. <br />
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Augie suffered from a delicate constitution, and struggled to accompany his uncle on business trips as he learned the family trade. His uncle died, leaving the business to Augie, who was all of 18. <br />
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His uncle's business partners and competitors vied for their control of the fortune. Given Augie's past, many people were surprised when this neglected and frail youth put up an impressive fight for what was rightfully his. Bit by bit, he won over many of the employees and stakeholders of the firm, creating allies in his dispute with the one remaining business partner of his uncle, who would not relinquish his claim. <br />
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It took Augie the next 13 years to ultimately gain victory, as he waged war in courts of law and courts of public opinion, marshalling every resource he had for full control over his family's empire. <br />
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And "empire" is an accurate word to describe the family fortune. For Augie — that is, Augustus — had a internationally-renowned uncle who controlled most of the known world…Uncle Julius Caesar. <br />
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<b>A true legacy</b></h2>
In every leader's career, there comes a time when they're concerned with their legacy, and Augustus was no different. <br />
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This is the third and final installment regarding <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/the-national-archives-building-temple-to-our-history/xwLywO5TwRFIIw" target="_blank">the statues around the National Archives</a> in Washington, DC. We previously looked at the Past and the Future, and this time, we're looking at heritage. <br />
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The quote on the third statue outside of the National Archives is from abolitionist Wendell Phillips: <br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">"The heritage of the past is the seed that brings forth the harvest of the future." </span></i></b></div>
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This quote could be interpreted cynically as "You reap what you sow." But I prefer to think of it as a nod toward <b>cultural memory</b>. We're  constantly moving forward, but it's our traditions and culture that inform what we do, how we act, and ultimately how we'll be remembered. <br />
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You probably have family traditions that you take part in. Maybe they're around the holidays or other  family gatherings.  Or if you don't practice any traditions together, perhaps you occasionally look through family albums or scrapbooks and see what your distant relatives looked like and did. <br />
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Whatever the case, you're creating a narrative about your past that frames how you think about your life today and what you'll do in the future. Your legacy. <br />
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<h2>
<b>What's your narrative?</b></h2>
Augustus was of the same mind. He went through a decade-long soap opera of an inheritance battle. And at the end of it, he commissioned Virgil to write the <i>Aeneid</i>, Rome's origin story that was borne of the Trojan War. It was a clever bit of propaganda that was designed to make citizens of the Roman Empire feel emboldened about their place in history — a bookend to the proud tradition the Greeks had in the <i>Iliad</i>.<br />
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While Augustus revolutionized the way the Roman Empire looked and ran, he was still a shrewd leader who believed in a powerful communications message. He subscribed to the same philosophy of publicity as Sherlock Holmes:<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">“What you do in this world is a matter of no consequence. The question is, what can you make people <u>believe</u> that you have done.”</span></i></b></div>
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— Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, <i>A Study in Scarlet</i></div>
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Now, this wouldn't have worked if Augustus didn't actually deliver on his promises and do the things he said he would. He made life in Rome palpably better for citizens. But a good story along the way secured his legacy.<br />
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Our habits and work define who we are. And what we <b>do</b> must be consistent with what we <b>communicate</b>. If, like some technology giants, we're abusing our users' privacy expectations while we're asking them to trust us, we're more likely to end up like Mark Antony than Augustus. <br />
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Without consistency, our intent becomes muddled and our legacy ceases to exist.<br />
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How to Ensure Your Legacy

Augie was an unlikely leader. His father died when he was four, his mother remarried, and his stepfather had no use for him. So poor lit...

Smoke and Mirrors

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Have you ever felt duped by a company?<br />
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That is, they tell you one thing and then later on, either they tell you something else or — even worse — you independently discover they've been hiding the truth from you.<br />
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How does that make you feel?<br />
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We know companies are constantly trying to save face, burnishing their reputation by focusing only on the positives. But in some cases that means either completely ignoring or even glossing over the negatives.<br />
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This is nothing new. History is filled with leaders rewriting the course of events or altering their images to be remembered in a way they wanted.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>“History is a set of lies agreed upon.”</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">– Napoleon</span></div>
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Napoleon commissioned a portrait after his march through the Alps to defeat the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo in the spring of 1800. However, he refused to sit for the portrait, instead telling Jacques-Louis David that the painting should represent his character, not his physical likeness.<br />
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The result can be seen here in one of the five versions of  <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:David_-_Napoleon_crossing_the_Alps_-_Malmaison2.jpg" target="_blank"><b>Napoleon Crossing the Alps</b></a></i>:<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IXM4DtHpP18/W7vwV7mqOuI/AAAAAAABAWQ/rwRulsA5xNoNOcyck2p7IBFjsj_y8rqaACLcBGAs/s1600/Jacques%2BLouis%2BDavid%2B-%2BNapoleon_crossing_the_Alps_-_Malmaison2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="841" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IXM4DtHpP18/W7vwV7mqOuI/AAAAAAABAWQ/rwRulsA5xNoNOcyck2p7IBFjsj_y8rqaACLcBGAs/s640/Jacques%2BLouis%2BDavid%2B-%2BNapoleon_crossing_the_Alps_-_Malmaison2.jpg" width="524" /></a></div>
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Nearly 50 years later, the 3rd Earl of Onslow was visiting the Louvre with Paul Delaroche in 1848 and commented on the implausibility and theatricality of David's painting. He commissioned Delaroche to produce <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_Delaroche_-_Napoleon_Crossing_the_Alps_-_Google_Art_Project_2.jpg" target="_blank">a more accurate version</a></b>:<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e9RMu2iCBeE/W7vw2J_AUYI/AAAAAAABAWY/G6HQL6ZdHVsi71cDjd9p_9Hscv_OcTJ8gCLcBGAs/s1600/Paul_Delaroche%2B-%2BNapoleon_Crossing_the_Alps_-_Google_Art_Project_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="795" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e9RMu2iCBeE/W7vw2J_AUYI/AAAAAAABAWY/G6HQL6ZdHVsi71cDjd9p_9Hscv_OcTJ8gCLcBGAs/s640/Paul_Delaroche%2B-%2BNapoleon_Crossing_the_Alps_-_Google_Art_Project_2.jpg" width="496" /></a></div>
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It wasn't meant to diminish Napoleon's great accomplishment, but rather to bring realism to the hardships he and his troops faced.<br />
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But when you're an active user of a technology, it isn't history we're talking about. This is your daily reality, involving your data.<br />
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Lately, it seems that companies are giving us the run-around all too frequently. We just learned of Instagram <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/04/instagram-location-history/" target="_blank">prototyping a new privacy setting</a> that would allow it to share your location history with Facebook — even when you're not using the app. Now the timing of the departure of Instagram's founders makes sense.<br />
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And <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-shuts-down-google-after-api-bug-exposed-details-for-over-500000-users/" target="_blank">Alphabet is closing Google+</a> after a bug exposed information of half a million users. But Google discovered this in March 2018, and ostensibly didn't want to attract the attention of the government and the public and the resultant publicity nightmare it would have been.<br />
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In their race to control the narrative and avoid at all costs the truth coming out, these tech companies have created idealized versions of themselves. Facebook, the company that lives by apology and is now begging for your trust, and Google, the company whose motto used to be "don't be evil" (how quaint), both want your very best opinion of them.<br />
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As usual, the exposure of a secret may do more damage than the secret itself..<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">– Thomas Jefferson</span> [<a href="https://ctt.ac/wYb2t" target="_blank">click here to tweet</a>] </div>
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The world is a strange place and the truth somehow manages to make its way through the cracks, like water running through stone.<br />
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Smoke and mirrors can be a dangerous thing when the winds of change blow.<br />
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<i>Image credits: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_Crossing_the_Alps" target="_blank">Napoleon Crossing the Alps</a> (Wikipedia)</i><br />
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Smoke and Mirrors

Have you ever felt duped by a company? That is, they tell you one thing and then later on, either they tell you something else or — eve...

The Future Has Already Been Here

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sa6hDktmjh4/XjsDJdKSIQI/AAAAAAABLcU/UlKooSSIt-AJ9ySvReMMOLCxv0Pmf4tSwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/National%2BArchives%2B-%2BFuture%2B-%2Bwhats%2Bpast%2Bis%2Bprologue%2Bcropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="953" data-original-width="1313" height="464" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sa6hDktmjh4/XjsDJdKSIQI/AAAAAAABLcU/UlKooSSIt-AJ9ySvReMMOLCxv0Pmf4tSwCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/National%2BArchives%2B-%2BFuture%2B-%2Bwhats%2Bpast%2Bis%2Bprologue%2Bcropped.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2018/05/22/the-national-archives-larger-than-life-statues/">Future</a></i> by Robert Aiken (Photo by Jeff Reed, National Archives)</td></tr>
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Technology. It's everywhere. And it's increasingly infringing on humanity. <br />
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The physician Conrad Gessner was one of the first people to raise a concern. He was respected by his colleagues and his professionalism made him a serious thinker. <br />
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So when he warned us about the effects of information overload, the world took note. In one of his five books, he described how the modern world overwhelmed people with data and that the human mind would be confused and irreparably damaged if something wasn't done. <br />
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Today, as we're in the midst of oversaturated algorithms, the prospect of fake news, and constant interruptions from notifications, we see how Dr. Gessner's concerns were real.<br />
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We bemoan the unprecedented risks of living in digital world that doesn't seem to have an off switch. We look for digital detox opportunities and quiet spaces.<br />
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This unique problem must have unique solutions. <br />
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Oh, and what happened to Dr. Gessner? Well, he took his own advice to heart: he never once used e-mail and didn't even own a computer. <br />
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That's not because he was a curmudgeon about technology. You see, his landmark book was the <i>Bibliotheca universalis</i>, and it was published in 1545.<br />
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For Conrad Gessner the physician, naturalist, philologist and bibliographer wasn't concerned about Facebook updates, selfies, text messages, emails, or even the Internet itself.<br />
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He was warning the world about the impending flood of information in "<a href="https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/3228379/blair%202003.pdf" target="_blank">confusing and harmful abundance</a>" that was about to be unleashed with the advent of Gutenberg's printing press. <br />
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<b>Other early skeptics</b></h2>
Socrates famously <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1636/1636-h/1636-h.htm#2H_4_0002" target="_blank">warned</a> Phaedrus against writing because it would "create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories." <br />
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In the 1700s, the French statesman <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume-Chr%C3%A9tien_de_Lamoignon_de_Malesherbes" target="_blank">Malesherbes</a> railed against the trend of getting news in print, arguing that it socially isolated readers and detracted from the spiritually uplifting group practice of getting news from the pulpit.  <br />
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The point is we've been through these arguments before, and yet we still seem to find our way back to them through modern technology. The same principles apply, even though the tools are more modern. <br />
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The world of retail is no different. We're watching one of the most fascinating battles happening daily on a massive scale: Amazon versus Walmart. But as you watch it, the funny thing is that as Walmart tries to become more like Amazon, Amazon tries to become more like Walmart. <br />
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We're seeing Amazon becoming <a href="https://medium.learningbyshipping.com/amazon-4648bdf511c" target="_blank">more like a traditional retailer</a>. What do retailers typically have? A loyalty program (Prime), generic or house brands (Amazon Basics), and the ability to run advertising or placements. <br />
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Also, Amazon's free two-day shipping - once their defining feature that amazed every consumer who shopped on line - <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-prime-effect-how-amazons-2-day-shipping-is-disrupting-retail-1537448425" target="_blank">has become the price of entry for online shopping</a>. And yes, it's not "free," but bundled into their $119 annual Amazon Prime fee. Two-day shipping is now the expected standard, and other retailers have had to respond. <br />
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<b>How Sears and Montgomery Ward changed American shopping and shipping </b></h2>
But decades ago, long before Amazon Prime, the American shipping industry nowhere near as developed. At the time, it was the mail-order catalog companies <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/sears-postal-service-catalogs">Sears & Roebuck and Montgomery Ward</a> that changed the face of commerce. <br />
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When they first printed catalogs in the late 1800s, the companies capitalized on the growing mail and package delivery process in the United States. At issue was how the postal system delivered to rural addresses. This was also at the same time that the American shipping industry began to rise. <br />
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Montgomery Ward took advantage of the rail system. As long as you could get to a train station, you could pick up your goods. But in the early 20th century, 65% of America's population was rural, and didn't have access to mail or parcel delivery. <br />
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Sears and Montgomery Ward had to lobby for parcel delivery - it was called "rural free delivery." Infrastructure grew to support it and the U.S. Postal Service eventually expanded its parcel service to postal delivery as well. <br />
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Does this strike you as similar to any other modern merchant and its impact on logistics, delivery, and commerce? <br />
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As we saw on the sculpture <i>The Future</i> <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2018/09/why-you-need-to-put-past-in-context.html" target="_blank">in front of the National Archives</a>:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>"What's past is prologue."</i></b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">— William Shakespeare</span></div>
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Stories like those of Gessner, Socrates, Sears, Shakespeare and others are not just history.</div>
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They are in many ways, a travel guide for the future.</div>
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<b><i><a href="https://soundcloud.com/fullmontyshow/episode-49-whats-past-is" target="_blank">Listen to this article</a>:</i></b></div>
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The Future Has Already Been Here

Future by Robert Aiken (Photo by Jeff Reed, National Archives) Technology. It's everywhere. And it's increasingly infringing...

Do You Want to Repeat History or Make History?

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This entry is a little different.<br />
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If you're a regular reader and subscriber (first of all, thank you!), you'll know that I lead with a classical painting and I reference a time-honored philosophical or literary quote, making it relevant to what you do each day.<br />
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I'm still going to do that, but I'd like to tie in something from a friend and colleague. <b>Jay Acunzo</b> launched his <i>opus magnum</i> yesterday: his book <i><a href="http://jayacunzo.com/book" target="_blank">Break the Wheel: Question Best Practices, Hone Your Intuition, Do Your Best Work</a></i>.<br />
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Jay's premise is simple: for years we've been hearing about "best practices," and if everyone moves toward best practices, you end up with too much sameness. And what's right for you isn't necessarily right for me.<br />
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By applying your experience, your creativity, and your understanding of your customers and market, you can get at better solutions, better content, and better products. Jay has interviewed dozens of leaders and told stories about them on his podcast, in his newsletter, and now in <b><i>Break the Wheel</i></b>.<br />
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Simply put, it's a book that you need to pick up if you create anything or oversee a team that does.<br />
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<a href="http://jayacunzo.com/book" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://jayacunzo.com/book" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1079" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F6AEZEoLcjQ/W7LynzmvBJI/AAAAAAABASg/HWYI_9OamyMuJz-_txW9Ybq7GcCtg6togCLcBGAs/s400/BtW_Cover_Art.jpg" width="268" /></a></div>
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<b>Where's My Classics Lesson?</b></h2>
I'm not just telling you about Jay's book because I believe in it enough to disrupt my own cadence of posts (that alone would make it noteworthy). I'm doing it because it's consistent with what we've been talking about here and on <a href="https://www.fullmontyshow.com/p/show-archives.html" target="_blank">The Full Monty podcast</a> regularly.<br />
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In this case, I'll turn to my old friend Sherlock Holmes:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>"The old wheel turns, and the same spoke comes up. It’s all been done before, and will be again."</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">– Sir Arthur Conan Doyle</span></div>
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Just as Sherlock Holmes reminded us in <i>The Valley of Fear</i> that history repeats itself, Jay's book cautions us to be mindful of that wheel and to make our own independent choices as the spoke comes around again.</div>
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Holmes was adept at <i>recognizing</i> patterns to predict what would happen next. Jay knows how to <i>create</i> your own patterns and avoid getting trapped.<br />
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<b>As You Like It</b></h2>
Back in my agency days, I developed a concept based on this new 'social media' craze that was in its infancy. I eagerly and proudly presented the idea to my client, and they responded with this <a href="https://www.bartleby.com/380/prose/344.html" target="_blank">retort courteous</a>:<br />
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"Do you have a case study?"<br />
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"A case study?" I replied. "The technology launched last week. No one has even thought of this, let alone tried it," went the quip modest<br />
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I paused for maximum effect, and then asked:<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">"Do you want to <u>read</u> a case study, </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">or do you want to <u>be</u> a case study?"</span></i></b></div>
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"We want to <i>read</i> a case study," was the reply churlish.</div>
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Sigh.<br />
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<b>Break the Wheel</b></h2>
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The world is filled with paths that are well-worn by others. </div>
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The question is: do you want to be part of someone else's pattern or do you want to create what's best for you?<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HXVIvuUgBWQ/W7Lvyf1xpsI/AAAAAAABASY/qXJ2mBiRJmEaA-gM_rnHfC0wqY5Oy1BZwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Think_for_Yourself.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="1600" height="147" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HXVIvuUgBWQ/W7Lvyf1xpsI/AAAAAAABASY/qXJ2mBiRJmEaA-gM_rnHfC0wqY5Oy1BZwCPcBGAYYCw/s400/Think_for_Yourself.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<a href="http://jayacunzo.com/book" target="_blank"><br /></a></div>
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<i>Image source: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vincenzo_Giovannini_Via_Appia_all%27altezza_del_IV_Miglio.jpg" target="_blank">Via Appia at the height of Quarto Miglio</a>, Vincenco Giovannini, 1884 (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)</i><br />
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Do You Want to Repeat History or Make History?

This entry is a little different. If you're a regular reader and subscriber (first of all, thank you!), you'll know that I lea...

Scott Monty - Strategic Communications & Leadership Advisor