Capitalism is Dead.
... Long Live Capitalism.
Here’s a snippet from a long-form interview of Yvon Chouinard in Fast Company.
Question : In the past, you consulted with folks at large companies, such as Walmart, and came away not so convinced of their actual ability to pursue sustainability. If we’re looking to create a better version of capitalism, what do you think should be done with publicly traded companies?
There's A Gap
Over here I share a lot of Gaping Void's work. Hugh Macleod more often than not nails it. But this one needed a comment.
Boom! That’s the way it works, for anyone in the innovation or creative business. History decides what is 'art', history decides what is 'important' ...
Meanwhile, you’re just doing your job, you’re just showing up, trying to be a pro, you’re just trying to be a grownup, you’re just trying to get paid.
Hugh Mcleod - Gaping Void
Whilst I don’t disagree that 'history' decides what is important - Hugh of all people knows that 'history' is not neutral. An example would be that 'History' for the longest time did not recognize art that came from (say) Africa, because we 'superior' Westerners were writing off thousands and thousands of years of 'art' - because it didn't fit into our Western sensibilities and so classified the art into Natural History Museums.
About ‘n’ years ago (where ‘n’ is a significantly large number) I came up with The 4Cs of ‘Communication’ - which is to say - anything that gets produced to be used in campaigns had to pass the ‘sniff test’ of whether the final piece is …
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Creative - to stand out from the crowd (IT’S A CLUTTERED BUSY NOISY WORLD)
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Clever to tie it back to the messaging (RULE ONE - ALWAYS ON MESSAGE)
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Consistent - to reaffirm and continually promote the brand (BRANDS COST MONEY - MAXIMISE THE USE)
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Complete - in that NOTHING should be exempt from these rules in all and everything we are and do - now and in the future … i.e. Continuously and Continually (there is a difference) across the space-time Continuum … ok - I was pushing it!
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Basically
- Consistent was about being on brand
- Complete was about making sure that over time as the brand developed there was Continuity.
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At the time, the ‘C for ‘Customer’ seemed obvious until I realized it wasn’t. I added a fifth and final ‘C' … Customer Centered (because if it isn’t people won’t pay attention).
Two ladies in coffee store.
Lady One to Barista “I’ll have a coffee.” Turns to second lady “What would you like?”
Lady Two “Oh don’t you worry about me, I’ll decide in a minute - I’m a big girl, I can order for myself.”
Would love to know the back story on that one!
People: Jeffrey
In a recent newsletter, I referenced a book; Everything I Know About Business I Learned from the Grateful Dead which unbeknownst to me was written by a friend of a friend. Turns out the two friends used to swap Grateful Dead stories and on reading my post this story came to mind. When I read the story, it seemed a perfect addition to my Travels Without Charley series - so please read on and enjoy the first 'guest post' in the series.
One favourite was about a concerned father and his 16 year old son.
People: Kevin
"Me? I'm from England ... you’ve heard of the 'Garden of England'?“
“I have - Kent right?”
“That’s the one - and every garden needs a compost heap - that’s the town I'm from, so my girlfriend and I sold everything we had, bought a couple of tickets and here we are.”
Take Three Words
I discovered the three words process only last year from Chris Brogan. It worked nicely for 2019, so I repeated the exercise for 2020. Since publishing the three words in my annual new year newsletter, a number of people have asked questions;
- where did the idea come from?
- what are the rules?
- can you tell me more about the process?
- is it ok to have four words?
etc etc
So first - not my idea. I got it from Chris Brogan - but I don’t think he started it. To fill in some gaps - this is what Chris has to say.
Apparently Joe B is now saying that miners should learn to code …
Should Coal Miners Learn To Code?
Is it me?
We’re only just into 2020 - but already a candidate for the stupidest headline of the year …
After two months, Apple TV+ lacks a breakout hit
How many YEARS did it take Amazon, Netflix … even HBO for that matter!
2019 National Beard and Moustache Championships' Creative Facial Hair
This is one of the more conservative arrangements - where the hell were they all during Movember?
”More than 200 members of Congress, including 39 Republican senators, have signed on to an amicus brief calling on the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade.”
”Amazon threatened to fire employees for speaking out on climate, workers say
Definitely a #PeopleFirst mantra â¦
Amen. I am my own System of Record.⣠â£â£ â£#PeopleFirst
Wise words - please â¦â£ â£Donât be content with Content. ⣠â£Itâs a fast race to the bottom.⣠â£â£ â£#peoplefirst ⣠â£#friendsdontletfriendswritecontent ⣠â£#silos ⣠â£#content #contentmarketing #contentcreators ⣠â£â£ â£â£ â£
A Message to Corporations â¦. something to think about as we enter the THIRD decade of this century.⣠â£â£ â£#peoplefirst ⣠â£#Me2B ⣠â£#changethegame ⣠â£#peoplecentric ⣠â£#futureofwork ⣠â£#peoplecenteredeconomy ⣠â£#peoplematter ⣠â£â£ â£
Vendors have âcustomer management systemsâ to help them manage âusâ - but where are customersâ âvendor management systemsâ to help us manage them?⣠â£â£ â£A question asked a loooong time ago by Joyce Searls and still âwe the peopleâ are waiting â¦. hopefully in 2020 Me2B can help us get there ⣠â£â£ â£#Me2B @doc_searls @pjwindley ⣠â£#PeopleFirst ⣠â£#changethegame ⣠â£#peoplecentric ⣠â£#futureofwork ⣠â£#peoplecenteredeconomy ⣠â£#peoplematter ⣠â£
Letâs start 2020 right ⣠â£â£ â£#PeopleFirst⣠â£#changethegame ⣠â£#peoplecentric ⣠â£#futureofwork ⣠â£â£ â£
Happy New Year to Everyone ….
2020Vision is my New Year’s Message.