Category Archives: Reality checks

August 27, 2015 · 12:21 pm

What’s Up?

You might have heard about the latest information from the Pew Research Center about how most of us seem to get our news these days.  If the study is accurate, you might even have heard about it on Twitter or found it in your Facebook news feed.  You see, according to the study, clear majorities of Twitter (63%) and Facebook users (63%) now say each platform serves as a source for news about events and issues outside the realm of friends and family. That share has increased substantially from 2013, when about half of users (52% of Twitter users, 47% of Facebook users) said they got news from the social platforms.  

What makes me a little nervous is what the Pew folks go on to say:

As more social networking sites recognize and adapt to their role in the news environment, each will offer unique features for news users, and these features may foster shifts in news use. Those different uses around news features have implications for how Americans learn about the world and their communities, and for how they take part in the democratic process.

Having worked with professional reporters and journalists, I can tell you that they don’t just report what they see since sometimes appearances can be deceiving.  The problem, both in journalism and in business, is that instant analysis is often wrong – who can forget CNN, The Boston Globe, and others having to retract reports around the Boston Marathon bombing?  When the reportage is immediate from many people who are untrained in evaluating information (what’s the source, how reliable, etc.), the chances of something being way off base increase dramatically.  Couple that with the built-in selectivity, in the case of Facebook, of algorithms which filter what you see unless you dig a little and one can see how “news” found on social media can easily be “rumor.”

I think social media can play a valuable role in surfacing breaking stories.  Twitter is soon set to unveil its long-rumored news feature, “Project Lightning.” The feature will allow anyone, whether they are a Twitter user or not, to view a feed of tweets, images and videos about live events as they happen, curated by a bevy of new employees with “newsroom experience.”  This is a good thing, in my opinion.  What’s not is accepting what we see there as gospel until there are multiple, professionally trained sources weighing in.  Yes, sometimes they’re wrong (see above), but when they don’t try to compete with the instantaneous stuff found in non-professional sources, they generally get it right.  What do you think?

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August 24, 2015 · 11:53 am

Speed Kills

I was reading a sports business newsletter this morning and I came across a quote that prompted a business thought. The speaker – a host on ESPN – was reflecting on the demands placed on journalists these days. What she had to say about the need to be fast was this:

The whole Wells Report is like 400 pages. I don’t have time to read 400 pages, but I have to go on the air to say something about these 400 pages. I may have read a good third of it. That’s where we are right now. The whole need to produce an opinion has overshadowed the need to produce reporting. When I was growing up, people were watching the news and expecting unfiltered, objective news. Now, if it isn’t about clicks, it is about drawing attention to yourself and making your opinion stand out and that is difficult.

The Wells report, for those of you not following the story, was an independent review of the deflating of footballs by the New England Patriots during a playoff game last season. I think what she had to say applies to any of us in business and it’s instructive.

We get so much information on a continual basis. Inevitably, some higher up asks about what’s going on and there is a rush to judgement. Many of us feel the need to produce an opinion even though we don’t feel as if we’ve had the time to adequately analyze and reflect on the information we’re getting. That’s dangerous and, in my book, often counterproductive.

We all have opinions – just check your Facebook feed and you’ll see dozens.  I think we all like to believe that we base them on facts, but that same feed will show us that many times that’s just not so.  When that request for information is made, the person asking is generally not seeking your opinion.  They want a cogent analysis of factual material.  The problem is that we’ve all become accustomed to getting the answers fast.  After all, in a world where much of the learning of humankind is at your fingertips and is just a search query away, our sense of patience has all but disappeared.  The quote’s reference to “unfiltered, objective news” applies to the expectations we have in business.  Unfortunately, so too does the emphasis on speed and the need to place yourself front and center.

Like you, I get asked for quick answers.  I’ll often give one along with a disclaimer that it’s an informed opinion but not necessarily reflective of all of the facts and request the opportunity to come back with a more informed answer.  If I know the person asking is going to take immediate action on my answer, I might even ask for a brief delay before I respond so I can gather up some more objective information.  How do you handle it?

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August 5, 2015 · 8:55 am

60

I’m 60 today. In the words of Eubie Blake, who lived to 100, if I’d known I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself. That said, I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel like, but I certainly don’t feel like 60. That seemed very old growing up but I’m feeling as if I’m just getting started.

If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to give you youngsters the benefit of a few things I’ve picked up along the way. You’re thinking “but that’s what you do every day on the screed.” I try, yes. These things, however, are more about you than about your business.

  • It’s ok to be nice. That doesn’t mean you need to be a pushover, but you can make your point and have your way more often than not without radiating hostility, negativity, or arrogance.
  • Listen more than you speak.
  • You’re not an island (thanks, John Donne) so appreciate that you need to work with others. More importantly, sometimes you need to trust them. You are going to get screwed every once in a while but you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised a lot more often.
  • Learn from it and forget it. Unless you have some time machine, you can’t unring a bell. Like Edith Piaf said, Non, je ne regrette rien.
  • Pick your battles, know you’re going to lose a few (but win the ones that count) and learn from the losses.  Stay positive and move on.
  • Be curious, ask questions, challenge answers. Learn something new every day.
  • Most importantly, get a life – something that will be there whatever your job.  You will make many many acquaintances in business.  You’ll find out who among them are friends when you can do nothing for them. On that last point, I’ve been extremely fortunate.  I’ve gone the last 7.5 years doing what my family lovingly calls my “phony baloney made up job.”  Nearly all of the clients I have and have had are because a friend put in a kind word.  Part of my job is to repay their faith.

Thank you all for indulging me today.  It will be back to our regularly scheduled stuff tomorrow.  See you then?

 

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