Unwittingly Aiding and Abetting the Enemy

[This article is from an 8-minute talk I gave to members of the Olympic Club on March 4, 2021, Unwittingly Aiding and Abetting the Enemy. I’ve added a few links and shared it here for members of the Olympic Club and the broader public. I’ve turned off comments but feel free to reach me directly or comment and share on social media.]

An 8 minute talk and an even quicker read.

Gentlemen, we’ve been at war for more than a year, now.
The enemy has killed more Americans than all of the Americans who were killed in World War I and II combined.

This foreign invader isn’t another nation state. They are in this fight, too. Our common enemy is the pathogen SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. SARS-CoV-2 is winning because it is exploiting our human cognitive limitations.

I’m going to share five of these limitations so you understand how it is that so many Americans are unwittingly aiding and abetting the enemy.

The word cognition comes from the latin word “cognoscere” which is to “get to know”. Cognition helps us to make sense of the world around us so that we can interact safely with our environment. This leads me to our first cognitive limitation.

We Rely on Our Feelings to Assess Risk.

That ladder doesn’t feel safe, that bear looks like she’s going to eat me, this food doesn’t smell right, etc. We can rely our our intuition and feelings to gauge the risk of a given situation. And, it usually turns out okay. After all, our species has survived without spreadsheets and having to carefully weigh the pros and cons of every decision to be made. Let me know if you find evidence of hieroglyphic spreadsheets.

When it comes to COVID-19 it’s a different story. Here is why. For the food, the ladder and the bear, our sense of risk is influenced by the direct experiences we have or those indirect experiences we have through film or news media or even stories heard. That’s the experience halo - if you remember my talk about experiences.

But, few Americans know what it’s like to experience respiratory distress, renal failure, or what it's like to have our toes or fingers succumb to tissue death.

It’s abstract. We haven’t seen the movie; we don’t feel it. We’re better equipped to imagine the risk of running across a busy highway than we are to assess a global pandemic that’s actively killing our compatriots.

Our Second Cognitive Shortcoming is Related to Finding Patterns.

Usually this is a strength. But, it's difficult to find patterns in things you cannot see. This enemy is invisible. We don’t see the virus even as it passes right beneath our noses.

Our pattern making brains are further challenged because of the time lags between exposure - infection - and death.

Delays imperil our ability to comprehend cause and effect. Imagine how confused you’d have been as a child if you pushed your toy truck and days later it finally moved.

Delays and invisibility create ambiguity. Something politicians and ideologues have exploited at the expense of human lives and public health - especially in the United States. Who killed Herman Cain? He attended the infamous Tulsa rally, but he also reportedly did plenty of travel in the weeks prior. Who was the source? Nobody pulled the trigger. Nobody laced his door knobs with Novichok.

The person who infected Herman Cain likely has no idea they even did it. It is conceivable that the person responsible for his death never even showed symptoms.

Asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2 are especially effective at aiding and abetting this pathogenic killer. A recent report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association puts the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from people without COVID-19 symptoms at 59%.

COVID-19 has turned each of us into a potential serial killer.

Another Cognitive Deficit is Our Brains are Terrible at Understanding Exponential Growth.

Most of our real world experience is linear. Linear growth has the characteristic of growing by the same amount in each unit of time, like pandemic weight gain or tomatoes growing in Mr. Evan’s garden.

Exponential growth is different. It grows very slowly at first, but more and more rapidly with each unit of time. Examples include bacteria growth, compound interest, radioactive decay, and the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

Exponential growth is hard for us to conceptualize because it doesn’t dominate our visible world. When the effects of exponential growth do become visible we usually attribute them to something more understandable.

For example, you might hear someway say, "I got sick - with food poisoning. Yes, but it was exponential growth that turned a single bacterium into a population of 32,768 descendants after 5 hours of doubling every 20 minutes. That is your bad potato salad on a warm summer day scenario.

Maybe in addition to a mask mandate we should have a math mandate.

Our 4th Cognitive Deficit is that our Brains are Terrible at Interpreting Large Numbers.

As of Tuesday there were 516,000 deaths reported in the US due to COVID-19. Let’s give this number more meaning. Imagine a Boeing 737.

It has 23 rows of seats. Each row has 3 seats on each side of the aisle. So, each plane has 23 * 6 or 138 seats. So, 516,000 deaths / 365 days in this pandemic year is roughly 1413 people dead per day. Divide 1413 by the seat capacity of 138 and you get about 10.2 airplanes.

Thinking about it like this, it means that ten planes fully loaded with passengers have crashed on U.S. soil every day of this pandemic. Imagine if a traditional enemy shot that many planes out of the sky over U.S. soil. Our political and social conversations and actions would have been very different.

Once again the advantage goes to the invisible enemy that leverages our cognitive deficiencies. Those deficiencies exist in all of us - no matter our station in life. Nobody is immune.

Our 5th Cognitive Shortcoming is Also Related to Large Numbers.

When the death toll moves from say 510,000 to 516,000 it doesn’t mean that much. Large and increasing numbers make us numb. It’s a bizarre and well-documented phenomenon known as psychic numbing.

It has been studied by many psychologists including Paul Slovic who says, "Statistics are human beings with the tears dried off."

When we don’t feel we can help - we give up trying.

Summary

This psychic numbing along with all of the other worries of pandemic life can wear down even the most well-intentioned people.

And when we get tired we’re back to our first deficiency, not thinking clearly about risk. Now that people are getting vaccinated it is an opportune time for the virus to morph and recruit new citizen soldiers.

Many of you are vaccinated now or will be soon. Please remember, even vaccinated you can still spread the virus. My advice. Don’t get tired. Don’t give up. Don't give in. Don’t aid and abet this invisible killer, this public enemy #1.

No, leave that to your fellow unwitting Americans.

about the author

I see greater potential for all of us, as individuals, organizations, and even nations. This belief is what guides my writing and my work.

Greg is a virtual chief marketing officer to small and medium sized businesses. He founded Delightability, LLC. with the belief that if you delight customers success will follow.

Greg authored The Experience Design Blueprint, a step-by-step guide to designing better experiences and improving innovation culture. A recipe book for creating happier customers and healthier organizations, it has 78 images, 25 stories, and 56 recipes (mental models) that apply to nonprofit, for-profit, and government organizations.

His latest book, L’ impossipreneurs: A Hopeful Journey Through Tomorrow, is a light-hearted and deadly serious book about a brighter future where we live more meaningful lives, governments invest in people and sustainable progress, and technology serves humans.

September 28, 2020October 1, 2020

Rhetoric Rhetoric Rhetoric – Deliver Your Best Speech

Vatican City with Chairs Ready for Service December 2019

[This article is from an 8-minute talk I gave to members of the Olympic Club on Sept 24, 2020, Rhetoric, Rhetoric, Rhetoric. I’ve added a few links and shared it here for members of the Olympic Club and the broader public.

BACKGROUND and SUMMARY: Civil discourse in the United States has eroded. As a nation and as inhabitants of a shared planet we face important issues. Some of those issues are existential. Now would be a good time for concerned citizens to become better public speakers and more critical listeners. Use this three-part playbook to prepare and present your talks and to critically evaluate speakers.

I’ve turned off comments but feel free to reach me directly or comment and share on social media.]

Rhetoric. Rhetoric. Rhetoric.

An 8 minute talk and an even quicker read. This unabridged version has a few areas I wasn’t able to include in my 8 minute talk.

We all aspire to be better public speakers. Creating compelling content is only one component of public speaking. Another component, OF COURSE, is the masterful delivery OF THAT content. It’s ALL about persuasion.

In this challenge, WE DO NOT STAND alone. Every person who has ever championed change or spoke in defense of the status quo faced this same challenge.

Training in the use of language for effective persuasion, at one time, was part of the citizen’s tool kit. Every citizen was expected to be capable of engaging in civil discourse and arguing effectively. After all, without this toolkit it would be difficult for citizens to stave off the inevitable injustices that would ensue. That was Ancient Greece. THIS, IS modern America and for most people the citizen’s toolkit, has yet to arrive. Injustices, however…

Fortunately, there is an ancient playbook we can use.

In 323 BCE Aristotle wrote a treatise on Rhetoric. He laid the foundation for the stirring speeches he would deliver. Stirring speeches over the 2 millennia following Aristotle use that same playbook. People from your history books and from your living memory. Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Pastor Martin Niemöller, Ronald Reagan, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There are the good. Mister (Fred) Rogers and the bad. Adolf Hitler.

Of course not all persuasive speakers who mastered rhetoric were male. Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote Susan B. Anthony’s stirring speeches.

My speech today cracks open the Rhetorician’s playbook. My goal is to empower, YOU. Use these techniques and you will feel the difference. Your audience will feel the difference.

Okay – buckle up. Let’s take a quick ride through that playbook. Along the way I’ll demystify my seemingly redundant title. Rhetoric. Rhetoric. Rhetoric.

Engraving of Alexander the Great being taught by Aristotle — **Aristotle teaching Alexander the Great**

First up, Rhetoric for Persuasion.

Aristotle referred to Ethos (pronounced Eethoss), or persuasion by character and credibility. When Jennifer Aniston endorses a beauty product she lends her credibility to that brand. Ethos answers the question, “Why should I believe you.” Advertisers use this; it is effective. This speech is made more credible because I’m citing relevant experts and powerful speakers.

Logos (pronounced Lawgoss) is persuasion by logic. Logos is about the quality of the message itself. Is it logical and consistent and compelling? Does it make sense? Is there convincing evidence?

Pathos (pronounced Paythoss) is the appeal to emotions. When Sally Struthers appears on television alongside hungry children from Ethiopia and asks you if you would spare a little pocket change to feed a hungry child - that is pathos.

These 3 modes of persuasion, Ethos, Logos, and Pathos form the rhetorical triangle. We are most persuasive as speakers when we appeal to all three modes. Consider adding the rhetorical triangle to your speech writer’s checklist.

There is fourth mode, Kairos. Kairos is about having the right timing and approach for a given situation. I began working on this speech about one year ago. Then I packed it away. Other topics were more pressing. Now, given the current state of political discourse in Congress and in the public square, and the proximity to the election, NOW, the timing is right - Kairos. Think of Kairos as a continuum with degrees of “rightness” rather than a binary, right or wrong time. If I had an opportunity to reach a larger audience for my talk, then the imagined Kairosmeter would have ticked up a few levels. That opportunity did not materialize so I’m sharing my talk in the blogosphere.

We can learn by tuning our ears to the specific messages politicians and pundits use to persuade voters’ hearts and minds. We might not like all of what we hear though we can learn from much of it – listen as speakers appeal to ethos, logos, and pathos. Next time you look at advertising in print or video or television, examine the various appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos.

Next, Rhetoric for Process.

400 years after Aristotle, Cicero, the Roman orator and statesman, created a rhetorical education primer – De Inventione - “How to prepare and present public speeches.” These are known as the 5 canons. This, too, should be on your speaker’s checklist.

The first canon is Invention. This is where we generate and come up with the ideas and content that make up the substance we will present to our audience.

The second canon is Arrangement. This is where we organize and sequence our content in a way that makes sense for our audience and the presentation environment.

The third canon is Style. This is about taking our content and figuring out ways to make it clear and understandable. Style can help our ideas stick in the minds of our audience.

The fourth canon is Memory. This is all about preparation and being in command of our material and in command of ourselves. This used to be harder. Have you ever tried to present from a stack of papyrus scrolls?

And finally the canon of Delivery. This concerns using our voice and the rest of our body and nonverbal communication to present our ideas effectively.

Now, imagine you’re working on your next speech and you’ve gone through the 5 canons and you’ve diligently appealed to ethos, logos, and pathos. You are rehearsing your speech and someone listening in responds with a, meh. When that is the case it’s time to deploy Rhetoric for impact.

Finally, Rhetoric for Impact.

This third reference to Rhetoric is perhaps the most well-known. It concerns using rhetorical devices to add dramatic impact to your speech. There are more than 60 traditional rhetorical devices that fall into categories of: Sonic devices, Word repetition, Word relation, Discourse level, and Irony and imagery .

Here is a quick reference guide, A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices.

Some rhetorical devices, we are well familiar with. Who among us has not asked a rhetorical question?

And, the use of metaphor so pervades our everyday language. It’s the steering wheel we hardly notice, even as we use it.

Another familiar rhetorical device is the Onomatopoeia. Recall, that is a word that captures or approximates the sound of what it describes, such as buzz, hiss, and boom.

We all our guilty of using Hyperbole, an overstatement characterized by exaggerated language. I’ve been dying to give this speech and write this blog post.

Other frequently used rhetorical devices include nostalgia, anecdote, simile, irony, rhyme, tricolon, and oxymoron.

In time remaining I want to share a few less frequently used rhetorical devices.

Anadiplosis (anna diplosis) repeats the last word of one clause, or sentence at the beginning of the next. For example “Without rhetorical devices, we cannot have impactful language. And without impactful language our message may be lost.” Here is a Direct TV commercial that makes use of Anadiplosis.

Parallelism – this is where you repeat a grammatical structure. President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address is stuffed with rhetorical devices. Here is an example of his use of parallelism.

"Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose ANY foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” - PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY

This next rhetorical device is Hypophora. With Hypophora you raise a question then proceed to answer it. It creates the feeling of a dialogue and can make your content appear more logical.

Here is an example: “Why bother studying rhetoric I hear you ask? Well, because rhetoric will make you a more powerful speaker. More powerful speakers have more persuasion over their audience. When you have more persuasion over your audience your ideas gain more support. And, of course you want your ideas supported.”

Of course the use of hypophora could be less exaggerated. For example, “In the middle of a pandemic should you wear a mask in public places? The answer is YES.”

There you have it, gentlemen (and ladies). A quick trip through the Rhetorician’s playbook.

Rhetoric for Persuasion. Rhetoric for Process. And Rhetoric for Impact.

Rhetoric. Rhetoric. Rhetoric.

Your best speeches lie ahead of you, not behind you. That, by the way, is another rhetorical device, Antithesis. This is where where you introduce a word, phrase, or sentence that offers a striking contrast. Recall in, “Tale of Two Cities” where Charles Dickens shares, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….”

I’ve given you a path to explore and improve your speaking prowess.

So, please, gentlemen (and ladies). Lean on two-thousand years of proven techniques. Techniques that masters of persuasion, such as Churchill, Dr. King, Jobs, and Sanders, and others have used to win wars and hearts and minds and customers.

Dare to explore rhetoric.

And move from speaker to persuasive rhetorician.

I’ll see YOU in the forum.

about the author

I see greater potential for all of us, as individuals, organizations, and even nations. This belief is what guides my writing and my work.

Greg is a virtual chief marketing officer to small and medium sized businesses. He founded Delightability, LLC. with the belief that if you delight customers success will follow.

January 13, 2018February 16, 2018

Board Free for Now

I recently completed service terms on two boards. On the first board, a University department, I was an inaugural board member who had served long past my term-limits. My second board position was for a social investor and international financial cooperative where I served two consecutive 3-year terms.

Benefits Galore

Each board experience broadened my perspective, provided me with opportunities to meet interesting people from other countries and expand my professional and leadership skills. Of course, I also cared about the organizations and their respective missions.

Culture of Care

While the University department is primarily concerned with preparing students for tomorrows STEM careers, the social investor is investing in people and organizations working in agricultural, renewable energy, and a plethora of social enterprises across 70 countries. In working with them, I gained a better understanding of how the world’s poorest people are most affected by climate change and extreme weather events. Both organizations are deeply empathetic and represent a #CultureOfCare, a concept I’d like to see expanded and normalized across the general population.

Perhaps There is Board Service in Your Future

If you lean forward a little and take initiative most people are happy to let you lead. If you haven’t served as a volunteer board member you might consider it. There are plenty of organizations who would benefit from more heads, hearts, and hands at the table. But, the organization isn’t the only one to benefit. Your service to others will forever change you, for good.

January 13, 2018June 5, 2020

Your Brand Matters

“Brand Matters” is a double entendre in case you missed that subtlety. One interpretation of brand matters is in the verb sense for the word matters. Your brand matters, meaning your brand is important and has significance. Another interpretation uses the word matters as a noun. There is a great deal of work under the topic of brand, or matters related to brand, or brand matters. And so it is with your brand, nuance. There is different interpretation depending upon context, understanding, and perspective. But, how much variation exists?

Confront Unacceptable Discomfort

Brands become out of step with changing teams and times. When there is unacceptable discomfort with your brand among your company’s leadership, then there exists a tension that clouds your operation and impedes progress. Employees feel it, partners feel it, and your customers feel it. When this happens, a new conversation is warranted.

The Goal is Acceptable Discomfort

The goal in reestablishing your brand is to get all of your stakeholders to at place of comfort so that together you can assert your brand across the operation and fully activate it in the marketplace. Once you do this, the velocity of initiatives that rely on it go faster and much more smoothly. Remember, consistency before momentum! Your company’s leadership team doesn’t need to agree on every nuance of the brand, but they do need to find a level of acceptable discomfort. If there is ongoing tension your work is incomplete.

Start a Your Brand Matters Conversation

Click to Download Full-Size PDF. (Opens in New Window) Please share with others.

I’ve assembled a “Brand Matters” one page resource for you to reflect on and use in your conversations with your leadership team. Most of the terminology is generic and easily researched for more detail and understanding. At a high level it includes:

Brand definition
Guardrails
Positioning & message platform
Identity
Assessment & tools
Actions
Brand leverage
Potential payoff

Taking Action to Close the Gap

Your brand matters. Act like it. Whichever way you think of brand, I simply want you to do just that – think. And, if you do have a gap between what your company says and does and what customers think and feel, then I do hope that you will spark a productive conversation within your organization and among your team. Your customers deserve this. Your employees deserve it, and your company won’t be relevant forever, without closing that gap. See Lumpy Snowball of an Organization.

Once you close the gap you’ll be in a great position to go even further by creating a living brand that never gets lost, while at the same time delivering more remarkable experiences for your customers, partners, and employees. But, I’ll leave those subjects for future articles.

about the author

Gregory Olson’s latest book is L’ impossipreneurs: A Hopeful Journey Through Tomorrow, a light-hearted and deadly serious book about a brighter future where we live more meaningful lives, governments invest in people and sustainable progress, and technology serves humans. Greg also authored The Experience Design Blueprint, a book about designing better experiences and then making them come true.

Greg is a business and marketing consultant who founded Delightability, LLC. with the belief that if you delight customers success will follow. He also believes that we all have the potential to do better, as individuals, organizations, and communities, but sometimes we need a little help. Gregory served as a volunteer board member for Oikocredit USA, a national support association for impact investor, Oikocredit International.

January 12, 2018June 5, 2020

Is Negative Target Fixation Crushing Your Opportunities?

image of clear field from plane for negative target fixation blog post - Gregory Olson

In a past life I founded a software company. In that company, I cast a wide net searching for learning and support wherever I could get it. One of the places I landed was at garage.com’s bootcamp for entrepreneurs. During my two-day immersion with Guy Kawasaki and entrepreneurs at all stages I heard a valuable story that resonated with me; it still does. It goes like this…

Pilots of small aircraft are a highly attentive and skilled group. Some might even refer to them as anal-retentive. They are trained to always look for the clear field; that is the place where they’ll set the plane down in the event of engine failure. This obsessive lot are constantly scanning the horizon, looking out the window, and monitoring their gauges much like an attentive driver rotates glances among the speedometer, rear-view mirror, side mirror, and windshield. With a small plane, you have much more control than a large plane so putting one down in a clear field doesn’t necessitate a grisly crash like one normally associates with the crash landing of a commercial airliner. So you’d expect more fatalities with large commercial airliners. But, statistically this isn’t what happens at all. Most of the fatal airplane crashes are small planes that are more easily controlled by highly attentive and skilled individuals. So, what is going on? Chock it up to Negative Target Fixation.

Here is what often happens during the small craft clear field landing scenario. The pilot, upon having engine trouble, recalls the field they saw moments before. They position the plane and begin a controlled descent toward the clear field. As they approach the field they notice an object, it could be a tree, a house, or a goal post; it doesn’t matter, the outcome is the same. Consciously or more likely subconsciously the pilot begins saying or thinking, “Don’t hit the goal post. Don’t hit the goal post. Don’t hit the goal post.” The plane descends further, speed is well within control, and as the plane approaches the field it seems to make a beeline right toward the goal post. Negative Target Fixation captivated the pilot’s attention.

Not being a pilot myself, I’ve been validating this story with pilots of small aircraft ever since I heard it. Granted everybody I’ve talked to has survived and most never had engine trouble that necessitated such a landing. What would be telling would be to interview those who didn’t survive.

The Office Experiment

Interested with the concept of Negative Target Fixation and its applicability to the business world I ran an experiment when I returned to my office. We had a small portable golf putting setup in our open office space. We’d use this to blow off steam and generally take a break from the nonstop pace of our startup. Usually 3 or 4 people would be involved. This day the setup was a little different. In between where we putted from and the receiving cup that would receive our golf ball I placed an office chair, you know the type, thin round chromed steel legs and a curved plastic bottom and backside. Hey, we were frugal Ikea shoppers.

Player number one stepped up to the tee mark, peered over and around the chair and swatted the ball with the putter. The ball went directly to the steel leg. Player number two, same fate. Player three was me and I simply ignored the chair. I don’t remember if I got a hole-in-one, but I did not hit the chair legs. I was focused on the green not even thinking, “Don’t hit the chair.” Player four also crashed his proverbial plane into the goal post.

After that round completed I told the story of negative target fixation and we played another. This time nobody’s golf ball hit the chair legs. The lesson was imprinted in my mind like indelible ink. To this day when things are going rough or not measuring up or there are obstacles in the way, I try to stay focused on the value and benefits, what is possible, and creating a clear path forward. If you are in leadership you have a duty to keep your team positively focused on the path forward. But, you can also employ this bit of team psychology no matter your place on the team. Good luck in your ventures. May all of your opportunities always clear the goal post.

October 11, 2016June 5, 2020

Nature: Our Silent Teacher- Learning from Bees, Thistles, Lotus Flowers, Sharks, and More.

image of Sea Turtle Big Island Hawaii - author Gregory Olson

What could we possibly learn from bees, thistles, lotus flowers, and sharks? As it turns out – quite a bit.

[This article is from a talk I gave to members of the Olympic Club in September of 2016. I’ve added a few links and shared it here for members of the Olympic Club and the broader public. I’ve turned off comments but feel free to reach me directly or comment and share on social media.]

an 8 minute talk and an even quicker read

Good afternoon gentlemen. Today I’m going to talk about nature – our silent teacher.

Nature is the physical world made up of plants, animals, and the landscape – as opposed to humans and the things humans invent and produce. Without the resources of the natural world there would be no built landscape. We would have no cell phones, computers, comfortable homes, transportation, or the clothes you are wearing. In fact, we wouldn’t have any lunch. But nature gives us more than objects and resources. We use nature for leisure and recreation, to escape and find solitude, and we even use it in our art and literature.

NATURE IS A REALLY BIG DEAL.

But perhaps the biggest gift nature provides us is in its teachings. There are many lessons to be learned by this eldest of elders and indigenous to all. I am going to share four such stories.

Our first lesson comes from bees, nature’s highly social insect. One thing I didn’t have time to share a few weeks ago when I talked about ideas is that it isn’t always the highest quality ideas that advance. Sadly, in many organizations, WHO an idea comes from matters most. But, it shouldn’t. Bees don’t suffer with this problem.

Bees Have a Healthy Innovation Culture

Here is how it works in a bee colony. Each morning scout bees venture off in search of nectar, water, and better nesting grounds. This pursuit is necessary to sustain life for the colony. When a bee discovers a stash of nectar, water, or a great nesting site, it returns to the hive and performs a waggle dance. In this dance the energy exuded signals to the surrounding bees the value and direction of the treasure found. That way the bees know who to follow. This is a fully inclusive process. No scout bees returning to the nest are discriminated against for any reason.

Imagine if organizations and governments learned to be as inclusive as bees. Wicked problems might be solved and more people could participate in a widespread culture of innovation.

Imagine if organizations and governments learned to be as inclusive as bees.
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Imitating Life: The Word for This Is…

Increasingly, creative minds ARE turning to nature for lessons in design. The discipline is referred to as biomimicry – a word derived from the Greek words bios meaning “life” and mimesis meaning “imitate”. Or together – imitate life. (pronounced mesis like thesis)

Solutions Hiding-In-Plain-Sight

My second story is one of the most well-known and commercially successful examples of biomimicry. In 1941, Swiss engineer George de Mestral returned from a bird hunting trip in the Alps. He noticed his socks and his dog were littered with prickly seed burrs. While pulling off the burrs he noticed how easily they reattached. Mestral studied the burr needles under a microscope and discovered small hooks at the end that could easily attach to fur or socks. The burdock plant uses this feature to propagate its seeds through attachment. This gave him the idea of creating a hook and loop fastener. Mestral experimented for years and eventually perfected what we now know as Velcro.

Clean as a Shark

My third story is a lesson from sharks. About a decade ago, Dr. Anthony Brennan, a professor of engineering at the University of Florida, was asked by the Navy to find a way to keep barnacles and algae from forming on the hulls of ships and submarines. In the industry, it’s called bio-fouling. It is an expensive problem that creates drag and increases fuel costs. Clarity struck Dr. Brennan one afternoon as he watched an algae-coated nuclear submarine return to port. He remarked that the submarine looked like a whale lumbering into the harbor. He then asked the question – which slow-moving marine animals don’t foul. The answer to that question is the shark; Brennan wondered why.

When he viewed shark skin under an electron microscope, he saw that it was made up of countless overlapping scales called dermal denticles (or “little skin teeth”). The pattern reduces turbulence, making water pass by faster and the rough shape inhibits parasitic growth such as algae and barnacles. Technology inspired by shark skin has improved ship hulls and even swim suits. Scientists are now using the same technique to create films and surfaces that resist bacteria growth. This has many applications but perhaps the most important is in hospitals, given the ongoing problem with Hospital Acquired Infections and drug resistant bacteria.

Natural Vacuum Cleaner

Our fourth lesson from nature comes from the Lotus flower. Leaves of the lotus flower and shark skin behave similarly. The flower’s micro-rough surface repels dust and dirt particles. If you were to look at a lotus leaf under a microscope, you would see what appear to be a tiny bed of nails. These nails prevent water droplets from adhering to the surface. When water rolls over a lotus leaf, it collects anything on the surface as it rolls off, leaving behind a clean and healthy leaf. This self-cleaning property is known as the Lotus Effect.

A German company spent four years researching this phenomenon and developed paint with similar characteristics. The micro-rough surface of the paint pushes away dust and dirt, diminishing the need to wash the outside of a house.

Nature: The Original Hacker

I’ve only shared four stories – nature has plenty more lessons and many more teachers than bees, sharks, burdock thistles and lotus flowers. Whether solving social problems or inventing next generation products and technologies any innovator should first ask – how has nature already solved this? Nature is an EXCELLENT designer. Mother Nature has been at it for a very long time, much longer than humans have been designing anything. Nature IS the original hacker.

Nature has been at it for a very long time, much longer than humans have been designing anything. Nature IS the original hacker. Tweet

Nature’s Biggest Lesson

As global citizens on an increasingly tiny planet we share serious problems. Imagine if humankind would shift its thinking about nature – away from conquering and exploitation. And, instead we embraced our silent teacher and embedded biomimicry into the fabric of our innovation culture and institutions. If we were to do this, then perhaps we could free ourselves to learn nature’s largest lesson of all – the lesson of coexistence, balance and sustainability.

about the author

Gregory Olson’s latest book is L’ impossipreneurs: A Hopeful Journey Through Tomorrow, a light-hearted and deadly serious book about a brighter future where we live more meaningful lives, governments invest in people and sustainable progress, and technology serves humans. Chapter 9: Environment, is related to the content of this post. Greg also authored The Experience Design Blueprint, a book about designing better experiences and then making them come true.

Greg is a business and marketing consultant who founded Delightability, LLC. with the belief that if you delight customers success will follow. He also believes that we all have the potential to do better, as individuals, organizations, and communities, but sometimes we need a little help. Gregory served as a volunteer board member for Oikocredit Northwest, a support association for social investor, Oikocredit International and as an advisor for Seattle University’s Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering.

September 20, 2016

Learning Innovation From Bees

There is something you should understand about ideas. It isn’t always the highest quality ideas that advance. Sadly, in many organizations and groups, WHO an idea comes from matters most; but, it shouldn’t. In this regard we could learn something from nature, in particular from bees.

Bees have a healthy innovation culture

Each morning, scout bees venture off in search of nectar, water, and better nesting grounds. This pursuit is necessary to sustain life for the entire colony. When a bee discovers a stash of nectar, water, or a great nesting site, it returns to the hive and performs a waggle dance.

In this dance the energy exuded signals to the surrounding bees the value of the treasure found. More waggle means a better stash. This is a fully inclusive process. No scout bees returning to the nest are discriminated against because they don’t carry a certain title, possess a certain number of years experience or have a direct relationship with the queen.

Every Organization Has Buried Treasure

Bees appear to work alone but are always working in a larger distributed team for a common purpose to keep the hive alive and thriving. Whether you lead an organization or simply work with or for one, act more like a bee and less like a raccoon and your hive may soon thrive, too. Imagine the treasures organizations could free from their employees’ imaginations if those employees were as engaged as waggle dancing bees.

Recipe #40: Dance Like a Bee

Have a discussion with your team to brainstorm how you can work together more like bees and less like raccoons. Discuss how your organization handles shiny objects and how you can establish the equivalent of an innovation waggle dance.

About The Author

Gregory Olson is the author of The Experience Design Blueprint, a book about designing better experiences and then making them come true. Chapter 8: Bees & Raccoons especially pertains to this blog post. His latest book is L’ impossi preneurs: A Hopeful Journey Through Tomorrow, a light-hearted and deadly serious book about a brighter future where we live more meaningful lives, governments invest in people and sustainable progress, and technology serves humans.

Gregory Olson founded marketing strategy and design firm Delightability, LLC. with the belief that if you delight customers then success will follow. He believes that we all have the potential to do better, as individuals, organizations, and communities, but sometimes we need a little help. Gregory serves as a volunteer board member for Oikocredit Northwest, a support association for social investor, Oikocredit International and as an advisor for Seattle University’s Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering.

August 5, 2016

Small Business Leaders Struggle with the 3-Legged Stool: How to Overcome

Like most entrepreneurs and small business owners, you likely have a long list of things that get shoved off to the back burner waiting for another day or week when there is more time. The trouble is, more time never actually arrives, right?

Today is no different from yesterday and tomorrow will look much the same. You only have 24 hours in a day. When it comes to time, there is no aristocracy of wealth. Genius or laziness is not rewarded or punished with any more time.

The 3-Legged Stool

Every small business owner struggles with maintaining balance among these areas:

Maintaining a smooth operation – invoicing customers, paying expenses, having good procedures in place to prevent business breakdown and wasting resources
Delivering value – providing to customers whatever your business does as its core offering, i.e., products, services, and support
Promoting value – performing the sales, marketing, and business development functions to ensure 1) prospects know your business exists; 2) customers understand your value and provide you with validation; and 3) employees, partners, and customers stay engaged.

Stop Letting Your Personal Life Suffer

The person sitting atop a well-balanced 3-legged stool has the opportunity for a personal life. Chances are you’re not very good at all three legs of the stool. In a large company you have the benefit of departments to focus on activities related to the different legs of the stool. That probably isn’t the case in your small business where you have to spread your time, talent, and attention across sales, marketing, account payable, human resources, product development, etc. Even if you are good in all areas, you’ll struggle with the limited time available. When the legs of the stool get out of balance or become all-consuming then you and your personal life get sacrificed or worse, topple to the ground. Business performance then also suffers. We’ve all been there.

Five Things to Overcome the Struggle

Recognize the need to slow down: sometimes you need to slow down in order to speed up. It is true when hiking up a steep trail and it’s also true in business. As a now deceased friend has taught me, “Make time to linger.” R.I.P. Donald Marsh.
Revisit your operation: perhaps you need new operating mechanisms that could prevent snags in the business operation that if left unresolved will end up consuming resources. As a start, begin to identify where your time gets wasted. If you don’t know, begin monitoring your own time over the next week or month. Identifying the workarounds could be a place to fix first. If you have employees, they’ll know these rough spots.
Stay on course: your energy spread in too many directions can fatigue you and crush personal and business performance. Be deliberate on your destination and script the critical moves needed to get there. Read the Destination Postcards article for an exercise that can bring discipline to charting a course and then staying true to that course.
Confront reality: mind the uncomfortable gap you have between your current performance and expected performance. Focus on key areas and find acceptable discomfort for what you’ll not work on in the near term. You cannot do it all, so find some peace in accepting that. See Business Performance Continuums exercise.
Force multiply through others: recognize that you cannot do it alone. It is difficult to involve somebody else in your projects and business, especially if you already feel overwhelmed. But, chances are you’ve wasted more time agonizing over how to start a project that another person would have completed by now, if you engaged them. There is plenty of talent available to help you in whatever your endeavor is. More talent on the team can come in many forms: full-time or part-time, employee or alliance with a service provider. At Delightability, we are a virtual marketing department serving clients’ needs, providing both consulting and creative services. Whether small or large projects, every one of our client engagements involved busy business leaders, like you. But, remember what our clients have now come to realize, namely, that you don’t get the benefits of a strategy not implemented.

Write that down on your wall or whiteboard and revisit it often, “You don’t get the benefits of a strategy not implemented.” Eventually, you’ll do something different to close your uncomfortable gap across the 3 legs of the stool while at the same time getting your personal life to soar.

about the author

Gregory Olson is a business and marketing consultant, author, and speaker. He founded strategy and design firm Delightability, LLC. with the belief that if you delight customers then success will follow. He believes that we all have the potential to do better, as individuals, organizations, and entire nations.
Gregory Olson’s latest book is L’ impossipreneurs: A Hopeful Journey Through Tomorrow, a light-hearted and deadly serious book about a brighter future where we live more meaningful lives, governments invest in people and sustainable progress, and technology serves humans.

Greg also authored The Experience Design Blueprint, a book about designing better experiences and then making them come true.

July 29, 2016

Stuck in Low Gear? Time to Shift.

Have you ever dismissed something straightaway because you knew it to be false? Or, have you parroted something you heard because you were certain in its truth? Of course you have; we all have.

Whether it is fact or fiction if it reinforces our beliefs then we strengthen our views, digging our heels in further. And, if it doesn’t strengthen our views then we summarily dismiss it, like a filter protecting us from noxious air. Researchers refer to this phenomena as the “backfire effect.” It is even more pronounced when the new information challenges an especially emotional or long held belief. For a depth reading with examples on WMDs, Stem Cell Research, and Climate Change, see this document.

Reluctant to Change

No matter the issue, whether politics, environment, economic, or social justice and whether it is far away or something local, we are often stuck in low gear when it come to acceptance of new truths. And, it seems that we are reluctant to shift.

But, shift is what we must do. Recognize that change for change sake is not good. The logical fallacy of Appeal to Novelty (that which is NEW! is better) is as deeply flawed as its cousin, Appeal to Tradition (that’s the way we’ve always done it so it’s the best).

Progress Requires Change

Whether you are a champion of change or the status quo you must accept progress inherently requires change. But, how do you react when change is afoot? Jeffrey Moore documented well in his 1991 book, “Crossing the Chasm” that each of us self segments on an axis of risk aversion. It is a classic technology marketing read. Before him, Everett Rogers discussed the same concept in his 1962 book, Diffusion of Innovation. This line of thinking is where we get the widely used terms, “early adopter,” “laggard,” etc. This is easy to think of in terms of technology adoption.

Impossipreneurs Face Multiple Barriers

But, technology isn’t the only hurdle we face as change agents, entrepreneurs, and as a society. As I outline in my latest book, L’ impossipreneurs: A Hopeful Journey Through Tomorrow, once an entrepreneur overcomes technology hurdles, they must still face head-on, the political, social, and culture opponents who oppose their success and who would rather see things stay exactly as they are. This is true whether the agent of the new, was Nikola Tesla, Helen Keller, Franklin Delano Roosevelt or is the entrepreneur of today, especially the social entrepreneur. Welcome to the term, impossipreneur.

Backfire Effect Near and Far

The backfire effect is part and parcel to the opposition faced by the bringers of the new and those who dare surface the truth. If you have a tough time grasping this concept, envision trying to ensure voting rights and fair elections, an inherently nontechnical challenge rife with political opposition. Or, think of the social and cultural barriers you’ll face in introducing safe medical and burial practices to villages grappling with the Ebola virus. The backfire effect is alive and well, near and far.

Competing Narratives

Each of us has a visceral reaction to the headlines we scan and soundbites we hear. Some anger us and some make us feel sad. Fewer by design make us happy and still fewer cause us to think deeply. Consider your reaction to what you are hearing and seeing today. What narrative are you tuning into? Are you tuned into a narrative that desires to keep things as they are or one that seeks progress? See related post about the history of regimenting minds – Mind Hajacked: A Brief History of Propaganda.

Truth Doesn’t Care About Feelings

Consider at certain points in history, it was deemed that the sun revolved around the earth and that the world was flat. New ideas and models challenged those “truths” of the moment. Do you think you would have supported these novel ideas and gone against the tide of the times? The funny thing about the truth is that it doesn’t care about your beliefs or feelings. Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation applies to you even if you choose not to believe in it. Truth has a funny way of surfacing even as others attempt to suppress it.

Reaching Our Potential

Whether we champion the new or hold onto the status quo we should do so on merits of truth, not because it’s new, tradition, or fits our current views. Resist the soothing temptation of the backfire effect. Find solace in the truth and upgrade your thinking. Imagine the possibilities when, as a society, we are able to overcome the backfire effect. Think of the authentic dialogue and meaningful connections that would ensue. It’s at that time that we will free ourselves to live in to a higher potential. I hear the gears a whirring; perhaps it’s time we shift.

about the author

Gregory Olson’s latest book is L’ impossi preneurs: A Hopeful Journey Through Tomorrow, a light-hearted and deadly serious book about a brighter future where we live more meaningful lives, governments invest in people and sustainable progress, and technology serves humans. Greg also authored The Experience Design Blueprint, a book about designing better experiences and then making them come true.

Gregory Olson founded communications strategy and design firm Delightability, LLC. with the belief that if you delight customers then success will follow. He believes that we all have the potential to do better, as individuals, organizations, and communities, but sometimes we need a little help. Gregory also serves as a volunteer board member for Oikocredit Northwest, a support association for social and impact investor, Oikocredit International.

July 25, 2016July 4, 2022

3-Funnel Diagnostic; Fixing What You Cannot See

You see a model that is so simple that it can't possibly apply to your unique situation. That's what most people believe. It is also the reason why most humans (and business leaders in particular) struggle to learn from others. But, people like you do learn; this article is for you.

The 3 Funnels is the Key to Organizational Longevity

No matter the size or type of your organization, you’re subject to the 3 funnels - there is no escape. Effectively navigate the 3 funnels and never run out of cash and you'll be a going concern forever. The 3 funnels are (left to right in the image above):

The exposure funnel where you turn suspects (A) into prospects (B);
The adoption funnel where you turn prospects (C) into cash generating customers that are using your product or service (D);
The retention funnel where you turn customers (E) into loyal advocates (F) that help you attract more prospects, in turn reducing your marketing expenses related to the exposure funnel.

Leaky Funnels and Blocking Covers

Limited flow through any of these funnels negatively impacts your organization. The funnel shape implies that there is a slowdown; people enter the top and then take a while to get out through the bottom. No matter how perfect your organization you won't have 100 percent throughput. Some customers never make it through the funnel. It can be as though the funnel is leaky or has a cover that prevents people from entering. You don't want to be a board member, executive leader, or manager that makes decisions that in effect, limit the flow through the funnels. Don't be your own competitor.

3 Funnel Diagnostic

If you want to spark some authentic dialogue in your organization then pull together a team and perform a 3 Funnel Diagnostic.

First, build a report against the 3 funnels to show how many people are at each of the stages. Can you do this?
Secondly, discuss all of the activities that your organization is involved with in moving people from initial suspect all the way through advocacy. No doubt you discover organizational performance gaps. Understand the customer journey.
Thirdly, discuss what barriers are preventing people from entering each funnel or making it all the way through. By doing this, you'll surface where people get stuck and the reasons why. I guarantee you that the reasons will be more attributable to your organization's own performance gaps as opposed to your competitors doing a far superior job. This is especially evident in industries where customer satisfaction is low industry-wide.

Have a Better Conversation

Let's face it, in most organizations the discussion around the sales or marketing funnel is overly simplified and dominated by whichever department is more influential at the time. But, that isn't the most productive way to run a business. When sales and marketing are not working cooperatively together then customers and would-be customers suffer. Not long after that the business suffers.

A better conversation centers around your customer and the steps (touchpoints) they go through from first learning of your product, service, or company to becoming a loyal advocate. Three distinct funnels best represent this metamorphosis from suspect to prospect to customer to advocate. Sure, it is easier to dumb things down and create a single simplified funnel. But, imagine your accounting department or bookkeeper only had a single account as opposed to a full chart of accounts. You'd have an accounting nightmare and subsequently a tax nightmare. That is no way to run a business.

Evolve your conversation around sales and marketing funnels and your business will evolve, too. Proposing such a 3 Funnel Diagnostic will take some courage. But, you have courage, right? Want some assistance? Get in Touch.

about the author

Gregory Olson authored The Experience Design Blueprint, a book about designing better experiences and then making them come true. Chapters in the book that especially pertain to this article include:

Chapter 3: Who is in the Sandbox?
Chapter 8: The Promise Delivery System
Chapter 11: Barriers to Innovation and Overcoming the Wall