MS. (MR.) OTIS REGRETS ...

Clichés aside, fired IRS Commissioner Steven Miller got our goat – or, more precisely, stuck in our craw.

Though he apologized for the mistakes made by others, he never admitted culpability or said “I’m sorry” for the Tea Party targeting.  You could say that Attitude is endemic among Washington’s elite.  Or that accountability simply isn’t a politician’s strong suit.

In our perspective?  Wrong-wrong-wrong.  Today, apologies and regrets have become a matter of fact, issued for actions as trivial as forgetting to put down the toilet seat (heard that one before?) or behaviors as egregious as lying and cheating.  Think:

• How often do you say “sorry” automatically for missing a meeting, forgetting to RSVP, or delivering a work product later than expected?
• What’s your tone of voice when you apologize?
• Why do you give your regrets … because it’s the right thing to do; someone’s expecting it; or, by saying it, you get what you want?

We could blame the Greeks for these wrongful apologies, since the word’s origin means “verbal defense.”  Often, when an “I’m sorry” is offered, it’s done more from a position of power and control.  Psychologists tell us that offenders do maintain their ego positions from an insincere sorry-sorry, even a non-apology. 

Which is the problem.  Apologies do carry an immense forgiveness factor, one that is immediately suspect when inauthenticity lurks.  That lack of genuineness in apologies might be attributed to our general 24/7 states of being, by the reign of non-accountability, or, simply, by no training in Manners 101.

How much easier to live in the 1930s, with a servant who expresses regrets for his mistress … in song.

A SIZE-ABLE FUTURE

Moving mile-plus-high cranes.  Construction activity in once-empty retail spaces.  Weekday and weekend walkers, cyclists, bus riders meandering and moving on city streets.  Announcements of corporate moves and high-profile doings, downtown.

Sure, all the signs of a reviving economy are apparent.  But there’s more than just good news to celebrate.

What futurists now forecast is a return to the city, big time, with mega-cities, mega-regions, and mega-corridors worldwide expected in the 2020s [mega meaning a start point of 15 million people].  Heck, the megas are here today … especially if you’ve been to China with its 160+ cities of one-plus million in residents. 

We know that jobs, income, retail sales, residential property values are first indicators; following up those signs are infrastructure improvements, transportation upgrades, educational reform, and smart-everything helping us calendarize our lives (among others).  Much is geared to smaller spaces, micro-services within macro-formats.  A Target could feature multiple mini-stores, some branded by manufacturer, some content oriented, still others guiding consumers through smart phone geo-locators.  Micro-loans invented by the Grameen Bank become S.O.P.  Commuters could, with appropriate transit alternatives, live in Hartford and work in D.C., work in London and live in Paris.  And already do.

It’s living life large – in all its senses.  At the same time, urbanization is a trend that concerns, especially in our lines of business.  Reaching the right people, inside and outside business, requires even more delicate messaging and maneuvers.  Mobile won’t always be the answer.  Getting the right spaces to think and to work demands some creative applications – and employers who’ll be copacetic with employees who won’t inhabit desks every day.  Design that doesn’t blend into its environment, but doesn’t shriek “look at me.”

On the other hand, we’re confirmed urbanites.  Crowds don’t faze us.  An ever-growing wealth of options – in culture, lifestyle, entertainment, work – is always welcome.  But when you communicate, do make it about me, not the mega-mes.

GOOD ENOUGH: Is it, er, good enough?

While reading (belatedly) an interview with Larry Light, the then-new chief brands officer at Intercontinental Hotels, we braked hard at this sentence:  “Doing fine is not fine.”  [That quote, from Light’s CEO, segued into how this well-known marketer is upgrading and revamping/realigning the brand.]

Which got us to musing:  How many of us would actually say that … and mean it?

It’s one thing to spout the multiple mantras of continuous improvement, urgency, and burning platforms, phrases often associated with the change world.  It’s another to express discontent with reality – even though it might look pretty good to outside (and inside) observers – and begin making shifts.

Many change masters insist on building a compelling case for making things happen.  They talk to the critical needs of appealing to both hearts and minds, emotions and facts.  News of change on the way ricochets through the halls and plant floors, along with the names and accountabilities of task forces.  Implementation begins, goes onward, then is completed.  Now what?

Those who measure ROIs (and non-successes) of those efforts tell us that a majority never quite meet the assigned metrics.  Our burning question:  Was this a dramatic change, positioned as an “either/or”?  Or are employees and executives rewarded for following the dictates of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and other methodologies continually, rather than all at once?  Will those two very different situations differ in results delivered?

There’s no answer, yet.  The next time someone comments that “whatever” is pretty good or good enough, we’d suggest a sharp self-scrutiny is in order.

A SAHARA BY ANY OTHER NAME

With the frenzy for eating all things fresh, green, and local, it’s hard to remember that only a few years ago, researchers had located way too many urban food deserts here in the U.S. as well as Canada, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.

Coined in the mid-2000s, “food desert” is a concentrated area short on access to fresh meat and produce, long on convenience stores and quick-serve chains.  Metro-dwellers in those areas don’t eat well, get sick often, and are at higher risks for life-shortening diseases.  The solutions?  Safe places to shop, for one.  The rest follow logically:  Educating populations about good nutrition, ensuring these communities have the financial wherewithal to buy healthy food (usually higher in price than the fast-food outlets), and training residents on adopting such alternatives as victory gardens and urban agriculture.

The good news?  With community activism, widespread awareness, and retailer cooperation, food deserts are shrinking, bit by bit by bit.

Yeah, we know what you’re thinking:  “What the heck does this trend have to do with design and change and communications and branding?”

Here was our Eureka:  The same kind of sere-ness a food desert connotes can apply to communications.  We’ll elaborate, of course, through questions:

• ·       Is business writing clear, concise, sparkling … or dry as our proverbial Sahara?
• ·       Are there functions and divisions within the company that, quite simply, don’t communicate well or often enough?
• ·       How parched are your stakeholders – inside and out – for real information and intelligence?
• ·       Do constituents need to travel far to get to that communications oasis?  Or is it as close as their laptop or Internet connection?

Analogy’s over, with one last question:  How long will it take us to build safe places to communicate, and to congregate in communities of genuine conversation?