I'm So Bored of 'Sorry'

Politicians, Perpetrators and Perverts all seem to want to play the 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card called I'm Sorry. and I'm really bored with the all the public chest beating and hand wringing that we see when people are caught out when events catch up with them.

Just how gullible do these people think we are I wonder? The 'sorry valve' is used far too often, the very knowledge of its existence encourages people to hardly pay any attention to their actions in the present. It numbs the mind to consequences. It is an over-used social safety net.

So in the case of politicians what could be more worrying. People who don't think through consequences. Aren't we paying politicians to think through complex situations on our behalf. Can you imagine someone like Winston Churchill saying 'sorry' if he'd lost WW2? The latest public demonstration of public behaviour therapy comes from Might Mouse Hazel Blears. Oh how she regrets her resignation timing, oh how sorry she for wearing that childish 'rocking the boat' badge. What more evidence do we need that she shouldn't have had any responsibility in high office in the first place.

Then we have the perpetrators. The killers of Ben Kinsella who have just been sent down for 'life'. No doubt in a few years we'll hear how 'sorry' they were for what they did, particularly if it assists their parole hearing. Ben Kinsella was an innocent young man and a victim of a consequence free thinking. We should stop talking of Knife Crime and start talking about the The Crime of Consequence Deficient Thinking. By focussing on the Knife we focus on the object not the subject!

No doubt we will soon hear how sorry Amanda Knox is in a few days too. Whatever happened when Meredith Kercher was murdered, she'll put it across as anything but anything to do with her lack of attention to consequences.

And finally how soon will it be the 'sorry' of Vanessa George Surely there must have a moment, a split second before the camera was taken into the nursery and when she thought about what she was about to do? Commit the act and say sorry after the fact.

These people have de-valued Sorry and they don't even regret doing it!.

Sorry it seems is not the hardest word.


Here's How To Apologise

Madeleine McCann Hope Belief Expectations and Certainty

The news is full of a new suspect in the search for Madeleine McCann today. It's tempting to believe that the private investigators 'have got something' here. There's no smoke without fire, or so we like to think. In the abscence of information its seems natural to want to fill the gap as soon as possible. To make things fit.

I've just spent 5 minutes scouring the photo-fit and the photo of convicted paedophile Raymond Hewitt looking for similarities. That's what we do with information when we start to loose our objectivity. We seek out information that supports our hunches and find increasingly sophisticated ways of denying any disconfirming evidence.

Of course the detectives are saying its just one of many lines of enquiry. Lets hope, unlike the original Portugeuse investigator they are able to resist acting on hope belief and only seeing things that confirm their expectations.

Then there are the news papers and news sites. Perhaps editors have decided we have had our fill of outrageous British MP expense claims and we need a change. Is this is a 'none' story introduced to 'mix it up' and drive flagging sales and visits because of 'sleaze burn-out'.

Twitter Develops Its Social Influence

You will, I'm sure, have read alot of posts about Twitter and its value or otherwise as a social networking tool.

I have dabbled with it for almost a year and in some ways never really 'got-it' beyond mere amusement value and the 'having a coffee' running gag.

The recent changes seem to make Twitter a more interesting environment and I've just come across a couple of sites via Tweets that you might find worth checking out.

Blog Vibrations Twitter Link which led me to Twitter 100 a neat idea that lets you see 100 twitter follows on one easy to read page.

I think the Twitter experience is a great example of thinking carefully about what any particular social networking idea can 'do' for you rather than getting transfixed about what it 'is'. In my case I am now using it as a source of ideas and opportunities rather than merely a 'gossipy' communications 'tweet'.

The short and snappy posts provide a continual roll of potential points of interest, so now I'm feeling less gullible about getting involved with Twitter in the first place which is clearly a good thing!

For Bigots Everything Is Black and Wright

The most intellectually undemanding job in the world is being a Bigot It is also a classic example of that good old marketing stalwart niche marketing or selling your products, services & ideas to a very particluar and tightly defined group of people with similar characteristics. Ironically the term NICHE is particularly appropriate in this context, think of its as NICE corrupted by 'H' for hate in it.

Reverend Wrong isn't even doing anything creative or original and like every lazy thinker and Demagogue before him he is an example of H.L.Mencken's definition:

"one who will preach doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." It is of course possible to substitute 'gullible' in the place of idiots.

For the Bigot our social world comes in neat easy to understand packets. There are no complexities, no subtleties no dilemmas no contradictions, no blurring of boundaries and no compromises. The Bigot is simple so they world they see is simple, the world problems they notice are simple and their solutions are simple as well.

And the technique he uses? Not charisma, buffoonery, or any of the general explanations of his style...it is how he makes sense of the world. He is what is know as a Splitter someone who notices only differences. In extremis this has to be an immature mind-set. Children make sense of their worlds by noticing differences and pointing them out. Spotting patterns that connect is more sophisticated and intergrating the two approaches more sophisticated too. Try it out yourself. See who is a Splitter and I bet you'll find they are the most pedantic, dogmatic, bureaucratically, unimaginative minded people you know.

The Bank Roll is Over!

Finally UK banks are being held to account over their
excessive charges.

They have abused their power assuming that customers are gullible enough to go on paying through the nose and now their complete lack of authenticity is becoming apparent.

I have argued previously that Banks should be prohibited from marketing what they do as a 'service' and deploying sophisticated social influence techniques in their marketing communications to obscure their real intentions and take advantage their prey. The distress their high handed attitude and behaviour has caused goes far beyond the monetary.

A Collection of Posts on a Gullible Theme

Anti Ana
Leaders and followers
Fuel from air
Send Money Guns and idiots
Some Copywriters Never Underestimate The Power of Stupidity

Gullible Retailer Prediction

One of the key issues facing any business is the issue of competitive advantage and one of the biggest challenges is ensuring that the calibre of the management team is capable of conceptually exploring new approaches and new ways of working. This requires a high degree of personal self-awareness and reflective capability.

When this is lacking in an organisation the incumbents are invariably imbued with a sense of over confidence and an arrogance towards opportunity for change that manifests itself in a Luddite-esque transactional attitude to people and organisations that can make a difference.

Particularly susceptible are so called 'creative' types who have themselves 'taped' as imaginative when all they are doing is re-engineering the existing formulae within the impoverished limitations of their stunted managerial capability. These 'high priests and priestesses' of retail head office management perform the same rituals to a dogma that might have worked for them in the past are doing their businesses no service (sic) at all. The notion of co-creation is lost on people who believe good management is 'taking' rather than creating.

These managers are organisationally politically vulnerable and they know it deep down, they are the abusers of position and power and they hold back initiative, imagination and conceptual inventiveness. These types of manager actively suppress alternative lines of discussion and surround themselves with nodding acolytes who are either too scared to speak up or lack the moral fibre to question the person in charge. They use aggressive un-cooperative tactics by mistakenly claiming 'that's how to do business' around here. This is short-termism and it has its obvious consequences. Complacency and arrogance always leads to trouble. This is the behaviour of the Gullible. It is also the behaviour of individuals that have to prune imagination back until it is within the manageable limits of their ability to control and understand.

I predict worse times to come for 1 major UK retailer in particular that is falling way behind Tesco in terms of competitive thinking capability. A serious and deep audit of managerial ability is needed for this to be averted. I suggest the first port of call is The Lack of Talent and Imagination Department.

Who do you think this is?

Are Degrees Being Built on Foundations of Sand?

With headlines such as Selling Beds is Now A Degree Course you'd be gullible if you thought that idea of Foundation Degrees somehow undermined the intellectual demands of students undertaking vocationally orientated study.

Potential students would be gullible too if they expected a Foundation Degree to be a 'soft touch'. For starters any form of part-time study places demands on self-management skills, and balancing serious study with a full-time job is not easy.

Business orientated degrees have always emphasised the application of conceptual understanding and a Foundation degree is simply another 'path' of higher education experience, that opens up choice. Its almost like saying that the scientists designing and conducting experiments at CERN as less intellectually worthy than the theoretical physicists who have have suggested the things they can work on.

Mass media simplification and old school intellectual snobbery merely exemplify the lack of education that they smirkingly try and have a go at. Education is an experience not a subject. Some students will muddle through, some will learn 'strategically' and some will transform their outlook and their abilities. This will happen regardless of the 'delivery' method.

The phenomenon of Retailing is a significant and important dimension of human social and economic life. It involves deep understanding of a wide range of behavioural, psychological, technical and managerial skills. It confronts students with ethical dilemmas and challenges them to connect abstract management concepts.

Like any form of education it runs the risk of being normative and prescriptive, however innovative retail thinking is essential for the creation of new retail concepts capable of meeting the challenges of the Experience Economy and continually delivering value so that you and I shop.

This isn't just (sorry M&S :) ) about powerful supermarkets its about entrepreneurial opportunity at the local level. Foundation Degrees are essential in order that Retail Wheels don't get stuck in the sand!

The E Number is Up

Not that any parents of need to be told that E Numbers send young kids hyper, just throw an M&M party and you could power the lights in a small town for a month.

You're not telling me that the creators of these things didn't know what they were doing? Even the names would make a druge dealer feel inferior. So its good news that tehre are calls for them to be banned

Take Allura Red The MSN Encarta dictionary definition of allure is attract powerfully: to exert a very powerful and often dangerous attraction on somebody Somebody's having a laugh aren't they?!

This is techno-commercialism really trying to exploit the gullibility of the consumer by taking advantage of our trust and lack of scientific knowledge. Those involved should be going E162 in shame!

Is The Recycling Of Marketing Ideas Causing Web Pollution?

Steve Rubel of Micropersuasion has published a really interesting provocative post discussing how
Many Marketers Pollute the Web

I think Steve gives cause for us all to think about the authenticity, integrity, and depth of understanding of the marketing philosophy shown by marketing executives and so called business gurus. I agree entirely with his observation that the interweb is cluttered with half baked marketing ideas and simplistic methodologies all claiming to deliver the next geewhizz breakthrough or simply recycle standard methodologies and dress them in new clothes. Marketing as a profession continues to face challenges to its gravitas and credibility.

The discerning reader will realise, of course, that marketing without integrity is simply intended to dupe the gullible. The promising news is that Web 2.0 shows the good, the bad and ugly in close proximity so that it is easier to benchmark the quality of what is being presented, and no doubt as more and more people hone their critical information skills then the 'pollution' that Steve talks about should get mopped up by the detergent of reader/researcher expertise.

Sect 2.0 - Design Your Very Own Stairway to Heaven

Following the lead of Sect Prophet Warren Jeffs who claims that in order to get to heaven a man must have at least 3 wives, I thought it might be a good idea to capitalise on the power of Web 2.0 to enable everyone to have a go at designing their own Sect. So welcome to Sect 2.0

In order to get as many followers as possible you need to come up with a really good Value Proposition that will entice people to use your Stairway To Heaven and remember you are going for the highest gullibility factor.

Is A Gullibility Test Ethical?

Linksprocket are carrying an interesting post entitled US Army "Scams" Service Members to Test Their Spam Gullibility

Now isn't this a case of Double Gullibility? What are the army famous for? Well- giving orders and expecting them to be obeyed without question would come pretty close to top of the list. So what did the creators of this little scheme expect?

Of course the people they sent the message would carry out the orders especially since it was passed off as one of the most trusted divisions of army welfare.

Is it ethical to dupe people you have trained to trust your instructions?

England Banks on Past Ideas

As the world wide credit crunch begins to bite even deeper, and traditional forms of trade come under pressure the English Government is pursuing unpaid royalties across the world for its back catalogue of Inventions to replace falling tax revenues.

Lawyers have petitioned embassies across the world informing them that substantial claims will be made retrospectively and that interest will be added.

Andrew Prill England's Minster for Forgone Overdue Outstanding Licences is quoted today as saying...

"English inventiveness has been taken for granted for years and now its payback time, it should be expected that some smaller nations might sadly go to the wall as we collect unpaid royalties that are due"

How To Sniff Out Gullibility

How do you know if you are on the receiving end of somebody who is trying to dupe you? How do we get to the truth of the matter? Well as social animals most of us have a 'nose' for it, which regrettably becomes dulled because of three key factors:

i) cultural norms which lead us to think that asking direct questions are impolite

ii) undue deference to people who hold 'labels' of authority

iii) lazy thinking which causes us to accept things as 'givens'

So...imagine a situation you are familiar with, it might be a friend excusing themselves from a social event, someone close who doesn't fill in the details of a story, or perhaps someone who uses words and language that misdirect you.

A common tactic will be the use of Euphemism in order to avoid referring directly to the subject under discussion. With its close cousin Jargon I'm sure we all know of instances where the utterances simply obscure rather than clarify. If someone is obscuring the situation then its a sure-fire bet they are hiding something.

This fascinating article by the BBC Does 'misspeak' mean lying? gives some recent examples.

If you want to get really heavy you can dip into things like Language Truth and Logic I suppose this demonstrates the problem...to operate in the social world we have to make compromises and this means sometimes accepting at face value what we are told...can you imagine how you might end up with no Friends if you brought out your Truth Table in an attempt to verify everything that was said!

You can take the above post as true If and Only If The Post is True :)

Are British School Children Cannon Fodder?

The British Army is coming under fire from some teachers in the UK because of the sophisticated recruitment methods that are being used to target school pupils.

The age at which organisations should ethically 'target' people they wish to attract is always a source of controversy. The armed forces clearly have a particular challenge, and I doubt that any of the teachers at the N.U.T. conference would deny that the British armed forces are to be admired and thanked for the dangerous and important work that they do.

Sadly too in times of extreme danger to kin and country young people are the one's who are put in the firing line and there are many examples of this such as The Folorn Hope a junior officer role prevalent in the Napoleonic wars..this wikipedia entry states that the French version were known as 'The Lost Children'. More recent examples would include the Hitler Youth, the child soldiers of Africa and so on. What seems to happening in schools is that recruiters are going after people much younger than N,N,N,Nineteen

What is interesting however is that the army 'sales effort'(due to the obvious personal implications) needs to appeal to other motivators such as Duty, Service, Action, Adventure, Team Spirit, Winning and even as Sean O'Casey explored in his plays Glory...although some of his characters hankered after this at a safe distance. Beck and Cowan in Spiral Dynamics would recognise this as tapping into very strong red and blue Value Memes or world views.

In terms of personal development some young people are naturally more likely to be un-critcial, less concerned with distant implications, have a naive sense of invulnerability and are essentially...
Gung Ho. They are therefore as a result somewhat gullible, and in line with a common thread throughout this blog I don't feel it is right to exploit the gullible as by definition they are placing trust in you. As a personal example of this naivite in action, my 17 year old son was discussing his 'life plan' which was a simple as...

Join the Royal Marines...Capture Osama Bin Laden...Retire from army and open a restaurant with the bounty money and live happily ever after!!

I am not against army recruitment of young people per se. The world is often a dangerous place and rights need defending, and to deny a human being their right of choice is not good in my book. I am against methods that are economical with information about implications and consequences. Denying people informed choice is the unethical bit. This means that that the full facts should be shared even it means that 'sales' might go down a bit.

No Doubt ...You're Gullible?

I can't imagine Doubting Thomas ever being duped by 'get rich schemes', Snake Oil, a promise that the 'cheque is in the post, or explanations for being 'late home from the office'.

What you may not know is that Carravgios painting has the sub-title "If you look closer you can see the film set they used for the Fantastic Voyage "

So it seems that Thomas had all of the right qualities to prevent him from being gullible.

One thing got me wondering though, and that is...if, with Easter in mind Doubt is something you shouldn't have, how come in lots of instances 'having doubt' can protect us from bad things?

In Thomas's case doubt is clearly regarded as something you shouldn't have, but why have one rule for the use of doubt in one case and a different rule in another?. If God created everything (prior assumption alert!) then he must have created Doubt too. So what was his point? Is it a case of demonstrating what something is by emphasising what it is not? I doubt there is an easy answer!...

...So here is a question - "What is Doubt"?

So You Think You Can Predict The Future?

We all know that a key aspect of being human is our need to anticipate and predict the actions of others. (Of course you knew I'd say that) In fact some of our most respected behaviours such as leadership display the knack of giving -sense to the uncertain and apparently un-predictable.

Like most of our abilities however there are good and bad sides to it. Our urge to know what is around the corner can soon disintegrate into Gullibility which leaves us prey to people who claim to have all the answers. Nobody is immune to the lure of future insights claimed by a whole range of people from astrologers to marketing mystics.

So, just how good are you? I stumbled across which will track how accurate your predictions are, there's also a nice little community developing if you are into the social networking side of things

I ra Q Test - can you predict where the missing piece should go?

If you were able to solve the puzzle why not apply to the government as a scenario planner?

I can completely understand that once you are in a war that things become frenetic unpredictable and confusing...I'm sure we've all heard of the Fog Of War

What seems a little less comprehensible is the fact that the best brains who should have been applying the best scenario planning and contingency methods PRIOR to embarking on the IRAQ are now admitting Lack of Thought...as any one with a modicum of IQ will realise 'failure of implementation is always a failure of formulation'..or in more military vernacular 'Planning Prevents P*ss Poor Performance'

For a senior government official to glibly admit this is incredible in the light of the numbers of maimed and killed. Surely with centuries of diplomatic experience to draw from, lack of anticipation of the toxic fallout from the invasion is probably one of the biggest gaffs of geo-political strategy ever encountered?

Hunches, Evidence and Red Herrings

As we know significant events in the social world have us all grasping for meaning. The tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Manchester Chief Constable Michael Todd are clear evidence of that. How many speculative explanations have been put forward already, each one forming and disolving as information about circumstances and context emerge. Patience it seems is not a virtue we have much of when we thirst for answers.

What events like this show is the vulnerability of the human condition.Sadly there is a certain level of Hubris that seems to come with positions of high merit, authority and capability, such that successful people often make a misleading connection between their ability to ‘explain and control’ their job and the prospect of doing the same for themselves…a sort of “I’m used to the world going my way because I have the intellect, power and authority to make it that way…I am omnipotent, I am omniscient, I am infallible”

The traits, style and art involved in becoming a great leader always carry the seeds of potential downfall. When a person realises that they have been gullible in that regard tragic outcomes often result.

Gullibility is merely an act of being human.

Clinton's Win Shows the Gullibility of Speculation

So Hillary's done it! two posts ago I described a scenario that was merely speculation. Whatever I had imagined in my mind was not borne out in reality.

How often do we spend our time 'in the future' as if it was really true. The only truth it seems is now.

It ain't over until Hillary sings!