Lowest Common Denominator Thinking

Well I tried. I gave it my best shot.

I joined several industry social websites over the last year, not in any overt effort to make more money ( I don’t do the hard sell) but rather to try and insert a deeper and more intellectually honest way of thinking about the business. It has been, and still is, sorely lacking. Not only that, but thinking in general has taken hit after hit over the last few years. I see, hear and watch it every day, at all levels, and it is extremely sad to me. I’m simply tired of valueless, mindless pinheads who can’t see the forest for the trees.

Therefore I have stopped trying to influence, persuade, converse, challenge or inform through them. I’m still very actively involved in the traditional sources of industry information and experience sharing as well as the RCS blog, my books and websites. I will also be heavily more involved in the RCS Forum now as well.

Why?

Lowest common denominator thinking and the whining that eventually comes from those who propagate it.

If you want to put an idea out into the world for its consideration, please do the following;

1. Be prepared to defend it. Just because you had an idea doesn’t make you the brightest bulb in the room. And just because someone challenges that idea doesn’t mean its bad. It means you need to dig deeper and understand the complexities of the very idea you put forward. If you can’t, don’t whine about anyone who challenges it being a bully and that somehow you’re a victim. As long as people stay away from personal attacks toward you and stick to the debate of the idea, what’s the problem?
2. Learn and use enough proper grammar and composition to not only be understood, but to help those reading your thoughts, think you are smart enough to have actually come up with it in the first place. There is nothing worse than writing with every third word misspelled or misused or used out of context or using words that are archaic or simply used to try to impress others about the size of your vocabulary. Get over yourself. Keep it simple and easy to read and understand. Good proofreading can go a long way toward obtaining increasing amounts of credibility.
3. Don’t attack people. Attack ideas.
4. If you run a social website - I facilitate several - be intellectually honest and fair. Acknowledge and be proactive in dealing with issues as they arise but don’t be so politically correct that you alienate members just because “clicks” send you email complaining about nothing more than they aren’t smart enough to rebut an argument. People will disagree. But as long as the focus remains on the ideas being argued, keep out of it. Diversity of thought (and relatively free speech) is a good thing.
5. Don’t be a noob by saying things like “Air is important to your survival” or my personal favorite, “Marketing is important to your business success.” If you can’t add intellectual content to a discussion, it would be better if you just sat back and learned something. Most people can’t do that and it only gets worse when you include the masses in a conversation that most are ill prepared to participate in. I don’t believe everyone has something to say on every subject. I also don’t believe in consensus as an arbiter of intellect.
6. Don’t promise things you have no intention of doing. Be honest. Keep your word if you give it.

There will probably be a lot more to come on this.

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