Red Diamonds Newsletter: Wisdom, Interviews and Insights
A weekly newsletter on communication, decision making, behavior, trust, conflict, risk, professional relationships, resilience, reputation and wiser, more successful crisis management. Red Diamonds regularly includes interviews with bright, accomplished minds.
This Week’s Contents
The Breakdown of a Close Friendship: Learning from Barkley and Jordan
(Interview with Damali Peterman, Founder and CEO of Breakthrough ADR)The Error of Psychological Comfort Over Beneficial Information
(Warren Buffett)What We Don’t Always Consider About a Lack of Evidence
(Carl Sagan)Communications: Warning about Misinformation and its Spread
(Renée DiResta)Humility, Trust, Credibility and Reputation
(Jason Baehr)Something to Consider: Data is Meaningless without Understanding
(Interview with Case Escher, Managing Director, Interas and Partner of
The Partners Group)They Said “What?”
(Bryan Adams)Comments and Questions
About
NBA legends Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan are not that much different than most of us. They are two people who had an enjoyable friendship at one time and then saw it end suddenly and painfully over a conflict.
Could they resolve matters and rebuild their friendship? What could we all learn from what Barkley and Jordan went through, what we’ve endured in our own lives or what we might be going through now with someone who was once a friend in our personal or professional lives?
Damali Peterman and I discuss it in this Red Diamonds Features article:
The Barkley and Jordan Relationship Conflict Breakdown and the Way Out
Your comments and questions are welcomed at RedDiamondsNews@Gmail.com.
“What the human being is best at doing is interpreting all new information so that their prior conclusions remain intact.”
Warren Buffett
Investor
Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
That’s a pointed statement, isn’t it? I imagine it offends many. Yet it might not make Buffett’s findings any less accurate and true.
The fact is, human beings do strongly prefer to believe what they want to believe and the psychological comfort of the beliefs we currently hold rather than learning that our convictions might not hold the accuracy and weight we thought they did.
That’s okay, we can (and do) choose to hold on to what we believe to be unquestionable yet at times we might be doing this at escalating or great risk.
We should just realize our chosen lack of intellectual humility comes with variable and often high, painful costs.
“The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”
Carl Sagan
Scientist
How often do we stop and consider Sagan’s quote when we’re convinced no evidence exists to inspire us to examine another point of view?
Not as often as we should and we’re rarely bothered by it at all.
Yet when we’re certain evidence exists to prove a point of great importance to us and that evidence hasn’t been discovered, it is painful, even excruciating.
In the first case, maybe it is more intelligent and wise to consider that evidence might exist even though it is presently absent.
This doesn’t mean knowing evidence exists. It does mean that its presence could exist or likely does.
Our judgment should be humble and not arrogant in any scenario, even if certain people regularly choose that emotion and behavior.
“Preventing epidemics of misinformation from spreading is easier than curing them once they’ve taken hold.”
Renée DiResta
Virus Experts are Not Getting the Message Out
The Atlantic
Let’s briefly talk about DiResta’s quote in a different context than in which she communicated it, because the focus of this newsletter differs from her area of expertise.
Misinformation is a problem in many areas of society and the damage it creates or can inflict is significant. That’s why it has to be recognized quickly and purposely deconstructed because, as DiResta says, preventing it is a far wiser strategy than overcoming it once it spreads and people accept it as factual.
What safeguards do you have in place, within your own thinking and within your organization? How do you monitor its effectiveness? How do you prevent misinformation from slipping by or gaining a costly, dangerous foothold?
“To be humble is to be attentive to and disposed to ‘own’ one’s limitations, weaknesses, and mistakes. A humble person does not ignore, avoid, or try to deny her limits or deficiencies.”
Jason Baehr
Professor of Philosophy, Loyola Marymount University
Many people are humble. Many are not and don’t know it or don’t care.
Baehr point one: “attentive to and disposed to…”
How skillful of “noticers” are we of our limitations, weaknesses, and mistakes? Do we acknowledge them and realize they are problematic?
Does this self awareness and intellectual honesty act as a catalyst for us, leading to investing in correcting and improving our clear challenges?
Do we realize the costs of not doing such and the benefits of the achievement of improvement?
Baehr point two: “does not ignore, avoid, or try to deny her limits or deficiencies.”
Ah, the big one for us. Do we deny, rationalize or ignore our (ugly word coming) “deficiencies?”
Our comfort zone is our safe spot yet it doesn’t allow us to be humble. It prevents exhibition of humility. People around us see it and recognize it even when we believe they don’t. A lack of humility is, for some people, a personal crisis.
We get a reputation and not the one we seek and value. Trust and credibility fail to develop, erode or are forfeited.
Humility however, when combined with other socially expected character traits and competence build trust, credibility and beneficial reputation.
A study has also shown that (sincere) humility increases the likelihood of forgiveness while a lack of humility decreases the odds that we will be forgiven.
Quick, what is your initial emotion and thought when I say “data is meaningless?”
What if I add “…without context and analysis?”
What do you think: agree or disagree?
When I read LinkedIn stories I sometimes like to take a look at all the people who “liked” the story. When I did so recently and saw Case Escher’s profile tagline of “Data is Meaningless without Context and Analysis,” I knew there had to be a strong reason, and likely an interesting and meaningful one behind the boldness of his belief and statement.
Escher agreed to have a conversation about it and he was just as bold as we talked. I think you might like to learn what I did in the article just published:
The Accompanying Dangers of How Data is Often Interpreted
Bryan Adams, say what?
“Tonight was supposed to be the beginning of a tenancy of gigs at the @royalalberthall, but thanks to some f***ing bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy bastards, the whole world is now on hold, not to mention the thousands that have suffered or died from this virus,” Adams posted on social media, adding “My message to them other than ‘thanks a f***ing lot’ is go vegan.”
Yeah, about that. While social media is never an intelligent, wise strategy to go throw an adult tantrum, it is exactly where many adults do go to do just that. Not everyone pays a terrible reputation toll but some do get eaten alive.
People remember, especially if they don’t already like you or if the offense is significantly egregious. Adams being angry is one thing. Spewing that anger and ugliness online, not his best decision making or best character moment.
He did go back online, yet did little to clean up his mess.
“Apologies to any and all that took offence to my posting yesterday,” Adams wrote on Instagram. “No excuse, I just wanted to have a rant about the horrible animal cruelty in these wet-markets being the possible source of the virus, and promote veganism.”
Mild regret, mild apology, unimpressive. At least he owned it (before rationalizing the behavior).
Adams likely will have to do much more to diffuse the anger, disgust, resentment and hostility that is still possible, if not likely to come his direction.
Prevention is always the best strategy to reputation health yet as humans, we make mistakes and commit reckless errors, as in the case of Adams in this situation.
The questions now for him could be: does he realize how his words were interpreted? Were they taken as he explained and hoped? What else is he willing to do to make conflict repairs and restore or rebuild reputation and relationships that are important to him, not only in business but with society?
Do you have comments about the newsletter, something you’ve read in it, or do you have questions? Reach out to RedDiamondsNews@Gmail.com.
Michael Toebe is the writer of the Red Diamonds Newsletter and also hosts the Red Diamonds Podcast: Michael Toebe (found on numerous podcast platforms). He is a specialist for reputation, professional relationships communication and wiser, more successful crisis management.
Until next week…
”In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.”
Albert Einstein
and
“There’s a way of doing it better — find it.”
Thomas Edison
