A Shark in Sheep's Clothing

Sharklike companies scare clients off.

So it's heartening to see a venture capital firm so self-confident it's willing to empathize.

Rare for the breed, First Round telegraphs amity at every juncture.

The firm, for example, advertises on its website the 80 events it sponsors every year.

It doesn't push a calendar of dates and locations, but instead explains why events have value:

Starting a company is lonely, and founders have to make difficult decisions every day with imperfect information. In our experience, the best safety net is the advice and experience of fellow entrepreneurs.

The firm's gentle touch then assures sheepish clients participation will pay off:

Whenever we get members of our community in a room, magic happens. That’s why our Knowledge Program’s robust events—ranging from cozy dinners to major summits—are designed to get real, vulnerable conversations started. People leave with new ideas and actions they can apply immediately to keep growing and getting better. You won’t find any stick-on name tags here—we hate them.

How about you? Is your website all facts and mission talk? Or do you show clients you understand their fears?

When you evidence a bit of empathy, you boost your effectiveness. As direct marketer Hershell Gordon Lewis advises:

"If we can avoid becoming so wrapped up within the cocoon of our organization’s purpose, goals, and means of recruitment, effectiveness has to go up. So as best you can, you should apply this litmus test to any messages you’re considering sending: If I were receiving this message, not sending it, would it motivate me to respond? 

"See how easy? See how rare?"

The Return of the Meatware

Investor greed and digital technology are inspiring managers to become New Taylorists, says The Economist.

A long-discredited management theory, Taylorism appeals to executives eager to serve the dark side.

Profits can be boosted, the theory holds, if companies follow three simple rules: 

• Break complex jobs down into one-dimensional tasks;
• Measure everything workers do; and 
• Reward achievers, sack slackers.

The theory's opponents point to studies that show culture matters more than tasks and quotas, carrots and sticks.

But the New Taylorists don't buy it. Encouraged by short-term spurts, they'd rather treat workers as meatware.

There are signs, however, the meatware's time is coming.

"The proliferation of websites such as Glassdoor, which let employees review their workplaces, may mean that firms which treat their workers as mere 'meatware' lose the war for the sort of talent that cannot be mechanized," The Economist says.

Razor's Edge

Don't cut it on the job market? Now you can go back to school. Tuition free.

H'University, brainchild of razor manufacturer Harry's, gives students the chance to "learn real-world skills from world-class entrepreneurs, and apply to get hired at top companies."

Personifying value, the microsite proves again content marketing isn't branding.

Content marketers like Harry's realize customers want brands to help them become better citizens, not just better shoppers.

That realization puts content marketers a cut above competitors.

Garbage In, Garbage Out

New research appearing in the International Journal of Business Administration suggests junk content consumption lowers the quality of your writing.

Sixty-five adults participated in the study.

They provided the researchers writing samples and reports of the time spent reading various books, newspapers and websites.

Using an algorithmic tool, the researchers compared the quality of participants' writing samples to samples taken from the books, newspapers and websites the participants most read.

The comparisons show a strong correlation between reading and writing skills: people who read more complex stories have more complex writing, and vice versa.

The researchers blamed junk peddlers like Reddit and Tumblr for participants' worst writing habits.

Consumption of content rife with jargon, slang and shorthand threatens an adult's ability to compose complex sentences.

Neuroanatomy is also to blame.

"Neuroanatomy may predispose even adults to mimicry and synchrony with the language they routinely encounter in their reading, directly impacting their writing," the researchers say.

Or as Ludwig Feuerbach once said, "You are what you eat."

The researchers prescribe heavy doses of literary fiction and academic journals to counteract the effects of emojis, memes, tweets and listicles on writing skill.

Flight to Safety

A stock sell-off/bond buy-up by jittery investors is known on Wall Street as a "flight to safety."

A different kind of flight to safety takes place every hour on every street, at every workplace, in every town in America.

A colleague told me yesterday he was leaving a good company because his marketing ideas—which produced considerable results—don't "fit the culture."

A Cornell study reveals that company leaders often reject new ideas not because the ideas don’t have potential, but because the leaders themselves lack the guts to face risk and uncertainty.

It gets worse. 

When cautious leaders quash new ideas, the study says, they do so unconsciously. 

Their fear actually blinds them to the ideas.

No wonder 7 of 10 workers aren't engaged.

As adman Leo Burnett said, "To swear off making mistakes is very easy. All you have to do is swear off having ideas."