Comms About Dilbert Cancellation
A class discussion about Dilbert creator Scott Adams’s “racist rant” in a YouTube video can take many directions, including whether what he said was truly racist and whether media outlets did the right thing. Putting making the decision aside, a safer approach is to compare statements communicating the decision. Here are three examples for students to analyze:
Cleveland.com. In a letter announcing the change in The Plain Dealer, Ohio’s largest newspaper, the editor wrote, “This is not a difficult decision.” The editor incudes excerpts from the video to get ahead of criticism: “I hate to quote him at all, but I do so to dissuade responses that this is a ‘cancel culture’ decision.” For context, the editor also cites an article noting that 77 other outlets cancelled Dilbert in September after he introduced the first Black character, as critics said, "apparently to poke fun at 'woke' culture and the LGBTQ community."
USA Today. The newspaper, with the largest circulation in the United States, kept it simple with this tweet.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Between these two examples, is a short statement that includes a caveat: “While we acknowledge his right to free speech and expression, he does not have a right to the AJC’s financial support or our platform.”
Students might also analyze Adams’s response in a tweet and video in which he said, "Most of my income will be gone by next week . . . My reputation for the rest of my life is destroyed. You can't come back from this, am I right?” This warrants another class discussion: can people redeem themselves after a crisis? I would argue that the first step is vulnerability, but that’s for another post.
Should a Bot Interrupt Native English Speakers?
A new study used a bot to cut off native English speakers during meetings, allowing more time for non-native speakers to participate. The study might spark good class discussion about cultural communication differences and the practice of humility, particularly making space for others.
Two native and one Japanese speaker worked on a “survival” task over video. After a non-native speaker spoke six times in a row, the “conversational agent” interrupted, which increased the Japanese speakers’ contributions from “12% to 17% of all words spoken.”
That result seems rather small to me, so I wouldn’t see this as a great solution to imbalanced class discussions or work meetings. Also, the authors are considering whether other means could be more effective. The bot put pressure on the non-native speakers, who didn’t necessarily have something to contribute at that time, so one option is for speakers to signal when they want to jump in. I also wonder whether the results would be different for speakers from other countries.
Another outcome, which as we might expect, is how the native speakers felt. As the authors conclude, they “perceived the agent's interruption as unfair because they thought all members were speaking equally, which was not the case.” This alone is a good learning outcome for students. But authors are exploring more subtle cues, for example, private messages when someone is taking a lot of air time.
Toyota's Messages as Intercultural Comm Examples
Toyota’s messages about executive changes are good examples of how these announcements vary by culture. CEO and President Akio Toyoda (the family name spelling) has served in the position for 13 years. Unlike Reed Hastings, who served for 25 years at Netflix and also announced his move to chairman this week, Toyoda wasn’t a company founder, but his grandfather was, so his tenure is important. And yet, we see what looks like fanfare compared to the Netflix announcement. Here are the communications, and I’ll comment below:
TMC Announces Changes to Executive Structure. A webpage includes links to other communications and handy “current” and “new” tables showing changes.
Toyota Times News Special Live Broadcast. For more than an hour and a half, outgoing and incoming executives discuss the decision.
Passing Toyota's Presidency Baton from Akio Toyoda to Koji Sato. Another page includes remarks from the incoming and outcoming CEOs, transcribed from the video.
Here are a few ways the remarks differ from typical U.S. messages, and I’m sure that students will find more:
In the introduction and in his remarks, Akio Toyoda says the decision was “triggered by Chairman Uchiyamada’s resignation.” This is a way for the outgoing CEO to save face—as though his removal is based on a board opening.
He also demonstrates humility and vulnerability in ways we don’t typically see from an outgoing U.S. CEO. He mentions, “I was appointed president immediately after our company’s fall into the red due to the global financial crisis,” and “Following that, our company faced a series of crises that threatened our survival, such as the global recall crisis and the Great East Japan Earthquake.” Although the financial crisis and earthquake were out of the company’s control, the recalls were self-inflicted, and I’m surprised to hear him remind the press. At the same time, that crisis was early in his tenure and rather unforgettable, including testimony on Capitol Hill.
Toyoda also says, ”There was a time when Mr. Sato was struggling with what he should convey at a Lexus dealer convention.” Toyoda advised, “Rather than try to be like me, I want you to value your individuality.” Toyoda tells the story to illustrate Sato’s “love” for company products. Still, I wonder whether a U.S. CEO would reveal such a vulnerability—”struggling” was the translation—of an incoming executive.
Twice in his short speech, Toyoda mentions Sato’s “youth,” and he says, “Being young is itself a key attribute.” This comment would be highly unlikely in the U.S., where age discrimination laws might cause older executives to immediately call their lawyers. (Also surprising: Toyoda is 66, while Sato is 53.)
Only once do either of the executives mention EV, which is arguably the real reason Akio Toyoda is stepping down. He has resisted the move to EV and, as a result, Toyota is behind other car companies. In his closing remarks, Sato refers to “accelerating the shift to electrification”—a funny, but translated and probably unintentional car reference.
Steve Jobs Email Blast from the Past
We get a window into executive decision making with Internal Tech Emails. This 2005 thread starts with Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin telling his team that Steve Jobs called, angry about Google “recruiting from the safari team.” Without ever hitting the caps key, Brin described Jobs as “agitated” about at least one potential hire away from Apple. In addition to losing staff, Jobs was concerned about Google developing a search engine to compete with Safari, but Brin assured Jobs that this wasn’t in the works.
The email thread includes other Google execs jumping in to explain that they were, in fact, trying to recruit a high-profile employee from the search team—and that the hire might bring additional employees as well. At some point, an HR leader, Arnnon Geshuri, weighs in: “We are careful to adhere to non-compete agreements if we have established these with any company. However, it is the staffing organization's practice to aggressively pursue leads that come from our employees and bring the best talent onboard.”
But, as the conversation continued (and after few more calls from Jobs), we see the team shift. They agree not to pursue more candidates without pre-approval from Apple if the prized employee came on board.
Problems with Medical Jargon
A new study identified specific phrases that patients would likely misunderstand from their healthcare provider. Students probably know that medical jargon causes problems, and they might be interested in analyzing their own provider’s communication.
The survey asked respondents to interpret these phrases, listed in the article supplement. In most cases, respondents were asked whether the news is good or bad. I can see how some could go either way. What does progressive, unremarkable, or impressive mean in a medical diagnosis? We could consider this issue a problem with humility in the medical profession.
Understanding didn’t improve with either age or education. In the demographic section, survey authors did provide non-binary options for gender: female, male, non-binary, other. A related article this week describes data scientists’ challenges when asking about gender. Although researchers found no significant differences in this study, in other studies, gender matters greatly, and students should consider this question carefully in their own primary research.
Research About "Low-Response" People
Research about persuading people to pay NYC parking tickets has implications for business communicators—and raises questions of character. The study, published in American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, found that reminder letters get more people to pay fines, but this approach doesn’t work for everyone.
People who respond least to the “nudges,” including notices about greater fines, happen to be those least likely to pay in the first place. Referred to as “low-response” types, these folks need sterner warnings. As one author says, “It’s only when they get this legal-looking letter that says, ‘We are in default judgment against you; you may get towed.’” Most interesting, people in the “low-response” groups tend to be from historically “disadvantaged populations—lower income, less education, and higher proportions of Black or other racial groups.”
The authors acknowledge that their recommendations ”would not be based on individual characteristics (e.g., income, race, neighborhood) but only on past behavior–while statistically helping traditionally underserved populations to avoid penalties with a nonintrusive nudge. We further note that, in proposing this policy, we are not assuming that the low baseline response rates of the LRs are suboptimal. Rather, we are pointing out a lower-cost policy that could induce more timely payments from the LRs without imposing larger penalties on them.”
Still, this study raises questions about character, for example, compassion, integrity, and accountability. Am I the only one cringing at the term “low-response type” and use of “LRs”? Is it right to threaten one group but not another, even if it’s based on past behavior? True, people should pay fines, but we have deeper societal issues and inequities to consider. How do people in these groups view rules and law enforcement? Are people in lower-income neighborhoods or with cars in greater disrepair more likely to get tickets in the first place?
If, as the authors say, their proposed policy is helpful to avoid “imposing larger penalties,” why not simply eliminate fines that some people can’t afford to pay? Our local library has stopped charging late fees so they don’t discourage reading and cause a disparate impact. The authors do propose eliminating later, greater fines that have little impact and most affect people in historically disadvantaged populations. Theoretically, data can also be used for a sliding fee scale according to income level—or perhaps the value of one’s car.
The simpler takeaway for business communication students is the relevance of knowing your audience. As study authors say, NYC already has the data and can customize approaches. We do teach analyzing an audience and tailoring a message. But students may discuss the ethics of using data and taking different approaches in these types of situations.
Resume Cakes and Other Attention-Getters
Every couple of years an attention-getting resume goes viral, and students might wonder what they could do to get eyes on their job application. This time, we see a cake with a resume screen printed in the icing, sent to Nike headquarters.
The lesson for students is the same: creative approaches for creative jobs might work but are probably not appropriate for more conversative positions or industries. I also wonder, despite the reports on programs like Good Morning America, how often these ideas turn into job offers. A couple have, but I imagine that companies don’t want to encourage a lot of cakes, which, because of safety concerns, are probably discarded.
This story doesn’t have a happy job ending but became about the Instacart driver who carried the cake—and her 8-month-old son—around Nike’s campus to hand deliver the cake. It’s inspiring to see the lengths people will go for their dream job and how determined people can be. But I would encourage students to find other ways to differentiate themselves in the job market.
Communications About Fast Company Breach
Fast Company is suffering embarrassment because of a data breach during which hackers sent racist messages through Apple News on iPhones. The offensive comments reflect poorly on Apple as well, which a Washington Post article describes as an otherwise “walled garden.”
In addition to posting the message shown here on its website homepage, Fast Company sent this message by email:
Fast Company’s Apple News account was hacked on Tuesday evening. Two obscene and racist push notifications were sent about a minute apart. The messages are vile and are not in line with the content of Fast Company. We are investigating the situation and have suspended the feed and shut down FastCompany.com until we are certain the situation has been resolved.”
A similar white-text-on-black-background message plasters Inc.’s home page: “As a result of the FastCompany.com breach, Mansueto Ventures (which also owns Inc.) is temporarily shutting down Inc.com out of an abundance of caution while the investigation is underway.”
Without further comment to news organizations, Apple posted this tweet: “An incredibly offensive alert was sent by Fast Company, which has been hacked. Apple News has disabled their channel.” Apple is doing its best to stay out of the fray, letting Fast Company take the blame.
RadioShack Takes Risks in New Ad Campaign
RadioShack launched a new advertising campaign that includes sexual and other questionable references. The situation is an interesting example of persuasive communication—catchy and potentially offensive.
A Wall Street Journal article describes franchisees’ mixed reactions to the approach as well as the company’s new cryptocurrency exchange platform. As the majority franchisee, Bob Wilke, president of HobbyTown Unlimited complained, “This is so damaging to their integrity, and the reputation of the brand. We just do not want to be associated with that type of marketing.”
The company follows a sad story line, with 8,000 at its prime in 1999, filing for bankruptcy in 2015 and 2017, getting acquired, and limping along with 110 stores today. Looking at RadioShack’s history, we do see a different picture from the current marketing. This Business Insider article chronicles ads from the company’s inception in 1921, when products were sold primarily through catalogs.
Abel Czupor, the new marketing head, responded to the controversy: “Every company that has lovers also has haters, but that just means that marketing is working. And I would rather have lovers and haters than not having anyone that knows about the brand.” Edgy marketing attracts attention, but it’s not always positive. Business communication students can analyze the company’s roots and progression to decide whether the current strategy might work or only drag the brand further down.
Meta Explains Chatbot Offense
Meta’s new artificial intelligence software is already failing. The chatbot, BlenderBot 3, seems to believe Jewish conspiracy theories and that President Trump won the 2020 election, as shown in the conversation here.
Meta is focusing on BlenderBot 3’s pilot status and requires users to accept a statement before they interact:
I understand this bot is for research and entertainment only, and that is likely to make untrue or offensive statements. If this happens, I pledge to report these issues to help improve future research. Furthermore, I agree not to intentionally trigger the bot to make offensive statements.
The company describes BlenderBot 3 as a “state-of-the-art conversational agent that can converse naturally with people” and claims that feedback will improve how the bot interacts:
Since all conversational AI chatbots are known to sometimes mimic and generate unsafe, biased or offensive remarks, we’ve conducted large-scale studies, co-organized workshops and developed new techniques to create safeguards for BlenderBot 3. Despite this work, BlenderBot can still make rude or offensive comments, which is why we are collecting feedback that will help make future chatbots better.
As we learned from other messages this past week, company leaders are pushing back on complaints and asking customers to be patient. We’ll see whether Meta’s strategy of managing expectations turns out better for Blender than Microsoft’s response to complaints about its 2016 chatbot, which was removed after making anti-Semitic, racist, and sexist comments. Meta asks us for feedback, but I’d rather get offended by humans and invest my time in educating them instead of a bot.
Honest Email Auto-Responses
The New York Times published a series of automated email responses that let senders know why the receiver will take a while to reply or will not replay at all. Each explains a mental-health reason, for example, vacationing or recovering from a miscarriage. Some are funny, like this one:
Thanks for your email—but unfortunately, I’m rocking in a corner somewhere trying to find my inner peace. As soon as I’ve found it, I’ll be back at work, so please bear with me.
Alain Sobol, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt
Generally, I like the idea. The responses are honest and demonstrate integrity, vulnerability, and authenticity. A few of the examples might be “TMI” (too much information), but that’s for each receiver to decide.
Students can draft their own responses, but I’ll add a word of caution: these shouldn’t be overused. How much senders will tolerate depends on the situation and relationship. If an email is important, the sender needs alternatives, which I don’t see in the NYT examples. A time estimate or someone else to contact would be appreciated.
Using Alt Text for Its Intended Purpose
An alternative-text feature allows blind readers and those with low vision to hear descriptions of what they can’t see online. The point is to improve digital accessibility. NASA uses the feature with an “ALT” link that opens an “Image Description.”
This Harvard Digital Accessibility guide provides tips for writing good alt text:
Add alt text all non-decorative images.
Keep it short and descriptive, like a tweet.
Don’t include “image of” or “photo of.”
Leave alt text blank if the image is purely decorative
It's not necessary to add text in the Title field.
I would amend this list by suggesting that writers limit the number of “purely decorative” images in favor of meaningful ones.
Twitter users and others are frustrated by alt text that doesn’t meet these criteria and, worse, is used for purposes other than increasing accessibility. Unfortunately, people are using this feature for source information, additional captions, or jokes. Of course, this does nothing to help users who need assistance navigating web content—the intended purpose of alt text.
Lizzo Apologizes for Ableist Slur
Singer and songwriter Lizzo apologized to fans and critics, many of them on TikTok, offended by the term “spaz” in her new song, “GRRRLS.” One tweet explained the controversy:
@lizzo please re-release “grrrls” without the ablist [sic] slur. That word is not kind to disabled people. Your music is global and you have a voice folks listen to. We are trusting and asking you to release it without the slur.
Others mentioned their surprise because the singer “champions women, plus size people and others whom society treats poorly, Lizzo preaches inclusivity and should do better.”
Lizzo responded with an apology that demonstrates accountability and authenticity. She admitted the mistake, announced a new version, and highlighted her own identity. The apology could have been improved by recognizing how the term is offensive and harmful. Regardless, fans seemed to appreciate the response and, overall, the apology was effective.
What New Grads Want
A Wall Street Journal article raises questions about how employers communicate jobs and whether new grads are realistic. The survey results of this graduating class are not surprising, for example, that they want to move up quickly. For as long as I remember, young, new hires have expected to advance in an organization as they have advanced through their school years. This study revealed that “40% of respondents want to earn a promotion in their first year on the job,” and the author suggests ways for employers to sell promotion opportunities during the interview process and on its website. But that percentage of students will not advance as quickly as they hope: the organization chart narrows at the top.
Two other results are mildly interesting: that 80% of students want to work in the office, and that they want to feel that they belong at work—that they can be themselves. Both make sense considering that this group was isolated during the pandemic and spent some of their precious college time alone.
Career management offices may need to counsel students to prioritize what is most important to them. For example, they may need to sacrifice upward mobility for a supportive, inclusive work environment. This, too, is nothing new.
Boeing's Scant Statement on Crash
As we wait for details about the plane crash in China, Boeing has issued a statement. The plan was a Boeing 737—not the Max that caused two crashes in 2019 and 2020. Still, the company has suffered greatly, taking longer than expected fixing problems and doing PR damage control in the meantime. This latest situation doesn’t help the company’s reputation.
At the same time, this crash is highly unusual, taking place during descent, during which only 3% of plane crashes occur. In addition, this plane had been operating for six years without issue. Both black boxes were found, so investigators will find more information. But, sadly, knowing the reason for the crash won’t change the fate of 132 victims and their loved ones.
Boeing’s statement is the bare minimum. The company follows its typical communication protocol, saying as little as possible and coming from no one in particular. I understand not taking responsibility at this point, but how about a little more compassion and authenticity? I wonder what lessons company leaders learned in the past two years about communication and character.
Boeing Statement on China Eastern Airlines Flight MU 5735
CHICAGO, March 26, 2022 – Boeing today released the following statement:
“We extend our deepest condolences for the loss of those on board China Eastern Airlines Flight MU 5735. Our thoughts and prayers are with the passengers and crew, their families and all those affected by this accident. Boeing will continue to support our airline customer during this difficult time. In addition, a Boeing technical team is supporting the NTSB and the Civil Aviation Administration of China who will lead the investigation.”
Contact
Boeing Communications
media@boeing.com
LinkedIn Gives Options for Employment Gaps
In a new feature, LinkedIn gives users 13 ways to describe reasons for employment gaps. In a blog post, a senior product manager at LinkedIn explained the rationale:
“According to a recent survey, more than half of professionals have taken a career break. Yet for far too long, the possibility of embarking on a career break has been overshadowed by stigma, which 60% of people believe still exists. . . . 46% of hiring managers believe candidates with career breaks are an untapped talent pool.”
Recruiters have business reasons to be more open-minded about time away from work. The “Great Resignation” and tight labor market left openings that employers need to fill.
LinkedIn’s survey found that 51% of employers are more likely to contact candidates who “provides context” about a gap. Of course, what LinkedIn doesn’t say is that 49% may be less likely or just as likely to follow up. Still, we may be seeing more compassion about personal challenges, including breaks for mental health reasons, family responsibilities, and illness.
If this feature is used widely, it could normalize work breaks and reduce the stigma of taking time off. Personal reasons are personal, but revealing them may encourage applicants to be more vulnerable and authentic—to trust that employers won’t judge them harshly and to present themselves genuinely, “warts and all.”
To explain a gap is to take a risk but so is not explaining a gap. In this case, an employer may think the worst, and applicants have no chance to include their own voice.
Encouraging Humility
David Axelrod, a New York Times opinion writer, weighs in on President Biden’s first State of the Union address, scheduled for March 1. The article, “Mr. President, It’s Time for a Little Humility,” criticizes the president’s previous news conference in which he “energetically sold a litany of achievements” without acknowledging “grinding concerns that have soured the mood of the country.”
In addition to humility, which is defined at recognizing one’s own and others’ limitations, Alexrod is encouraging compassion—caring for yourself and others. He makes good arguments for being positive, while avoiding a “doom and gloom” speech like one of President Carter’s.
Getting the balance right will be difficult. The president needs to remind people of his successes to inspire reelection, while being honest about COVID deaths, the decline of mental health, and economic challenges. As Alexrod says, “Now, he needs to find that voice by telling the story of the ordeal so many Americans have shared, honoring their resilience and painting a credible, realistic picture of how we can all reclaim control of our lives.”
We’ll see how President Biden does. Multiple speech writers will wordsmith his address. But as business communicators know, how the speech is received depends on the president’s delivery as well as his words. I’m curious how much of the president’s genuine self we’ll see—his authenticity.
Raiders Coach’s Language and Resignation
The New York Times described emails sent by Raiders Coach Jon Gruden that included racist, homophobic, and sexist language. In his statement, Gruden wrote a short statement on the Raiders’ Twitter account.
The statement isn’t exactly an apology, as we define it in business and corporate communication. Gruden doesn’t describe his behavior or the impact on others.
Raiders owner Mark Davis wrote an even shorter statement: “I have accepted Jon Gruden’s resignation as Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.”
Critics of the decision evoke the “cancel culture,” while others believe Gruden’s comments were outlandish. In a business environment, his language would never be acceptable. The NY Times article quotes Gruden, which I’ll avoid here.
Questions Are Different for Women in Economics
A working paper shows that women in economics receive more and tougher questions than do their male counterparts. Researchers analyzed data from 462 presentations at seminars and job talks, when candidates present their research to prospective faculty colleagues.
Controlling for fields, types of seminars, and other factors, the researchers found that women receive 12% more questions and more “hostile” or “patronizing” questions. One concern is that woman might be discouraged from presenting their work or applying for positions, which hurts the field of economics.
The authors note that less than one percent of presenters were Black or Hispanic, so no conclusions could be drawn about how these groups are treated.
The authors acknowledge that these questions may not result from ill intent but may be a result of implicit bias or part of a more systemic male-dominated culture. Sadly, the authors say that some comments are “demoralizing,” and again, they warn of the negative impact on the field:
“Many of us have heard stories of friends and colleagues whose bad experiences in seminars have led them to re-evaluate whether a career in economics is really the best choice for them.”
Workers Want to Stay Home
Employees aren’t anxious to return to an office, which may forever change communication. Studies show that, since the pandemic, 61% of people would prefer to work from home full time, compared to 27% before the pandemic. Also, although about 32% didn’t want to work from home at all before the pandemic, 4% now have the same sentiment.
Employees report positive results from working from home, including greater efficiency. Although many have been challenged with children at work, overall, the unintended experiment has been successful.
Because more people will work from home, at least part time, teams need to be better collaborators, and managers need to be better managers. We have relied too heavily on simplistic measures, such as time spent in the office, with no better measures of accountability, output, and impact.
Leaders will need to find ways to keep employees connected to their organizations and to each other. Many employees are feeling “Zoomed out,” but we’ll need ways to socialize and build informal connections that help develop trust and make work easier to manage.