B|L Research Note: " The thing about the old days is... they are the old days"
Context, signals and editorial directions for issue#2 (out Feb '24)
This is a research note exploring some of the thinking shaping issue #2
It contains background information, expanded thinking and footnotes and will be updated and revised as the magazine deadline closes in.
These research notes can read more pretentious than the magazine article as they are the work to get the steak on a plate, not the steak on the plate.
So this article draft for the upcoming edition of Border|Land magazine came together from two pieces of research.
One was the tracking of normalisation of sport betting that has been captivating me for some time now.
From Talk Sport radio in the UK, to every NBA/NFL/Football indie podcast (never mind the Fox/ESPN driven hot take shows) being sponsored by Draft Kings or some other type of betting company. (They are following the same playbook as Athletic Greens1 in that sense.)
The other was an incidental discovery of Baudrillard’s2 simulacrum and phases of image theory that made me realise the absurdity of using the word “responsibly” in relation to indulging in vices.
Since this is a research note, some sidesteps before all that.
Postmodernity is like the sequel to modernity. It's what happened after the industrial, capitalist, globalised boom, leaving behind the Enlightenment's obsession with scientific truths.
Modernity can be seen as a time stamp, while postmodernism is the philosophical response to this era's vibes, which are less about nailing down capital-T Truths and more about realising that everything, including politics, society, and economics, is just a big social construct.
We're not just dealing with hard facts anymore; language and imagery have muscled their way into the ring, flexing their constructivist muscles.
Using a postmodern lens is like having x-ray vision for words, images, and symbols – it lets us tear down and rebuild concepts, like "justice," from scratch.
This is where Baudrillard comes into play with his talk about simulacra and simulation, which basically says society is more hung up on symbols and ideas than on actual, tangible facts – hyperreality.
So, what?
Well, in a world chasing after these symbols and spectacles, people can end up feeling like outsiders in their own lives, disconnected in a spectacle-obsessed society.
And that's precisely what's happened with a lot of corporate/societal language being used today – words will journey from a genuine term describing a plight to a symbol that's pretty much doing backflips on the other end of the spectrum.
Baudrillard got this idea that reality is kind of like a shape-shifter, morphing over time as concepts and language, slide from being a very close reflection of reality to just hanging out in and amongst themselves, cooking up a new kind of reality stew - hyperreality.
He breaks it down into phases of the image:
• Phase 1: The image is like reality's Siamese twin; it's a spitting image of the real deal [pay gap analysis, blind hiring to combat selection bias].
• Phase 2: Here, the image starts playing dress-up, putting on a mask to hide or twist what's real [A.I to reduce all biases or any new shiny tech object dropped on an old problem, with an ‘analogue’ solution to score PR points].
• Phase 3: The image goes full Houdini, making us think there's something profound when there's actually a profound absence of reality [white/green/etc washing efforts, diversity training of any kind].
• Phase 4: Now, the image's cut the cord with reality; it's living in its own bubble. [weaponisation of meaning]
The term woke3 comes is a good example. "Woke" has journeyed from its Black community roots to now being a loaded word, pretty much hijacked and living in its own bizarre world of hyperreality. "Woke" is almost unrecognisable from its original meaning.
Equity is another one.4 ……Lives Matter another, potentially.
In modern business discourse, these [and other words] can be seen at various stages of Baudrillard’s spectrum. In some contexts, it is a deeply meaningful and actionable concept; in others, it might be closer to becoming a simulacrum, used more for its symbolic value than as a reflection of genuine practices.
Again, so..what..?
I often tell people that Duchamp is my lawyer. He’s the legal premise to validate what I’m doing. Because streetwear started from the gesture of taking a logo, flipping it upside down, and sewing it back on again. What I’m wearing right now is a streetwear shoe. But to me it’s just as valid as a Tom Sachs reinterpretation of an Hermès bag made out of plywood. This is a readymade.
Nike designed the original in Oregon, and then the Duchamp thing was like: “How do I make this shoe different? How do I make you appreciate the shoe?” That’s where the typography comes in. Typography is the realm where you can unlock the reality of what a garment is. It’s Photoshop 3.0. If I take a men’s sweatshirt and write “woman” on its back, that’s art.
You can use typography and wording to completely change the perception of a thing without changing anything about it. This is what we learned from Barbara Kruger—you can evoke meaning by crashing two things together. And our result is not a one-off. These shoes are going to be mass-produced so kids can buy them.
Virgil Abloh5
First of: ROI.
The further a word, concept or image is removed from its original meaning, the more it can be used to slow down, discredit or reduce [continued] impact of the change projects that those words symbolise. Again nothing new under the sun.6
However in a world where nothing is now too sacred to be critically analysed7, orgs need to be hyper aware that the words that are being used will come pre-loaded with different meanings and interpretations at different stages of the image [or word] for different sections of the workforce or stakeholders.
And perhaps more importantly, we need to know at what stage the stubborn minority is, so you can focus on strategy consent not consensus building for the changes you want to implement.8
Not doing so will lead to leaders [again] being caught off guard.
Secondly, to avoid the quick (sand) fix trap.
When trying to revive [or combat fatigue9 of] a change project, tapping into past success is often deemed an easy fix [see every re-election campaign of any incumbent elected official].
Go back to the archives, drum up the progress of the the past, cater to base’s memories, and turn it into a comms/engagement thing-y to get the people enthused again about the next round of training or the latest tools to tackle the same issue.
It is a nostalgic short-term tactic at best that might remind people of the goodwill they gave the company once upon a time when the meaning of the project reflected a reality [phase 1].
If not followed up with a contemporary resonating execution, there is a real danger of getting stuck in “the good old days” while the world, culture, and people all moved on from you and your credibility [phase 2 +3].
A more difficult, but in the long run better approach is to go explore the initiative’s initial reason for being10. Which was rooted in a specific time, place & culture and uncover what its driving forces and principles were.
Then use that information as a blueprint for a reboot: what does Inclusion mean if it was set up today? What would ERG’s look like if they started in 2024? What would we call it today if the words Diversity, Equity & inclusion, bias training, performance management did not exist?
HOW WOULD VIRGIL DESIGN “EDI”?
To then continuously re-contextualise the projects, through new meaning-free words [found in new lived experiences, not management consultancies] or through constant seasonal adaptations.
Think “Re-editions,” “sequels + prequels,” “capsule collaborations” where wider culture connects with employees, and corporate culture in a way that creates something that new and familiar, not old and embarrassing.11
All fairly standard practice in the fashion industry [where ironically their own HR/EDI departments act as stale as any other industry], and known to people who work in HR [when they are “ just people”, not their job title], yet seen as huge risks when applied to something serious as “Human Capital”.
It’s easier to accept [for instance] that EDI is a part of the corporate strategy [driven as much by goodwill, as it is legal and financial requirements] that needs to be executed, come hell or high water, and to dress the old success in a “GenZ” style, because somewhere we were told or read in a “best practice” case study that GenZ cares a lot about the values of a company.
Conclusion
We need communication that help things along. Better said, that moves people along. And that might sometimes mean updating old words to reflect new meanings.
And sometimes, we might need a completely new vocabulary, context or tools to start anew.
But more and more we need to update the pools of inspirations that HR/EDI teams dare to draw from when tasked to solve “age old” issues in new forms.
In a coming time where craft/technical ability can and will be lowered to “almost zero barrier”, developing taste is the new “learn to code”.
A taste rooted in permanent history, but transient in its application to the situation at hand.
I took humanities late, so I never had an art class. I didn't know I was into it. Then I took an art-history class in my fifth year of engineering. I learned about the Italian Renaissance and Caravaggio, and it rewired my brain12.
https://archive.is/lB4el
https://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/baudrillard.htm#:~:text=In%20Simulations%2C%20Baudrillard%20categorizes%20the,whatever%2C%20it%20is%20its%20own
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2022/03/28/how-woke-became-weaponized-in-the-culture-wars/
https://www.vox.com/policy/2023/5/4/23644810/equity-social-justice-equality-sanders-biden
https://032c.com/magazine/duchamp-is-my-lawyer-virgil-abloh
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/95884
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aas8827
https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=587101509&q=diversity+fatigue&tbm=nws&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjm_82IrO-CAxWliP0HHWSwCTUQ0pQJegQIChAB&biw=1276&bih=590&dpr=1
https://medium.com/@gapjumpers/slow-is-smooth-and-smooth-is-fast-8f1427e9fb70
https://archive.is/K9NGx
https://system-magazine.com/issues/issue-10/face-a-face-virgil-abloh-hans-ulrich-obrist