on outsiders, encore
I gave myself a fun intellectual challenge: to pick a word or theme and write about it for both Lessons for Leaders as it relates to business management and here for a non-business angle. This week: outsiders. Following on from Wednesday’s short essay on what it means to be an outsider and why it is no bad thing, I have a few links and more thoughts to share.
Outsiders, eh.
I can’t think of another person who can reframe, question and guide better the discussion on female leadership than Avivah Wittenberg-Cox. Her latest Forbes article on women helping women is another interesting one; level headed and raising some critical points. Women as outsiders. And upon reading this, I too wish I had a Jon.
Over on Lessons (for the business angle), I looked at how advisers as outsiders can bring value already by just seeing problems differently and being able to spot things executives on the inside might not see. Fish can’t see water, afterall. We also looked at what to measure and not to measure in a business, but that part is not really about outsiders. Though sometimes you need them to tell you to stop measuring stuff you don’t need anymore. Seriously, stop measuring what doesn’t matter anymore.
Forget high brow and low brow. If you don’t want to be an outsider but rather look like a very cool person who is in the know, this research on Genres, Objects, and the Contemporary Expression of Higher-Status Tastes is for you. It has found that ‘high-status taste means being omnivorous about genres and snobby about objects. The 1st is rooted in early childhood and the 2nd in formal education. And this elite taste combo is also reflected in adult social networks.’ So, in essence, to be really cool you want to like everything from rap to pop and rock to country music but only the likes of Lauryn Hill, Pharrell Williams, the Foo Fighters and Johnny Cash (phew, I’m good so far) and not Ja Rule, Justin Bieber, Nickelback and Sugarland. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.
Those who travel are definitely outsiders at their destination.
“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life - and travel – leaves marks on you.” – Anthony Bourdain
An insider with an outsider’s eye. Or an outsider with an insider’s acceptance.
Travel and food are two of my most favourite things ever, but it was specifically Anthony Bourdain’s shows that ignited my curiosity and love of street food from all over the world. Parts Unknown was a game-changer. Adventure. Curiosity. Humanity. Like many others who appreciated his work, I have not been able to watch any of his shows since his death. And I am not sure I will watch the new documentary about him, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain. Or maybe I will.
In any case, I don’t think I’m okay with the fact they used an AI-generated fake Tony voice to read out loud some lines, from some of his emotional emails. They could have used other voiceovers or, at a minimum, if you really must make him do a voiceover from the grave, flash a sign. Or find other ways that do not involve deep faking his voice and not even being transparent about it (‘and you’re not going to know’). (It is unclear who from his estate agreed to this but the wife he was separated from does not seem happy either.)
This is the kind of thing that creeps me out and makes me feel stronger and stronger about the need for serious, open ethical discussions in this space. Deep fakes of any kind. Yes, technically it can be done. But people still shouldn’t do it to others.
Deep fakes and facial recognition. Both are problematic, both need ethical discussions to urgently catch up to the technology.
And, before I go, whether you’re an insider or outsider, some wise words on the “truth”:
“My role is to show people that they are much freer than they feel, that people accept as truth, as evidence, some themes which have been built up at a certain moment during history, and that this so-called evidence can be criticized and destroyed.” – Michel Foucault
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