over the next couple of days you
probably hear a lot about how to make
better design how to execute better how
do you consider your clients or the end
user when you’re doing what you have to
do and I’d like to add another another
item to the list to consider as you sit
here for the next two days which is how
can you help the human race how can you
help the human race the human species
progress
I’m not joking either this is something
I think we all have to be aware of at
the end of the day the human animals are
social animal and our very survival
depends on our ability to form
communities to form cultures what’s a
community what’s a culture it’s a group
of people with a common set of values
and beliefs right
what’s a country it’s a group of people
with a common set of values and beliefs
what’s a company it should be a group of
people with a common set of values and
beliefs when we’re surrounded by people
who believe what we believe something
remarkable happens Trust emerges and
make no mistake of it Trust is a feeling
a distinctly human feeling you know we
all have friends who are total screw-ups
and yet we still trust them right Trust
is not a checklist imply doing
everything you say you’re going to do
doesn’t that money does not mean people
will inherently trust you it just means
you’re reliable
we need trust right we need trust when
we’re surrounded by people who believe
what we believe and Trust starts to
emerge and we trust them and they trust
us we’re more willing to take risks
we’re more willing to experiment which
requires failure we’re more willing to
explore and go somewhere with that no
one has ever gone before with the
confidence that if we fail if we trip
over if we turn our backs that those
within our community those who we trust
and who trust us will look after us
while we’re gone will pick us up when we
fall over will help us when we’re hurt
our very survival depends on it we’re
not good at everything we’re not good by
ourselves you know if I send you out to
go fight a saber-toothed tiger by
yourself odds are Tiger one you zero
it’s not going to go very
but if you go out as a group we’re
pretty damn amazing and the reason is is
because we all have our strengths and we
all of our certain weaknesses and the
goal is not to fix your weaknesses the
goal is to amplify your strengths and
surround yourself with the people who
can do what you can’t do but it’s not
just based on skills and an application
and experience it’s based on what you
believe it’s based on what you believe
you see simply being good at something
and having somebody else being good what
you’re no good at does not mean you will
trust each other trust the sense of
trust comes from the sense of common
values and common beliefs that improve
it how many of you from New York okay
bunch of you are you friends with
everybody in New York why not why not
but when you go to Los Angeles and you
meet someone from New York you’re like
hey I’m from New York and you’re best
friends right and when you go to France
you there you are in the Paris Metro
minding your own business and you hear
an American accent behind you and you
turn around and say hey where you from
they say Los Angeles you’re like hey I’m
from New York and you’re best friends
because when you’re surrounded by people
who don’t believe what you believe when
you’re in a strange environment where
you don’t feel comfortable you look for
anyone who may share some of the same
values and beliefs that you have and you
start to form a very wheat real and very
intense bond with them simply because
you know that they have a basic
understanding of how you grew up of the
things that you care about of the life
that you live back home well the same is
true when we go to work do we want to go
to work with people who understand us
who believe what we believe who have a
similar view of the world that has
nothing to do with their opinions and
the differences that we share
that’s good that’s called diversity
that’s called advantages to
problem-solving which is we can all look
at the same thing from a different angle
and come up with solutions what I’m
talking about is why should you help
each other in the first place what are
you in pursuit of now the question is is
what creates that sense of values and
believes what creates that sense of
trust right are very human instinct we
know how to find people who believe what
we believe our survival depends on it
we’re biologically gifted with this idea
if I ask you to go out in the street and
find all the people who believe what you
believe you know exactly what to do
you’re gonna strike up conversations
you’re gonna start talking to people and
you either you’ll have a good feeling
about them or you won’t either you’ll
have chemistry whatever that means or
you don’t
sometimes it’s quick sometimes it’s slow
but we know how to do it it’s called
making friends it’s called dating it’s
called networking we have the innate
ability to do it the problem is it’s not
scalable the problem is is you’re the
only one who had that gut feeling but if
you know the symbols to look for if you
know how to see the things that people
are doing and seeing that you can find
them if I tell you go out on the street
and find all the people wearing red hats
it’s easy there’s one there’s one
there’s one there’s one there’s one
dress they’re easy to spot simply
because they have a symbol they have
something that are giving off that says
something about who they are and what
they believe when you are standing on
that Paris métro that American accent
that you heard was a symbol it was a
sign you don’t know these people and yet
you trust them they will say to you you
guys have to go to this restaurant and
you’ll go okay and you’ll go to that
restaurant because they told you to now
what if you were walking down the street
and some stranger just hey you gotta go
to this restaurant you’d be like the
crackpot right you’re gonna ignore them
this is what trust does this is why we
don’t research everything we don’t need
access to all information let’s say you
want to go buy a new television right so
you do all your research consumer
reports look it all up right I know what
I’m gonna buy I know what I’m gonna do
I’m getting the LG it’s the best on the
market can’t wait to get it right so
that’s that’s what you’ve decided to do
this weekend that Friday night you go
over to her friend’s house your friend
the gadget guy the guy who has the first
of everything right and you go to his
house and you can’t wait to show up and
share with him what you’re gonna do with
all your research and say I’m getting
the new LG and he says nah man get the
Sony it’s so much better in that one
instant either he’s completely turned
all of your research on its head and
you’re gonna have to go back and do all
the research again is he right should I
trust him should I believe him or you
just bought a Sony all that marketing
all that research out out the tubes down
the drain it doesn’t matter because the
person that you trust the person from
within your community
told you that you should get the Sony
and you trust him he knows more than you
he must be right I trust him I don’t
have to know everything again you’re
walking down the street you back sodon’t
Lee bumped shoulders with somebody and
they say where are you going you so I’m
going to Best Buy to get the new LG they
go don’t get the new LG I know
everything about this stuff get the Sony
crackpot right you’re going to ignore
the person we don’t trust everyone we
trust people from within our community
but you have to know what to look for
just as I said before when you find the
people with the red hats every single
piece of communication we make sorry
every simple piece of every decision we
make in our lives is a piece of
communication every decision we make in
our lives as individuals or as
organizations is a piece of
communication it’s our way of saying
something about who we are and what we
believe this is why authenticity matters
this is why you have to say and do the
things you actually believe because the
things you say and do are symbols of who
you are and we look for those symbols so
we can find people who believe what we
believe our very survival depends on it
so if you’re putting out false symbols
you will attract people to those symbols
but you won’t be able to form trust with
them this is what Tiger Woods did to us
he lied he lied he told us what he
thought we wanted to hear and it was
great and we were drawn to it and all of
us who kind of liked that idea of the
sort of the good guy who drawn to it
until we found out it was a lie he could
have been the bad boy of golf he could
have had all the same endorsements and
had a fantastic career and still been
hailed as one of the great athletes of
our day but he didn’t he chose to lie
good luck forming trust again tiger we
don’t believe you we don’t trust you the
goal of putting something out there if
you say what you believe and you do what
you believe you will attract people who
believe what you believe if you go to
one of your friends and you say to one
of your friends how would you like me to
dress so that you’ll like me better how
do you want me to address you how do you
want me to speak so that you’ll like me
more
right your friends are gonna look at you
be like what are you talking about it
yeah come on come on come on what should
I wear so that you’ll find me more
appealing and how would you like me to
speak to you so that you’ll like me more
and your friends are gonna tell you just
be yourself that’s why I like you I
don’t just be yourself now think about
what we do in industry what do we do we
do market research and we go and we ask
the customers what kind of things the
way we what style should we speak to you
how should we decorate ourselves what
kind of things are you drawn to so that
we can do those things do you like us
more it’s just as ridiculous it’s just
as ridiculous
organizations should say and do the
things they actually believe and they
will attract people who believe what
they believe or they can choose to lie
and at the slightest hint that they
might be lying cynicism sets in and
people start saying I’m not sure I can
trust these guys because there’s not a
lot of consistency and all the things
they say and do which means they can’t
have a very strong belief set or they’re
lying to me and we call them in
authentic the entire process of asking
other people who we should be is
inauthentic that’s hilarious to me all
these positioning studies we do are
inherent we’re going to do a study to
find out from people so we can be more
authentic
that’s hilarious say and do what you
actually believe in the symbols you put
out there the things you say and the
things you do those red hats are ways
that people can find you what you have
the ability to do as designers is create
those symbols and allow people to use
those things to say something about who
they are work for companies work for
clients work for people who you believe
what they believe show up and feel a
part of something bigger than yourself
and your part is to put what they
believe into pictures and words and
symbols and graphics so that other
people can use those things to say
something about who they are people put
harley-davidson logos on their body to
say something about who they are
corporate logo ain’t no Procter &
Gamble’s tattooed on anybody’s on
because Harley means something they
stand for something people put that
tattoo on their not to tell you that
they own a motorcycle
they put that tattoo there to tell you
something about themselves you ever see
anybody with a with a Mac laptop put a
sticker over that beautiful shining
Apple ain’t never gonna happen then how
will you know who I am you ever see
anybody with a PC break out the Windex
have you ever seen a dirty Mac doesn’t
exist does not exist why because it’s
Who I am
these are symbols we use the companies
that are crystal clear on what they
believe and their discipline and how
they do it they’re consistent of what
they do and everything they say and
everything they do serves as a symbol of
the set of values and beliefs we use
those symbols to say something about who
we are we surround ourselves with the
people and the products and the brands
that say something about who we are and
when we can find the people who believe
what we believe
we’re weirdly drawn to them because our
very survival depends on it we need it
and so the more you can give of yourself
the more you can give of what you
believe the more you can discipline with
discipline saying boo and do the things
you actually believe strange things
start to happen just unlike that just
like on that Metro in Paris simply
because of one tiny little symbol that
was put out there that we are from the
same place we may have the same values
we may have the same beliefs
we’re drawn to each other and we
legitimately trust each other and more
important that more importantly we’ll
look out for each other and that’s the
key to all of this we go to work every
day and we sit at our computers and we
sit at our desks and we solve problems
by sending emails get up and go talk to
somebody it’s called human interaction
and it’s a beautiful beautiful thing
I’ll tell you a quick story I was on a
plane about about a week ago actually is
only about a week ago and I was coming
down the aisle and my seatmate
I guess you know my my companion for the
next five hours was already sitting down
she was in the aisle and I had the
window seat and you know we’ve all had
this experience where you’re the one who
gets there first and you look down and
you hope that it’s that one please
please please no you know praying that
that becomes your seatmate I’ve had many
fantasies about wives and girlfriends
you that never sat down next to me it’s
better than an icebreaker right hi right
sitting next to you
and equally we’ve seen people coming
down the aisle saying please don’t sit
next me please in submission please know
we’ve all done that
well she ignored me entirely so I could
only assume that she was praying that I
wouldn’t sit next to her I somehow think
though she was hoping that no one would
sit next to her so you know what it’s
like we’ve all been on planes you travel
and you go to the aisle and custom
dictates you know just general
politeness that the person looks up to
you and says you sitting here you know
she didn’t she completely ignored me had
her face in her book and put my bag in
the overhead compartment she still
ignored me to the point where I actually
had to say excuse me I’m sitting there
and she sort of grudgingly moved as she
didn’t stand up she but grudgingly moved
her legs to the side and went right like
like this was something she didn’t
expect would happen right so I sat down
I knew exactly what this flight was
gonna be like I would have my headphones
on for five hours and I would ignore the
person sitting next to me and be afraid
every time I had to go to the bathroom
for having and when I’m on a play in the
pressure I have to go more often it’s
very embarrassing and and so you’re like
I sit down as soon as I’ve gone I have
to go immediately again I’m gonna have a
bladder infection because anyway
different story and so what we we got
into flight we sort of reached altitude
and the flight attendant came around to
ask us if we wanted breakfast and she
came over to us and she said would you
like cereal would you like the omelet
she said to me and I said I’ll have the
cereal and she turns to my sweet mate
and mites death reminds my seatmate
that’s funny mmm semi sweet bitter she
turns to hi my seatmate and she says do
you want the omelet or do you want the
cereal and she says I’ll also have the
cereal
two serials four minutes later the
flight attendant comes back and says I
only have one serial so now I’ve already
decided in my mind that I was going to
say to my seatmate
you have the serial right that was I had
already decided but before the words
could even come out of my mouth she
turns to flight attendants ‘as I’ll have
the serial and at that point I hated her
and here’s the joke she lacks a spirit
of generosity no matter what option she
would have chosen she would have gotten
the serial for one if she’d waited for
three seconds and heard that I was about
to offer it to her she would have got
the serial right if she absolutely had
to have the serial she could have turned
to me and said do you mind if I have the
serial and I would have said go right
ahead
right she couldn’t even apologized I
said thank you to me I’m really sorry
allergic to eggs can I have this cereal
you know in other words no matter what
option she chose she would have got the
cereal but the one option she went with
was to take a selfish perspective to go
for what she wanted and ignore the once
desires her needs of anyone around her
even including just being polite in
other words she didn’t have to give me
the cereal she could have just been
polite about it right now from that
point on I really hated her and I wrote
an article about this little experience
while I was on the plane sitting next to
her and made no attempt to turn the
screen so she couldn’t read it secretly
salt-and-pepper hair glasses I’m good
thank you and more importantly now I had
no desire to do anything for her anymore
right now when we got done when when the
flight landed perhaps as a nice person
if she had just established some sort of
rapport with me just because I’m a nice
guy I would have taken her case down
here you go you know but I didn’t and I
wasn’t going to or or if I did it
wouldn’t have been with a spirit of
generosity if I did it would have been
as a sort of a smug remark like whom
there you go I’m still nice it would
have been as a you know one of those
deals or I would have done it simply as
some sort of positive reinforcement to
myself that despite this horrible person
I’m still a nice guy right no matter
which one would have motivated me to
take that case down it wouldn’t have
been with a spirit of generosity it
would have been some sort of selfish act
or some sort of aggressive act right
it’s the spirit of generosity if we’re
willing to give to the person next to us
it’s amazing what they’ll be willing to
give to us right and again our very
survival depends on this we need to
trust each other we’re more willing to
trust somebody who’s willing to help us
I hate the whole self-help industry
right how can you be happy what are the
five steps you can follow to be a
millionaire what are seven steps that
you need to get the career that you want
you know me me me me me me me me me what
about helping the guy next to you what
are the five steps that you can do to
help the person next to you lose some
weight what are the seven steps that you
can follow to help the person next you
find the job that they want do you know
how we get fulfillment you can be happy
because you did things at work you can
be proud because you did things at work
you can be excited because you had a big
success at work but you know how you
feel fulfilled at work when you do
something for someone else it’s the only
way we get that feeling it’s the only
way we get that feeling you know why the
statistics say that over 90% of people
don’t feel fulfilled by the work they do
it’s not because of the job it’s not
because of the pay it’s not because of
the benefits is because we don’t help
each other anymore
we sit in our cubes and we work and
anything that we turn to anybody’s
because we need something we need to get
something and yet we don’t put ourselves
out there simply for no other reason
than to help somebody else you know
generosity is generosity is doing
something for someone else expecting
nothing in return
at no point ever I did something for him
why won’t he help me it’s not an
equation it’s designed to help you feel
good and mother nature has given us this
feeling when we do something for someone
else to encourage us to do it because
when we are in groups when we are
surrounded by people who believe what we
believe
Trust emerges and our very survival and
progress goes up sex feels good that’s
why we do it and Mother Nature has
provided that it will feel good so that
we can do it more so that we can
procreate that was not an accident
right well the same goes here that sense
of fulfillment that we get was designed
so that we’ll do it more
so not only will we procreate but we’ll
create strong senses of bonds and
cultures amongst each other I did a
little experiment with them with a
homeless person I’m not like on them
it’s not like electrodes with them
voluntarily helped me because the whole
idea of giving right give if you’ve we
you’ve all walked down the street and
you’ve all seen someone begging and you
either have or haven’t thrown a few
pennies in their cup when you do you
feel good you bought that feeling that
is a legitimate commercial transaction
you know commercial transactions are
defined as the exchange of consideration
there was an exchange of consideration
here you gave money you got the feeling
of goodwill you pay for that feeling if
you didn’t give money you either feel
nothing or you feel bad you can’t feel
good by not giving all right you paid
for that feeling so another question is
how is that person encouraging us to
give the joke is they act like every
corporation in the world
they talk about themselves Mee Mee Mee
Mee Mee Mee Mee
right like they sit there with their
little outdoor advertising little sign
right and it says I’m homeless I’m
hungry I’ve got 12 kids I’m a veteran
god bless they got it all in they’re
trying to appeal to somebody the
religious vote the veteran vote you know
the child sympathizer surround yourself
with lots of pets go for that one too
right all in an attempt to get something
from someone takers not givers right all
about me well what what corporations do
we’ve added more RAM we’ve added more
ROM we’ve added more speed this one’s
number one we’re the biggest we’re the
best we’ve been around since 1969 we’re
better than them we’re faster than them
we’re more efficient than that one me me
me me me me me me me me and so even if
we buy their product guess what yeah
we’re gonna feel much so I did this
little experiment I found a nice
homeless lady on the streets of New York
who’s willing to help out and I learned
that with her sign which was pretty
typical I’m homeless I’m hungry she
makes between 20 and 30 dollars a day
for you know for a day’s worth of work 8
to 10 hours of sitting there selling
goodwill 8 to 10 hours she’ll make 20 to
$30 $30 is considered a good day I
changed her sign and the new sign made
her $40 in two hours and then she left
[Music]
it’s one of the reasons she’s homeless
is because she’s decided that she only
needs 20 to 30 dollars a day to live if
she stayed she would have made $150 the
point is she made 40 bucks in two hours
where the signs say the sign said if you
only give once a month please think of
me next time it has nothing to do with
the taker it has everything to do with
the giver and one of the objections
people give when they don’t give I can’t
give to everyone how do I know that they
really need it and so I addressed both
those concerns I know you can’t get to
everyone so if you only give once a
month my cause is legitimate I will
still be here when you’re ready to give
40 bucks to ours make it about them not
about you the fact of the matter is 100
percent of customers are people and 100
percent of clients are people and 100
percent of employees are people I don’t
care how good your product is I don’t
care how good your marketing is I don’t
care how good your design is if you
don’t understand people you don’t
understand business we are social
animals we are human beings and our
survival depends on our ability to form
trusting relationships we could have had
this conference online I could have
given the same talk sitting behind my
computer we could all turn on our WebEx
we all have all sat at our terminals and
I would have given you the exact same
information would it have been the same
no I’m not there there’s this weird
thing about human interaction right we
can’t form trust without you feel like
what I say but you wouldn’t be able to
form trust without it in fact simply
being here we all say the same thing
you could have all for two days
absolutely boring abysmal speakers
boring boring boring right we’ve all
been to those maybe it’s one shining
star like I like him you know and what
do we say when we leave the speaker’s
sucked but I’m glad I went because I met
some great people it’s this this is what
the conference is all about you showed
up not because you’re in an industry you
showed up because you have a comment
of values and beliefs there’s a million
design conferences you gotta take time
out of your day you got to pay money
it’s called sacrifice it’s called
payment
it’s called risk but you’re here simply
because you know something about each
other when you go out on the street in
an area where you don’t belong where
you’re not amongst people who believe
what you believe and you see somebody
with the same badge as you and you
haven’t met them yet
you’re gonna go hey why they’re just as
much of a stranger’s any other person on
the street but because they have that
little symbol that says that I believe
what you believe I’m a little bit like
you we can form a bond very quickly and
instantly you do you do it’s called
human beings do you ever watch Deadliest
Catch on the Discovery Channel I was
looking through channels one night and
Deadliest Catch came on and on this
episode just random they were in a huge
storm now for those of you who don’t
know Deadliest Catch they take these
crab fishing boats out in the Bering Sea
which is like terrible and they put
cameras on them and we watch right the
reason that’s I guess significant is
because these crab fishermen have I
think one of the top 5 deadliest jobs in
the world you know I don’t know what the
exact number is but dozens of fishermen
die every year doing doing this we
apparently find that entertaining
actually is so they have cameras only on
five or six of the ships even though
there are many many me ships that go out
fishing every season and they don’t
really come into proximity with each
other because you know the oceans huge
and they usually sabotage each other and
give each other false information
because they’re all competitors they’re
all looking to get the crabs and you
know make sure that they find them
somebody else doesn’t and it’s business
right it’s just business it’s okay we
all do the same thing in our own
companies and in this one episode this
big huge storm was so violent that they
had to bring all the pots which are the
big cages that they catch the crabs and
they to bring all the pots back on the
boat and wait out the storm and just buy
um luck one of the boats that had
cameras on it was in proximity of a boat
that didn’t
have cameras on it and so they filmed
they had secured all their pots on the
deck and so they started filming the
other boat and they filmed a guy
climbing on the outside of the cage
securing the pots and all of a sudden a
huge wave hits the side of the boat and
the guy’s not there anymore and the
people on the boat with the camera
starts screaming Man Overboard Man
Overboard Man Overboard and they turned
our boat towards where they think he
might be he’s a stranger they don’t know
him they don’t know the crew members of
the other boat and yet they react and
they turned towards him and they find
him in the drink and for those of you
don’t understand how dangerous this is
if the water is so cold that if you’re
in the water for I think that it’s a
minute or a minute thirty hypothermia
will set in and you die
and they come upon him and he’s
screaming don’t let me die don’t let me
die and they pull him on board not out
of the woods yet they strip off his
clothes because it’s wet and cold and
they wrapped blankets around him to
prevent hyperthermia from setting in and
he survives and it’s overwhelming and
the captain comes down and this is go
long you can go watch it on TV
a camera comes the captain comes down
and he hugs this stranger this young man
his competitor he hugs this guy’s if
he’s his own son I lost it everybody is
crying and you realize what happened
here was a human interaction and the
reason they risk their own lives to help
this other person even though they spend
every other day trying to get ahead and
sabotage is because at the end of the
day they’re all crab fishermen and they
know something about each other and they
know something about the risk that they
all take to do this and when push comes
to shove they will put themselves out
there to help each other for no other
reason than they get it there one of the
same I will promise you that every
single member of that crew that day went
home
the feeling of fulfillment I promise you
that every single person on that crew
that day felt more good in their hearts
and in their jobs than the richest days
they’ve ever pulled in my question is is
what are you doing to help the person
next to you don’t you want to wake up
and go to work for the only reason that
you can do something good for someone
else when you want them to do that for
you thank you very much
[Applause] [Music]
probably hear a lot about how to make
better design how to execute better how
do you consider your clients or the end
user when you’re doing what you have to
do and I’d like to add another another
item to the list to consider as you sit
here for the next two days which is how
can you help the human race how can you
help the human race the human species
progress
I’m not joking either this is something
I think we all have to be aware of at
the end of the day the human animals are
social animal and our very survival
depends on our ability to form
communities to form cultures what’s a
community what’s a culture it’s a group
of people with a common set of values
and beliefs right
what’s a country it’s a group of people
with a common set of values and beliefs
what’s a company it should be a group of
people with a common set of values and
beliefs when we’re surrounded by people
who believe what we believe something
remarkable happens Trust emerges and
make no mistake of it Trust is a feeling
a distinctly human feeling you know we
all have friends who are total screw-ups
and yet we still trust them right Trust
is not a checklist imply doing
everything you say you’re going to do
doesn’t that money does not mean people
will inherently trust you it just means
you’re reliable
we need trust right we need trust when
we’re surrounded by people who believe
what we believe and Trust starts to
emerge and we trust them and they trust
us we’re more willing to take risks
we’re more willing to experiment which
requires failure we’re more willing to
explore and go somewhere with that no
one has ever gone before with the
confidence that if we fail if we trip
over if we turn our backs that those
within our community those who we trust
and who trust us will look after us
while we’re gone will pick us up when we
fall over will help us when we’re hurt
our very survival depends on it we’re
not good at everything we’re not good by
ourselves you know if I send you out to
go fight a saber-toothed tiger by
yourself odds are Tiger one you zero
it’s not going to go very
but if you go out as a group we’re
pretty damn amazing and the reason is is
because we all have our strengths and we
all of our certain weaknesses and the
goal is not to fix your weaknesses the
goal is to amplify your strengths and
surround yourself with the people who
can do what you can’t do but it’s not
just based on skills and an application
and experience it’s based on what you
believe it’s based on what you believe
you see simply being good at something
and having somebody else being good what
you’re no good at does not mean you will
trust each other trust the sense of
trust comes from the sense of common
values and common beliefs that improve
it how many of you from New York okay
bunch of you are you friends with
everybody in New York why not why not
but when you go to Los Angeles and you
meet someone from New York you’re like
hey I’m from New York and you’re best
friends right and when you go to France
you there you are in the Paris Metro
minding your own business and you hear
an American accent behind you and you
turn around and say hey where you from
they say Los Angeles you’re like hey I’m
from New York and you’re best friends
because when you’re surrounded by people
who don’t believe what you believe when
you’re in a strange environment where
you don’t feel comfortable you look for
anyone who may share some of the same
values and beliefs that you have and you
start to form a very wheat real and very
intense bond with them simply because
you know that they have a basic
understanding of how you grew up of the
things that you care about of the life
that you live back home well the same is
true when we go to work do we want to go
to work with people who understand us
who believe what we believe who have a
similar view of the world that has
nothing to do with their opinions and
the differences that we share
that’s good that’s called diversity
that’s called advantages to
problem-solving which is we can all look
at the same thing from a different angle
and come up with solutions what I’m
talking about is why should you help
each other in the first place what are
you in pursuit of now the question is is
what creates that sense of values and
believes what creates that sense of
trust right are very human instinct we
know how to find people who believe what
we believe our survival depends on it
we’re biologically gifted with this idea
if I ask you to go out in the street and
find all the people who believe what you
believe you know exactly what to do
you’re gonna strike up conversations
you’re gonna start talking to people and
you either you’ll have a good feeling
about them or you won’t either you’ll
have chemistry whatever that means or
you don’t
sometimes it’s quick sometimes it’s slow
but we know how to do it it’s called
making friends it’s called dating it’s
called networking we have the innate
ability to do it the problem is it’s not
scalable the problem is is you’re the
only one who had that gut feeling but if
you know the symbols to look for if you
know how to see the things that people
are doing and seeing that you can find
them if I tell you go out on the street
and find all the people wearing red hats
it’s easy there’s one there’s one
there’s one there’s one there’s one
dress they’re easy to spot simply
because they have a symbol they have
something that are giving off that says
something about who they are and what
they believe when you are standing on
that Paris métro that American accent
that you heard was a symbol it was a
sign you don’t know these people and yet
you trust them they will say to you you
guys have to go to this restaurant and
you’ll go okay and you’ll go to that
restaurant because they told you to now
what if you were walking down the street
and some stranger just hey you gotta go
to this restaurant you’d be like the
crackpot right you’re gonna ignore them
this is what trust does this is why we
don’t research everything we don’t need
access to all information let’s say you
want to go buy a new television right so
you do all your research consumer
reports look it all up right I know what
I’m gonna buy I know what I’m gonna do
I’m getting the LG it’s the best on the
market can’t wait to get it right so
that’s that’s what you’ve decided to do
this weekend that Friday night you go
over to her friend’s house your friend
the gadget guy the guy who has the first
of everything right and you go to his
house and you can’t wait to show up and
share with him what you’re gonna do with
all your research and say I’m getting
the new LG and he says nah man get the
Sony it’s so much better in that one
instant either he’s completely turned
all of your research on its head and
you’re gonna have to go back and do all
the research again is he right should I
trust him should I believe him or you
just bought a Sony all that marketing
all that research out out the tubes down
the drain it doesn’t matter because the
person that you trust the person from
within your community
told you that you should get the Sony
and you trust him he knows more than you
he must be right I trust him I don’t
have to know everything again you’re
walking down the street you back sodon’t
Lee bumped shoulders with somebody and
they say where are you going you so I’m
going to Best Buy to get the new LG they
go don’t get the new LG I know
everything about this stuff get the Sony
crackpot right you’re going to ignore
the person we don’t trust everyone we
trust people from within our community
but you have to know what to look for
just as I said before when you find the
people with the red hats every single
piece of communication we make sorry
every simple piece of every decision we
make in our lives is a piece of
communication every decision we make in
our lives as individuals or as
organizations is a piece of
communication it’s our way of saying
something about who we are and what we
believe this is why authenticity matters
this is why you have to say and do the
things you actually believe because the
things you say and do are symbols of who
you are and we look for those symbols so
we can find people who believe what we
believe our very survival depends on it
so if you’re putting out false symbols
you will attract people to those symbols
but you won’t be able to form trust with
them this is what Tiger Woods did to us
he lied he lied he told us what he
thought we wanted to hear and it was
great and we were drawn to it and all of
us who kind of liked that idea of the
sort of the good guy who drawn to it
until we found out it was a lie he could
have been the bad boy of golf he could
have had all the same endorsements and
had a fantastic career and still been
hailed as one of the great athletes of
our day but he didn’t he chose to lie
good luck forming trust again tiger we
don’t believe you we don’t trust you the
goal of putting something out there if
you say what you believe and you do what
you believe you will attract people who
believe what you believe if you go to
one of your friends and you say to one
of your friends how would you like me to
dress so that you’ll like me better how
do you want me to address you how do you
want me to speak so that you’ll like me
more
right your friends are gonna look at you
be like what are you talking about it
yeah come on come on come on what should
I wear so that you’ll find me more
appealing and how would you like me to
speak to you so that you’ll like me more
and your friends are gonna tell you just
be yourself that’s why I like you I
don’t just be yourself now think about
what we do in industry what do we do we
do market research and we go and we ask
the customers what kind of things the
way we what style should we speak to you
how should we decorate ourselves what
kind of things are you drawn to so that
we can do those things do you like us
more it’s just as ridiculous it’s just
as ridiculous
organizations should say and do the
things they actually believe and they
will attract people who believe what
they believe or they can choose to lie
and at the slightest hint that they
might be lying cynicism sets in and
people start saying I’m not sure I can
trust these guys because there’s not a
lot of consistency and all the things
they say and do which means they can’t
have a very strong belief set or they’re
lying to me and we call them in
authentic the entire process of asking
other people who we should be is
inauthentic that’s hilarious to me all
these positioning studies we do are
inherent we’re going to do a study to
find out from people so we can be more
authentic
that’s hilarious say and do what you
actually believe in the symbols you put
out there the things you say and the
things you do those red hats are ways
that people can find you what you have
the ability to do as designers is create
those symbols and allow people to use
those things to say something about who
they are work for companies work for
clients work for people who you believe
what they believe show up and feel a
part of something bigger than yourself
and your part is to put what they
believe into pictures and words and
symbols and graphics so that other
people can use those things to say
something about who they are people put
harley-davidson logos on their body to
say something about who they are
corporate logo ain’t no Procter &
Gamble’s tattooed on anybody’s on
because Harley means something they
stand for something people put that
tattoo on their not to tell you that
they own a motorcycle
they put that tattoo there to tell you
something about themselves you ever see
anybody with a with a Mac laptop put a
sticker over that beautiful shining
Apple ain’t never gonna happen then how
will you know who I am you ever see
anybody with a PC break out the Windex
have you ever seen a dirty Mac doesn’t
exist does not exist why because it’s
Who I am
these are symbols we use the companies
that are crystal clear on what they
believe and their discipline and how
they do it they’re consistent of what
they do and everything they say and
everything they do serves as a symbol of
the set of values and beliefs we use
those symbols to say something about who
we are we surround ourselves with the
people and the products and the brands
that say something about who we are and
when we can find the people who believe
what we believe
we’re weirdly drawn to them because our
very survival depends on it we need it
and so the more you can give of yourself
the more you can give of what you
believe the more you can discipline with
discipline saying boo and do the things
you actually believe strange things
start to happen just unlike that just
like on that Metro in Paris simply
because of one tiny little symbol that
was put out there that we are from the
same place we may have the same values
we may have the same beliefs
we’re drawn to each other and we
legitimately trust each other and more
important that more importantly we’ll
look out for each other and that’s the
key to all of this we go to work every
day and we sit at our computers and we
sit at our desks and we solve problems
by sending emails get up and go talk to
somebody it’s called human interaction
and it’s a beautiful beautiful thing
I’ll tell you a quick story I was on a
plane about about a week ago actually is
only about a week ago and I was coming
down the aisle and my seatmate
I guess you know my my companion for the
next five hours was already sitting down
she was in the aisle and I had the
window seat and you know we’ve all had
this experience where you’re the one who
gets there first and you look down and
you hope that it’s that one please
please please no you know praying that
that becomes your seatmate I’ve had many
fantasies about wives and girlfriends
you that never sat down next to me it’s
better than an icebreaker right hi right
sitting next to you
and equally we’ve seen people coming
down the aisle saying please don’t sit
next me please in submission please know
we’ve all done that
well she ignored me entirely so I could
only assume that she was praying that I
wouldn’t sit next to her I somehow think
though she was hoping that no one would
sit next to her so you know what it’s
like we’ve all been on planes you travel
and you go to the aisle and custom
dictates you know just general
politeness that the person looks up to
you and says you sitting here you know
she didn’t she completely ignored me had
her face in her book and put my bag in
the overhead compartment she still
ignored me to the point where I actually
had to say excuse me I’m sitting there
and she sort of grudgingly moved as she
didn’t stand up she but grudgingly moved
her legs to the side and went right like
like this was something she didn’t
expect would happen right so I sat down
I knew exactly what this flight was
gonna be like I would have my headphones
on for five hours and I would ignore the
person sitting next to me and be afraid
every time I had to go to the bathroom
for having and when I’m on a play in the
pressure I have to go more often it’s
very embarrassing and and so you’re like
I sit down as soon as I’ve gone I have
to go immediately again I’m gonna have a
bladder infection because anyway
different story and so what we we got
into flight we sort of reached altitude
and the flight attendant came around to
ask us if we wanted breakfast and she
came over to us and she said would you
like cereal would you like the omelet
she said to me and I said I’ll have the
cereal and she turns to my sweet mate
and mites death reminds my seatmate
that’s funny mmm semi sweet bitter she
turns to hi my seatmate and she says do
you want the omelet or do you want the
cereal and she says I’ll also have the
cereal
two serials four minutes later the
flight attendant comes back and says I
only have one serial so now I’ve already
decided in my mind that I was going to
say to my seatmate
you have the serial right that was I had
already decided but before the words
could even come out of my mouth she
turns to flight attendants ‘as I’ll have
the serial and at that point I hated her
and here’s the joke she lacks a spirit
of generosity no matter what option she
would have chosen she would have gotten
the serial for one if she’d waited for
three seconds and heard that I was about
to offer it to her she would have got
the serial right if she absolutely had
to have the serial she could have turned
to me and said do you mind if I have the
serial and I would have said go right
ahead
right she couldn’t even apologized I
said thank you to me I’m really sorry
allergic to eggs can I have this cereal
you know in other words no matter what
option she chose she would have got the
cereal but the one option she went with
was to take a selfish perspective to go
for what she wanted and ignore the once
desires her needs of anyone around her
even including just being polite in
other words she didn’t have to give me
the cereal she could have just been
polite about it right now from that
point on I really hated her and I wrote
an article about this little experience
while I was on the plane sitting next to
her and made no attempt to turn the
screen so she couldn’t read it secretly
salt-and-pepper hair glasses I’m good
thank you and more importantly now I had
no desire to do anything for her anymore
right now when we got done when when the
flight landed perhaps as a nice person
if she had just established some sort of
rapport with me just because I’m a nice
guy I would have taken her case down
here you go you know but I didn’t and I
wasn’t going to or or if I did it
wouldn’t have been with a spirit of
generosity if I did it would have been
as a sort of a smug remark like whom
there you go I’m still nice it would
have been as a you know one of those
deals or I would have done it simply as
some sort of positive reinforcement to
myself that despite this horrible person
I’m still a nice guy right no matter
which one would have motivated me to
take that case down it wouldn’t have
been with a spirit of generosity it
would have been some sort of selfish act
or some sort of aggressive act right
it’s the spirit of generosity if we’re
willing to give to the person next to us
it’s amazing what they’ll be willing to
give to us right and again our very
survival depends on this we need to
trust each other we’re more willing to
trust somebody who’s willing to help us
I hate the whole self-help industry
right how can you be happy what are the
five steps you can follow to be a
millionaire what are seven steps that
you need to get the career that you want
you know me me me me me me me me me what
about helping the guy next to you what
are the five steps that you can do to
help the person next to you lose some
weight what are the seven steps that you
can follow to help the person next you
find the job that they want do you know
how we get fulfillment you can be happy
because you did things at work you can
be proud because you did things at work
you can be excited because you had a big
success at work but you know how you
feel fulfilled at work when you do
something for someone else it’s the only
way we get that feeling it’s the only
way we get that feeling you know why the
statistics say that over 90% of people
don’t feel fulfilled by the work they do
it’s not because of the job it’s not
because of the pay it’s not because of
the benefits is because we don’t help
each other anymore
we sit in our cubes and we work and
anything that we turn to anybody’s
because we need something we need to get
something and yet we don’t put ourselves
out there simply for no other reason
than to help somebody else you know
generosity is generosity is doing
something for someone else expecting
nothing in return
at no point ever I did something for him
why won’t he help me it’s not an
equation it’s designed to help you feel
good and mother nature has given us this
feeling when we do something for someone
else to encourage us to do it because
when we are in groups when we are
surrounded by people who believe what we
believe
Trust emerges and our very survival and
progress goes up sex feels good that’s
why we do it and Mother Nature has
provided that it will feel good so that
we can do it more so that we can
procreate that was not an accident
right well the same goes here that sense
of fulfillment that we get was designed
so that we’ll do it more
so not only will we procreate but we’ll
create strong senses of bonds and
cultures amongst each other I did a
little experiment with them with a
homeless person I’m not like on them
it’s not like electrodes with them
voluntarily helped me because the whole
idea of giving right give if you’ve we
you’ve all walked down the street and
you’ve all seen someone begging and you
either have or haven’t thrown a few
pennies in their cup when you do you
feel good you bought that feeling that
is a legitimate commercial transaction
you know commercial transactions are
defined as the exchange of consideration
there was an exchange of consideration
here you gave money you got the feeling
of goodwill you pay for that feeling if
you didn’t give money you either feel
nothing or you feel bad you can’t feel
good by not giving all right you paid
for that feeling so another question is
how is that person encouraging us to
give the joke is they act like every
corporation in the world
they talk about themselves Mee Mee Mee
Mee Mee Mee Mee
right like they sit there with their
little outdoor advertising little sign
right and it says I’m homeless I’m
hungry I’ve got 12 kids I’m a veteran
god bless they got it all in they’re
trying to appeal to somebody the
religious vote the veteran vote you know
the child sympathizer surround yourself
with lots of pets go for that one too
right all in an attempt to get something
from someone takers not givers right all
about me well what what corporations do
we’ve added more RAM we’ve added more
ROM we’ve added more speed this one’s
number one we’re the biggest we’re the
best we’ve been around since 1969 we’re
better than them we’re faster than them
we’re more efficient than that one me me
me me me me me me me me and so even if
we buy their product guess what yeah
we’re gonna feel much so I did this
little experiment I found a nice
homeless lady on the streets of New York
who’s willing to help out and I learned
that with her sign which was pretty
typical I’m homeless I’m hungry she
makes between 20 and 30 dollars a day
for you know for a day’s worth of work 8
to 10 hours of sitting there selling
goodwill 8 to 10 hours she’ll make 20 to
$30 $30 is considered a good day I
changed her sign and the new sign made
her $40 in two hours and then she left
[Music]
it’s one of the reasons she’s homeless
is because she’s decided that she only
needs 20 to 30 dollars a day to live if
she stayed she would have made $150 the
point is she made 40 bucks in two hours
where the signs say the sign said if you
only give once a month please think of
me next time it has nothing to do with
the taker it has everything to do with
the giver and one of the objections
people give when they don’t give I can’t
give to everyone how do I know that they
really need it and so I addressed both
those concerns I know you can’t get to
everyone so if you only give once a
month my cause is legitimate I will
still be here when you’re ready to give
40 bucks to ours make it about them not
about you the fact of the matter is 100
percent of customers are people and 100
percent of clients are people and 100
percent of employees are people I don’t
care how good your product is I don’t
care how good your marketing is I don’t
care how good your design is if you
don’t understand people you don’t
understand business we are social
animals we are human beings and our
survival depends on our ability to form
trusting relationships we could have had
this conference online I could have
given the same talk sitting behind my
computer we could all turn on our WebEx
we all have all sat at our terminals and
I would have given you the exact same
information would it have been the same
no I’m not there there’s this weird
thing about human interaction right we
can’t form trust without you feel like
what I say but you wouldn’t be able to
form trust without it in fact simply
being here we all say the same thing
you could have all for two days
absolutely boring abysmal speakers
boring boring boring right we’ve all
been to those maybe it’s one shining
star like I like him you know and what
do we say when we leave the speaker’s
sucked but I’m glad I went because I met
some great people it’s this this is what
the conference is all about you showed
up not because you’re in an industry you
showed up because you have a comment
of values and beliefs there’s a million
design conferences you gotta take time
out of your day you got to pay money
it’s called sacrifice it’s called
payment
it’s called risk but you’re here simply
because you know something about each
other when you go out on the street in
an area where you don’t belong where
you’re not amongst people who believe
what you believe and you see somebody
with the same badge as you and you
haven’t met them yet
you’re gonna go hey why they’re just as
much of a stranger’s any other person on
the street but because they have that
little symbol that says that I believe
what you believe I’m a little bit like
you we can form a bond very quickly and
instantly you do you do it’s called
human beings do you ever watch Deadliest
Catch on the Discovery Channel I was
looking through channels one night and
Deadliest Catch came on and on this
episode just random they were in a huge
storm now for those of you who don’t
know Deadliest Catch they take these
crab fishing boats out in the Bering Sea
which is like terrible and they put
cameras on them and we watch right the
reason that’s I guess significant is
because these crab fishermen have I
think one of the top 5 deadliest jobs in
the world you know I don’t know what the
exact number is but dozens of fishermen
die every year doing doing this we
apparently find that entertaining
actually is so they have cameras only on
five or six of the ships even though
there are many many me ships that go out
fishing every season and they don’t
really come into proximity with each
other because you know the oceans huge
and they usually sabotage each other and
give each other false information
because they’re all competitors they’re
all looking to get the crabs and you
know make sure that they find them
somebody else doesn’t and it’s business
right it’s just business it’s okay we
all do the same thing in our own
companies and in this one episode this
big huge storm was so violent that they
had to bring all the pots which are the
big cages that they catch the crabs and
they to bring all the pots back on the
boat and wait out the storm and just buy
um luck one of the boats that had
cameras on it was in proximity of a boat
that didn’t
have cameras on it and so they filmed
they had secured all their pots on the
deck and so they started filming the
other boat and they filmed a guy
climbing on the outside of the cage
securing the pots and all of a sudden a
huge wave hits the side of the boat and
the guy’s not there anymore and the
people on the boat with the camera
starts screaming Man Overboard Man
Overboard Man Overboard and they turned
our boat towards where they think he
might be he’s a stranger they don’t know
him they don’t know the crew members of
the other boat and yet they react and
they turned towards him and they find
him in the drink and for those of you
don’t understand how dangerous this is
if the water is so cold that if you’re
in the water for I think that it’s a
minute or a minute thirty hypothermia
will set in and you die
and they come upon him and he’s
screaming don’t let me die don’t let me
die and they pull him on board not out
of the woods yet they strip off his
clothes because it’s wet and cold and
they wrapped blankets around him to
prevent hyperthermia from setting in and
he survives and it’s overwhelming and
the captain comes down and this is go
long you can go watch it on TV
a camera comes the captain comes down
and he hugs this stranger this young man
his competitor he hugs this guy’s if
he’s his own son I lost it everybody is
crying and you realize what happened
here was a human interaction and the
reason they risk their own lives to help
this other person even though they spend
every other day trying to get ahead and
sabotage is because at the end of the
day they’re all crab fishermen and they
know something about each other and they
know something about the risk that they
all take to do this and when push comes
to shove they will put themselves out
there to help each other for no other
reason than they get it there one of the
same I will promise you that every
single member of that crew that day went
home
the feeling of fulfillment I promise you
that every single person on that crew
that day felt more good in their hearts
and in their jobs than the richest days
they’ve ever pulled in my question is is
what are you doing to help the person
next to you don’t you want to wake up
and go to work for the only reason that
you can do something good for someone
else when you want them to do that for
you thank you very much
[Applause] [Music]
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