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 animal is a
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 as a feeling
a distinctly human feeling you know we
all have friends we’re 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 much 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 gonna go very well but if you
go out as a group we’re pretty damn
amazing and the reason is is because we
all have our story
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 at 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 I can
prove 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’re
here in American accent behind you can
you turn around and say hey where’re 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 beliefs what creates
that sense of trust right our 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
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 they’re
giving off that says something about who
they are and what they believe when you
were 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’s but hey you gotta go to this
restaurant you’d be like 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
friends have 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 tube 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 do it again you’re walking down
the street you’ve accidentally bumped
shoulders with somebody 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 that 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 oughtn’t
isset e 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 were 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 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 out 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 so you’ll
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 it 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 gonna
do a study to find out from people so we
can be more authentic
that’s hilarious say and do what you
actually believe and 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
highly
it’s and 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
to clean out their computer Mac people
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 and 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 know 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 ice breaker 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 summation 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 to say excuse me I’m sitting
there and she sort of grudgingly moved
too so she didn’t stand up she but
grudgingly moved her leg 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 nor 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 plane the pressure I have to go
more often it’s very embarrassing and so
you’re like I sit down as soon as I’ve
gone out I have to go immediately again
I’m gonna have a bladder infection
because anyway a different story
and so we we got into flight we we sort
of reached altitude and the flight
attendant came around to ask us if you
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 bacon when it’s definitely
it’s my seatmate that’s funny semi sweet
bitter
she turns 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 cereals four
minutes later the flight attendant comes
back and says I only have one cereal so
now I’ve already decided in my mind that
I was going to say to my seatmate you
have the cereal right that was I had
already decided but before the words
could even come out of my mouth
she turns to the flight attendant says
I’ll have the cereal 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 cereal 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 cereal
right if she absolutely had to have the
cereal she could have turned to me and
said do you mind if I have the cereal
and I would have said go right ahead
right she could have 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 or 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 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 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
did 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 will 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 they’re
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 paid 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
Corp
raishin 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
wrong with 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
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 on
homeless I’m hungry but she makes
between 20 and 30 dollars a day for you
know for a day’s worth of work eight to
ten 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
it’s one of the reasons she’s homeless
is cuz she’s decided that she only needs
twenty to thirty dollars a day to live
if she stayed she would have made $150
the point is she made forty 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 what are 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 forty bucks two hours 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
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 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
because you have a common set of values
and beliefs there’s a million design
conferences you got to 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 closed
human beings she ever watch um Deadliest
Catch on the Discovery Channel
let’s flipping 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
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 it
actually is so they have cameras only on
five or six of the ships even though
there are many many many 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 yeah 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’d to bring all the pots back on the
boat and wait out the storm
and just by dumb 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 guys not there anymore and
the people on the boat with the cameras
start 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 that 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 wrap blankets
around him to prevent hyperthermia from
setting it
and he survives
and it’s overwhelming and the captain
comes down and this is all I’m giving
you can go watch it on TV
and you a camera comes to the captain
comes down and he honks 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 that they risked 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 they’re one of the same
I will promise you that every single
member of that crew that day went home
with a 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 me 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
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 animal is a
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 as a feeling
a distinctly human feeling you know we
all have friends we’re 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 much 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 gonna go very well but if you
go out as a group we’re pretty damn
amazing and the reason is is because we
all have our story
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 at 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 I can
prove 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’re
here in American accent behind you can
you turn around and say hey where’re 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 beliefs what creates
that sense of trust right our 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
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 they’re
giving off that says something about who
they are and what they believe when you
were 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’s but hey you gotta go to this
restaurant you’d be like 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
friends have 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 tube 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 do it again you’re walking down
the street you’ve accidentally bumped
shoulders with somebody 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 that 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 oughtn’t
isset e 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 were 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 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 out 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 so you’ll
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 it 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 gonna
do a study to find out from people so we
can be more authentic
that’s hilarious say and do what you
actually believe and 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
highly
it’s and 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
to clean out their computer Mac people
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 and 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 know 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 ice breaker 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 summation 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 to say excuse me I’m sitting
there and she sort of grudgingly moved
too so she didn’t stand up she but
grudgingly moved her leg 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 nor 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 plane the pressure I have to go
more often it’s very embarrassing and so
you’re like I sit down as soon as I’ve
gone out I have to go immediately again
I’m gonna have a bladder infection
because anyway a different story
and so we we got into flight we we sort
of reached altitude and the flight
attendant came around to ask us if you
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 bacon when it’s definitely
it’s my seatmate that’s funny semi sweet
bitter
she turns 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 cereals four
minutes later the flight attendant comes
back and says I only have one cereal so
now I’ve already decided in my mind that
I was going to say to my seatmate you
have the cereal right that was I had
already decided but before the words
could even come out of my mouth
she turns to the flight attendant says
I’ll have the cereal 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 cereal 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 cereal
right if she absolutely had to have the
cereal she could have turned to me and
said do you mind if I have the cereal
and I would have said go right ahead
right she could have 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 or 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 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 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
did 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 will 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 they’re
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 paid 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
Corp
raishin 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
wrong with 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
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 on
homeless I’m hungry but she makes
between 20 and 30 dollars a day for you
know for a day’s worth of work eight to
ten 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
it’s one of the reasons she’s homeless
is cuz she’s decided that she only needs
twenty to thirty dollars a day to live
if she stayed she would have made $150
the point is she made forty 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 what are 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 forty bucks two hours 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
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 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
because you have a common set of values
and beliefs there’s a million design
conferences you got to 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 closed
human beings she ever watch um Deadliest
Catch on the Discovery Channel
let’s flipping 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
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 it
actually is so they have cameras only on
five or six of the ships even though
there are many many many 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 yeah 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’d to bring all the pots back on the
boat and wait out the storm
and just by dumb 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 guys not there anymore and
the people on the boat with the cameras
start 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 that 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 wrap blankets
around him to prevent hyperthermia from
setting it
and he survives
and it’s overwhelming and the captain
comes down and this is all I’m giving
you can go watch it on TV
and you a camera comes to the captain
comes down and he honks 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 that they risked 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 they’re one of the same
I will promise you that every single
member of that crew that day went home
with a 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 me 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
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