On his excellent MBAStoryteller site (yes! more MBA storytellers!) Nabil Laoudji, who’s in the Sloan MBA program at MIT, posted this 2006 video by Josh Weinstein.
Weinstein’s video demonstrates brilliantly how our perceptions shape our opinions. That’s the obvious learning.
There are other, subtler ideas expressed in this video, too, which is why I really dig it. It has lots of subtext:
The absence of knowledge makes perceptions more malleable. Because Weinstein is unknown to his subjects, slight adjustments in his appearance seem to cause wild fluctuations in perceptions (the edits themselves also shape perception, but I’ll comment only with subjects’ behavior here). Anyone or any brand that seeks to limit knowledge? This is why. Manipulation of perceptions. In a business environment where knowledge is so easily shared and transferred, limiting knowledge in order to manipulate perceptions is not good business.
Consistent character encourages learning. Weinstein’s character, a slightly bemused, inquisitive observer of human nature, seems consistent throughout. As a storyteller, he uses this truth to get honest reactions from his subjects—that is, because he’s consistently in character, we can be pretty sure the subjects’ reactions are their own, and not something he has manipulated them into doing Imagine if, instead, he’d played different characters in the interviews—aggressive, stupid, coy, flirty—we would not have been half as interested in or trusting of what his subjects had to say. He and we would not have learned half as much.
Interrogation is not dialogue. The questions all go one way. Weinstein does this to control the narrative and make a point. Generally, however, dialogue is much more productive than interrogation.
This is what a lot of market research looks like. Like market research, Weinstein’s film is a series of snapshots. It is an interrogation of the audience, not a dialogue. Because of the way the interviews are conducted, the audience’s multi-faceted responses are nearly all flawed. It doesn’t matter how much data you have if its facets are flawed and unrelated. Many facets do not a diamond make. It is the interrelationship of the facets, their connection to one another, that illuminates the stone.
Admit your ignorance. Nearly everyone in the video is willing to guess about Weinstein’s identity, and in doing so they accept a ‘rule of the game’ that underscores their ignorance. This is a fine storytelling device for Weinstein’s video, but it’s a toxic game in business. For some managers, however, this is THE game. A conversation consists of them waiting for a ‘gotcha’ moment, when they can prove you wrong, ignorant, or both. People pretending to know what they’re talking about are just as much to blame for this game as those who expose them. Beware of games designed to show up anyone’s ignorance! Admitting your ignorance is a first step toward learning. Guessing, or faking knowledge, is not. Ultimately, Weinstein’s video delivers the goods in the form of questions answered, but not before he demonstrates just how elusive the goods can be.
In the Business section of its September 22 edition, the New York Times featured