TSW #18: Dec 2019
Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya introduces the anti-CEO playbook; the media futurists at Carat revisits their trend predictions for 2019; Figma experts decode how the last 10 years transformed design’s role in tech; American culture critic Carlo McCormick talks youth culture, situationist strategies and the privatization of public spaces; Stanley Donwood reveals his creative process behind Radiohead’s iconic artwork in his new book ‘There Will Be No Quiet’; ‘The Local Optimist’ by fashion brand Madhappy; Rachel Mercer and Shann Biglione have a discussion on whether data is better to validate or inspire the planning process; CNN decodes why the past decade saw the rise and rise of East Asian pop culture; BBC Culture decodes why Lizzo was the star who defined 2019; New York City’s Metrograph on the poster art of selling movies.
Hamdi Ulukaya: The Anti-CEO Playbook
“What hit me the hardest at that time was that this wasn’t just an old factory. This was a time machine. This is where people built lives, they left for wars, they bragged about home runs and report cards. But now, it was closing. And the company wasn’t just giving up on yogurt, it was giving up on them. As if they were not good enough. And I was shocked how these people were behaving. There was no anger, there were no tears. Just silence. With grace, they were closing this factory. I was so angry that the CEO was far away, in a tower or somewhere, looking at the spreadsheets and closing the factory. Spreadsheets are lazy. They don’t tell you about people, they don’t tell you about communities. But unfortunately, this is how too many business decisions are made today.”
“The best part of Chobani for me is this: the same exact people who were given up on were the ones who built it back 100 times better than before. And they all have a financial stake in the company today.”
“It’s time to admit that the playbook that guided businesses and CEOs for the last 40 years is broken. It tells you everything about business except how to be a noble leader. We need a new playbook. We need a new playbook that sees people again. That sees above and beyond profits. In the movies, they have a name for people who take a different path to do things right. They call them “antiheroes.” I think we need the same idea in business. We need anti-CEOs, and we need an anti-CEO playbook.”
“So let me tell you about what this anti-CEO playbook is all about. An anti-CEO playbook is about gratitude. Today’s business book says: business exists to maximize profit for the shareholders. I think that’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard in my life. In reality, business should take care of their employees first.”
“The new way of business — it’s the consumer we report to, not to the corporate boards. You see, if you are right with your people, if you are right with your community, if you are right with your product, you will be more profitable, you will be more innovative, you will have more passionate people working for you and a community that supports you. And that’s what the anti-CEO playbook is all about.”
2019 Revisited: 10 Trends in Media
The media futurists at Carat revisits their late 2018 predictions for 2019. A look at what has worked and what missed the mark.
“The Decade of Design”: How the Last 10 Years Transformed Design’s Role in Tech
As little as a decade ago, we didn’t live our lives glued to a smartphone. The UX/UI experts at Figma takes a recap of the decade of massive change in design.
Stanley Donwood — There Will Be No Quiet
The graphic designer behind Radiohead’s iconic artwork reveals in his own words and for the first time the creative process that has earned him a cult reputation.
“By the time the record was finished, about two years had passed. Very late one night Thom and I were alone in the vast wastes of Oxfordshire, surrounded by darkness and trying to finish the artwork. It was impossible — we had made too much, too many pictures, and it was like being in a storm of ideas and drawings, paintings and texts. We were exhausted and could no longer think clearly. We had lots of versions of the front cover, all with different pictures and different titles in different typefaces. We couldn’t work out which was the right one so we took them all downstairs and used tape to stick them to the cupboards and the fridge in the kitchen, hoping that in the morning the right cover and the right title would be obvious. And it was, and it was called KID A.”
The Local Optimist — Madhappy
An authentic and original content log from the most interesting new fashion brand Madhappy
Is Data Better To Validate Or To Inspire The Planning Process?
Rachel Mercer and Shann Biglione discuss and explore the blurry line between why some planners like to trust their instinct and look for validations through data, while others tend to trust the data first and then look for strategies to build on it.
Why the Past Decade Saw the Rise And Rise of East Asian Pop Culture
A decade on since 2010, the English-speaking world remains dominated by American-made music, films and television. But there’s been a noticeable shift: a steady rise in the influence of South Korean and Japanese pop culture exports.
BBC Culture: Why Lizzo Was the Star Who Defined 2019
“The stand-out thing about Lizzo as a performer is you leave her gigs feeling really good about yourself.” — NME music journalist Hannah Mylrea
Selling the Film: The Art of the Movie Poster
The most underrated player in the movie business is also someone whose work we come to know intimately: It’s the artist who must scan a film for the single image that says everything, and then must find a way to implant that image firmly in the mind of the moviegoer.
