Each generation has a certain movement they won’t tolerate.
For those who endured The Great Depression, they could not tolerate excess. So they frugally live their lives (albeit in diminishing numbers) each and every day.
For the Greatest Generation, they could not tolerate the attack on their country, ideals, way of life or fellow man as the Communist machine rolled through Europe. So they subsequently fought, and won.
For the teens of the 50s and 60s, they could not tolerate the music of their parents. So they gave us Elvis, The Beatles and many more musical revolutionaries.
For the Woodstock Generation, they didn’t tolerate restraint, authority and rigidity of life. So they gave us Civil Rights, Women’s Liberation and a permanent shift in our social values as Americans.
Fast forward to today. Our current American culture no longer tolerates empty promises, vague wording, inauthentic apologies, or status quo. We just don’t. Who knows? Maybe we’ve been jaded by the Enrons, Madoffs, bailouts and public pensions. No matter the reason, the average American consumer is just flat-out tired of wading through the morass of corporate talk.
So its up to businesses to respond. Respond by being real. Respond by writing advertisements and websites that are easy to read, use simple words and get to the point. Respond by apologizing, sincerely, when necessary. Respond be getting rid of automated phone services. Respond by standing behind your products and services. Respond by tearing that stupid, pointless mission statement off the wall until you actually live by it. Respond by respecting your customers instead of your bottom line. Respond by getting smaller, fast, before you go under, even faster. Respond by eliminating pointless, mind-numbing, spirit-weakening meetings. Respond by holding your employees accountable instead of responding with a shrug.
Because America of 2011 won’t tolerate anything else.
It’s about time…
