Every day, millions of viewers turned their eyes and attention to Walter Cronkite. They trusted his voice. He guided people through World War 2, the space race, presidential assassinations, you name it.
He was named “the most trusted man in America” so why has the news lost its credibility and what can that teach you about leading?
Speed Kills
News used to be well-researched, thoughtful, and nuanced. Then the 24-hour news cycle hit. Immediacy was more important than accuracy.
Breaking news got eyeballs, eyeballs meant advertiser money, and money meant more breaking news.
This cycle meant that insight, analysis, and a well-articulated position were taken out by “this just in”.
Depth and Width
When making decisions you want to look for depth of understanding and width of comprehension.
Depth is subject matter knowledge. You need to understand the topic to articulate what is happening effectively.
An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid.
Ernest Rutherford
The quote hasn’t aged well but the premise stands. If you struggle to explain the idea to someone not in your field then you don’t understand it that well.
Width describes understanding the surrounding elements and how the particular thing relates, connects, enhances or diffuses the environment it exists in.
Nothing exists in a vacuum so you need to add context to your subject matter knowledge to apply it correctly.
Time
Depth and Width take time. Having a knee-jerk reaction to a problem will create a response, but it might not create a good outcome.
If it is a known problem with a known solution then you can just apply the correct solution to the problem. This situation isn’t that common, if you knew the issue beforehand you would have done something about it.
Now time is important. You should use all of that you can. As John Cleese pointed out in a presentation on comedy, he discussed 4 points, but time was two of them.
Time in the sense that if the problem happens on Monday and you have until Friday to create a solution then the first thing you thought of (speed) probably isn’t the best idea. The optimal course is to keep playing with the idea until Friday.
After exploring lots of ideas, if the first thought is still the best one, then use it, but you have used that time to consider lots of other options.
The other use of time is that you have to think about a problem, you have to give it enough time to really understand it, and then, he suggests, you stop thinking about it and let your subconscious play with the idea.
Let the idea smash into all your other thoughts in your head and when you come back to it in a few days there will be lots of other connections that have formed and the idea will have taken a different shape.
Both concepts are about using time and fighting the urge to respond quickly.
When making decisions the fastest decision isn’t necessarily the best one. Slow down, give it the time it needs. Get enough information and context to make an informed decision.
Luke McMeeken-Ruscoe 