The Mixed Media Affect
The Mixed Media Affect
Meet Your Host, Alan Weiss
Alan Weiss is one of those rare people who can say he is a consultant, speaker, and author and mean it.
His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients such as Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Mercedes-Benz, State Street Corporation, Times Mirror Group, The Federal Reserve, The New York Times Corporation, Toyota, and over 500 other leading organizations. He has served on several boards of directors in various capacities.
His prolific publishing includes over 500 articles and 60 books, including his best-seller, Million Dollar Consulting (from McGraw-Hill) now in its 30th year and sixth edition. His newest is Your Legacy is Now: Life is not about a search for meaning but the creation of meaning (Routledge, 2021). His books have been on the curricula at Villanova, Temple University, and the Wharton School of Business, and have been translated into 15 languages.
Get to know AlanShow Notes
Long ago the Canadian sociologist and business expert, Marshall McLuhan, talked about the “mixed media affect,” meaning that experts in one area often migrated to other areas where they are not expert. So you had athletes, entertainers, artists, actors, and random “celebrities” pontificating in fields where they are not expert at all.
Barbra Streisand was representative of this phenomenon, with continual political commentary on her web site, at concerts, and in guest appearances. I was in attendance once in Boston Garden, where, in addition to her song lyrics (she couldn't remember them) on the Jumbotron hanging from the roof, was her political “patter” and jibes at the Bushes. (This prompted Laura Ingraham's book, Shut Up and Sing.)
At the recent Tony Awards, always great because these are stage actors who don't expect teleprompters and second “takes,” a surprise winner for featured actor was Ali Louis Bourzgui for “Lost Boys.” He pulled a couple of sheets from his jacket and condemned fascism, racism, misogyny, colonialism, stolen lands, and it seemed also mosquitos and loud noises. It never ended. Fortunately, it was the exception on a stage where the mixed media affect used to predominate.
Moreover, no one seems to care anymore. The group on The View, a notoriously liberal and polarizing television cast, embraced Kamala Harris physically and intellectually when she visited them while running for president. And look what happened to her.
So ignore the otherwise notable figures who are stepping out of their field of expertise and/or talent. They're just richer, they ain't smarter.
Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® is a weekly broadcast from “The Rock Star of Consulting,” Alan Weiss, who holds forth with his best (and often most contrarian) ideas about society, culture, business, and personal growth. His 60+ books in 12 languages, and his travels to, and work in, 50 countries contribute to a fascinating and often belief-challenging 20 minutes that might just change your next 20 years.
Introduction to the show recorded by Connie Dieken
