
When the US bank- and financial crises knocked us in Sweden in the second half of 2008, it made the national media united. As always when a crises or other unpleasant occasion appears, the human race, for once, act as a united unit; and this is not always a good sign!
When the media day after day reports on recession, unemployment, bankruptcies…you sooner or later start believe that’s true, even if your company flourish as never before. When I talk to my colleagues and customers about this topic, most of them say that they are all-time-high - no sign of economic recession here! But at the same time everybody adds that the medias negative views and writing affect them internally, i.e. their mood get affected bit-by-bit and thereby in the longer run their business.
“When you all the time and everywhere hear and read it’s a recession, dismissals or other issues, it sooner or later gets into your skin”. Slowly, bit-by-bit you started to believe that the media reports are the true facts; and not what you can see with your own eyes in your own business. The medias authority of being the “truth-teller” overlooks the true fact! Is this Economical Psychology at the highest level?
According to a professor in Economic Psychology in Stockholm, Sweden, Henry Montgomery, it’s not about that the humans are biological creatures that makes irrational choices, it’s all about the training and the experience all involved in the system have: bankers, analysts, journalist etc. Even if all kind of rational behaviour is non-existent when unexpected situations occur, when irrelevant stress interfere and when unconscious impulses rule the decision-making process. But it’s not this irrelevant behaviour that set the rules; it’s the training and experience. And this is very scary, when we know, that (nearly) all professional financial workers, or journalists, have exactly the “same” education, experience and lifestyle. According to Professor Montgomery’s theories above, this lead us to a worst-case scenario!
So what’s the solution then?

As always it’s not a single answer that solve the problem, but one thing is crystal clear: all and everyone in the media circus must act, and take their full responsibility reporting and writing about the whole situation, not only about subjective fragments in short messages easy to read. It’s easy to say that bank X had problem and that company Y will dismiss 100 workers due to this or that.
But please, Dear Journalist, do better and more adequate research as well as look into the whole situation before writing! Remember that the audience are the 6th player in hockey, the 12th in football/soccer etc. In this context I will say that media ARE the x-tra player, and thereby must take it’s responsibility full out, and not hide behind the symptoms.
Another “truth” is of course to recruit and form organisations by different competences, ages, gender etc. The old fashion way, that unfortunately still rules in many organisations, that all and everyone looks the same, have same education, social class, live at the same place etc. is absolutely outdated, unfashionable and directly hostile to a natural and needed progress. And I’m not only writing this on my behalf (yes - I’m the black sheep in the white crowd :-)), all younger executives I meet have the same mindset, but more or less all in the old school don’t! But when we got different backgrounds, education, experiences, knowledge and so on in a working group, a more dynamic and better arena is formed and thereby a better solution will occur - no doubt about that! How long must we wait?
Over and out.
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