If you didn’t see the article a couple of weeks ago in USA Today about Howard Dean’s anger fueling his hope, you missed one of the great political spins in recent history. Dean’s response when questioned about his apparent anger on the campaign trail, and I paraphrase here only because spin so eloquent is hard to decipher, is that his anger is really hope. He’s angry with
a.) W.*
b.) W.
c.) W.
d.) all of the above
(*George ‘W.’ of course)
for all that he has done to ruin an otherwise fine country. Another article, this one on the front page, was about Dean’s belief that the Republicans were bankrupting government — get ready for a whopper — to avoid making good on future social security benefits.
Now I realize I’m mixing up two different flakey ideas here, but it is hard to resist. First, nobody is going ride the anger pony all the way to election. Anger is a good way to get attention, but a rotten way to solve problems. At some point, the electorate (or any thinking follower) is going to ask, “So what do we do about it?” To date Howard Dean’s best answer is, “Replace Bush with me.” Unfortunately it lacks details.
Second, I personally doubt that Republicans are creating fiscal ruin to avoid making good on benefits. I can’t prove that, but then neither can Dean prove his cockeyed assertion. Which brings me, conveniently, to something that really fuels my anger: asserting something to be so doesn’t mean it is true even if you’re famous and/or have a lot of money.
My solution: Be skeptical of what anybody in the media says, especially people running for office, and that applies equally to liberals and conservatives, Democrats, Republicans or Libertarians. There is so much goofiness floating around, that intellectually lazy people have plenty to glom onto.
I read a review of The DiVinci Code on Amazon.com that mentioned that Dan Brown’s work of fiction was based on facts that proved Christianity as we know it false. The reviewer added, “And if you don’t like it, well that’s the facts.” Actually, that’s not “the facts.” Much of what is intertwined in Brown’s fiction is conjecture and conspiracy theory. An argument, no matter how cleverly constructed, is not true based on eloquence or creativity. An argument is true based on standards of fact consistent with past history and current reality.
Leadership Lesson
We’d all be well-advised to think, and maybe think a little harder than we’d like. The media is full of fact and fiction, between political aspirants and bestselling authors, it becomes harder and harder to separate the two. For leaders, the ability to think clearly and see beyond the obvious and often superficial is critical. Buying into bad information or advice is always detrimental, but especially so for leaders. What informs the leader is leveraged throughout the organization that that person leads, so getting the best information and insights should be one of any leader’s highest priorities. A healthy skepticism is a necessary tool for leading well.
