The document discusses the evolution of conferences and TED talks over time. It notes that conferences used to involve longer, more complex presentations but have shifted towards shorter, more story-based talks modeled after TED. While TED talks have become hugely popular by sharing ideas quickly online, some criticize that they prioritize narrative over substance. The document also examines how the emphasis on speed in business has impacted decision-making, often resulting in poorer quality decisions made under pressure without proper consideration.

1. Speed Kills:
A Return to Critical Thinking
The
most
important
thing
about
a
point
of
view
is
to
have
one.

2. I
started
a7ending
business
conferences
nearly
twenty
five
years
ago
thanks
to
employers
like
Deloi7e
&
Touche
and
Price
Waterhouse.
EnthusiasBcally
I
went
to
learn
(the
free
lunches
were
cool
too).
I
remember
the
themes
and
topics
were
very
specific
and
tangible
back
then.
When
I
started
to
speak
at
events
a
few
years
later
it
was
for
never
less
than
an
hour
and
oEen
speaking
slots
were
ninety
minutes.
Conferences
were
mini-­‐MBAs.
Involved,
complex
case
studies
were
the
norm
and
popular.
Conferences
have
evolved
in
style
and
content.
When
a
colleague
found
out
I
was
presenBng
at
the
Canadian
MarkeBng
AssociaBon’s
NaBonal
ConvenBon
she
asked
if
I
was
going
to
deliver
it
TED
Talks-­‐style.
I
had
not
thought
about
it
that
way.
I
have
spoken
at
many
events
and
have
had
only
one
enduring
rule
of
thumb.
That
is,
present
what
you
would
like
to
hear.
Much
like
the
axiom
in
publishing
that
goes
‘write
the
book
you
want
to
read’.
I
was
familiar
with
TED.
I
knew
the
talks
were
slick,
brief
and
premised
on
storytelling
but
I
decided
to
dig
a
li7le
deeper
into
their
format.
I
came
across
a
fascinaBng
debate
concerning
the
value
and
efficacy
of
TED.
The
organizaBon
is
a
bigger
machine
than
I
realized.
TED
was
founded
thirty
years
ago
as
a
progressive
conference
and
has
expanded
exponenBally
thanks
to
its
different
TEDGlobal
and
TEDx
events,
online
videos,
a
publishing
division
and
the
TED
radio
hour.
TED
holds
over
1,000
events
a
year
and
more
than
1,700
TED
talks
are
available
free
online.
An
army
of
volunteers
translates
each
one
into
104
different
languages.
By
January
2009,
these
had
been
viewed
50
million
Bmes.
In
2011,
that
number
reached
500
million.
Views
have
now
surpassed
two
billion.
2

3. Ideas
Worth
Spreading
indeed.
The
pace
of
consumpBon
of
TED
content
is
acceleraBng
and
I
am
a
fan.
Chris
Anderson,
curator
of
TED,
wrote
a
piece
in
Harvard
Business
Review
last
year
called
Giving
a
Killer
Presenta5on.
I
wrote
a
le7er
to
the
editor
in
support
of
what
Chris
emphasized
and
the
le7er
was
published
in
the
magazine.
InfluenBal
organizaBons
oEen
draw
criBcism
and
TED
is
no
excepBon.
TED
conferences
are
seen
to
be
eliBst
given
the
substanBal
price
tag
to
a7end
and
organizers
have
been
accused
of
picking
only
popular
and
less
controversial
topics.
The
most
fascinaBng
and
consistently
leveled
criBcism
is
TED
demands
narraBve
elegance
over
substance
and
rigorous
analysis.
The
Huffington
Post
wrote
that
“Every
slide,
every
sentence,
has
been
rehearsed
and
revised
to
such
a
point
that
no
room
is
leE
over
for
spontaneity
and
wit.”
The
New
York
Times
reported,
“The
process
of
preparing
a
speaker
is
painstaking.
Mr.
Anderson
and
his
team
work
for
months
with
presenters.”
You
really
know
you
are
onto
something
when
someone
parodies
you.
In
2012,
the
saBrical
newsmagazine,
The
Onion,
began
Onion
Talks.The
parody
presentaBons
included
Ducks
Go
Quack,
Chickens
Say
Cluck,
What
is
the
Biggest
Rock?,
Using
Social
Media
To
Cover
For
Lack
Of
Original
Thought,
Compost-­‐
Fueled
Cars:
Wouldn't
That
Be
Great?,
and
A
Future
Where
All
Robots
have
Penises.
Then
late
last
year,
this
should
come
as
no
surprise,
a
TEDx
speaker
used
the
forum
itself
to
bash
TED.
TEDx’s
are
locally
licensed
conferences
and
this
one
took
place
in
San
Diego.
Benjamin
Bra7on,
a
visual
art
professor
at
the
University
of
California
said
that
instead
of
promoBng
his
own
ideas
or
a
book
that
he
instead
wanted
to
address
"TED
itself,
what
it
is
and
why
it
doesn't
work."
He
told
the
audience
that
the
TED
process
simplifies
difficult
topics
so
lay
people
can
understand
them
and
that
presenter
likability
outshines
the
ideas
themselves,
"making
our
best
and
brightest
waste
their
Bme—and
the
audience's
Bme—dancing
like
infomercial
hosts.”
Bra7on
himself
seems
to
know
a
good
sound
bite
as
he
called
TED,
“Middlebrow
Megachurch
Infotainment”.
3

4. Making
a
Decision
I
share
it
is
because
I
love
the
debate.
I
enjoy
looking
at
issues
from
different
views
and
angles.
TED
under
the
microscope
speaks
to
an
ever
acceleraBng
cycle
of
change.
TED
changed
how
ideas
were
shared
by
quesBoning
the
long
accepted
conference
model.
Now
the
TED
model
is
being
tested.
This
leads
to
the
subject
of
speed
and
criBcal
thinking.
Implied
in
criBcal
thinking
is
the
ability
to
make
a
decision.
So
ask
yourself,
how
do
you
make
a
decision?
Highly
raBonal
people
may
be
saying,
“Well
I
consider
the
informaBon
available
to
me,
weigh
the
respecBve
pros
and
cons,
judge
the
potenBal
impacts
and
arrive
at
the
best
possible
outcome.”
But
do
you
really?
Others
may
be
chuckling
while
thinking
of
their
own
personal
irraBonality
when
it
comes
to
making
a
decision.
While
more
sBll
are
probably
admipng
that
they
never
really
thought
much
about
it.
We
all
just
do
it.
The
most
honest
answer
to
how
we
make
decisions
is
it
depends.
We
make
decisions
differently
based
on
our
experiences,
background
and
biases
we
develop.
We
are
also
influenced
by
context.
The
very
pressure
to
make
a
decision
effects
how
we
decide.
The
fact
that
we
missed
our
morning
coffee
can
throw
us
off.
A
fight
with
our
spouse
can
distract
us.
A
jerk
at
work
gets
under
our
skin
and
disrupts
us.
So
much
goes
into
even
the
most
basic
decision.
Increasingly
we
are
confronted
with
speed
as
a
big
factor
that
impacts
the
manner
and
quality
of
our
decisions.
I
will
concede
the
world
and
business
move
faster
now.
You
only
have
to
read
two
or
three
of
the
over
three
hundred
books
published
on
speed
in
the
last
few
years
or
the
scores
of
blogs
and
arBcles
to
buy
into
that.
These
writers
argue
that
speed
is
a
compeBBve
advantage
in
business
and
advocate
we
should
move
ever
faster.
I
am
not
wriBng
about
faster
decisions
or
slower
decisions.
I
am
sharing
the
creaBng
condiBons
for
making
be7er
decisions
by
pupng
speed
in
context.
Something
happened
in
the
last
ten
to
fiEeen
years.
“Speed”
itself
became
a
business
buzzword.
Faster
is
now
clearly
associated
with
be7er
and
that
is
some
of
the
most
flawed
thinking
of
recent
Bmes.
There
are
two
reasons
for
this.
The
first
takes
place
in
our
daily
lives.
Sheena
Iyengar
of
Columbia
University
and
author
of
The
Art
of
Choosing
found
that
we
make
an
average
of
70
decisions
each
day.
They
range
from
the
mundane
such
as
‘what
should
I
wear
today?’
to
bigger
bets
like
‘what
would
happen
if
we
doubled
our
media
spend?’
Decisions
are
done
on
autopilot
and
some
nearly
paralyze
in
their
importance
and
complexity.
In
the
past
ten
to
fiEeen
years,
“speed”
became
a
business
buzzword.
3

5. Think
of
your
mind
as
an
assembly
line.
It
has
been
set
up
to
process
informaBon
and
make
decisions
at
a
manageable
speed
and
generally
it
does
so
well.
Now
imagine
if
that
producBon
line
was
doubled
in
speed.
What
happens?
You
end
up
with
poorer
quality
decisions
in
every
meaning
of
that
word.
It
can
even
lead
to
breakage
or
shut
down.
According
to
a
2013
IBM
study
of
1,500
chief
execuBves,
complexity
and
speed
were
the
biggest
issues
facing
their
companies.
The
interesBng
thing
is
how
businesses
react
to
them.
First,
we
try
to
address
complexity
by
oversimplifying.
Everything
today
is
a
tagline,
a
thirty-­‐second
elevator
pitch
or
a
top-­‐ten
list.
We
are
spoon
fed
soluBons.
Every
book
is
a
how-­‐to.
Newspapers
are
dumbed
down.
We
converse
in
abrupt
text
and
tweets.
So
much
of
our
current
work
is
spent
embracing
client
complexity
and
creaBng
rich
brand
stories
and
markeBng
campaigns
for
them.
I
advocate
celebraBng
complexity
not
tearing
it
down
to
the
point
of
irrelevance.
The
second
way
we
have
reacted
to
speed
and
complexity
is
by
pupng
ourselves
on
a
treadmill
to
oblivion
by
matching
speed
with
even
more
speed.
The
result
is
we
have
confused
simple
and
faster
with
be7er.
Further
we
now
have
the
gall
to
suggest
that
simple
and
faster
is
the
only
form
of
innovaBon.
Every
businesses’
website,
markeBng
pieces,
ads,
annual
reports
claims
that
they
are
innovaBve.
When
you
look
closer
they
are
really
claiming
that
they
are
the
simpler
and
faster
opBon.
Every
business
is
in
the
business
of
solving
problems.
That
means
they
assess
and
make
very
important
decisions.
Swystun
CommunicaBons
surveyed
3,000
markeBng
people
on
LinkedIn
about
decision-­‐making.
We
asked
three
quesBons
and
1,769
people
responded.
What
impacts
the
quality
of
your
decision-­‐
making?
Pressure
24%
Urgency
19%
Lack
of
Time
26%
Team
Mates
12%
Other
10%
Inputs
9%
4

6. The
first
quesBon,
what
impacts
the
quality
of
your
decision-­‐making?
Speed
related
issues
dominated
the
responses
adding
up
to
67%.
There
was
a
secondary
story
in
the
responses
related
to
teammates
or
colleagues.
Comments
indicated
fricBon
in
company
culture
and
the
organizaBon.
Colleagues
would
oEen
undermine
each
other
to
get
ahead.
The
next
quesBon
was,
what
does
your
company
value
most
in
decision-­‐making?
Safety
22%
Costs
20%
Speed
29%
Accuracy
11%
Other
9%
Process
9%
What
does
your
company
value
most
in
decision-­‐
making?
Speed
is
a
significant
factor
which
is
really
no
surprise
but
what
is
perplexing
is
other
answers
with
near
equal
weight.
Safe
decisions
and
accurate
decisions
appear
to
contradict
speed.
It
is
as
if
the
respondent’s
organizaBons
are
telling
these
markeBng
folks
to
act
quickly
but
don’t
rock
the
boat.
They
do
not
want
to
risk
too
much,
spend
too
much
or
upset
the
company
process
of
decision-­‐making.
The
last
quesBon
was,
what
concerns
you
most
about
decision-­‐
making?
Impact
22%
Buy-­‐in
19%
Account
ability
23%
Accuracy
9%
Other
19%
Recog
niBon
9%
What
concerns
you
most
about
decision-­‐
making?
5

7. People
were
very
concerned
with
being
held
accountable
for
making
a
mistake.
This
fear
far
outweighs
the
potenBal
of
being
recognized
for
a
good
decision.
One
respondent
said
making
decisions
in
her
organizaBon
was
so
gut
wrenching
as
to
provoke
a
bowel
movement.
This
is
where
that
secondary
story
becomes
more
important.
Internal
buy-­‐in
from
colleagues
and
bosses
is
as
much
a
factor
as
being
held
accountable
for
a
decision.
People
are
looking
for
input
and
support
but
frequently
get
burned
by
poliBcs.
Decision-­‐making
is
scary
enough
but
when
you
are
forced
to
do
it
fast
then
doubts
and
fears
grow.
This
doesn’t
mean
we
can
take
all
the
Bme
in
world.
Tina
Fey
wrote
in
her
book,
Bossypants,
“You
can’t
be
that
kid
standing
at
the
top
of
the
waterslide,
overthinking
it.
You
have
to
go
down
the
chute.”
I
am
the
least
Zen
person
but
I
am
going
to
reference
a
Zen
saying.
If
you
have
a
glass
of
dirty
water
the
best
way
to
clear
it
is
to
set
it
on
a
windowsill
and
leave
it
alone.
With
sBllness
the
sediment
se7les
to
the
bo7om.
The
thought
being
that
with
a
clear
vision
and
a
sense
of
direcBon
you
can
focus
your
energy
more
effecBvely,
be
more
producBve
and
make
be7er
decisions.
Many
thinkers
of
late
have
idenBfied
this
paradox
of
needing
to
slow
down
to
speed
up.
There
is
proof
that
it
leads
to
be7er
results.
Be7er
Results
The
Economist
Intelligence
Unit
found
that
companies
that
chose
to
go
fast
to
try
to
gain
an
edge
ended
up
with
lower
sales
and
operaBng
profits
than
those
that
pracBced
criBcal
thinking.
Firms
that
“slowed
down
to
speed
up”
improved
their
top
and
bo7om
lines
averaging
40%
higher
sales
and
52%
higher
operaBng
profits
over
a
three-­‐year
period.
343
Surveyed
40%
Higher
Sales
52%
Higher
Profits
6

8. Neither
Fast
or
Slow
I
see
value
in
speed
but
it
is
not
about
speeding
up
or
slowing
down
it
is
about
sound
criBcal
thinking.
And
criBcal
thinking
is
neither
fast
or
slow.
CriBcal
thinking
is
a
strategic
and
creaBve
way
of
approaching
a
problem
or
an
opportunity.
If
pracBced
properly
the
soluBon
and
decision
present
themselves.
Speed
will
always
be
a
variable
but
it
should
not
be
the
all-­‐consuming
component.
A
be7er
decision
produces
be7er
returns
even
if
it
takes
a
bit
longer
to
get
there.
Yet
criBcal
thinking
can
also
move
you
along
faster
when
done
right.
That
is
the
paradox.
I
am
not
going
to
provide
a
trite
prescripBve
and
oversimplified
process
instead
I
will
highlight
four
key
components
of
criBcal
thinking
to
use
when
you
build
strategies,
craE
markeBng
plans
and
make
decisions.
1.
Be
open
to
insights
Insights
are
delighuully
jarring.
Each
is
unexpected.
They
can
be
a
bit
threatening
to
companies
who
are
programmed
to
reject
surprises.
Yet
this
is
their
advantage.
Coming
up
with
something
new
or
seeing
something
fresh
is
key
to
business
success.
You
cannot
meet
to
have
an
insight.
You
cannot
schedule
an
insight.
You
can
be
only
be
open
to
it.
So
much
of
the
poor
decision-­‐making
I
see
in
companies
is
due
to
seemingly
immovable
biases.
Daniel
Kahneman,
author
of
Thinking,
Fast
and
Slow,
says
that
biases
can
make
us
blind
to
the
obvious
and
even
blind
to
our
own
blindness.
I
oEen
wonder
why
it
took
2,000
years
to
put
wheels
on
our
luggage.
The
concept
of
rolling
luggage
came
out
of
an
observaBon
and
insight
in
1974
and
then
it
took
another
ten
years
for
the
product
to
be
properly
commercialized.
IniBally
a
buyer
at
Macy’s
department
store
rejected
the
idea
that
consumers
would
want
to
pull
their
luggage.
“Anyone can look for fashion in a boutique or history in a museum.
The creative person looks for history in a hardware store and fashion
in an airport.”
Robert Wieder
7

9. 2.
Best
interests
of
the
customer
One
component
of
criBcal
thinking
in
business
should
be
a
given
but
sadly
it
is
not.
My
first,
greatest,
and
ongoing
disappointment
with
the
business
world
is
the
magnitude
and
frequency
of
decisions
not
made
in
the
best
interests
of
the
customer.
One
of
the
best
sorBng
devices
or
criteria
for
sound
decision-­‐making
is
to
ask
how
it
will
impact
customers.
I
was
taught
many
moons
ago
that
if
you
were
in
markeBng
you
were
to
be
a
passionate
advocate
on
behalf
of
the
customer.
Yet
an
astonishing
amount
of
decision-­‐making
takes
place
without
this
advocacy.
Neulix’s
abrupt
price
changes
in
2011
led
to
an
exodus
of
customers.
Lululemon
had
a
legiBmate
issue
with
its
sheer
pants
yet
went
off
brand
when
the
company
treated
it
so
seriously
that
further
alienated
core
customers.
Forbes
named
the
launch
of
Google
Glass
as
one
of
the
worst
new
product
introducBons
ever.
They
cited
pricing,
promoBon,
distribuBon
and
other
issues
basically
indicBng
it
on
all
4
of
the
4ps.
Both
The
New
York
Times
and
Fast
Company
said
the
biggest
difference
between
Apple
and
Google
is
a
genius
for
markeBng
and
that
means
Apple
knows
and
advocates
on
behalf
of
its
customer.
I
recently
spoke
at
an
innovaBon
event
and
was
asked
why
is
it
that
every
markeBng
book
and
markeBng
conference
menBons
the
same
handful
of
companies?
You
could
play
a
game
of
brand
bingo
at
most
business
conferences
and
fill
up
those
squares
with
menBons
of
Apple,
Amazon,
Coca-­‐Cola,
NEST,
Tim
Hortons.
My
answer
was
because
the
vast
majority
of
businesses
in
the
world
are
mediocre
at
best.
As
Madelaine
Albert
of
Whole
Foods
put
it,
“The
average
work
environment
isn’t
terrible;
its
average.
And
consequently,
so
is
everything
it
does.”
Cultures
that
limit
true
potenBal
and
make
decision-­‐
making
threatening
lead
to
deflated
and
dispirited
employees.
The
flipside
of
that
is
deflated
and
dispirited
employees
will
never
build
anything
great.
8

10. 3.
Tell
it
as
a
story
Marketers
are
storytellers.
I
have
found
that
framing
significant
decisions
in
the
form
of
a
story
not
only
comes
naturally
to
us
but
it
goes
a
long
way
to
illuminaBng
the
issue,
entertaining
those
involved
and
showing
the
most
advantageous
path.
Daniel
Gilbert,
Professor
of
Psychology
at
Harvard,
says
that
people
tend
to
overesBmate
the
impact
of
future
events.
We
overstate
the
potenBal
magnitude
expecBng
a
more
intense
and
enduring
result
than
what
actually
occurs.
This
can
paralyze
or
throw-­‐off
decision-­‐making.
A
story
can
put
a
decision
in
its
proper
context
with
a
richer
result.
What
I
have
shared
so
far
shows
that
speed
heightens
our
anxiety
when
it
comes
criBcal
thinking
and
decision-­‐
making.
It
also
creates
unfair
and
arBficial
expectaBons
when
we
finally
get
around
to
selecBng
A
or
B
or
C.
4.
Stop
Seeking
Perfec=on
The
final
consideraBon
for
criBcal
thinking
is
to
stop
seeking
perfecBon.
We
are
all
smart
and
well-­‐intenBoned
and
we
are
all
human.
We
are
going
to
make
mistakes.
Whatever
amount
of
energy
we
spend
obsessing
about
potenBal
outcomes,
missteps
we
have
made,
decisions
that
do
not
go
our
way
is
energy
no
longer
available
to
add
value
to
our
business.
Neulix
corrected
its
pricing
approach
and
recently
introduced
a
smart,
measured
and
well
thought-­‐out
price
increase.
Lululemon
eventually
added
extra
material
to
those
sheer
pants
and
sold
them
at
$92
a
pair.
Google’s
Glass
announced
a
partnership
with
Italian
eyewear
company
Luxopca
to
embed
the
technology
in
the
Ray-­‐
Ban
and
Oakley
brands
in
hope
that
people
will
gravitate
to
be7er
looking
frames.
“Great stories happen
to those that can
tell them.”
Ira Glass
“Perfection is not attainable, but
if we chase perfection we can
catch excellence.”
Vince Lombardi
9

11. There
are
risks
and
trade-­‐offs
in
making
decisions
in
an
ever-­‐acceleraBng
world.
OEen
we
are
forced
to
move
fast
regardless
of
a
desire
to
be
more
deliberate
and
measured.
I
only
cauBon
you
never
to
use
speed
as
an
excuse
for
avoiding
the
criBcal
thinking
that
produces
winning
strategies.
With
speed
and
the
frenzy
of
acBvity
that
goes
with
it
we
may
sacrifice
our
brand’s
reputaBon,
the
quality
of
our
products
and
services,
our
company’s
performance.
We
may
lose
our
relevance.
With
creaBve
criBcal
thinking
we
can
take
our
business
to
a
new
place
because
we
remove
the
fear
and
biases
in
our
own
decision-­‐making
and
our
company’s
culture.
Back
to
TED
TED
announced
that
their
18
minute
limit
for
speakers
could
be
reduced
to
12
or
even
9
minutes.
Pundits
will
criBcize
this
move
as
the
further
dummying
down
of
complex
ideas
and
they
may
be
right.
Benjamin
Bra7on
that
professor
who
took
to
a
TEDx
stage
to
beat
up
on
TED
wrapped
up
his
talk
with
this
thought,
“As
for
one
simple
take
away
...
I
don't
have
one
simple
take
away,
one
magic
idea.
That's
kind
of
the
point.”
It
is
not
about
speed.
It
is
about
be7er.
I
do
have
one
take
away
but
it
is
far
from
simple.
That’s
my
point.
Behind
every
concept,
every
idea,
every
challenge
there
is
complexity.
We
lose
the
magic
every
Bme
we
a7empt
to
over
simplify.
Alfred
North
Whitehead,
the
mathemaBcian
and
philosopher,
suggested
the
pursuit
of
simplicity
was
noble
but
it
should
be
distrusted.
Whitehead
feared
that
we
would
make
big
mistakes
by
dismissing
or
glossing
over
the
intricate
and
not
easily
explained.
So
my
take
away
for
you
is
short
and
sweet.
I
ask
that
you
do
not
make
decisions
swiEly
but
once
you
make
that
decision
then
act
swiEly.
9
Jeff
Swystun
President
and
Chief
MarkeBng
Officer
416.471.4655