On Dec 7, 2011, at 10:13 PM, Ken Friedman wrote:
> I'd have said that there is no cultic language in GK's comments. There is a strong pitch, but that's the nature of the consulting industry.
Of course, the public language of consulting is the language of sales pitches in general, including sales pitches for aggressive religious or quasi-religious organizations. GK's comments have much in common with the public presentation of Scientology (except that the Dianetics hawkers are more welcoming and less insulting.) His style of terminology, in particular, is reminiscent. Every time I hear about Design4, I can't help but think "But OT 5 is one more."
Many religious organizations share with consulting and political organizations the ability to remain "on point" (as they say in politics) or "on brand" (as we designers often advise our clients to be.) This often takes the form of overstating the value of a some strongly-branded "truths" as a lure to a buy-in without examination of the complexities that remain hidden.
That said, I have seen nothing of Humantific or NextD that parallels the abuse of power that is the legitimate fear regarding "cults." To the extent that "cult" means "possibly crackpot," the rejection of cultishness may make some sense. To the extent that it means "probably evil and abusive," I would need to see considerable foundation before I would accept such a charge.
Those of us who are employed by universities have an advantage in that it is economically more convenient for us to be open with information and arguments. (That's not to say that we are collectively very good at openness and accessibility.) But even while acknowledging legitimate economic interest in consultants' not always being completely open about what they do and how they do it, claims that "Those that say don't know; those that know don't say" have never inspired me to take the leap of faith that the claimant is one of those who knows.
Gunnar
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Gunnar Swanson
East Carolina University
graphic design program
http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cfac/soad/graphic/index.cfm
Gunnar Swanson Design Office
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