Maybe calling it a rant is going a bit far. It’s more like a heartfelt expression of respect and concern – all while you’re wondering to yourself, “How far down is it behind him?”
The video is now featured atop the main page of our website, but we might as well share it here too:
Recently our roving reporter asked Dan why he felt the need to ascend to these heights and hold forth on such weighty topics. Here is what Dan told us:
“I think corporate communication has become so formulaic, none of it means anything anymore. Maybe it’s driven by data, or SEO, where someone tells you these are the words you need to say, and you just say them like the consultants told you and figure that’s what marketing communication is.
“But the result is corporate messaging that is so predictable and monolithic, it’s mostly a waste of time to read anyone’s material. None of it really tells you anything. And that frustrates me as a writer because I’ve spent my career interviewing CEOs and uncovering fascinating stories about what their companies are doing – and how they’re doing it. This has been a tremendous experience. Michelle and I often talk about how one of the coolest parts of our job is how much we learn just by talking to people and writing about what they’re doing. The stories we’ve written in DBusiness and elsewhere have gotten so many plaudits both for us and for the companies we’ve featured.
“I don’t understand why the material companies put out on their own behalf doesn’t sound like that. But most of it just sounds soulless, like it was written to fit a formula put together by someone who wouldn’t really recognize what’s special about a company if it smacked him in the face.
“And I want these CEOs to know their material can sound that interesting.”
And before he left, he declared: “Business stories will not be formulaic and soulless anymore! I will not allow it!”
Then he tried to put on his sunglasses really fast but poked himself in the eye instead.