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Brett Rutledge Editorial June 2010
It is an emotional time in Australia as we welcome Julia Gillard as the nations first female Prime Minister – unopposed and unelected (who says democracy is dead?) – and mourn or celebrate (depending on your political persuasion) the political death of the former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. New Zealanders, of course, went through a similar experience a mere 12 years previously when Jenny Shipley stuck the deadly voodoo pins in to her Jim Bolger doll and became that nations first female Prime Minister – also unelected and unopposed (female politicians are deadly!) So, to mark this momentous occasion, this months Editorial examines in detail The Death of a Prime Minister – the most spectacular, confirmed, modern-day case of political suicide committed exclusively via piss-poor communication The Death of a Prime Minister It is fair to say that Kevin Rudd’s communication and leadership style is not exactly unique. In fact, it is arguable that his combination of undoubted ability and talent together with a complete inability to express himself effectively is the most common leadership and communication style seen in the modern world. Here we have the smartest kid at school becoming a talented university student who picks up foreign languages easily and starts collecting diplomatic postings while still in his 20s. He’s recognised as the next bright young thing and becomes one of the most powerful men in Queensland when he is barely into his 30s and then has rapid success in politics – leader of the Labour Party after only eight years as an MP, prime minister after nine. Don’t kid yourself… Kevin Rudd is a talented individual… but he’s also a knob. Like a lot of talented people he thought he could survive on brilliance alone and, like a lot of talented people, Rudd had great difficulty in translating that brilliance into a form of communication that the average person could identify with and understand. It can be done. Simon Schama, for example, is a brilliant historian and art historian who brought history to life in the excellent 15-part BBC documentary series “A History of Britain”. Professor Lord Robert Winston is another example of an individual who can make the scientifically complex layman simple as he does in such acclaimed documentary series as “The Human Body” and “The Human Mind”. Both men are terrific examples of communicating incredibly complex and difficult subject matter in an engaging and interesting way that not only allows for greater understanding but also encourages a desire to learn more. Sadly, Rudd is not such an example. The smartest bloke in the room was always torn between his desire to demonstrate and be recognised as the smartest bloke in the room and political expediency that demanded that he also try to be your mate. It meant he careened wildly between obtuse impenetrable language littered with euphemism and acronyms and quaint, bizarre colloquialisms such as wanting everyone “to have a fair shake of the sauce bottle”. The colloquialism problem is an obvious one. No one says “fair shake of the sauce bottle”. Not only is it outdated it also demonstrates a lack of knowledge regarding the advancement of sauce bottle technology – they are now all upside down and squeezable. Consequently, the smartest bloke in the room was viewed as stupid, out of touch, arrogant, belittling and something of a joke. His rapid decline and subsequent dismissal were not the result of failed policy but communication that was so ineffective that he couldn’t even get his own party to understand, care about or agree with him. It is a salutary lesson for leaders everywhere. If you are the smartest person in the room (as you often are) then you must:
If only Kevin had learned from Simon and Lord Robert. Although, as I recall, Jenny Shipley committed suicide in similar fashion when the New Zealand public unceremoniously booted her and her government out of office. I wonder if Julia Gillard will be any different. What did Thomas Edison invent? No… not the light bulb. Edison improved the light bulb but he didn’t invent it. In fact, many of the inventions that were legally accredited to Edison were not his at all but rather came out of his laboratory in Menlo Park (now Edison), New Jersey. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera and a long lasting, practical, electric light bulb. But the thing that he invented or at least popularized is the use of the word “Hello” as a greeting – initially as a telephone greeting. Prior to Edison’s application the word existed as “Hullo” and was an expression of surprise as in “Hullo… what’s this?” Edison decided it was an appropriate way of letting everyone know that you had answered the phone successfully and it stuck. Just as well given that Alexander Graham Bell favoured the use of the word “Ahoy hoy” as the preferred telephone greeting which, incidentally, is why Mr. Burns answers the telephone that way on The Simpsons!
Seriously…get in touch Next month we shall explore more of the wonderful and not so wonderful world of communication and attempt to find more obscure links between 19th century Scottish inventors and 20th century American animated comedy. See you for the next edition of The Editorial. Next month we shall explore more of the wonderful and not so wonderful world of communication and attempt to find more obscure links between 19th century Scottish inventors and 20th century American animated comedy. See you for the next edition of The Editorial.
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