Did You Follow the World Economic Forum, AKA DAVOS, Last Week? Did it Make a Difference to Your Life or Business? To Anything?

In late 1998, there was fear, in some quarters, of a global economic meltdown catalyzed by bank failures in Russia and Brazil. Headlines in The New York Times suggested apocalypse and the financial talking head prophets were everywhere in the news.

As the rhetoric and headlines became more and more frantic, I was invited to an early morning group of corporate leaders in the auditorium of Goldman Sachs, underground in the Financial District of New York, to hear their then Partner and Chief Economist (Chair of the Investment Committee) Abby Joseph Cohen, who was at the height of her influence and prophecy.

That morning, the news was particularly grim. The headlines were exceptionally gloomy. The crowd was nervous and twitchy and came wondering if there was room in the lifeboats, hoping Cohen would tell them how to save themselves.?

I will never forget Cohen's opener. She held up The New York Times…read the headline, then said (to paraphrase):

All of you, down here today, with the weight of Wall Street on top of us, are in an underground silo. You are convinced the world is coming to an end because of Russia and Brazil. No doubt your colleagues on the West Coast feel the same way. Here's the truth...Right now, ordinary Americans across the country are going to work, doing what they do, farming their lands, shopping—whatever—and not one has given a thought to the banking crisis in Russia and Brazil. No one cares. And none are obsessed with what it might mean for them…because it means nothing. That is the truth. So, wring your hands. Obsess, if you must. But it will affect nothing outside your bubble.

And, so it was.?

I am reminded of that event and experience every so often and have shared it numerous times with clients and others as events of the day seem to take on more weight than they are really worth.??

So it is with the World Economic Forum (WEF). The picture and story of the week, that was the most illustrative to me, was of CEOs standing in line in the freezing cold, waiting to get into the private Sting concert because there was no room and they didn't have the juice to get past the velvet rope until others cleared out…FOMO…like kids at a club. .?

I'll add that the photos of the 1,000+ private jets were poignant given the discussions on Climate…Carbon Neutral and Sustainability…as were the few lines regarding the protesters who wanted to eliminate fossil fuels, immediately. And, so it goes.?

The latest Harvard/Harris Poll (full disclosure: a Stagwell Global product like me) continues to track the issues most important to citizens of the United States (for all my readers from other geographies, please chime in with your own local data). To keep it simple, it hasn't changed except for ranking over the last few months to a year:

• Immigration
• Price/Inflation
• Economy/Jobs
• Crime/drugs

Everything else is a distant second—climate change and global issues barely register.?

So when CEOs line up like wannabes at a concert and pontificate about carbon neutrality before they jet off solo into the sunset, it's no wonder that trust was a topic (and less of a wonder that the meeting produced no credible IP around it).?

Let me point out that coverage of the WEF gets thinner every year. I imagine, as a consequence of its own lack of real depth.?

There was a time when it might have made a difference. But as Cohen said those many years ago (another paraphrasing): People woke up all over the world last week…not paying the slightest attention, not even knowing it was going on, and went about their day, worrying about what kept them up at night (and getting into the Sting Concert wasn't on the list).?

Perhaps Jamie Dimon said it best:

“Davos is where billionaires tell millionaires what the middle class feels.”?

And I'd add...how the masses need to feel.

Stay genuinely connected with your clients, customers, friends, and family, and you'll never have to worry about trust like that lot.

What's your view?