People Need a Story, Not Just Numbers

Happy Friday and welcome to issue 1 of the Industrial Innovation Advocate, a newsletter focused on advancing industrial technology and how marketing and communications can help. As always, let me know how I can help you!

Celebrating the Life of Daniel Kahneman

A couple weeks ago, we lost one of the founders of behavioral economics, Daniel Kahneman. He and his research partner Amos Tversky completely upended assumptions about how we think and make decisions. For those of us in B2B marketing, they particularly drove home the degree to which our supposedly rational business purchase decisions are in fact influenced by a lot of non-rational thinking. Kahneman, a Nobel laureate in economics, introduced the concepts of System 1 and System 2 thinking in his book "Thinking, Fast and Slow."

System 1 Thinking: Involves making quick judgments and assessments, often based on learned habits, intuition, and gut feelings. It’s the kind of thinking that helps us perform routine actions and make snap decisions but can sometimes lead to cognitive biases and errors in judgment due to its reliance on mental shortcuts. For example, the more easily we can recall a scenario - perhaps because we learned about it through a particularly vivid bit of storytelling - the more probable we will assume it to be.

System 2 Thinking: This is the slow, deliberate, analytical, and consciously effortful mode of thinking. This type of thinking tends to be more reliable and rational but requires more energy and cannot be sustained for long periods without fatigue.

If you want an incredibly entertaining read about Kahneman and Tversky, I highly recommend The Undoing Project by Moneyball author Michael Lewis.

A Brave Campaign By Arkema

Specialty materials company 阿科玛 has launched a new employer brand campaign, What Are You Made of, that does a great job of connecting their core business with the people that work there. In this case, the products themselves are combinations of ingredients that come together to create innovative new resins, adhesives, acrylics and other materials. The people of Arkema are similarly bringing together unique mixes of skills, interests and passions that together create the value for customers and the company. Check it out.

Additive Manufacturing Coalition's DC Fly-In is May 8-10

There is still time to join the Additive Manufacturing Coalition for their DC Fly-In next month to meet with public policy leaders in Congress and the federal agencies to discuss additive manufacturing and the importance of strong public policies to advance the utilization of AM for both defense and US manufacturing in general. I will be there and would love to hear from you about what you think is needed to advance US manufacturing.

While there is a lot of interest in onshoring, distributed manufacturing, and other models that lead to building up manufacturing capabilities within the US and Europe, the fact is that manufacturing here can't look like it does in developing economies. It needs to leverage advanced technologies like 3D printing and robotics to improve speed and efficiency, supported by smart applications and IIoT infrastructure. It needs public-private partnerships to help small and midsized manufacturers make these investments. It needs industry-specific ecosystems and consideration into the location of suppliers. It needs talent skilled at using advanced technologies. Promising examples are starting to appear but we have a ways to go.

Creating a Next-Gen Manufacturing Workforce

Speaking of which, a new report out from The Manufacturing Institute - MI and 德勤 says the U.S. manufacturing industry could require up to 3.8 million jobs to be filled over the next decade. Think statisticians, data scientists, logisticians, engineers, computer and information systems managers, and software developers. In fact, 65% of manufacturers say attracting and retaining talent is their No. 1 priority.

Investments in manufacturing infrastructure are on the rise. Dollars invested to build new or expand existing manufacturing facilities have nearly tripled since June 2020 and were up 37% year over year in January to a record. Jobs follow those investments and people are needed at all skill levels, encompassing technical manufacturing skills, digital skills, and soft skills.

What are you doing as employer to stand out and attract and retain the best people? People want to work for companies with a clear purpose, and for organizations that provide work flexibility, support diverse workforces, and communicate transparently. Yet there is a growing gap between leaders and employees about the effectiveness of employee engagement activities. It might be time to take a look at your strategy.

Check out Pearson Consulting LLC if I can help you with your brand and communications strategy or story as you engage with stakeholders including customers, employers, investors, communities and more.