An Idea once uncorked….

It was 1912 and the end was nigh. 2000 years of history knocked out in a coup. It was fascinating a thing to read about. How does a 2000-year-old monarchy get knocked out in a single coup? It doesn’t make sense. If the monarchy is all you’ve ever known how likely would you be willing to knock it out? And so it was that the empire of the Qing was knocked out and the great Chinese civilization fell. It was the end of 2000 years of imperial history. It was fascinating, an event to study. And the more I looked into it, the more it fascinated me. As the empire reached its great end, the question on everyone's mind was how to get rid of the emperor. Intellectuals across the empire discussed ways to eliminate the Qing and replace the emperor with a better government. Such was the perception of the empire's incompetence that it was eventually an uprising that ended the Qing dynasty, knocking out the 2-year-old emperor. Being fascinated by the Roman empire, this was in stark contrast to the example of the Romans. With the Romans, the consensus puts the late empire as being alive by sheer force of will. It was a bankrupt dissolute state with few armies and no practical authority, only alive because no one knew what would replace it. It was the only thing anyone had ever known. And when the Roman empire fell in the west in 476AD, the man who replaced the emperor chose to claim that the empire was not dead after all. It was the strangest thing in the world. Everyone pretended the empire was just fine. The new warlord claimed he bowed to the remaining empire in the east and that he was merely a regent holding power in the stead of the remaining emperor.

So what was the difference?

The difference as it often is was the Americans. The Romans had never known another way to run the world. To them the fall of the empire meant anarchy. Even the ones in power had to live in fear. Power held in times of anarchy is quite a fickle thing. It is why we seek harmony in times of chaos even if we ourselves might be comfortable. Nothing is certain. The system that replaced the Romans is a perfect example of this forced harmony. In a world with no real rules, where nothing really means anything when it comes down to it, systems and illusions give us peace. What was the system that replaced the Romans? Well, it's the system that Game of Thrones made popular. Feudalism was all about oaths. A man's word was all he had and even kings bowed to the word of the law. Oh, they tried to break it. They swore and begged for divorces and the right to attack whoever they damn well pleased. But the Medieval era was an era of rules and restrictions. And the men that broke those rules were penalized for it. And as those rules weakened so did the era itself. In a sense, each era has its fundamental mechanics, something that defines it. For the Romans, it was the protection of the Empire (Every citizen of the empire was safe from the Barbarians that lay across the frontier), for the Chinese, it was the Mandate of Heaven (The Emperor was set by God to rule the world. As long as things worked well for the citizens, the emperor was the right man to rule), For the modern west it is the sanctity of the modern election (The ruler rules with the voice of the people. As long as the voice of the people is with them, they will rule. And once that goes so do they go) and for the Islamic states of the modern era it is the Sharia law ( The word of the Quran is absolute). As long as the fundamental system holds, the world holds. Once that goes the world goes. When Tywin Lannister ordered the Freys to break the guest right and murder the Starks at the Red Wedding he broke the fundamental rules of the world he lived in (Game of Thrones reference). The only way beyond that point was anarchy. Every world we live in supported by these fundamental principles. The Axioms of polity in a sense. They are absolute. Nothing makes them so. Nothing makes secularism make more sense than the alternative. Or the separation of Church and State. They are no more correct than their alternative. But they are the axioms we choose for ourselves. Once those are gone, nothing holds.

The perfect example of this is Zimbabwe. Most of you probably have heard of Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe. When Robert Mugabe was president of Zimbabwe he made the decision to redistribute the land among the poor. Large landholdings were taken away. It was meant to be given to black people. It was, however, given to politically connected individuals and so most of the land was given to politically connected individuals. These folks had no expertise in farming. Sooner than later, the farms failed as Zimbabwe’s agricultural output went down significantly. Meanwhile, the president started printing currency like there was no tomorrow. Next thing he knew the currency was out of control. There were millions of Dollars of currency in the country. But there was no food to sell. Sooner or later everything started getting expensive. Initially, it was slight. And as people started panicking prices were rising by the hour. You saw your neighbor raising prices and so you would. And so it would go on and on. Everyone raising prices. The nation collapsed into Hyperinflation.

This continued for years. Years later the country came out of Hyperinflation by pegging its currency to the US dollar. There were only so many US dollars in the market and so things stabilized. The country after pulling things together introduced a new currency. Are all things great? Well, not so much. Inflation came roaring back. Why you may wonder? Well, no one trusted Zimbabwe anymore. When Mugabe took away land from the rich he broke a sacred rule, an Axiom of the polity. The rule of private ownership. There cannot be private ownership if you can take it away with no choice. Nobody trusts their investments to survive in Zimbabwe. What if the government takes it away tomorrow? Once the illusion is gone, nothing remains. The end is nigh. Nobody is investing in Zimbabwe. And if nobody invests, there is no production. If there is no production, there is a shortage. And when there is a shortage there is inflation. And thus inflation is back in Zimbabwe.

So how do eras change? Only through anarchy? So it would seem. We build our Axioms. And over time we slide on them. This introduces anarchy and thus we replace it with fresh Axioms. The French Revolution ended with the principles of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. None of these are axioms capable of keeping society together. And thus France fell into anarchy. Heads rolled for years. But there’s a hint here. What did the Americans do? The Americans wrote the Declaration of Independence. The reason why the American revolution was such a success is kinda obvious if you think about it. The Americans weren’t just trying to break an axiom (The Americas being a mere colony of Britain) but actively build fresh axioms. The declaration of Independence and the founding fathers sought to build a new nation. A nation that would find its place in the world. They were seeking to introduce new Axioms as they broke old ones. The rise of Christianity is a perfect example. It was a more comforting ideology than paganism. It offered eternal peace after death. The god of Christianity was more benevolent usually than the Greek or Roman gods who were not always known for being nice to humans. People wanted to believe in Christianity. It replaced one Axiom with another stronger one. For what do these Axioms exist but to make us feel safer. And Christianity made people feel safer. It told them the rich were sinners and would be punished for it, while they would go to heaven for their hardships. An idea once uncorked is unstoppable. Once people believe something is possible there is little to stop people from doing it if they can do it. In a world with only the laws of Physics, there are no other laws. But until they think it's possible, they will pretend it's impossible. It gives them peace to know that things are the way they are. Anything else is dangerous. When the Qing fell, they were replaced by an era of Warlords. And the Warlord era ended when a warlord thought he could declare himself a new emperor. He was usurped. The Axioms of the old world we no longer sacrosanct. No one wanted those Axioms. A new era was nigh. Capitalism and Communism fought for the attention of the people. And eventually, the Communists brought peace 20 years later by introducing a new Axiom.

So what's the implication of all this. What's the application. Coming to the fundamental point what am I talking about here in a way that affects your life.

Well as a marketer you’re always working with illusions and axioms. It's the only way to override logic. People are surprisingly logical people. You can’t walk up to someone and tell them to buy this phone that's not really that much faster than that phone and not that much better in any way than that one over there but it's double the price. Nobody would buy it. And there is where branding comes in. We find axioms. Because axioms are not logical. You do what the axiom tells whether it's logical or not. And this is where the link between the artist and the marketer comes in. The artist ties the axiom to the living breathing concept. Like the cowboy. The cowboy is a living breathing idea in your idea. He speaks a certain way, he’s got a revolver and he’s got his trusty catchphrase. None of us has actually seen an actual cowboy. Nobody seems to think of the odd extroverted cowboy who likes English muffins and tea. But the artist made him equivalent to a certain type of person for you. All those westerns convinced you of it. And the marketer uses him when he holds the deodorant in your face. Logically two deodorants are different because of their smell. Without their smell who can tell which one is which. But the marketing is focused on the Cowboy because the cowboy means something. So what is the Axiom? The Axiom is that if a masculine, strong resolute person recommends something it's probably a good thing. It might make you like them. This isn’t actually logical. Sure it’s more probable. But the guy’s been paid. There’s no reason to believe it is his logical choice. But it hardly matters. The Axiom is fulfilled. The Axiom makes us feel at peace. In a world where no word can be trusted, we want to trust the cowboy. We want them to believe they’re recommending to us a good choice. It makes our life easier to have him make the choice for us. It makes us feel safer. If it’s bad it’s the cowboy's fault. As a marketer, we must seek to find these fallacies in peoples thought. These Axioms and how we can manipulate them.

As leaders, the Axioms are a fundamental aspect of what we do. Leaders that break the Axioms of the workplace are likely to find themselves in tough positions. As a leader, you’re defined by your ability to make those below you feel safe. You are the shield that stands over them through thick and thin and all the great storms. You eat the shit so they don’t ever know it exists. You have to be the voice that keeps those below you feel safe. People will believe anything that makes them feel safe. If having you as a leader doesn't make them feel safe, they will not keep you a leader for very long. This is what happened to Voltaire. After the success of the French Revolution, he went on a head-knocking spree. He killed many. And when the crowd turned on him, asking him if he had smoked out the traitors once and for all he made the fundamental error. He said there were still more traitors, in the very crowd that faced him. Everyone was happy as long as it was someone else that was directly targeted. But the moment they themselves could be liable they were afraid. And Voltaire went his merry way. People call the decision to fire Steve Jobs during his fight with John Sculley historically bad. And it was. But they miss out on why it was done. Nobody in their right state of mind would have backed Steve Jobs. He was volatile. A man with that temperament could not be trusted. Sculley was a known quantity. If you backed him, he would back you in return. The line was logical and the world made sense. But with Jobs, he was an ideologue and visionary. For him the product was everything. He’d do whatever it took to build a great product. Nobody will stick their neck out for someone who wouldn’t do the same for them. And so Steve Jobs went his merry way. When he came back he made sure to knock out the whole board. He had to make sure, the people in there would stick their necks out for him. He had learned his lesson. As leaders, we must find a way to convince those under us that the world makes sense. That it's logical. That good will be rewarded and bad will be punished. A leader that inspires confidence is a leader that will last. Even the greatest leaders must bow to this rule. The great Roman Emperor Aurelian became emperor when the empire was in absolute anarchy. Chaos reigned over the empire and it was broken into three parts with both the East and the West having separated from the Empire. So what did Aurelian do? He took his trusty army and he trudged across the empire, knocking out usurpers and he brought the empire together. It is a humongous achievement. And he pulled it off in 5 years. In 5 years of being emperor, he could today be regarded as one of the greatest emperors in all of Roman History. So how did this great emperor, the Restitutor Orbis (Literally the restorer of the world) die? His secretary made a paperwork error and was terrified. This is because Aurelian was a strict man. He was a good man, and everyone respected him, but he was very strict. The secretary feared so much the retribution he would face that he made a fake list of soldiers the emperor wanted to kill and gave it to the soldiers. The emperor was murdered by his own bodyguard as many emperors had been. When they found out the list had been faked they turned upon the poor servant and tortured him to death. With dealing with history it is wise to consider that nothing is obvious and nothing is certain. What happened precisely we cannot know. But we do know that even one of the greatest leaders in history can be humbled by one of their humble secretaries. Keep the people under you in good comfort. Convince them the world makes sense. And they will act sensibly.

When dealing with Axioms, the leader might have to remove certain Axioms. It often is necessary. But the leader must make sure to replace the Axiom with a new one and not let the system slide into chaos. Change must involve building along with tearing down. And it must acknowledge that whatever you build is much more delicate. Axioms take a while to settle in. Knock out too many Axioms and don’t replace them fast enough and you leave yourself open to Anarchy. Leave yourself open to Anarchy and no Axiom in the world can save you.