prominent businesspeople, politicians and others are taking an odd position on polls. over and over, i’m hearing some version of “you have your polls and we have ours” and the like. really? hope you don’t need anyone else’s money or support to run your business. consumers obviously matter. let’s look at this a bit more carefully. the nature of a poll is not to force consensus. the goal is to carefully select people from different ages, beliefs and walks of life and ascertain where they stand on a given subject matter. it’s not convoluted or complicated. it is a professional practice. i know why they are made to sound sketchy, suspect, biased, and more. you don’t like what you’re hearing. in american business, denial has become a powerful force for demise. it is not a sign of strength — quite the opposite. your poor communications and lack of substantial defense are costing you in the court of public opinion, and that will also cost you at the register or booth. how can it be better to ignore the naysayers and imply that people don’t know any better? very dangerous.
put your best people on formulating why you feel as you do and why that is the way to go. if you don’t have these people in-house, then it’s time to bring someone in. engineering isn’t just for product development. public opinion absolutely matters. don’t just let your figurehead stumble through the process. difficult to project power when you’re unprepared or leaning on an unfavorable position. watching the commissioner of the nfl, roger goodell, tell an espn interviewer that “we don’t work on polls” made me cringe. you are holding the sport hostage. sure enough, he was showered by boos and chants of “we want football back!” as the nfl draft started hours later. his response? stunningly, he said “i agree” as his opening words. sure, the nfl wants football back — just on its terms. you people don’t know any better. we will tell you what you want.
