Will the Tallest Midget in the Room Please Stand Up! - Jaffer Ali

There are two possible outcomes if the result confirms the hypothesis then you39ve made a measurement If the result is contrary to the hypothesis then you39ve made a discoveryamp8211Enrico FermiThe title of this article may not be the most politically correct one I39ve ever used but it just might be the most descriptive In the fifteen years of working in the online industry I firmly believe that the industry has beaten a path to becoming more and more ridiculousWhy do I say thisSimply put we have declared quotmeasurementquot as our virtual pot of gold at the end of the rainbow a circuitously foolish pursuit that now has us measuring the metrics Ever since Vedics instructed us that we become our attention isn39t it obvious that we have done exactly that In fact we have taken things to such an illogical extreme that the old carpenter39s rule of quotmeasure twice cut oncequot has become quotmeasure forever cut neverquotOur industry is awash in folks getting out their yardsticks to measure the tallest metaphorical midget in the room And if that midget is just a quarter inch taller than the next tallest it39s as if we39ve encountered a veritable Manute Bol It39s like crediting a behavioral targeting algorithm for doubling the clickthrough rate on a banner ad Sounds great until you realize that you39ve just increased response from 1 to 2 Like I said the tallest midgetI participate in a few discussion lists with some very intellectual and capable industry veterans But I find myself becoming increasingly bored with the topics of discussion Discourse involving real issues that capture the sense of wonder and imagination are sacrificed on the altar of discussions about tools that by design reveal our shortcomings instead of our potentialquotWe shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape usquot amp8211 Marshall McLuhanI have two sons taking a course at Bradley University called quotThe Big Questionsquot and we have more relevant and interesting discussions when we visit at the dinner table than we could ever hope for if we focused amp8211 as many today are wont to do amp8211 on reductionist predictive modeling that is absolutely useless in a chaotic environmentA case in point is worth mentioning The US government NSA and CIA has the most powerful computers in the world The amount of information amassed is almost mindboggling to contemplate The computer calculates MORE than 10 TRILLION calculations per second The goal is to predict the events in hot spots around the world and to influence those events in a manner consistent with perceived national interests opposed to valuedriven principlesThe Egyptian revolution was not predicted Nor was the Tunisian revolution And the freedom virus spreading across the entire Middle East has taken the CIA and State Department completely by surprise These quotdeer in the headlightquot government agencies rely on the same methodologies employed by online marketers and stock market quantitative analysts And whereas these methodologies are great at measuring the most minute details to what end are they any reasonable means All of the sophisticated tools amp8230all of the king39s horses and all of the king39s men couldn39t keep Mubarak on his throne Our tools were uselessamp160You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers You can tell whether a man is wise by his questionsamp160 Naguib Mahfouz Egyptian authoramp160I guess the above quote gets to what I am trying to say here As an industryamp8230as a nationamp8230we are becoming less wise because we are asking the wrong questions and measuring the wrong things We have indeed become tools of our tools and we are all shrinking because of itJaffer Ali is the CEO of Vidsense and PulseTVcom He can be reached by sending an email to j ali at Vidsense dotcom or call him at 7084784500Read all Jafferamp8217s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at On the Other Handamp8230Check us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerMediaBizBloggers is an openthought leadership blog platform for media marketing and advertising professionals companies and organizations To contribute contact Jackmediadvisorygroupcom The opinions expressed in MediaBizBloggerscom are not those of Media Advisory Group its employees or other MediaBizBloggerscom contributors Media Advisory Group accepts no responsibility for the views of MediaBizBloggers authors

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Will the Tallest Midget in the Room Please Stand Up! - Jaffer Ali

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