Mediaboss Marketing

Downing Street sought to redefine the word woke this afternoon amid increasing confusion at the top of government over the wisdom of its culture wars strategy.

When asked about Boris Johnsons stance on racial equality today, the prime ministers official spokesman insisted that he wanted to level up across the country [and] to ensure everybody, wherever they come from, can reach their potential.

It came after Mr Johnson stumbled repeatedly when asked during a television interview whether President Biden, who was sworn in yesterday, was woke. It was a sign of Downing Streets awareness that populist stances on questions of patriotism and national identity risked alienating the new White House.

Boris Johnson says Biden inauguration a step forward for the US

In a lengthy exchange with reporters, the official spokesman declined to say whether Mr Johnson

Continued here:
Tories in a culture war of their own over the meaning of 'woke' - The Times

When Andi Owen took over the furniture company Herman Miller, in 2018, she didnt expect to get caught up in politics. But these days, it seems no chief executive is safe from the culture wars.

Over the last year, Ms. Owen, a former executive at the Gap, has had to mollify a work force shaken by the same polarizing forces straining the nation. On her factory floor in the battleground state of Michigan, wardrobe choices from Make America Great Again hats to Black Lives Matter T-shirts have provoked arguments among employees. In response, Ms. Owen has tried to hold together a company already tested by the pandemic and slumping sales.

Weve tried to create opportunities for people to have frank conversations, for them to get together and discuss the hard topics of the day, she said. I dont think these are new problems. But whether its about race, or inclusiveness, or whether its about whats happening in the world today, these are all things you have to talk about.

At the same time, Ms. Owen has been steering Herman Miller through a pandemic that closed offices worldwide an existential threat to a company that makes office furniture and owns Design Within Reach, an upscale retailer.

Ms. Owen went to Interlochen Arts Academy, a Michigan boarding school focused on the arts. It was there that she first learned about Herman Miller, which produces iconic pieces by famous midcentury designers such as Isamu Noguchi and Charles and Ray Eames, and modern office staples like the Aeron chair.

Ms. Owen then studied art history at the College of William and Mary, and started working in retail. A job at The Gap led to a series of senior roles at the retailer, culminating in her leadership of the Banana Republic brand, before she moved to Herman Miller.

This interview was condensed and edited for clarity.

Did getting a liberal arts degree have an impact on your career?

Its helped me in a lot of ways. I learned a lot about people. I learned a lot about history. I learned a lot about observation. Ive always approached any job Ive ever had as a generalist and an observer of human nature.

Some people would say Im not good at any one thing. Im sort of OK at a lot of things. And thats OK. Ive surrounded myself with people that are a lot smarter than me. But I have a little bit of a broader point of view, and an experience that doesnt necessarily pigeonhole me into thinking one thing or another.

I had a mom who was an educator and a dad who is this free spirit musician. And all my mom ever said to me was, When you go to school, learn what you love. Youll have plenty of time for a career and it wont matter anyway. So I really did spend time doing what I loved, and I think its been an advantage.

Unlike a lot of C.E.O.s, you never got an M.B.A.

I actually applied and got accepted. I was in my late 30s, and as I was talking to a woman in admissions and she said, Its great. We dont have that many middle-aged women that are interested in these programs because theyre all having families. And I was like, Not me. Im good. And then of course I got pregnant and didnt go.

You get to a certain point in your career where getting a standard M.B.A. is a little bit of a waste of time, because youve learned too much along the way. But I went back and got an executive M.B.A. at Harvard, which kind of filled in the gaps.

The Gap has obviously had its ups and downs. What did the company get right, and what did it get wrong over the years?

Business & Economy

Jan. 22, 2021, 7:23 p.m. ET

I was fortunate enough to be there for the really, really good years, when the stock was splitting every year. And I was there to watch the decline.

The Gap was at its best back in the day when the trusted editor was important, when you played a role helping people understand what they needed. We had a lot of success early on. But when youre super successful and you dont change, you get afraid. That ability to take risks to think about how the company could be different, to reinvent yourself from the inside it became impossible. And a lot of great people got fed into the wood chipper trying to bring The Gap back.

When the digital revolution hit I went into the online part of our business. And I remember one of my bosses telling me, No one will ever buy clothes online. This is going to be the biggest mistake of your career. What are you doing? That really was the way people were thinking back then.

We just didnt change fast enough. And we were really out of touch with the customer. When you rely on a playbook that was successful in the past, and you dont understand where your customer is going, its a prescription for disaster.

How did your time at The Gap shape your thinking about what you do at Herman Miller?

I interviewed a guy who became my head of digital. He had worked in retail, and he said, Do you know what excites me most about coming to this industry? I feel like Im going from making landfill to making heirlooms.

I feel similarly. These are products that you hope youre going to hand down. With some of the Banana Republic cashmere sweaters I made, I hope somebody hands those down. But I know the millions and millions of T-shirts we made probably arent getting handed down.

What happened when the pandemic hit, and how did you find your way out of it?

Wed never closed down our plants before, and there we were all of a sudden. We shut down all of our plants in 12 hours, and every day was a new lesson in crisis management.

There have been nights when I have sat down at the end of the day and shed a few tears because of it. The human toll from this pandemic has been not just the death toll, but peoples lives and jobs, whole industries wiped out. We capped out at 400 layoffs and people who opted out [about 5 percent of the work force], and weve done our best to keep that number where it is. But weve also designed a new product in times that we never thought we could. So its been a real balance of, Hey, right now is really crappy, and, Were going to get through it.

Your core business has held up surprisingly well during the pandemic. Who is buying so much office furniture right now?

Our international business is strong. The parts of the world that have gotten out of the pandemic certain parts of Asia, New Zealand theyve moved on.

Now the biggest questions that C.E.O.s and people that are planning space have are: Hey, what does the distributed work force look like? What does my new office need to look like? It certainly cant be what it was. People dont want employees to come back to what it was.

At first it was, How do I make it safe? How do I put barriers everywhere? Now the conversation has evolved to, How do I make it a compelling environment?

What are some of the answers to that question?

It is a fascinating variety. Financial companies are like, Were coming back to exactly what it was. Were not going to change much of anything. And then some of the tech companies in Silicon Valley are like, Who needs an office ever again?

Im not sure either one of those are necessarily the answer. Along that continuum, most people are landing in a place of, Gosh, what do people miss? So whether thats innovation, creativity or collaboration, how do you create environments where people can have those kinds of things? Depending on the industry, I think were going to see a whole lot of different solutions in this first year or two.

At Herman Miller, were taking all of our office environments and using this time while we have people working remotely to completely renovate them. Theyre our own little test labs.

Herman Miller isnt an inherently political company, so how do you deal with a moment like this, when there is so much rancor, including among your own employees?

We have got to unify, weve got to talk. We have to have respect and kindness and we have to listen. What happened at the Capitol was not OK. On the other hand, I have to make sure that were listening to one another, and are trying to find commonality.

Sometimes I yearn for the days when I was back in Berkeley, Calif., and I could walk down the street and everybody thought the same way. But you know, everybody is in Michigan. So you have to make the folks on the right feel comfortable, and you have to make the folks on the left feel comfortable. Thats a challenge as we get more and more divisive as a society. Sometimes you have to agree to disagree because youre so far apart. But for us, its been about encouraging respect and encouraging kindness.

Read the original:
Herman Miller C.E.O. Grapples With Politics and Pandemic - The New York Times

By Kim Thorburn

I have the privilege of serving as a fish and wildlife commissioner. What an honor to make policy for conservation of the states diverse fish and wildlife! My statutory mandate (RCW 77.04.012) is clear: The wildlife, fish and shellfish are the property of the state. As a commissioner, I shall preserve, protect, perpetuate, and manage the wildlife and food fish, game fish, and shellfish in state waters and offshore waters.

My mandate permits me to authorize the taking of wildlife, food fish, game fish, and shellfish only at times or in manners or quantities as in my judgment does not impair the supply of these resources. It also says I shall attempt to maximize the public recreational game fishing and hunting opportunities of all citizens, including juvenile, disabled and senior citizens.

My mandate does not say I shall limit taking of wildlife because some Washington residents dont like certain times, manners or quantities. The restriction is to not impair the supply of the resource. I am required to use my judgment. Determination about supply impairment can be challenging. Simply put, I ask myself, Does a species population health support takings in the time, manner, and quantity under consideration?

Simply asked is not always straightforwardly answered. Wildlife do not submit census forms and estimating population size requires a variety of data. Ive experienced the complexity from hours in the field collecting population data by numerous methods. Other components of population health involve survival analysis and whether there are enough young to replace mortality. Habitat affects population health, especially as drought and development take their toll. The commission considers all these data in setting time, manner and quantity of takings.

My mandate does not say anything about ethical hunting; it requires legal constraints on time, manner and quantity to prevent resource impairment. Ive heard many claims about some regulated hunting activity being unethical. This charge was used in the 1996 initiative campaign that banned hound hunting and bear baiting in the state. I heard it frequently while debating a ban of legally sanctioned coyote contests. Now the commission is hearing declarations that hunting black bears during spring is unethical. Recently, I heard the often repeated assertion that hunting for meat is OK but not trophies. Neighboring states are dealing with moves that trapping is unethical. These claims arise from an ideology that is fundamentally anti-hunting.

The ideology shows little understanding of hunter culture. I love to be in the woods during fall when the largest number of hunting seasons are open. Meeting hunters, I understand the experience of the seasons outdoor beauty, the time with family, the camaraderie of hunter camp, the thrill of the hunt and the excitement from prize quarry. As a hard-core birder, I appreciate every aspect of the hunt and disagree with an ideology that finds hunting unethical.

Hunters subscribe to an ethical premise called fair chase. I learned early in my commissioner term that there are unsettled questions about what comprises fair chase. We debated a rule about eliminating baiting for deer and elk hunting. Hunters testified passionately on both sides: attracting animals with bait was not fair chase versus baiting improved the chance for a clean shot and success for hunters with limitations. The commission concluded there was no evidence that baiting impaired the resource supply except in instances of massive amounts. We enacted a rule that restricted bait quantity.

Many view hunting as contrary to wildlife conservation. There are numerous uncontrollable factors that influence wildlife population health, but hunting can be a fine-tuned conservation tool. Management of overabundant species that threaten more vulnerable species is a case in point. For example, there is solid evidence that coyotes are a significant nest predator of Washingtons imperiled prairie grouse species. Carefully timed coyote contests could have been used to relieve the threat.

The anti-hunting ideology complains that huntings role in wildlife management means game species receive more conservation attention than nongame species. I coordinate volunteer projects for recovery of some at-risk species. Many hunters volunteer because of appreciation for wildlife diversity and ecosystems. Most ideological conflicts that consume the commission concern a few totemic species, mostly carnivores, not facing population health threats. The conflicts devour huge amounts of resources that might otherwise serve critical wildlife conservation needs.

Ideological conflicts are culture wars. They are started and fueled by ideologues. Hunting is under attack in Washington with ideologues picking off one legal hunt after another, using emotional rhetoric like unethical to vilify hunters and hunting. My ears still sting from an anti-coyote contest advocate who called contestants fringy. Resolution of wildlife conservation conflict will be more durable through respectful collaborative processes, not picking partisan ideological sides.

Kim Thorburn is a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife commissioner. The views in this opinion piece are hers and do not necessarily represent the WDFW Commission or WDFW.

See the original post:
op_210124_guest_thorburn - The Spokesman-Review

The shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy sought to draw parallels between Mr Trump's tacit support for white supremacists during riots in Charlottesville in 2017 and the Prime Minister's criticism of left-wing protesters who defaced a statue of Winston Churchill during protests in the UK last summer. Protesters vandalised the statue to the war time British leader in Parliament Square. The demonstrators daubed the words "was a racist" on the statue, prompting an angry response from the Prime Minister.

He said that although Winston Churchill's views may nowadays be "unacceptable to us", he nevertheless remained a hero for having saved the country from "fascist and racist tyranny".

He went on to write in a tweet: "We cannot try to edit or censor our past.

"We cannot pretend to have a different history."

In an article for The Guardian, Ms Nandy wrote: Two years later (after Charlottesville) we had the prime minister here trying to start a culture war over a statue of Churchill and also exactly the same pattern of behaviour in relation to trans rights.

"In 2019, No 10 was polling the red walls to see if it could start a culture war in northern towns over LGBT rights.

The shadow Foreign Secretary praised the incoming President Joe Biden, describing him as "a woke guy".

She argued that Mr Biden's victory provided an inspiration to Labour on how to win an election without compromising on progressive values or being drawn into culture wars.

She said: "Joe Biden hes a woke guy, he appointed an amazingly strong woman of colour who is also pro-choice as his running mate, he mentioned the trans community in his victory speech, he stood up for the Black Lives Matter protesters, he spoke out about the policing of that movement, and hes never shied away from standing up for his values.

READ MORE:Brexit fishing row: EU requires UK firms show SEVEN export documents

View original post here:
Boris Johnson blasted by Lisa Nandy after defending Churchill as 'woke' war breaks out - Express

An international alliance to stand up to China? Thats what the new US President Joe Biden wants, but what are the chances of forging such a grand coalition of Western interests? Its worth a try, certainly. Just dont count on it, thats all.

Few issues speak quite as directly to Americas growing sense of insecurity as the rise of China. The sense of a nation broken by culture wars, economic malaise and political division contrasts sharply with an increasingly assertive Middle Kingdom powered by conformity and seemingly unstoppable economic growth.

In little more than a decade, US perceptions of China have gone from mutually beneficial economic partner to ideological, geopolitical and military rival which for too long has been allowed to take a naive West for a ride. A recent poll of US security experts conducted by the Washington based Centre for Strategic and International Studies found that nearly 80 per cent of respondents thought that if there was a military conflict with China today, the US would prevail. But that confidence shrunk to just 54 per cent ten years out.

Credit for sounding the alarm must go to Donald Trump; hes done more than anyone to shift the mindset from the accommodative approach of the past to the confrontational one we see today. Yet the harsh truth is that on almost every other level, his China policy has been a failure.

Far from containing China, it has only stiffened President Xi Jinpings resolve. China grows stronger by the day. The US trade deficit with China has not narrowed as Trump promised it would; the impact of the tariff war has fallen not on Chinese exporters but on American importers and consumers; few if any US firms have withdrawn from China and some have actually increased their investment there.

Nor have his policies succeeded in isolating China internationally; over the past several years, China has managed to strike numerous trading alliances with near neighbours and beyond, including key Western allies in the region such as Japan, Australia and New Zealand under the umbrella of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

Biden promises to be just as tough as his predecessor on Xi, who he once described as a thug, but he proposes to do it through multilateral means, or by building an alliance of like-minded nations prepared to stand up to Chinas bully boy tactics.

If it is to work, it needs to be quantitatively and qualitatively different from the ineffectual machinations of the Obama administration, which only further emboldened the Xi regimes ambitions.

Yet Trumps unilateralism has proved equally toothless. By picking fights with virtually everyone, including supposedly friendly nations, he allowed China to divide and rule.

The united front against China that Biden seeks has already suffered something of a setback as a result of the China/EU investment deal struck last month.

The so-called Comprehensive Investment Agreement is supposed to give greater access to each others markets. Once championed by the UK while it was still a member of the EU, it has been under negotiation for more than seven years now, so can hardly be seen as a deliberate sleight.

What is more, it does little more than mirror the Phase One trade accord already reached by Donald Trump when attempting to de-escalate the US trade war with China a year or two back.

All the same, Europes timing, in the interregnum between Trump and Biden, and with the standoff over Hong Kong and the Uighurs reaching fever pitch, could scarcely have been more unfortunate. China sensed a chance to stick one on the US, and by offering a few arguably meaningless concessions at the last moment, it succeeded.

One of those concessions was agreement to conform with the International Labour Organisations convention on forced labour, which if enacted might offer some respite to the Uighurs. Yet there is no timetable for ratification of the convention, and the EU failed to obtain any commitment at all to separate guarantees on freedom of association.

The investment agreement is not a tool for regime change, the EUs director general for trade, Sabine Weyand, said bluntly in a recent interview. If complete conformity with Western human rights and state aid principles is what the Biden administration demands, she seemed to be saying, then the EU cant be a part of it, citing the latest Brussels buzz phrase of open strategic autonomy, or essentially the EU acting transparently in its own perceived self interest regardless of what others may want. So much for the collective front.

The UK is left tiptoeing its way between the EUs desire to trade, and Americas determination to isolate China and make it conform with Western norms. At Prime Ministers questions this week, Boris Johnson refused to call Chinese treatment of its Uighur minorities genocide, in contrast to team Trumps parting shot and what appears to be the position of the Biden administration. The sense is that he doesnt want entirely to burn bridges with Beijing.

Biden hopes to forge a united front against China; Xi banks on it not being as easy as it looks. He may be right.

Go here to see the original:
Biden hopes to forge a grand Western alliance to stand up to China. Don't count on it - Telegraph.co.uk