Thread by @minethatdata

1 - The future always comes. The past always fights it. Then the past dies ... quietly.

Here's a story for you.

2 - When I worked at Nordstrom and we decided to evaluate whether we were going to continue our catalog division, there were two camps.

3 - The first camp represented the future.

This camp said a lot of dumb things. They didn't always understand how customers behaved, they didn't always understand profitability, they didn't always understand how to deal with people.

4 - They were trying to "protect the brand". Their facts were often flimsy. But they were representing the future, and they would ultimately be proven right.

Of course, every knuckleheaded thing they said was lambasted by those who wanted to protect the catalog division.

5 - You could make an argument that the catalog division came up with "alternate facts". When the data didn't support their narrative, they found their own metrics. Stuff like "people love to thumb through a catalog in bed late at night." I was there, that was an argument.

6 - It was my job to present facts. I had a dual reporting relationship ... to the Chief Marketing Officer (no catalog) and to the Online CEO (yes catalog). So my team was Switzerland. Unbiased. And as a consequence, we were unpopular. We wouldn't / couldn't take a side.

7 - Each side wanted to bias the data to their point of view.

Interestingly, those protecting "the past" were most likely to want to present biased data.

And for good reason.

They had the most risk ... their careers were impacted if change happened.

8 - My team put together arguments and analysis - they showed what the future would look like without a catalog.

And the future was acceptable (from our standpoint).

Marginally less sales, equal or more profit. No reason not to move into the future.

9 - Of course, if you don't have a catalog, you don't need (for instance) a catalog inventory executive.

You can imagine how the catalog inventory executive felt about that.

Oh, she was not happy.

So she fought change tooth and nail. Her career depended upon it, right?

10 - My team would share facts with her, and she'd counter with analysis that was wrong and biased and so highly flawed that anybody could poke a hole in it.

But what was she supposed to do? Her career depended upon her biased and inaccurate facts, right?

11 - When the company decided to kill the catalog, those who adored the catalog or built a career on the catalog were (naturally) angry ... they still fought the decision ... argued ... battled facts ... criticized my team ... criticized anybody who would listen.

12 - They fought the future, even after the future had already been decided.

13 - The catalog went away.

The world didn't end.

This is when things got really, really quiet.

14 - One by one, the catalog people, who were by and large angry and hurt (and can you blame them for feeling that way) just kinda "quit".

Some moved into new roles ... quietly.

Many just left the company ... quietly.

15 - The lesson here is that the future is going to happen, regardless.

And the vocal folks who do not want the future to happen ... they are eventually silenced. They may argue loudly in the short-term, but the future always happens to them anyway.

16 - And when the future happens, they go away ... quietly.

17 - FYI ... it happened to me, too.

At Nordstrom, when the future came (and somebody took over my team and displaced me in a coup of sorts), I went away ... quietly.