Reading an old account of how the Edsel was developed. Designers had something better in mind, but corporate management, newly switched from family ownership to Share Value, had to exert raw power regardless of the consequences in profit. Managers stormed into the design studios and ripped up the drawings and clay models that didn’t suit their alcohol-fueled rage at the moment.
The bigger mistake is even more egregious. If Ford wanted to match GM’s brand count, they already had the extra brand RIGHT THERE in ’57. The Ford brand was split into Custom and Fairlane, different cars with different bodies and sizes. Ford of Canada already had a separate brand in the Edsel position, the Meteor. Modify the Fairlane a bit to follow the Meteor’s fanciness and make it more distinct from the smaller Custom. Give it a new name, and presto! An attractive new brand in a new niche with very little extra investment, already established in Canada.
At the same time I’m reading the Quora trolls pretending to favor the US death care system, casting aspersions on the Canadian system to get quick engagement. Quick engagement comes in with strong experience-based responses from Canadians.
On the largest scale, Canada’s government has always worked better than ours because Canada simply kept Parliament. In 1776 we adopted a new system designed solely to serve the ends of tax-evading rich bastards, and it has worked toward that end ALMOST all the time. From 1933 to 1945 we tried to benefit America, but after FDR died the tax evaders and bankers snatched control and built massive systems to guarantee that NEVER AGAIN would an FDR type serve humans.
Right now the Canada vs US distinction is beautifully visible. Trudeau is tremendously unpopular, mainly because he used the “virus” to break down all commerce and laws, exactly like Trump. Parliament is working as intended, building up toward a snap election to replace Trudeau. At the same time we’re BRINGING BACK Trump so he can tyrannize us again for four unbreakable unchangeable unfixable years.
PARLIAMENT CAN REPLACE A BAD LEADER AT ANY TIME.
The process isn’t instantaneous; it requires some negotiation and pushing around, as it should. But it can happen WHEN NEEDED, not just every four years.
LIFE IS NEGATIVE FEEDBACK.
Error correction is rarely immediate; it needs a certain amount of buildup to reach a threshold. Neurons work this way. Thermostats work this way. Toilets work this way. In each case the counter-input has to build up some neurotransmitter or spring pressure or water in the tank, in order to give the switchover enough energy for a proper snap.
A thermostat that only turned the heater on every four years would do no good at all. A toilet that could only flush every four years would be pointless. A “government” system that can only respond to change every four years is murderous.
Big lesson of Edsels and Trudeaus and Mangiones: The correct answer is right there in plain sight every goddamn time. We let tax-evading drugged-up Share Value monsters rip up the correct answer every goddamn time.
Polistra's Mill 