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<v Speaker 1>From Adam from This anth Life. Good to have you

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<v Speaker 1>here today with me. You know, we've been putting out

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of episodes lately, shorts that are coming from

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<v Speaker 1>the cultural capitalist work that I've been doing with my

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<v Speaker 1>colleague Phil Searles, and you know, we wanted to kind

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<v Speaker 1>of give a bit of a best of in this

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<v Speaker 1>episode here, so kind of taking some of the ideas

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<v Speaker 1>that we thought were most impactful to the insights that

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<v Speaker 1>we've heard from folks that kind of helped them change

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<v Speaker 1>their thinking, and kind of put them together in a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit of a best of that tie some of

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<v Speaker 1>the ideas together. So hope you enjoy it, and we'll

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<v Speaker 1>be bringing your new content very soon. In fact, next week.

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<v Speaker 1>Understanding human behavior and cultural trends has never been more

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<v Speaker 1>crucial for tech investors. We're going to discuss how anthropological perspectives,

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<v Speaker 1>which are often overlooked by investors, are now being harnessed

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<v Speaker 1>to understand cultural change and guide smarter investment decisions in

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<v Speaker 1>the tech sector. Anthropology has been applied in business contexts

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<v Speaker 1>for decades, particularly in sectors like advertise and design, but

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<v Speaker 1>now it's gaining traction in financial services and especially things

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<v Speaker 1>like private equity and now venture capital. What this means

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<v Speaker 1>is today we are seeing a growing interest among investors

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<v Speaker 1>who realize that numbers alone can't tell the whole story.

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<v Speaker 1>Private equity firms have been hiring anthropologists for years to

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<v Speaker 1>help improve their market intelligence and their acquisition decision processes.

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<v Speaker 1>Anthropologists can help these firms understand the behavioral patterns of

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<v Speaker 1>industries and companies and even conduct cultural assessments in due diligence. So,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, they might analyze what the popularity of organic

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<v Speaker 1>pet food says about consumer values, or assess the cultural

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<v Speaker 1>or organizational dynamics within a resort that's up for acquisition

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<v Speaker 1>as a way to assess the business's viability. Hear a

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<v Speaker 1>lot about AI out there, but the other kind of

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<v Speaker 1>AI that we should be thinking about, and that's what

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<v Speaker 1>Jillian Tech calls anthropological intelligence. According to Jillian Tet, who's

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<v Speaker 1>a cultural anthropologist who famously predicted the two thousand and

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<v Speaker 1>seven two thousand and eight financial crisis, wrote about this

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<v Speaker 1>in her work anthro Vision, emphasizing the idea that anthropology

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<v Speaker 1>can help support business in multiple especially around the context

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<v Speaker 1>of ESG or environmental social governance concerns. Anthropological intelligence zooms

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<v Speaker 1>in on the human element that goes beyond just things

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<v Speaker 1>like decision making behavior to provide a more nuanced and

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<v Speaker 1>contextual understanding that traditional analytical methods just miss. So as

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<v Speaker 1>venture capital begins to intersect more with fields like tech

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<v Speaker 1>ethics and cultural change, the demand for anthropologists and anthopological

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<v Speaker 1>insights is likely to grow early. Tech investors who understand

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<v Speaker 1>the implications of cultural change will be better equipped to

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<v Speaker 1>drive successful investments and to navigate the socio technical shifts

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<v Speaker 1>of tomorrow. So as we wrap up, remember that culture

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<v Speaker 1>is not just a buzzword. It's a complex, every evolving

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<v Speaker 1>system that impacts everything from consumer behavior to corpus success.

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<v Speaker 1>By integrating anthropological insights into these strategies, tech investors cannot

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<v Speaker 1>only anticipate cultural changes, but also help shape them through

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<v Speaker 1>their investments. So if you're in the business of tech investments,

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<v Speaker 1>interested in the idea of tech or investments, or business

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<v Speaker 1>in general, it might be time to learn to think

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<v Speaker 1>like an anthropologist. You ever wonder what sets the Mission

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<v Speaker 1>and Wolverines apart from other college football teams. Now The

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<v Speaker 1>easy answers might be their twenty twenty four national championship

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<v Speaker 1>win or their iconic winning Telmets or their record breaking

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<v Speaker 1>attendance at the Big House. Beneath these service level distinctions

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<v Speaker 1>lies a far more intriguing and consequential difference. This is

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<v Speaker 1>the case study and how organizations can navigate cultural shifts

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<v Speaker 1>and leadership transitions while building lasting competitive advantages. In an

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<v Speaker 1>era where college football often seems trapped between its amateur

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<v Speaker 1>roots and the gravitational pull of the NFL and professionalization,

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<v Speaker 1>the Wolverines have charged a unique course. They've developed what

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<v Speaker 1>can only be described as a player led culture. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a system that distributes leadership throughout the team, from seasoned

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<v Speaker 1>coaches all the way to freshman athletes. And this doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>just feel good rhetoric. It's a strategic approach that's yielding

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<v Speaker 1>tangible results, of course, culminating in their twenty twenty four

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<v Speaker 1>National Championship victory. But more than that, this approach isn't

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<v Speaker 1>just about football. It's a microcosm of how organizations can

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<v Speaker 1>adapt and thrive during periods of transition. The Wolverine story

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<v Speaker 1>is particularly relevant now as college sports undergo seismic shifts

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<v Speaker 1>in player empowerment and comp and it demonstrates how understanding

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<v Speaker 1>and strategically shaping organizational culture can create resilience and success

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<v Speaker 1>even in the face of leadership changes in industry. Wide

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<v Speaker 1>of people explore how coach Jim Harbaugh, in a move

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<v Speaker 1>that seems paradoxical, strengthened his program by seeding control, and

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<v Speaker 1>how this approach might be the key to maintaining and

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<v Speaker 1>building competitive advantages rooted in culture, whether on the field

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<v Speaker 1>or in any organization that's facing change. By applying anthropological

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<v Speaker 1>methods to sports, teams can uncover hidden dynamics that drive success,

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<v Speaker 1>foster resilience, and create lasting competitive advantages. As we navigate

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<v Speaker 1>this new landscape of cultural athletics, the teams that thrive

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<v Speaker 1>will be those that not only embrace change, but also

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<v Speaker 1>deeply understand their own cultural DNA. The Wolverines have shown

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<v Speaker 1>us that in the high stakes world of college football,

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<v Speaker 1>the most powerful playbook might just be written by anthropologists,

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<v Speaker 1>not just coaches. As we move forward, the question for

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<v Speaker 1>every organization becomes, are you ready to look beyond the

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<v Speaker 1>scoreboard and dive into the roots of culture? A cultural moate.

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<v Speaker 1>Now we're barring this idea from the idea of an

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<v Speaker 1>economic mote, which is popularized by billionaire investor Warren Buffett,

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<v Speaker 1>and an economic boat refers to a company's capacity to

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<v Speaker 1>sustain a competitive advantage in the marketplace against other organizations

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<v Speaker 1>or companies. A cultural mote, slightly differently gives a company

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<v Speaker 1>a competitive edge through the cultural beliefs and practices of

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<v Speaker 1>the company, the customers and stakeholders and everybody that's kind

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<v Speaker 1>of in an organization's ecosystem. So it can have economic

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<v Speaker 1>implications and often does because customers might be more loyal

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<v Speaker 1>for example, they want to evangelize and tell their friends

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<v Speaker 1>about a product or service they love. But it also

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<v Speaker 1>does something else beyond just economics, and companies often will

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<v Speaker 1>build these cultural motes through the value and the meaning

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<v Speaker 1>of their brands and products to consumers. And this happens

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<v Speaker 1>when companies think beyond just the use value of a

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<v Speaker 1>product what it does for somebody, or the functional value,

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<v Speaker 1>and they think about how it can contribute to people's

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<v Speaker 1>lives in a more holistic way, so talking across like functional, economic, social,

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<v Speaker 1>and emotional levels. Now, companies with strong cultural motes tend

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<v Speaker 1>to have very distinctive brands, They have loyal customers and

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<v Speaker 1>a societal impact that sets them apart from other companies. So,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, Disney has a rabid fan base devotees we

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<v Speaker 1>might say, who form a subculture that are so well

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<v Speaker 1>known as a unique group that they've become the subject

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<v Speaker 1>of serious academic scholarship and studies. They have shaped political discourse,

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<v Speaker 1>and they've influenced culture globally. Cultural value is built over

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<v Speaker 1>time through effective experiences and narratives between an organization and

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<v Speaker 1>company and consumers. And while Disney's cultural value is often

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<v Speaker 1>tied to nostalgia and customers' memories like imaging a magical childhood, right,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple is more often associated with envisioning how technology is

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<v Speaker 1>shaping the future. Now, the cognitive processes for remembering the

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<v Speaker 1>past and imagining the future are powerful, and they're also

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<v Speaker 1>closely related to one another. And so we see these

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<v Speaker 1>companies have used these neurological processes to help them create

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<v Speaker 1>especially impactful cultural modes. But one useful perspective that I

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<v Speaker 1>want to leave us with in this context around Apple's

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<v Speaker 1>green and blue bubbles is semiotics. Semiatics is the science

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<v Speaker 1>of signs and symbols, and blue and green text bubbles

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<v Speaker 1>have strategic to Apple because of their symbolic meanings to

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<v Speaker 1>American iPhone users. Now, in the corporate world, semiotics is

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<v Speaker 1>often discussed in terms of residual, dominant, and emergent cultural phenomenon.

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<v Speaker 1>That means ideas that have been sticking around for a while,

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<v Speaker 1>that they're residual, the dominant ones that are capitalizing and

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<v Speaker 1>shaping mainstream thinking. An emergent are the new ideas that

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<v Speaker 1>are kind of coming down the pike shaping subcultures that

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<v Speaker 1>may become mainstream one day. In semiatics in general will

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<v Speaker 1>go beyond these framing, but this is often how people

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<v Speaker 1>are introduced to semiatic concepts, especially through business and marketing.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's why I wanted to pay attention to them today. Now.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the important things to think about this as

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<v Speaker 1>well is that symbolic meetings tend to change with culture,

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<v Speaker 1>and the thing is culture is changing faster than ever.

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<v Speaker 1>So for example, think about how the symbolic meaning of

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<v Speaker 1>a blue check mark on Twitter has changed over the years,

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<v Speaker 1>and even Twitter's cultural motes have undergone dramatic change. Is

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<v Speaker 1>just in the last couple of years. As you know,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a new owner and there's a new company name.

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<v Speaker 1>It's been a little bit crazy. So at a time

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<v Speaker 1>when culture seems to be changing day by day. Apple's

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<v Speaker 1>ability to keep the blue and green bubbles at the

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<v Speaker 1>core of its cultural mote is especially noteworthy. And thank

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<v Speaker 1>you as always for joining me on the pod today.

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<v Speaker 1>If there are other companies and organizations, topics, or ideas

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<v Speaker 1>that you'd love for us to explore in this series,

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<v Speaker 1>do not hesitate to reach out and get me on

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<v Speaker 1>social media for email, on the website, or on our

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<v Speaker 1>substat I always love being in conversation with you, and

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<v Speaker 1>you make the show worth it. Thanks for sticking around.

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to or watching this anthe life, and I'm

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<v Speaker 1>your host, Adam Gamwell, we'll see you next time.