“The world is messy. There are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws.” –Barack Obama

Few words in society these days illicit as much emotion as the phrase “cancel culture.” With its roots of originating as a tool for marginalized communities to assert their values against public wrong-doings, cancel culture in many ways can be interpreted similarly to boycotting. In many instances, it acts as a way of invoking power for the less-than-powerful. A way of seeing the free market at work and creating an accountability-for-actions system. But what about the times that these virtues run astray? When the collective power of virality punishes people for flaws inherent to humanity? When there is no space held for people learning and growing as humans do?

Carla Sones and Faye Davis try to tackle the ever-difficult topic of cancel culture. Taking a look at this phenomenon from the economic development and business lens, they dive into the history of cancel culture and the imminent pitfalls for economic development. Today’s issues with polarization of almost any issue makes civil discourse a tricky part of conducting healthy business; when 62% of American adults feel they cannot express their true beliefs out of fear of being retaliated against (on both sides of the aisle), how can we expect continuing innovation and partnership?

When problems are viewed as a diamond with many facets rather than a coin with only two sides, the potential solutions become wildly robust. Tune in to this episode now for more thoughts on navigating today’s polarizing landscape from a business perspective. You can find today’s episode on our website, via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

America’s Jobs Team is sponsored by Research on Investment / Gazelle.ai