What about Truth?

Truth is my passion.  I believe in it.  I can’t help it as it seems to be core to my being.

It is the first of my personal core values - pursue truth.

A friend of mine, Jeff Pelletier, has developed what he calls ‘Life’s Core Purpose’.  Basically, he has a very interesting process that distills out two words - one a verb and one a noun, something you do amazingly all the time and something you care deeply about, a core competence and a core passion.  He has a very distinct process to get a person down to these two words and says if you point your competence (action verb) toward your passion incredible things will result.  The two words that came out of me doing ‘Life’s Core Purpose’ were ‘execute’ and ‘truth’.  It resonated right away though I did not exactly know how one executes truth… and that made me smile.

  Growing up truth was truth and there was nothing controversial about it.  It was black and white.  I either obeyed my parents or I did not.  Rationalizations did not work in my household.  Looking back, I liked that.  I knew where I stood.  I knew the boundary.  I knew the consequence.

  When I hit college, someone told me that truth was relative. I smiled and nodded, but did not buy it.  Twenty years later when CRASH+SUES was updating their Core Values, I wanted to include truth. I was floored by the passionate response from one of our team.  I really needed to wrap my head around this passion against truth. (Note:  It is ongoing and still not resolved with me.)

  When I first started in the advertising industry, Tom Gilman told me that perception was greater than reality. That I got immediately as I had watched the first episode of Dynasty.  (All you young ones will have to check it out yourselves.)  I also thought it summed up this new field in which I found myself.  But, reality is not changed, it is just that the consumer is influenced.  Truth is not changed, but the perception of it is.  I was back in college again with Martin Buber (see my post from a month ago).

  That is when I fell in love with the brands that are authentic.  The ones that just want their story told.  My Dad was not a salesman - well, he sold purebred Hamp, York and Duroc hogs and polled Hereford cattle - so maybe… anyway, he said it is always easy to sell something you believe in.  I feel privileged to have worked with many people and brands I believe in.

  ~ Heidi Habben | Owner