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Decision-Making Warning Flag 1c – ad hominem: Personal, Not Issue Attacks

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StrategyDriven Decision Making Article | ad hominem“An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem (Latin: “argument to the man”, “argument against the man”) consists of replying to an argument or factual claim by attacking or appealing to a characteristic or belief of the person making the argument or claim, rather than by addressing the substance of the argument or producing evidence against the claim. The process of proving or disproving the claim is thereby subverted, and the argumentum ad hominem works to change the subject.

It is most commonly used to refer specifically to the ad hominem abusive, or argumentum ad personam, which consists of criticizing or attacking the person who proposed the argument (personal attack) in an attempt to discredit the argument. It is also used when an opponent is unable to find fault with an argument, yet for various reasons, the opponent disagrees with it.”

Ad Hominem
Wikipedia

The ‘Old Boys Club’

Product defects plague a company’s profitability; warranty repairs, returns, and lost sales robbing the organization of its already slim profit margins. Executives assembled an engineering team to assess product designs and material quality in hopes of identifying a root cause to the defective product issue. A junior member of the assessment team, a young, recently hired assembly line supervisor, identifies the lack of routine calibration of critical cutting tools as a contributor to the poor fit of key product components. The tenured company engineers on the team discount the supervisor’s observation because he’s too young and too new to know what’s really important. These senior engineers have just made an ad hominem argument to advance their position.

Ad hominem arguments are bias-based logic fallacies made to support business decisions every day. As with all logic errors, decision-makers fall prey to the appearance of reasonableness, especially when the assertion supports their desired course of action. Although difficult, recognizing and eliminating the use of ad hominem arguments in decision-making is absolutely necessary.

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Additional Information

Additional insight to the warning signs, causes, and results of logic errors can be found in the StrategyDriven website feature: Decision-Making Warning Flag 1 – Logic Fallacies Introduction.

Insights on organizational diversity and inclusion can be found in the StrategyDriven topical area: Diversity and Inclusion.

Hitting Curveballs: Today’s most important business skill

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You may be an inspiring leader able to rally and unite dispirited and divided individuals. You could be a brilliant visionary able to invent innovative products and services. Or you might be a compelling communicator able to charm investors and captivate customers. Possessing any one of these talents would make you a business all-star in the past. But today, it will only mark you as a phenom: someone with potential. To become a business hall of famer – a proven long term winner – you need to show that you know how to hit a curveball: how to confront and regularly overcome the unexpected.

Hitting curveballs has become the indispensable skill for long term business survival, not just success, in the current economic environment. If you want to make the majors and have a future either in a corporate structure, as an entrepreneur, or as an independent professional, you need to be able to deal with unanticipated events and scenarios. The unexpected has always occurred, and business leaders have always had to deal with it. However, things really are different today because of four distinct but interconnected trends.

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About the Author

Scott R. Singer has spent the past 20 years advising companies on how to adapt to change, to embrace technological advances, and to put the best strategy in place to deal with the next big thing – essentially, teaching them how to hit curveballs. A noted media industry expert, investment banker, and strategy consultant, Scott serves as Managing Director and Head of Media & Entertainment at The Bank Street Group, a boutique investment banking firm focused on providing sophisticated advice regarding mergers & acquisitions; fairness opinions; private debt, equity, and venture capital raising; as well as bankruptcies, restructurings, and turnarounds to telecommunications, media, technology, aerospace & defense, and healthcare companies. Scott is regularly called on by Bloomberg, CNBC, FOX Business, Reuters and numerous publications such as, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, CNNMoney.com, Crain’s New York Business, and Forbes.com in addition to many other industry publications as a media expert to address various domestic and global topics. To read Scott’s complete biography, click here.

Leadership Inspirations – Face the Opposition

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“This week, stand toe-to-toe and eye-to-eye with the opposition to your success and say, ‘You won’t stop me. My destiny is victory and my birthname, winner. Bring it!'”

Howard T. Dickens Jr.

To PR or not to PR: PR is not a verb!

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This is not an article debating the changing landscape of the public relations or advertising industry, or preaching best practice advice, but rather an examination of the two simple letters that encompass all that we (as communications professionals) do: PR.

As a public relations professional, I respect that there are some commonplace misconceptions about what “we” do here at our agency, and likely every other PR agency on the planet for that matter. The perception of what we do is made worse by certain reality television shows that not only make me want to claw my eyes out but insult my intelligence and profession as well. There is a significant difference between a PR firm and a publicist – which allows me illustrate my point: all publicity is PR, but not all PR is publicity.

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About the Author

Allison Brinkman
PR Manager, Eisen Marketing Group
[email protected]
 
 
Alli found herself saying the same thing Greeks have been saying for centuries when she provided an opportunity to work with EMG clientele: Opa! (Hooray!) An adventurer at heart, she constantly seeks new challenges and celebrates unconventional solutions. No need to cross the Mediterannean and absolutely no Trojan Horse – she is what she is, and that fresh, candid honesty makes for one serious professional.

A diehard Ohio State Buckeye football fan, she knows the value of a little friendly competition – and even has a trivia-loving alter ego ‘BMoney’ to honor that streak. When it comes to clients, however, she isn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves, put her game face on and ensure nothing less than the best. Scarlet. Grey. All colors. All colours – she integrates impossible to absolutely.

Having lived abroad twice in both France and Luxembourg, Allison takes advantage of her global perspective in everyday life, and applies that knowledge when discussing global and cultural differences. Her ‘let’s go!’ attitude will gladly take her to the ends of the earth in search of answers, inspiration or just out of curiosity. Give her a minute (or 10), and she’ll gladly tell you all about winter in Stockholm or the music scene in Prague. Go Ask Alli…

Is it the or is it THEE.

Allison is a graduate from The Ohio State University, and has worked in marketing, public relations and event planning for Paramount’s Kings Island, The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and UWeekly Newspaper.

Pull Money Out of Thin Air: Print Money at Work by Doing Your Own Job Better

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If you’re feeling daunted by the idea of creating proposals to increase profits and of seeking others’ approval, then this article is for you. You can contribute financially to your company simply by regulating yourself. By improving your own job performance – that is, the quantity or quality of your work—you add value to your company.

Stay on Task

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About the Author

Larry Myler is CEO of By Monday, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in profit enhancement through employee engagement. Previously, Larry was president of VitalSmarts, serving from 1992-2001. Larry is a serial entrepreneur with six startups under his belt. Over the course of his thirty-year career, he has helped others improve their businesses by consulting and training for leadership teams and employees in the areas of interpersonal communication, profit enhancement, organizational efficiency, survey research, and more. Past clients include companies such as AT&T, Shell Oil, Lockheed Martin, and Ford Motor Company.

This column is excerpted from Larry Myler’s best-selling book, Indispensable By Monday: Learn the Profit-Producing Behaviors that will Help Your Company and Yourself, available from Amazon.com and bookstores nationwide. Readers can find Larry Myler’s free online tool, the Profit Proposal Generator, at www.bymonday.com.