The Nametag Manifesto - Chapter 9: The End of Incivility

February 08, 2012 1:43 PM

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“Everyone should wear nametags, all the time, everywhere, forever.”

That’s my thesis, philosophy, dangerous idea and theory of the universe.

My name is Scott, and I’ve been wearing a nametag for past four thousand days.

And after traveling to hundreds of cities, a dozen countries, four continents, meeting tens of thousands of people, constant experimentation and observation, building a enterprise and writing a dozen books in the process, I believe, with all my heart, that the societal implications of wearing nametags could change everything.

This is my manifesto:

9. The End of Incivility:
If everybody wears
nametags, we are instantly and consistently accountable.

With nametags, we lack constant invitations for selfish
behavior. There’s less incentive to get away with bad behavior, because there
are always people watching to positively modify our behavior through healthy doses
of social pressure.

With nametags, we give others the priceless gift of security
by letting them know who they’re dealing with. That’s why we get better service
from employees and better customers for those employees. Because there’s nothing
to hide behind. Our identity is always verified. There’s a social construct
that forces us to sign our work, put our name on it and take a stand for our identity.

Now, there’s no temptation to act from a position of
anonymity. Nametags paint us into more accountable corners. They’re
micro-structures we put into place to limit ourselves to only practicing honorable
action. Nametags take away all our choices. They permanently position us in
situations where acting in accordance with our values is the only plausible
course of action. The structure installed bankrupts bad behavior.

It’s social contract. We resign it every day. And we wear it
on our chest for all to see, public, so we can’t run away from it. When you sign
your name to it, you own it.

It’s accountability through attribution. By directly tying
our actions to our real identity, by connecting the individual to what they do
– and making that connection explicit to the rest of the community – we make
better decisions. We think before acting. We consider the potential
repercussions that arise from direct accountability.

If everybody wears
nametags, no more inconsistency, no more road rage and no more social
coarseness.

# # #You can read The Nametag Manifesto, in full, for free, right now, here.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What’s your manifesto?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “10 Ways to Help Your Customers Know You,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.