Editorial
By Matt Cooney,
Reality TV has been on a slide since Sylvania Waters, but 2010 saw a welcome new twist: Kiwis being themselves. We smiled when the contestants of MasterChef New Zealand and The Apprentice New Zealand were asked who should go home. At first, nobody would pan the competition. “Me,” they’d all chorus.
Delightful, right? Honest, down-to- Earth New Zealanders with their egos and expectations well under control.
But it’s bizarre, too. Once we were proudly egalitarian; today, we merely assume we’re unremarkable. Recently we found a clever inventor in small-town New Zealand who designed and manufactures a high-value product for demanding niche customers in Europe and Japan. Asked why they preferred his product, he shrugged and said his product is nothing new and not necessarily better than anyone else’s. Uh-huh.
Eric Ries, the Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur who was a highlight of the Webstock 2010 conference in February, noticed the pattern on his travels here. Even our entrepreneurs don’t think they’re really entrepreneurial. “Pathological humility,” he calls it, and admits it can be a challenge: “Some of it sounded very depressing to me, frankly.”
Is that really us? A dour, morose bunch who can’t even see when we’re winning? And if so, what’s the solution? A national edict to cheer up?
Maybe so. On page 28, Geoff Ross and wife Justine Troy reckon 42 Below’s no-budget export success was largely built on the word of globetrotting Kiwis. They suggest the government should share with us some of the glorious facts about this country. “I’d tell that story,” says Troy.
Me too. A national brand story in words and figures wouldn’t just equip New Zealanders to respond to half-informed detractors on issues like food miles, it would allow us to sing proudly from the national songbook—and force us to live up to the message, too. Not propaganda, but researched, eye-opening facts about these islands and their people. So here’s my suggestion: spend a little less money on public-service ads like the ones encouraging us not to gamble at intersections—I really do have that message now, thanks—and a bit more reminding us that New Zealanders are doing more than growing grass and pushing the frontiers of bungie jumping.
Matt Cooney
Editor
Des Graydon
It’s with great sadness that we acknowledge the untimely death of Des Graydon, the dean of the AUT Faculty of Business and Law. In his 20 years at the helm, Des was instrumental in building the faculty into the second largest in New Zealand. He was also a strong supporter of Idealog and much loved friend and colleague.
So long, Des. You will be missed.
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