Larry Weber on ‘A New Age of Reason’
Larry Weber is an unabashed technology optimist. Where some may see the end of days, the chairman and CEO of Racepoint Global, and founder of Weber Shandwick, sees the beginning of a new era based on the potential of technology to improve agriculture, address climate change, and improve health.
There are few who have had such a close-up view of technology over the last 50 years. Modest to a fault, he has stories to share of conversations with a “who’s who” of technology innovators - ranging from Tim Berners-Lee (father of the internet), Steve Jobs, Google’s founders, and the list goes on.
At the launch event for his new book, “A New Age of Reason,” attended by a number of Tech’s literati, Weber shared that he had no expectations of whether anyone would read it, but that it was, in his mind, important. With 14 months writing under his belt, interviews with CEOs and experts, the book is far more than a Panglossian homage to technology.
As the first word in the subtitle “Harnessing the Power of Tech for Good” makes clear, there are choices to be made. Building on deep dives into new and emerging technologies that will drive innovation, he shares some fundamental tenets that are key to realizing his positive vision.
The first, as he emphasizes through the book, is the need for a company to find its soul. For Weber, this is about having a deep-seated purpose, rather than being number one in market share. In the chapter on John Deere, the vision expressed by the former CEO that reflected its soul is the goal of feeding 2 billion more people.
A soul is clearly more than a goal. He advocates for what he calls “moral corporations” guided by ethics and a culture of doing the right thing. This is the basis or something he sees as key – responsible innovation.
Always one for providing a straightforward framework for thinking about complex issues, he points to the importance of the three E’s for companies – ethics, engagement, and evolution – as a guiding mantra for decision making and success.
With generative artificial intelligence top of mind, Weber details ways in which the technology can be applied for good, while recognizing the importance of reviewing and addressing the potential for negative consequences.
There’s a lot in the book for communicators to reflect on. There are the high-level takeaways from his interviews with CEOs and companies that detail the applications of new technologies. And, there’s his communicators’ perspective on the importance of engaging with audiences, especially adversaries; creating platforms for communicating at scale with audiences; and, building trust through authenticity.
Among the many insights he shares, one that jumped out at me was the idea of “storydoing.” At its core, this is the idea that companies need to tell their stories in ways that showcase the positive impact they are having across all channels.
At the end of the book, Weber provides questions that are designed to help companies find their pathway, the first of which is “What do you want your legacy to be?” And, given he has argued for years that every company is a technology company, he builds in questions that get at the heart of how technology can accelerate and augment that vision, and whether you have the technology ecosystem to realize it.
Weber brings to “A New Age of Reason” a lens for thinking about technology and communications that should resonate in boardrooms, agencies, and corporate communications departments. His positive and deeply optimistic view of its tech’s potential to deal with some of the most significant issues facing humanity is inspiring, but as he notes, it is dependent on the moral and ethical choices made in these spaces.
Larry Weber is donating all royalties to various non-profits based in Boston.
