Today there are some pages on IG that have millions of followers, adoring “Fans”, and charge hefty fees for shoutouts, and make much more in selling affiliate products. Without creating anything.

Today, we’re in the age of the Copy, Paste, Guru

With the world in your hands, you’d think wisdom would go viral right?

But as human behavior goes, most will post their craving for what’s “real”

Most often you’ll find that fiction is what’s popular (amongst other sneaky ways people sabotage themselves)

But why? Asked a friend of mine

Why not? I responded

Earlier, a friend sent me a post from IG that was from a page that claims to share the “secrets to success”

She (like many others) was confused at how a lot of the “secrets” seemed to contradict themselves

One post said follow your dreams — the other don’t follow your dreams, one said focus on your WHY, the other to ride a trend to success

To the discerning others, whom I like to call Rogues when 2+2 starts to equal 10, they know they’re dealing with some BS.

Most recently some people on Twitter called out this shady practice

What followed then was poetic, to say the least

Ladies and Gentlemen, consumers are becoming smarter, yes, of course, these snake oil sales(wo)men will always find their sucker

my mentor would often tell me “For every seat, there’s an ass”

In general, though, some have had enough of this tomfoolery.

The good news is that although there’s SO MUCH information being thrown at us, it’s not entirely impossible to cut through the fluff (and what motivated me to start experimenting with easy to digest how to’s like our weekly digest the Growth Codex)

HOW?

Critical thinking is an epic skill and here’s a quick (summarized) way I’ve had my teams deploy it in small & easy steps

Special mention: Correlation doesn’t always mean Causation

1. Who said it? — Someone, you know? Someone of authority? Does it matter?
2. What did they say? — did they give facts or opinions? (Anecdotes are not facts)
3. Where did they say it? — Was it public or private? Did other people have a chance to chime in?
4. When did they say it? — Before, during or after an important event? Does timing matter?
5. Why did they say it?
6. How did they say it?

Stress testing information is needed today more than ever. From kids dying because their parents think Facebook advice on using essential oils and potatoes on their feet is better than a Dr’s prognosis, the swarm of fake news, to Influencers hawking drinks with Cyanide.

Here’s to escaping average