The Top Ten Best Communicators of 2009

1. Sully Sullenberger

Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger is not just the hero who brilliantly landed his airplane on the Hudson River, he is a bona fide great communicator. He is humble yet has a message. He inspires yet speaks sparingly. I remember eagerly awaiting his first speech since the landing – and I was stunned. He spoke for only 17 seconds. Eloquently, and I blogged on it, hoping we would have more of that rarified speaking impact in the future. We did. And he does – deserve #1 for communicating as skillfully as he flies an airplane. And that’s saying something.

2. Tim Tebow

Probably the top college football player of the decade, Tim Tebow is as articulate off the field as he is proficient on it. He won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore, and when his team lost early the following season he ‘promised’ his team the national championship. Tim Tebow is confident and clear in media interviews, a refreshing change from so many top athletes. Above all, he is a leader, and the unquestioned leader of his team (see this halftime clip from the 2008 BCS Championship.) He is eloquent in talking about his faith, and for now is truly an athlete who walks his talk. (Let’s hope he can maintain his candor with integrity, in contrast to some others… See #3 on the Worst list.)

3. Matt Lauer

When I first met Matt Lauer on the TODAY Show in 1996, he was just about to break into full time hosting. What struck me most is he was so affable yet could be strong in an interview. Matt is as nice, humble, and enthusiastic a communicator to me off stage as he has been in his last decade as a star. Always unflappable, he can be very confrontational in an interview when necessary, even with a President, yet is usually open and humorous. Behaviorally he has great eye communication, wit and energy. His longevity alone, at the top of broadcast pyramid, wins him a long deserved place in the Top Ten.

4. Carly Fiorina

What a transformation. From fallen executive (past CEO of Hewlett Packard,) to a wooden sounding spokesperson for Presidential Candidate John McCain, to cancer survivor, to Senatorial candidate on a mission, Carly Fiorina always has communicated with great energy (with the McCain Convention an exception – teleprompters quenched her volubility). Now she has a purpose and a new pursuit to use her executive skill. Her message is powerful and sympathetic with her “If I licked cancer I can lick anything” attitude. It is refreshing to see her model the transition from glamorous blond executive to cancer survivor with no hair – she makes up for the loss with added passion. It will be interesting to see how she does on the campaign trail – I hunch she’ll more than survive.

5. Steve Jobs

He has been on the Top Ten list before, and I try not to have repeats, but there is no denying his justifiable position here, again. His mind and his mouth have led him to be named CEO of the decade by Fortune Magazine. As CEO and speaker and celebrity, he stands above the pack. Although he did not give his famous keynote address this year at Macworld, (here’s a clip of his iPhone announcement) – he did conquer a liver transplant. And even though under the weather, you can be sure he was also behind the scenes guiding Apple to another record setting year in the midst of economic turmoil. He’s overcome turmoils before.

6. Sir Ken Robinson

Perhaps you haven’t heard of him – time to take a look here or his website. One of the featured speakers at TED, Sir Ken is brilliant at story telling and humor. He also has quite a message for educators. He creatively advocates at every opportunity the need to bring creativity back into academia, particularly for the children. And he is an eloquent and funny voice for the young of all ages.

7. Chip & Dan Heath

The Heath brothers are masters of communicating sticky messages. Their 2007 breakaway best seller “Made to Stick” defines the ultimate test for stickiness. Since then, they’ve been consulting for big business and non-profit alike, landed a monthly column in Fast Company magazine and they’ve been speaking…a lot. This August they were the “opening act” for Bono (they spoke just before his videocast appearance) to a crowd of 60,000 at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. They are expert teachers and master practitioners, and they’re in the top ten this year because we’ve had the very special opportunity to witness them in action as we co-developed the new Decker Made to Stick Messaging Program. You’ll be hearing lots more from them and about their new sticky ideas on change…their new book Switch releases in February.

8. Taylor Swift

Yes, a singer, but also a talker. Taylor Swift turned the insult by Kanye West at the MTV VMA’s into an opportunity to launch herself into the mainstream. In her SNL monologue response to the incident she came across as confident, bold but modest, humorous, and likable. Remarkably she is only 19 but has the maturity of a seasoned performer. Taylor elevated herself out of the tween pop country realm and into the spotlight by articulating her point of view with humility and strength, instead of shrinking away in embarrassment. In interview programs she shows she can do more than sing. On top of all that, she was named Entertainer of the year. Looks like she’ll be communicating in a big way for many years.

9. Chris Brogan

Chris is unusual for several reasons. He is at the cutting edge of blogs and social media, is a great writer, and this year wrote the best seller “Trust Agents.” It is because of his speaking on these things that he has become not only proficient at speaking – and somewhat of an authority. Just as he has ‘burst’ to prominence in the social media fields, so he bursts onto the Top Ten Communicators list. (He calls it “the overnight success that took years.”)  In addition, and of great interest to me, is his amazing ability to multi-task. I have seen him talk, tweet, change PowerPoints, chair a panel and type all at the same time. Parallel thinking to the max, it’s a great asset for communicators and all could learn from Chris.

10. Sarah Palin

No doubt a controversial pick (as will be #10 on the Worst list), Sarah Palin is where she is today primarily because of her communicating ability. And she’s only #10 on the list because she is flawed in crisp focus (Q&A) and casualness. Yet like the Phoenix, she continuously comes back from the ashes – because she can talk, and talk well. Remember her two landmark speeches in the political year of 2008, where she turned around the enormous negativity of the questions “Who’s Sarah Palin” and “Why is she here” with two resounding and successful speeches. This year she surprisingly resigned as Governor, appeared to be a quitter, and the media relegated her to a has-been status. Then she turns around in 6 months with “Going Rogue”, one of the biggest non-fiction best sellers in history, and gets record crowds and massive media exposure – because she is energetic, fresh and personable. She is the poster child for likability.  Communicating got Obama where he is, and it continues to keep Palin on the move.

The Top Ten Worst Communicators of 2009

1. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

The President of Iran since 2005, Ahmadinejad has been a center of controversy since his election. His many strident communications are continuously those of arrogance and dissension. The Iranian uprising in June of 2009 was caused by Ajhmadinejad’s repression of free speech and rigged elections (even though Twitter helped shine some light.) He has called the holocaust a myth, and blusters for Israel to be “wiped off the map.” Contentious at best, ignoring the world at worst (eg. sanctions over Nuclear energy production), Ahmadinejad is the worst communicator of the year.

UPDATE: Ahmadinejad continues his communications of opacity and obfuscation in response to the end of year uprising.

2. Mark Sanford

What was he thinking? When Gov. Sanford was caught with his Argentinian mistress, he had a long, rambling press conference where he blocked, obfuscated, cried, wheedled and otherwise communicated like an incompetent teenager. No wonder they tried to impeach him – he was no kind of leader with that kind of communicating, much less behavior. There have been others who have recovered after the fall from the perch – Bill Clinton, Martha Stewart, Kobe Bryant come to mind – but all of them did it with confession and contrite communication. And a clarity that Sanford seems to lack.

3. Tiger Woods

You could also say “What was he thinking?” But compared to Mark Sanford, here there was NO communication of any kind. (Well, he had a few blog ‘press releases’ but nothing from him personally, so we have no clips.) First of all, to be seen and heard is essential – a press release doesn’t do it. And good communicating and speaking must be authentic. Apparently with Tiger Woods there was deception for years. Which means that all of Tiger Woods speaking and appearances, such as they were, were false, and on a world stage no less. Now, when caught in the lie, the deception continues in a vacuum – no communication, no openness, no trust, no forgiveness and the worst results. Tiger Woods, to date, has handled this about as badly as you could handle a major media snafu. Personally, I hope he begins speaking, and speaking honestly. Without that he will not regain personal prominence, even though he can continue to excel at golf.

4. Rod Blagojevich

A repeat from last years Worst List, because he never learned how. Ex Governor Rod Blagojevich continued to rant and rave, with no logic and no grace. What’s worse, where he used to have good communication skills (after all it’s what got him elected) he has deceived HIMSELF with thinking that he could continue to be believed, as evidenced in his January plea to the Illinois Senate. And thus he becomes a laughing stock and an object of derision. In his case, not communicating for awhile would be a good thing.

5. Caroline Kennedy

No deception here, just unfortunately terrible communication skills. Caroline Kennedy is a woman of tradition, and is to be admired for her many accomplishments. All the media had her as a sure thing for appointment to a New York Senate seat by Gov. Patterson when Hillary Clinton went to Secretary of State. But then Caroline Kennedy opened her mouth. And filled the air with uncertainty and doubt, amidst a bunch of ums and uhs and other non-words. She avoided the press, and couldn’t put a Point Of View together if her nomination depended on it. And it did, and thus she dropped out quickly. Too bad – if you can’t communicate, you can’t get elected.

6. Bobby Jindal

What an opportunity squandered. Rep Bobby Jindal was the Republican rebuttal to President Obama’s State of the Union – a relative unknown with a chance to make a name for himself. Well, he did, but not in the way he wanted. He was stiff with the through the lens teleprompter, and his sing-song vocal delivery did him in. And here’s a classic clip of Rachel Maddow, who herself is not one of the best, calling Jindal one of the worst. Here she was right to be speechless.

7. Edward Liddy

How magnanimous of former Allstate CEO Edward Liddy to come in on a charging steed and take over the reins of the battered AIG – and for only $1 in salary. His positive aura quickly deteriorated when he was found out to own millions in Goldman Sachs stock, for which AIG paid out handsome dividends. His deceptive communications continued as AIG continued to hand out excessive executive bonuses – the ensuing scandal and Liddy’s poor congressional testimony further served him up as the 2009 poster child for bank and investment firm CEO’s who  lacked direct and forthright communications to the public.

8. Carrie Prejean

“Larry you’re being inappropriate,” were the surprising words coming from the smiling face of Carrie Prejean. This was the lowpoint (so far) of her communications downfall in her appearance on The Larry King Show, where she walked out, then stayed. It was beyond awkward and confirmed the only consistency in her communications…inconsistency. This former Miss America contestant at first seemed sincere in her comments after being fired from the Miss America pageant, taking a strong stance for purity, and then getting herself tangled in lies about scandalous pictures and a video. She appears defensive and naive by speaking with an inauthentic smile, avoids the elephant in the room, references herself in the third person, and constantly tilts her head and waves a judgmental finger. This is a role model for poor communications.

9. Timothy Geithner & Hank Paulson

Timothy Geithner started out badly as he continued the dour communications style of Hank Paulson. Both held the same jobs as Secretary of the Treasury in one of the most critical times of financial crisis, and both couldn’t have been much worse in communicating the way out. The air of aloofness was almost palpable with Hank Paulson, and Tim Geithner was not much better. And when Geithner got excused by President Obama for an income tax ‘error’ (more on Obama next), he then topped his lack of communicating credibility with his announcement of a plan – and there was no plan.

1

0. Barack Obama

Every President has to be on the list, one way or the other because communications is his primary job. Last year Obama was #1 on the Best list and President Bush was #1 on the Worst list. This year Obama doesn’t exactly trade places, but he’s the best of the worst since he has failed to fulfill the promise of his communications platform. He was a great communicator as a candidate, not so much as a leader. The New York Times wrote about “The President Whose Words Once Soared.” For the full report see our blog post here, but in summary here’s why:

• He is aloof and professorial, actually most often speaking formally with his nose a bit aloft
• He speaks in bursts and a repetitious cadence, almost in a sing-song manner
• He leans with an enormous emphasis on scripts and the teleprompter
• He has NEVER learned how to use the teleprompter well
• Often he makes gaffes when he speaks spontaneously
• And he is way over exposed, where speaking on the trivial diminishes the important

Because of those behavioral flaws, President Obama does not generate the trust that many anticipated.  Even now his spokesperson Robert Gibbs (who is a bit flawed himself) is viewed more favorably than Obama, which is startling. President Obama rode into office on great hope wherein the majority would excuse minor communication flaws. Yet when hope diminishes, the previously excused flaws become magnified, and will not serve the President well. Here is the detail on “Why Obama Fails as a Communicator.”

UPDATE: A video on Obama’s ‘gift’ of communications from WSJ’s Dan Henninger add to justifying this ranking, plus the response to the Christmas terrorist attempt that slipped through the TSA cracks…

C'est une liste US, mais riche d'enseignements.

Like the internet phenoms they trumpeted, Internet company names of the last decade have been, by turns, wildly inventive, deeply troubled, breathtakingly silly, serviceable (if dull)�and, occasionally, brilliant.

Having christened our share of Internet phenoms, we at Catchword decided to looked back to identify the 10 biggest dot-com naming trends�and their best and worst examples.

(Although, frankly, it was hard to choose just one "worst" in some cases. There were so many Web 2.0 disasters! It was as though the rules of language had ceased to apply.)

Here are the trends and names that rose to the top (and sank to the bottom).

1. The Hookup

Sometimes two words are better than one�especially to convey a new way of doing things. Serviceable hookups can range from descriptive (Facebook, StubHub) to suggestive (LinkedIn) to evocative (Snapfish).

But if two words don't have a discernible relationship with each other�or the brand�it's a Random Hookup. And we all know how short-lived those are�in this or any realm.

Win: YouTube

Intuitive, catchy, grassroots-y. The retro slang "tube" for TV evokes simpler times and ease of use: clever for a new app that could have been seen as intimidatingly high-tech.

Fail: TalkShoe

Say what? The name is a play on the use of Ed Sullivan's pronunciation of the word "show" on his long-ago TV show. Like anyone is going to make the connection...

2. The Conjurer

Evocative words can make memorable brand names when they relate to the core of a brand's story (like Yelp). But the line can be fine between edgy and baffling.

Win: Twitter

Whimsically conjures up users' sharing short little bursts of information (like birds twittering in a tree)�as well as excitement ("all atwitter"). It's extendable, too. A whole vocabulary quickly takes flight�from tweet and twitfriend to twipic.

Fail: MOO

Great for cows, milk, cheese, ice cream. Not so great for a site offering printing services.

3. The Letter-Dropper

The problem with this type of coinage is it's so distinctive you're almost bound to look like a copycat if you're not the first out of the gate. And if you drop more than one letter, you're asking for trouble. (Was Motorola's SLVR cell phone meant to be Silver or Sliver? And what's with Scribd?)

Win: Flickr

The image of a camera's flicker is relevant for photo sharing and reassuringly familiar, while the dropped letter�a new naming convention�suggested cutting-edge technology.

Fail: iStalkr

Creepy.

4. The Assembly Line

Names assembled from word parts with meaningful associations can be rich and unexpected (witness Gizmodo, the gadget blog). But tone and messaging need to be just right.

Win: Wikipedia

The unusualness of the name establishes it as a fresh player, while the evocation of both encyclopedias and speed ("wiki" is Hawaiian for "quick") is spot on.

Fail: Nupedia

The flatfooted claim of newness sounds dated from day one. Plus it's risky to stake an identity on newness in internet-land. Before long, this premise is far from "nu."

5. The Misspeller

This kind of brand name often spells disaster: hard to remember (Ideeli, Scrybe), confusing to pronounce and spell (Myngle, Wotnext, Gravee), and reeking of URL-search desperation (Itzbig, Profilactic, Fairtilizer).

Win: Boku

French word "beaucoup" is on the money for an online payment service�and for many Americans, the misspelling is actually more intuitive and inviting.

Fail: Cuil

Meant to be pronounced "cool," but who's gonna get that? Rule No. 1: Your name shouldn't need to come with a pronunciation guide.

6. The Wordster

Another convention that ages fast. And there's nothing more pathetic in naming than a transparent attempt to appear cool (cases in point: Dogster, Agester, Talkster).

Win: Friendster

Not exciting, we'll grant you, but the intuitiveness of the name helped usher in the era of social networking.

Fail: Napster

In light of its ensuing legal woes, to highlight the "kidnapping" of music is probably not the best idea (to put it kindly).

7. The Double or Nothing

Doubling a letter in a real word only works when the word remains recognizable, and the addition of the second letter serves some purpose, other than to complicate spelling (as in Gawwk).

Win: Digg

Intuitive and evocative, the double "g" underscores the digging nature of research and is graphically interesting.

Fail: Diigo

A social bookmarking site, the double "i" destroys the semantic connection and confuses pronunciation. (Is it Dee-go or Dih-go?) Plus, coming on the heels of Digg, it seems hopelessly derivative.

8. The eThing, the iThing, the meThing, the myThing

"e/i" shorthand quickly becomes redundant in the internet space, although it spawns many workhorse names: serviceable, if dull. The me/my thing (as in mySpace) tends to be similarly predictable and unremarkable. (Now, myBad�that would be interesting...)

Win: iContact

For a provider of email marketing, the "i" works on three levels: "I contact," "eye contact," and, of course, "Internet contact."

Fail: eSnailer, eBaum's World, eXpresso...

9. The Empty Vessel

A word without recognizable semantic roots can be a useful umbrella name for a company that may want to branch out in different directions. But it needs to be pronounceable and have relevant sound symbolism. Otherwise, it's not an Empty Vessel�it's Alphabet Soup. Like Disaboom, Xoopit, Yebol, and Goozex. Cover your ears.

Win: Kazaa

Recalls huzzah or hurrah, conveying excitement. (Sample exclamation: "Kazaa! I just downloaded Season One of Six Feet Under, FOR FREE!!!")

Fail: Eefoof

Vintage Web 2.0: hard to spell, silly�and utterly meaningless.

10. The Foreigner

Words in little-known languages can also make good empty-vessel names, especially if their meaning provides a springboard into their brand story. The trick is to find words that are easy to pronounce and pleasing to the American ear (like Kijiji, a communal website with a Swahili name meaning "village").

Win: Hulu

Good empty vessel name for an entertainment company that wants to keep its options open. (Interestingly, the word means "empty gourd" in Mandarin.) The rhyming word is playful, and by evoking hula hoops, it suggests fun.

Fail: Jwaala

Talk about a tongue-twister.

The Coming Decade

As for Internet company naming trends of the coming decade: Companies will demand more meaningful brand names, as far from Web 2.0 flights of fancy as possible; they'll be willing to pay a premium for real-word or lightly coined domain names; and they will be creative in the messages they explore�as long as they're relevant to the brand.

Like Internet companies themselves, it appears, Internet naming will be coming back down to earth.

C'est aussi du storytelling !

I’m going to hazard an educated guess: you’re probably disappointed about how little you think you’ve accomplished this year. Ideally, you’d already be enormously successful, wealthy, influential, and famous by now. It’s taking way too long to make things work. Why can’t you seem to get your act together?

Nothing is wrong with you. An ideal isn’t an ideal unless you haven’t accomplished it yet. Our real achievements are rapidly consumed by the hedonic treadmill. Living in an oceanside villa or driving a brand new car is rapturous for a week or two. After a month, it’s old hat – you barely notice, in the same way your nose quickly acclimates to even the finest perfume after a few minutes.

Whenever you get closer to an ideal, your ideal moves to compensate. If you never take the time to be mindful of your achievements, your vision will forever be on the horizon – even the most successful people are quick to tell you how their lives could be better. If your happiness and life satisfaction are contingent on reaching your ideals, you’ll be miserable for a long time to come.

There is a way, however, you can take stock of your achievements in a way that will boost your confidence and resolve, and the end of the year is the perfect time for this particular exercise.

Your Year in Review

Think back to where you were this time last year. What were you doing? What did you want? What was your plan?

Grab a sheet of paper and start making a list. Thinking back, what did you accomplish this year? What did you learn? What new and exciting things happened that you didn’t expect?

In general, we tend to over-estimate what we can get done in a day, and underestimate what we can get done in a year. You spend 99.9% of your life handling your daily tasks. Take a moment to think about everything you’ve actually done for a change, and write it all down.

Personally, 2009 was a year of many changes, the vast majority of them great. This year, I:

• Published the 4th generation of the Personal MBA reading list, and prepared changes for the 2010 edition. (To be published very soon…)
• Doubled the audience of the Personal MBA from 7,000 to 14,000 readers.
• Developed my website infrastructure to the point my sites can handle large amounts of traffic and be used to sell products.
• Completed my first year of full-time self-employment, earning more than I earned at my previous full-time Fortune 50 position with far more flexibility.
• Helped my coaching clients achieve huge personal breakthroughs: land new jobs, start new businesses, and launch successful products.
• Negotiated and signed a six-figure contract to publish my upcoming book with a Tier 1 business publisher next year.
• Wrote most of my book.
• Successfully pre-launched my first product, the PMBA Business Crash Course, which attracted over 200 participants and netted over $60,000 in revenue.
• Completed a three-year adventure living in New York City.
• Moved to a wonderful apartment in the mountains of Colorado.
• Learned how to shoot good photos with a DSLR, and photographed my first wedding.
• Traveled to Bahrain and St. John USVI.

It’s funny reading over this list – I’ve had a huge year. Even funnier, if you would have asked me on any particular day this year how I was doing vs. my goals, I would have told you I was failing miserably, and that I’m such a huge procrastinator.

One of the best gifts you can give yourself as you close the year is a few hours to think about and write down what you’ve accomplished. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much you’ve achieved, which is a huge confidence builder.

Your Decade in Review

This is a particularly good time for this exercise, since you can review the entire decade as well as this year. Chances are, you’ve developed and accomplished a heck of a lot more in the past ten years than you think.

Here’s my quick decade in review:

• Graduated from high school.
• Landed a full-ride scholarship to my school of choice
• Graduated from college with a year and a half of full-time work experience, a job offer for a fast-track management position at a Fortune 50, and zero student debt.
• Created my first personal website and completed by first web design project.
• Lead my college mock trial team to national competition 3 out of 4 years, and was honored as an “All-American” my last year.
• Launched two websites and three new products at Procter & Gamble, resulting in $15 million in incremental revenue for the company.
• Created a web analytics strategy for P&G brands globally that actually measures what the company is trying to achieve.
• Provided input to the Google Analytics team that was implemented in 2009.
• Decided what I wanted my life to look like vs. measuring success by everyone else’s standards.
• Defined a comprehensive life philosophy I find more useful and satisfying than the default worldview I absorbed during childhood.
• Read thousands of non-fiction books across business, economics, psychology, systems theory, and personal development. (I really wish I started counting when I started.)
• Created the first Personal MBA reading list in 2005; top-10 manifesto at ChangeThis even after five years.
• My work was featured by BusinessWeek and many A-list blogs.
• Figured out what I really wanted in my personal relationships. Started dating Kelsey, dated for three years, married for three years now. I can’t imagine a more ideal relationship.
• Made many life-long friends, without whom my life would be infinitely less interesting.
• Visited France, the Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, Estonia, Italy, Bahrain, and St. John USVI.

All in all, it was a fantastic decade, and I’m really looking forward to the next.

Your turn – what did you accomplish this year? Don’t be shy – post your own accomplishments in the comments or post them on your own website and link it up here.

Here’s to a happy and successful 2010 for all of us!

(Photo credit: Futurist Movies)

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Tagged as: achievements, decade in review, goals, hedonic treadmill, plans, year in review

Peut être combiné avec un peu de storytelling...

Pour la première fois, La Poste française édite un timbre collector à l'effigie de Zinedine Zidane, qui sera disponible à partir du 11 janvier. Un euro sur chaque planche de timbres vendue sera reversé à l'Association Européenne contre les Leucodystrophies (ELA) que parraine l'ex-star du football français. Zinedine Zidane n'apparaît pas sur ce timbre comme sportif emblématique, mais comme le parrain de l'Association ELA, Le logo de celle-ci est d'ailleurs inscrit de manière visible sur le timbre.

La planche comprend 10 timbres, vendue au prix de 9,90 euros. Les philatélistes peuvent se la procurer en avant-première sur le site Internet Laposte.fr/timbres.

Yannick Cochennec s'interroge dans l'article ci-dessous sur la personnalité toujours enigmatique du plus grand footballeur français de l'histoire.

 

Zinedine Zidane est le plus grand sportif de l'histoire du sport français. C'est ainsi et c'est mérité. Sans lui, la France n'aurait jamais gagné la Coupe du Monde en 1998, l'Euro en 2000 ni même atteint cette finale de Coupe du Monde en 2006. Finale contre l'Italie que «nous» aurions peut-être remportée si le même Zidane n'avait pas été exclu à 13 minutes de la fin des prolongations en raison de son désormais célèbre coup de boule à Marco Materazzi qui reste l'ultime geste de sa vie de footballeur puisqu'il ne rejoua plus après.

Pour toute son œuvre, immense, et parce qu'il était capable de fulgurance technique et artistique comme le but qu'il marqua lors de la finale de la ligue des champions entre le Real de Madrid et le Bayer Leverkusen en 2002 (le but de la décennie écoulée selon beaucoup), la France, du football en particulier, a décrété qu'il était intouchable et donc incritiquable.

Alors que Thierry Henry a été attaqué de toutes parts pour sa «main de Dieu» qu'il risque de traîner comme un boulet, pendant que de l'autre côté de l'Atlantique Tiger Woods est abandonné par quelques gros sponsors et vilipendé dans les médias de son pays pour quelques moments d'égarement personnels, Zinedine Zidane, lui, n'a jamais payé le prix de son moment de folie, pourtant tellement plus grave que la main baladeuse de Thierry Henry et les aventures extraconjugales de Tiger Woods.

Au contraire, même. Quelques semaines plus tard après cet «attentat» de Berlin, Frank Riboud, le patron de Danone, l'a fait entrer au conseil d'administration de sa multinationale. Adidas l'a gardé comme porte-étendard. Avec d'autres, Generali et Orange ont continué à exploiter son image. A travers divers sondages, une majorité de Français a même décrété qu'il avait eu raison de réagir de la sorte. Ce coup de boule ne lui a rien coûté.

Il lui a même rapporté, selon Besma Lahouri, auteur d'une biographie non autorisée du champion Zidane, une vie secrète, qui a décrit dans son ouvrage comment Danone, avec qui il s'est engagé jusqu'en 2015, avait notamment rebondi sur cet incident pour faire de Zidane une figure victimaire envoyée aussitôt en mission commerciale dans des pays musulmans comme l'immense Indonésie.

Zinedine Zidane fait des affaires, et c'est bien son droit. Il consacre une partie de son temps à Ela, sa fondation qui vient en aide aux enfants victimes de maladies leucodystrophiques, et c'est noble. Mais pourquoi Zidane, personnage pourtant intelligent, ne dit-il jamais rien? Enfin, rien qui ne dépasse. Rien qui ne surprenne. Rien qui ne suscite la controverse ou le débat. Rien qui ne déplaise. Rien qui ne le mette hors-jeu (même de quelques petits centimètres). Rien qui, au final, ne retienne vraiment notre attention.

C'est le sentiment que j'ai encore eu à la lecture de ses confessions récentes, faites sur cinq pages, dans l'hebdomadaire France-Football où il était gentiment interrogé non pas par des journalistes (trop risqué?) mais par des lecteurs du journal. «Auriez-vous aimé que la France et l'Algérie se retrouvent dans le même groupe (NDLR: lors de la prochaine Coupe du Monde)», lui demande-t-on dans France-Football. «Pas du tout! Le plus tard sera le mieux. J'ai envie que ces deux pays aillent le plus loin possible.» «Quel regard portez-vous sur les Bleus?», l'interroge-t-on. «Il y a du bon et du moins bon. Cette équipe est critiquable, mais je préfère en ressortir le positif, même si c'est difficile de la voir jouer ainsi alors qu'il y a des bons joueurs. Je défends cette équipe et je la vois faire de grandes choses en Afrique du Sud.» Arrive la question, inévitable, sur Raymond Domenech. «Moi, je n'ai pas envie de critiquer le sélectionneur qui a accompli un parcours moyen mais auquel on a demandé de qualifier l'équipe pour le Mondial.» Son avis sur le débat lié à l'identité nationale? «Je ne me suis jamais posé la question de mon identité. J'ai fait partie de l'équipe de France, j'ai été embarqué dans le même bateau que mes copains, point final.»

Zidane éternellement mi-chèvre mi-chou, lisse comme un ballon de football et beau comme une pub vantant les mérites du tourisme en Algérie réalisée sous l'égide de l'opérateur de téléphonie, Wataniya Telecom Algérie, dépositaire de la marque Nedjma dont Zizou est (aussi) l'ambassadeur.

Quelques semaines plus tôt, dans L'Equipe, Yohann Hautbois, journaliste, avait laissé transparaître son agacement, avec un certain courage, après une brève rencontre avec l'ancien joueur dans le cadre d'autres activités d'ambassadeur, cette fois des «actions citoyennes» d'Orange. Et avait stigmatisé sa parole que l'on devinait encadrée. «Aujourd'hui, la communication de Zidane s'apparente à celle d'une star de cinéma américaine. Chaque interview est minutée par le service de presse d'Orange: sept minutes pas plus, douze en jouant les fayots. On sentait pourtant, chez Zidane, l'envie d'en dire plus, de parler de foot, encore et toujours. Jusqu'à ce que retentisse la phrase, mécanique et froide: «Encore deux questions!»»

On se souvient, en 2008, de la charge, violente, d'Emmanuel Petit, son ancien coéquipier des Bleus, le seul à s'être attaqué au mythe dans son livre A fleur de peau. «Pour Zidane, on est différents, on n'a rien à se dire, s'était-il alors justifié dans une interview au Parisien. On ne peut pas prétendre aider ceux qui en ont besoin tout en servant la cause des grands patrons qui réalisent des bénéfices records sans les redistribuer.» Et Petit d'enfoncer le clou en évoquant les émeutes en banlieue en 2005 où contrairement à Lilian Thuram, Zinedine Zidane, né dans les quartiers Nord de Marseille, n'avait rien eu à déclarer comme sur l'identité nationale.

Pour Zidane et ses sponsors, le silence (ou le murmure) est la règle car il est d'or. Mais cette restriction de la pensée et de la parole n'est-elle pas devenue, après tout, la norme chez les plus grands champions? Ces champions à la fois contrôlés par des agents, omniprésents et en charge de faire fructifier leurs revenus, et des attachés de presse personnels qui ont fini par envahir les salles de conférence de presse alors qu'ils n'existaient pas voilà une dizaine d'années.

Négocier une interview en tête-à-tête avec une vedette relève désormais du parcours du combattant et implique souvent l'intervention obligée d'un sponsor. Cette mauvaise manie s'est répandue comme de l'huile jusqu'à des disciplines jusqu'ici épargnées, comme le rugby. C'est ce que relevait récemment, avec déception, Jean-Christophe Collin, grand reporter à l'Equipe Magazine, lorsqu'il interpella ainsi Thierry Dusautoir, capitaine du XV de France, lors d'une interview: «Le rugby se prévaut de valeurs comme l'authenticité, la proximité avec le public, les médias. Or, nous réalisons cette interview dans le cadre d'une journée organisée par votre agent image, par laquelle il a fallu passer pour vous interviewer.» Dans sa réponse, Dusautoir botta largement en touche.

Cette communication au millimètre est pourtant une erreur. Les déboires de Tiger Woods l'attestent. Woods s'est toujours comporté en monstre froid avec les journalistes auxquels il délivrait des réponses ennuyeuses et politiquement correctes en conférences de presse et à qui il n'accordait presque jamais la moindre interview en tête-à-tête. Il s'est protégé comme personne avant lui ne s'était barricadé médiatiquement dans l'histoire du sport. Pour quel résultat, pour lui et pour ses sponsors qui, courageusement, le lâchent au premier coup de grisou.

A ce jour, personne ne sait vraiment qui est Tiger Woods qu'à tort, on croyait sage comme une icône. Mais personne ne sait non plus qui est vraiment Zidane Zidane après toutes ces années. Entre le joueur parfois violent qui reçut 14 cartons rouges sur l'ensemble de sa carrière et le gentil Zizou survendu, il serait peut-être temps qu'il se livre sans entraves plutôt que nous anesthésier avec des réponses convenues, notamment quand les questions sont posées, sur Canal Plus, par son copain Christophe Dugarry. A nous aussi, journalistes, de mieux faire notre métier s'il est encore possible de le faire (et je crains que non) quand on s'approche de l'idole.

Yannick Cochennec

Lire également: La France bien-pensante étale son ignorance du foot, Jacques Attali: Nous sommes tous des Irlandais et Henry, Woods: un grand champion n'a pas à être un modèle.

Image de Une: Zinedine Zidane  Reuters

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Cela dit les histoires de sportifs sont largement sous-utilisées : par exemple, pourquoi le fait que Nicolas Anelka soit un passionné de tennis, qui sait tout d'André Agassi, n'est pas utilisé par une marque ? Il y a matière à histoire.

Plein de bonnes histoires dans ce film.

"Tis is the season for predictions, so "Information Age" bravely goes out on this limb: Most technology predictions for 2010 won't come true. The more we learn about how innovation happens, the less straight the lines of advance look.

"Inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for further developments," said Roman engineer Julius Sextus Frontinus in 10 A.D. This end-of-progress view has been echoed many times, including by Charles Duell, commissioner for the U.S. Patent Office, who in 1899 said, "Everything that can be invented has already been invented."

It's worth recalling, especially in a gloomy year like the one drawing to an end, that the opposite is true: The more we invent, the more we invent. Knowledge grows on itself.

So here are the rest of my Top 10 Worst Technology Predictions, which prove that when it comes to tech, optimism pays:

"The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys," Sir William Preece, chief engineer at the British Post Office, 1878.

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" H.M. Warner, Warner Bros., 1927.

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers," Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.

"Television won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night," Darryl Zanuck, 20th Century Fox, 1946.

"The world potential market for copying machines is 5,000 at most," IBM executives to the eventual founders of Xerox, 1959.

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home," Ken Olsen, founder of mainframe-producer Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.

"No one will need more than 637 kb of memory for a personal computer—640K ought to be enough for anybody," Bill Gates, Microsoft, 1981.

"Next Christmas the iPod will be dead, finished, gone, kaput," Sir Alan Sugar, British entrepreneur, 2005.

Sometimes predictions about technology fail because they're overly optimistic—for example, we don't commute by jetpack yet—but more often predictions fail because we underestimate the ability of inventors.

Arthur C. Clarke, the science fiction writer, identified what he called the "three laws of prediction," reflecting an optimistic view of ingenuity: 1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong; 2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture past them into the impossible; and 3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Clarke was an exception to the rule that predicting future technology is hard. In Wireless World magazine in 1945, he proposed using a set of satellites in geostationary orbit to form a global communications network.

In "The View from Serendip," published in 1977, Clarke predicted the Internet: "Immediate access in the home via simple computer-type keyboards, and TV displays, to all the world's great libraries . . . And items needed for permanent reference could be printed off as soon as located on a copying machine—or filed magnetically in the home storage system."

In the same book, he also forecast email and online news: "Facsimile services whereby letters, printed matter, etc. can be reproduced instantly. The physical delivery of mail and newspapers will thus be largely replaced by the orbital post office, and the orbital newspaper . . ."

As we go into 2010, there are entrepreneurs and technologists doing their best to confound predictions. Or as computer scientist Alan Kay said, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

A year ago, it would have been hard to predict that social networking Web sites would become the new mass media, or that Google would be a mobile-phone brand. Technological advances can be frustrating when almost every industry is being dislocated by that fast-moving change. On the other hand, we all benefit from these changes, including in endless consumer choice.

Even a skeptical column on technology predictions would be incomplete without a few predictions, so here are a couple: The much-anticipated tablet computer from Apple won't be on sale before March, and Google's market share for search will remain strong, but not go beyond 85% at the end of 2010.

Disclosure: These predictions look like safe bets because the potential outcomes of these topics are being traded in online betting markets. These markets reflect the wisdom of crowds, which tend to make more accurate predictions than individuals.

Printed in The Wall Street Journal Asia, page 14

Le problème des histoires du futur, c'est qu'elles ont du mal à être vraies.

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It's not the rats you need to worry about

If you want to know if a ship is going to sink, watch what the richest passengers do.

iTunes and file sharing killed Tower Records. The key symptom: the best customers switched. Of course people who were buying 200 records a year would switch. They had the most incentive. The alternatives were cheaper and faster mostly for the heavy users.

Amazon and the Kindle have killed the bookstore. Why? Because people who buy 100 or 300 books a year are gone forever. The typical American buys just one book a year for pleasure. Those people are meaningless to a bookstore. It's the heavy users that matter, and now officially, as 2009 ends, they have abandoned the bookstore. It's over.

When law firms started switching to fax machines, Fedex realized that the cash cow part of their business (100 or 1000 or more envelopes per firm per day) was over and switched fast to packages. Good for them.

If your ship is sinking, get out now. By the time the rats start packing, it's way too late.

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Tribute to Seth Godin

...Sur sa page de fans Facebook, avec des histoires en vidéo racontées par ses ingénieurs.