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The Hype Handbook — Chapter-11: Set Down a Rock for Your Followers to Cling To
- Source: /library/The Hype Handbook/source-file.pdf
- PDF pages: 148–158
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L HYPE STRATEGY #11 SET DOWN A ROCK FOR YOUR FOLLOWERS TO CLING TO And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. —JESUS OF NAZARETH afayette Ronald Hubbard was in a bad place. He had entered the Navy at the peak of the Second World War, expecting an experience that mirrored the heroic deeds he wrote about for a penny a word at the pulp magazines from which he made his living. But his over-the-top personality did not make the desired impression on his senior officers. Instead of commanding a fleet tasked with liberating Europe from the Nazi menace, the junior lieutenant found himself in charge of a PC-815 craft with the unglamorous mission of patrolling the coast of Southern California. Although the first few months at his new post were as lackluster as he had feared, one evening he detected some unusual blips on the ship’s sonar. Contrary to the advice of a number of experienced shipmates, he commanded the crew to fire on the underwater
vessels, convinced he was defending the home front from an imminent invasion. After 68 straight hours of “combat,” he learned that a magnetic deposit in the area was what was causing the reading. Hubbard received a severe reprimand and was relieved of his command. He ended the war in an infirmary, suffering from pains undoubtedly related more to emotional stress than to anything sustained in battle. As he reintegrated into civilian life, things only got worse for Hubbard. His specialty as a pulp fiction writer was space opera, a subgenre of science fiction particularly well suited to his ability to make up outlandish scenarios. Before the war, Hubbard’s ability to churn out thousands of words at a sitting had allowed him to eke out an income. Now his ability to conjure plots on demand seemed to have abandoned him. He took out large loans, which he had no means of paying back, and was arrested for financial malfeasance. His marriage deteriorated. Hubbard had always felt himself to be destined for greatness, but now he had no money, no real family life, and no reputation. But then, over the course of a few months, everything changed. By the start of the next decade, Hubbard was rich, famous, and adored. What had happened to so dramatically reverse Hubbard’s half- decade downward slide? In May 1950, L. Ron Hubbard—as he became known—released Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. The book claimed to offer a revolutionary system that regular human beings could use to reach their full potential and significantly improve every area of their lives. Hubbard had no formal education in psychology or philosophy, but the book drew heavily on both. It also included a slew of vague but impressive case studies detailing instances in which he had used his system to help down-and-out subjects to become nearly superhuman. The psychiatric community rejected Hubbard’s methods and claims. The absence of scientific verification of his work, in the form
of hard data or double-blind testing, was a particular sticking point. Once in a while, a skeptical layperson would ask him to produce one of the book’s success stories in the flesh, but he had a knack for deflecting these sorts of questions with an entertaining quip or anecdote. In the end, none of it mattered. The book was a smash. It remained on the New York Times bestseller list for 28 weeks and sold 18 million copies. People formed Dianetics groups throughout the country to attempt to get a sliver of this life-changing power for themselves. Between royalties, speaking fees, and revenues from the training centers, his wealth skyrocketed. As for what came next—well, many of us are familiar with that part. Hubbard went on to found the Church of Scientology, a religion that has since attracted many thousands of followers, including Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, and Elisabeth Moss. While Scientology has experienced its fair share of controversy, the financial value to its founder was unambiguous. At the time of his death in 1986, L. Ron Hubbard’s personal net worth was $60 million. The organization is still going strong. What L. Ron Hubbard managed to accomplish, beginning with Dianetics, was to present a system to which people could look for answers in the face of any one of life’s dilemmas, trials, and challenges. He understood the void (see Hype Strategy #7) and had a knack for filling it. Life is inherently uncertain. Regardless of whatever forethought, planning, or second-guessing any of us might engage in, we will all eventually get knocked down by tragedy, misfortune, or random accident. We invest in relationships, only to have the objects of our desire reject us or leave us. We open our hearts to family members, only to have them die. We work hard and follow the advice of wise mentors, only to lose our jobs and have our businesses fail. At a certain point, we are all confronted with the reality that nothing is
permanent. We ultimately watch what we care about go away or fall apart for no good reason. For many of us (maybe even most of us), this bleak reality is too difficult to accept. It is one thing to go through hard times, but to go through hard times knowing there is nothing consistent on which we can rely feels unbearable. This presents an opportunity for the hype artist. If you are able to create something that appears solid and unchangeable—something that provides answers or comfort or guidance in every situation no matter how hard things get—those you provide it to will follow you anywhere. In 1986, an engineer at Motorola named Bill Smith developed a process improvement methodology, which he named Six Sigma. The methodology spread and was eventually adopted by General Electric CEO Jack Welch, who regularly touted its benefits in public. Before long, businesses of every size and type were declaring themselves as Six Sigma organizations, and managers at every level were prominently displaying their Six Sigma credentials. At its peak, it was common in the corporate world to refer every matter back to Six Sigma principles. The ubiquity of the methodology was even parodied by Alec Baldwin on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, where he played a top executive who constantly talked about his “Six Sigma Black Belt Ultra.” Corporate culture can be unforgiving. Despite platitudes about “failing fast” and “radical transparency,” making mistakes and accepting responsibility for setbacks will often lead to lost status or job loss. While Six Sigma is useful in many ways, it is far from the one and only solution to every business problem. Its greatest value resided in giving managers and executives a comprehensive explanation for every decision they made, which they could point to in times of uncertainty. In this regard, Six Sigma was not too different from the scripture to which priests refer to explain acts of God. If you can manage to create and control the most relevant “scripture” in your space, your
ability to amass power over those who rely on it will be incredible. The trick is to figure out what form that scripture should take in order to give it the most pull and widest reach possible. PRODUCE A BIBLE When Madame Helena Blavatsky, the Russian aristocrat (if that’s what she actually was), immigrated to the United States during the late nineteenth century, a circle of dedicated students gathered around her regularly to hear her pontificate on her new philosophy. She was charismatic, confident, and mysterious—regaling her small group of followers with stories of letters written from invisible overlords, conversations with spirits, and previously unknown ancient civilizations. While her students adored her, it wasn’t enough. Blavatsky wanted money, fame, and influence. And she knew making that happen was going to require a whole different level of hype. You see, Madame Blavatsky was entering into a space with a ton of competition. In the wake of the Fox sisters, mediums claiming to have the power to communicate with the dead flooded the market, bringing all kinds of cobbled-together spiritual systems with them. So how did Blavatsky set herself apart to the public at large? She wrote a bible. In many business circles, it has become commonplace to talk about how important it is to publish (or self-publish) a book to establish yourself as an expert. There is a lot of wisdom in this advice—to a point. For most of human history, it has been incredibly hard to get ideas into writing. Paper, ink, printing, and distribution were all expensive in terms of time and effort. As a result, literate cultures developed traditions and institutions to ensure that if something was going to be printed, it had to be of the highest quality.
At the same time, not all books are created equal. When a book is overly tactical—or technical—readers may see it as a helpful resource, but not as an all-encompassing source of authority. That’s why Madame Blavatsky didn’t produce a book called How to Conduct a Winning Séance or Innovative Spiritual Strategies for the 19th Century. Instead she published Isis Unveiled, a book claiming to have finally and definitely unlocked all the secrets of how the universe actually worked. It was an immediate bestseller. It wasn’t a coincidence that her rise as the leader of a worldwide movement followed soon after. Likewise, Dianetics doesn’t only give advice and tips on how to improve oneself. It is presented as the one and only blueprint for anyone who wants to live a fulfilling life. For example, on the second page of that book, Hubbard writes that “Dianetics is an exact science and its application is on the order of, but simpler than, engineering. Its axioms should not be confused with theories since they demonstrably exist as natural laws hitherto undiscovered.” A few pages later, it refers to the system as the culmination of all earlier forms of knowledge, claiming that it “deals with facts rather than theories” and that “an exact science [like Dianetics] does not ‘believe’ but establishes and proves facts.” In Chapter 3 of Dianetics, Hubbard walks his readers through a brief history of humankind’s various attempts to figure out an all- encompassing view of how the mind works, referring to the efforts as scattered pieces of an incomplete jigsaw puzzle. Dianetics, on the other hand, is the completed puzzle, available at last. Hubbard repeatedly refers to his system as a “science” (see Hype Strategy #8), while leaving out any actual science that might get in the way. What distinguishes the scientific method from other ways of understanding the world is that it is willing to accept the wrongness of its own principles and discoveries based on new evidence. Dianetics, on the other hand, essentially says: “Look no further; everything you ever needed to know about perfecting your state of
mind is within these pages.” It offers security instead of uncertainty, while cloaking itself in scientific jargon. Exquisite hype. L. Ron Hubbard literally founded a new religion around his book. So did Madame Helena Blavatsky (she called it Theosophy). That’s not entirely necessary, though. Many of the most successful self- help and business gurus out there write and publish books. The business and personal development books that have truly transformed the careers of their authors—Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, and The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss, for example—provide a comprehensive explanation of how all things in their corner of the universe work. These books promise—implicitly and sometimes explicitly—that if you want to understand everything there is to know about gaining power, accumulating wealth, building relationships, or becoming productive and efficient, there is no need to look anywhere other than between their pages. As such, their authors attain an almost magical aura. To create your own bible, begin by writing down your own beliefs about the way the world works. We all have these. Even if we aren’t religious, or don’t follow some particular school of thought, we all have a personal philosophy cobbled together from our upbringing, various experiences and encounters we’ve had, and advice we’ve received. We use this philosophy as a benchmark to guide our decision-making, although we often don’t articulate to ourselves what this philosophy is. Now is the time to clarify your own personal philosophy to yourself. If you didn’t have to worry about what other people thought, or worry about your own self-image of being a fair and balanced person, what would you say you believe? People never change?
Life is a relentless competition for status? Creativity is mystical? Whatever these beliefs are, get them down. They will form the foundation of your bible. Present each one as a universal truth that your readers can follow—step-by-step and beat-by-beat—to guide the course of their lives. Whether you write up your collected beliefs by yourself or have someone do it for you and put your name on it, you will end up with a bible. CREATE A CHURCH Once you have a bible, it is time to start a church. Starting a church is the best growth hacking method ever invented. A 2005 Economist article on the megachurch phenomenon states: “The best churches (like some of the most notorious cults) have discovered the secret of low-cost and self- sustaining growth; transforming seekers into evangelicals who will then go out and recruit more seekers.” This strategy doesn’t only work for religious institutions—mega or otherwise. If you give people any kind of ready-made label and set of beliefs, they will go to great lengths to get others to join the tribe. And since every tribe has a chief, this puts you as founder in an enviable position. Sometime in the late fifties, a mediocre college-level golfer named Mark McCormack realized that he would have a better chance at success if he stopped trying to become a pro and started representing those who had a real shot. In college, he had crossed paths with a fellow golfer named Arnold Palmer and recognized his ability. When McCormack graduated, he founded a company called International Management Group, or IMG—a sports agency that existed solely to represent Arnold Palmer.
Palmer ended up becoming one of the best players to ever pick up a club (not to mention his talent for inventing nonalcoholic drinks). It was an auspicious start for the upstart agency. But what really set McCormack and his company apart from other sports agents was where he went next. In 1968, Mark McCormack decided that what golf needed was a comprehensive system of player rankings. Buoyed by his first-mover advantage, he presented his system as the single standard by which golfers would henceforth be judged. McCormack’s formula, which was ostensibly based on some mathematical algorithm, quickly became recognized as the arbiter of quality in a player’s game, rather than any number of other possible benchmarks, such as, say, how many games a player won. Case in point: According to the IMG’s ranking system, pro golfer Lee Westwood only had a world ranking of number 6, even though he had gone on an unparalleled streak of 11 wins in 34 tournaments. A few cynics raised some fuss, citing the inconvenient fact that Westwood wasn’t a client of IMG. But the noncontroversy came and went. Why? Because in a sport like golf, which is full of nonuniform courses and handicaps, the ranking system provides certainty. It is a clear set of standards issued by an authority in the field presented with utter confidence and backed by an organization. By establishing his system as the mechanism for determining good, bad, and everything in between, McCormack positioned IMG as the ultimate authority in the game of golf. As I define it, a church is an organized grouping whose members share a common identification based on a shared belief in a source of authority and certainty. The Ten Commandments are the source of all moral authority. The answers to all your questions about how we got here can be found in the pages of Genesis. The way to eliminate suffering is to follow the Eightfold Path. Confession and Communion are a way into heaven even after you’ve sinned. The way to become an effective manufacturer, regardless of how
complex the situation, is to measure production according to the mathematic principles of scientific management. Cutting taxes is the cure to any economic malady. Katharine Cook Briggs—eventually joined by her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers—created the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), despite (like L. Ron Hubbard) having no academic training in psychology, sociology, or science of any kind. To create the assessment, Briggs read a bunch of biographies of famous people. From this, she grouped every single person on earth into 16 categories and called it law. Echoing the sentiments of countless mainstream psychologists, University of Pennsylvania’s Adam Grant writes, “There’s no evidence behind [the MBTI]. The characteristics measured by the test have almost no predictive power.” Even so, roughly 2 million people per year take the test, and many of the world’s largest companies, including $10 billion-plus consulting giant McKinsey&Company, continue to administer (and pay for) it. Once a rock is set down, it is incredibly difficult to dislodge. There are many forms your church, your bible . . . your rock . . . can take. You can develop your own assessment. You can create a manifesto—a list of declarative statements your followers can refer to whenever they are unsure about what to do. You can invent a three-pronged formula or a six-step system. While the details of your rock are certainly important, what matters most is that your followers perceive it as the key to unlocking every puzzle they will even encounter in their work or in their lives. Understanding shades of gray might be useful for developing an accurate view of reality, but those who wish to amass influence must learn to traffic in the black and white. Many hype artists hawking thinly researched theories and barely tested cures have derived great benefit from this strategy. If you apply it to something worthwhile, the potential is limitless.
Putting It into Practice • Document your beliefs about the way the world works. Present a manifesto that describes how followers can get what they want out of life—step-by-step and beat-by- beat. • Start your church—an organized grouping whose members share a common identification based on a shared belief in a source of authority and certainty. It can take the form of an institution or club. • Create an assessment. Group people into categories. If you can give people a tool that allows them to define their own identities, they will keep coming back for more. It is easy to build such an assessment now using any of the online quiz-creation platforms out there.