UAW On Strike, Feedforward, And Other 2Buts News

Issue #38 of The Two But Rule

Official United Auto Workers Logo

Happy Monday, fellow ButHeads. I hope those of you observing had a good Rosh Hashanah. Happy New Year.

Well! Our ranks really grew this week, following the announcement of the book presale and the special offer to be the one who gets my Freewrite Traveler. Memberships to 2buts.com are up by a lot. Let’s keep it going!

This is the week I’ll be archiving all the old issues on 2Buts.com. Paid subscribers will still get access, of course. And remember — if you don’t want to submit to the standard Substack rates, here’s a ‘secret’ page with more options that should meet any budget. And now…

Two Buts In The News

Two stories caught the attention of my 2Buts news scanner this week. The first, I think, we can handle by just adding a 2But to an obvious failure to consider the immediate consequences of something new coming out of some HR departments.

The second story, one on the current United Auto Workers strike, will require hundreds of buts to address. I only hope at least a few negotiators for both the UAW and industry executives have been learning how to apply the Two But Rule.

Feedforward — A 1But Interrupt

If you’re an NPR listener, you might have caught a segment on Sunday’s, “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me,” where they told a story based on a Wall Street Journal article by reporters Alexandra Bruel and Lindsay Ellis called:

“Bosses Say ‘Feedback’ Is Too Scary for Some Workers, So They Use This Word Instead.”

The word? Feedforward.

Bruel and Ellis report that HR experts are observing young workers dreading “feedback” sessions. Hence the change to the more positive-sounding word, “feedforward.” Corporate speaker Joe Hirsh suggests the obvious: feedback conjures up anxiety and is backward looking rather than forward looking. Well…the word does include “back,” so…sure?

OK — clearly this played right into one of humanity’s favorite cultural bloodsports: “Make fun of other generations.” It reinforces the facile notion that young people are spineless crybabies while allowing those same young people to casually return-serve with, “OK Boomer.”

Here’s the thing. The story — or rather, the story about the story — got a few things wrong, and it missed what any good practitioner of the Two But Rule would spot right away.