Review The Playbook Book – How to deny science, sell lies, and make a killing in the corporate world
Written as a guidebook for corporate players, The Playbook by Jennifer Jacquet published by Penguin Random House looks at the ways in which corporate leaders can, and do, respond to challenges created by ‘facts’.
The problem with facts is that they get in the way of corporate objectives and every person working in a corporate environment should be aware of the different strategies which can be used to overcome them. To do that Jennifer Jacquet has produced a playbook which shows how to do that and, significantly, how it has been done throughout the history of corporations.
‘This document contains sensitive information and is not meant for distribution’ is the lead into The Playbook Book which shows exactly how corporations have responded to scientific knowledge which does not correspond to their principal, indeed sole, objective, which is to make profit.
Tobacco is an obvious example where the objectives of companies can run counter to scientific evidence which shows the danger of the use of tobacco. Asbestos is another example, as is lead in paint and petroleum. The supreme example is climate change. How can corporations whose objective is to make money through products which endanger the climate compete with the science which show what they are doing?
The Playbook Book shows how corporations can and do compete in the public domain to counter the arguments of science. In essence, carry out a four-pronged strategy, “1) challenge the problem, 2) challenge causation. 3) challenge the messenger, and 4) challenge the policy”.
There are two main points which underlie this book. The first is the corporations must make, and increase, profit. It is their sole reason for existing. Companies and corporations do not have a moral ethos, they do not have social concerns, they have a profit motive.
Of course, sometimes the facts can get in the way of making a good profit and scientists can produce evidence which might get in the way of your objective. Thus, the second point of the book, “Know that any standard of scientific evidence can be disputed.”
By producing a corporate guide to managing the truth, Jennifer Jacquet has produced a clear and concise guide to how to manage negative information. It is both funny and concerning. Many of the examples used are so plain that it is a wonder people fall for this distortion of truth – but we do.
The Playbook is a book to be read if you have a concern about how corporations can overcome scientific evidence and ignore social harm to increase their gain. I suspect it is also a book which will be read by many people within those corporations who are seeking a clear description of how to handle the uncomfortable truth.
The Playbook is something that you can enjoy as being very funny, until you realise it is not.
