This week’s non-required thinking on reputation, business, and culture from Hirsch Leatherwood.

Out of Scope Issue #123: Florida, man….

Aug 11, 2023

Happy Friday! This week saw the end of Taylor Swift’s first Eras Tour Era. As always, more on her later. But first...

📡ON OUR RADAR

NPR calls the war in Ukraine “the most documented war ever.” Unlike past media-seizing conflicts, including Vietnam and the Arab Spring, smartphones are playing an excise role in both documenting combat, and guiding rebuild efforts.
As the debate surrounding the financial value of ESG initiatives continues, S&P will no longer rank corporate borrowers on the 1-5 ESG ranking scale it initiated in 2021. It will still provide written analyses, but will not assign numerical grades. Moody’s will continue to use the 1-5 scale.
Hot strike summer continues. Workers in Los Angeles organized this week, with municipal employees calling a 24-hour strike, citing overwork in the wake of post-pandemic labor shortages, and hospitality workers asking Taylor Swift to throw her star power behind their strike. Meanwhile, the UPS union successfully negotiated a $25,000 raise in annual salary for full-time drivers.

💡ON OUR MINDS: Florida’s Rep

Florida public schools, colleges, and universities are facing record-high staff resignations and job vacancies as scholars flee the state.
As a part of a larger anti-progressive statewide campaign levied by 2024 hopeful Gov. Ron DeSantis, many institutions of learning have been overhauled as the governor legislates against supposed “woke”-friendly learning environments.
Recent points of contention prompting these resignations include his administration rolling back the rights of LGBTQ+ students, banning many DEI programs, and withdrawing a right to arbitration, one formerly guaranteed to disgruntled Florida educators.
Whether or not DeSantis’ actions score him some points as he attempts to course-correct a flailing presidential campaign, it is clear his plans are building a larger reputation problem for his home state.
Other cracks are starting to show, suggesting that in DeSantis’ pursuit of loftier offices, he might just leave Florida with some long-standing PR problems—and not the lighter-hearted kind usually headlined by Florida Man.

🥊QUICK HITS:

In case you missed these reads.

The “crime train” narrative continues to derail transit expansion plans in the US.
Is Toronto a future global AI hub? Only time will tell, but with an influx of talent, startups, and capital flowing North, it might just give Silicon Valley a run for its money.
Quiet-quitting isn’t just taking workplaces by storm, it’s going to the chapel! Gen Xers are leading historic drop-offs in church attendance and involvement.

Thanks for reading,

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