Strands of Genius: Mortgage Bias, Fractional Payments, McSweeney's on Return to the Office
plus our thoughts on: vaccine passports and travel during the pandemic
WRITING FROM | Aix en Provence, France
WORKING ON | A new tool for onboarding team members, which we’ll release this month via The School of Stolen Genius
LOOKING AHEAD
Sept 6-23 | Aix-en-Provence, France
Sept 24-30 | Toulouse, France
Sept 30-Oct 6 | Barcelona, Spain
Oct 6-Nov 2 | United Kingdom
Nov 2-4 | Miami, FL
Nov 4-30 | Mexico
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
Our community meetup next week features Rachel Coady, who is not only a dear friend of ours (she read Dolly Parton’s ‘Wildflowers’ at our wedding), but has also been my (Rosie’s) coach since January of this year. I have always considered myself sure-footed, and decisions are something that have often come easily to me. (And equally, when I had introductory meetings with coaches in the past, the coaches I spoke with seemed confused by our lives and our business, and so much time was spent just trying to explain my starting point, rather than diving into the sticky business.)
But after 2020, I was feeling like I could use someone on my team who could give me some guidance and space for reflection… Someone that wasn’t Faris, hah! I found myself giving Rachel a call, to see if we might be able to work together in a more professional capacity, and it’s been one of the greatest gifts I’ve given myself. I have a note on my phone with all that Rachel and I have spoken about since January, filled with gems. And next week, she’s hosting a Community Meetup for the School of Stolen Genius. I’m beyond thrilled. More details below, and as always, you can email Ashley for an invite if you’re not a member of the School of Stolen Genius and want to see what’s up.
This week, we’re especially thankful for:
Lil Was X, Kindles, castles, goats, guitars, massages, markets, Rachel Coady’s coaching, poke bowls, home-cured salmon, foie gras, French croissants, walks around the city, The Shrink Next Door (podcast), 3 euro wine that tastes like a $100 bottle of California wine, Killer Acid shorts, & YOU.
S C H O O L O F S T O L E N G E N I U S >> H I G H L I G H T S
// SOSG x Rachel Coady | Community Meet Up
Starts Wednesday, September 22, 2021 at 12:00 PM EDT // 5:00 PM GMT
The strategy of a new season: a SOSG Community meetup for Equinox
Transitions are usually at the heart of the problems we need to solve, and they offer us enormous wisdom if we pay attention. Right now, in the northern hemisphere, we’re transitioning from summer into fall. In the south, winter to spring. All of this happening while the continued pandemic often makes any movement or change in our lives seem improbable.
During this community meet up you are invited to an hour of exploration, imagination, and self-reflection on where you’ve been and where you’re going (in work or life) during this season. Please come prepared with something to write with and an open heart and mind. My goal for our time together is that you leave this gathering with a vision of what you’re walking towards, tools to help you on your journey, and a powerful sense of self-renewal for the season ahead.
Rachel Coady built her first career as a brand strategist applying her passions for problem-solving, creative storytelling, and idea building with global clients including Starbucks, Microsoft, GM, and Facebook. Today, Rachel is a trained Co-Active Coach and strategy consultant on a mission to reconnect with the wild, thrive in well-being, and live in purpose while working with individuals, communities, and companies to do the same. You can learn more about her work at www.rachelcoady.com
We have 5 tickets available for Strands readers who aren’t part of SOSG (and haven’t previously received an invite to a SoSG event) - send ashley@geniussteals.co an email if you are interested!
Enroll at http://schoolofstolengeni.us
:: THE LINKS ::
THE SECRET BIAS HIDDEN IN MORTGAGE-APPROVAL ALGORITHMS
Our former client, The Markup, led an investigation into lenders which showed that (holding 17 different factors steady), lenders were 40% more likely to turn down Latino applicants for loans, 50% more likely to deny Asian/Pacific Island applicants, 70% more likely to deny Native American applicants, and 80% more likely to reject Black applicants compared to similar white applicants. Across the entire United States. That’s the headline, but the entire article is worth a read. It’s not limited to lending applications, but to home valuations, too. Perhaps the most disturbing part is that some of these companies use software applications that claim to analyze “without regard to race” but no one is allowed to see the algorithm used by the underwriting software — not even the companies’ regulator, the FHFA. (The Markup)
FRACTIONAL PAYMENTS: HOW FLEXIBLE BUYING OPTIONS AFFECT CONSUMER SPENDING
I’ve been long fascinated with Klarna. They bill themselves as an interest-free path to ownership, using fractional payments. (They’ve got 200k+ stores participating and 60MM customers, who can pick from pay later schemes from 1 week to 30 days. Participating stores have seen an average 44% increase in orders and 68% increase in order volume.) Within this blog post by, ahem, Within (ha), there’s some great thinking around fractional payments more generally, including how brands can leverage the trend, in-store and online. (Within, via David Berkowitz)
HR ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT RETURNING TO THE OFFICE
We’ve always been big fans of McSweeney’s and this post, well, it had us laughing out loud. Satire on remote working, presence vs productivity, open plan offices, vaccination requirements, mask mandates, and more, all available in one all-office email. Read this for a good giggle. (McSweeneys)
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:: WHAT WE’RE THINKING ABOUT: VACCINE PASSPORTS & TRAVELING DURING A PANDEMIC ::
When we headed off to the Dominican Republic at the start of this year, we were just excited to get back on the road. Travel felt exciting, and while wearing a mask an entire travel day was annoying, it felt like a small price to pay to get back on the road.
We knew we’d have to have a negative COVID test to get back into the USA, and so we planned a trip to a local clinic, and again, while it wasn’t fun to do the whole up-the-nose test, or spend part of our day waiting our turn to get tested, we felt like it was a small price to pay to do the thing we loved. And we guessed it was only a matter of months before we’d be able to get vaccinated.
We got back to the USA at the start of May, and got our vaccines, and thought “We’re freeeeeeee!” Two weeks after we were fully vaccinated, we hosted a 32-person weekend at the mountain house. A week later, I officiated my sister’s wedding. A week later, Ashely flew to TN. Masks were not a part of our lives for those few precious weeks.
And then I flew to New York, and the flight required a mask, as did the Subway. I felt a little like we had traveled back in time, and was frustrated. I found myself thinking, “This was not the freedom the vaccines promised!”
But then, I flew back to Tennessee, we hosted a big Fourth of July gathering, and for a few weeks, masks were forgotten. We felt like the vaccine gave us a safety cloak and we went through our days without worry.
We flew to Portugal mid-July, and the long-haul flight with masks was more than a mild annoyance. But we kept up the whole “It’s worth it” mantra. It was worth it, AND, it was also an inconvenience, both uncomfortable and annoying. And yet, the entire flight, the flight attendants would have to remind people to put their masks on, or pull them up over their noses.
Of course, we’d prefer to fly without masks. But we’d also like to do what keeps the most people safe, and that feeling trumps our preference to be comfortable.
Upon arrival into Portugal, we noticed that everyone was wearing masks, everywhere. Inside, most places required masks. But 9 out of 10 people were masked up outside, as well. And there were no nose penises. I don’t know what surprised me more, the masking outside, or the fact that EVERYONE WORE THEIR MASKS CORRECTLY! It was easier to go back to the mask life knowing that we were traveling, and positioning it as the cost of travel.
We learned that we would have to show our EU COVID Passport/QR code to get in to most restaurants, if we wanted to sit inside. Thankfully, everywhere we went also accepted our COVID vaccine cards, or offered admittance if we took a COVID test on site. At this time, the Delta variant was picking up in the news, and we weren’t so sure if our Johnson & Johnson vaccines were that robust, so we were pleased that this was the way the country was handling things…
But also, the safety didn’t inconvenience us. We had our vaccine cards, and we were happy to show them. We wore our masks indoors, but we mostly stayed outdoors.
We flew to Orlando, Florida for an event, and so we found ourselves waiting in Lisbon for a PCR test and results. We wore masks the long haul flight back to the USA, and prayed we wouldn’t get maskne (acne from masks) just before we took the stage. Inconvenient, but worth it.
Upon arrival to our hotel in Orlando, Florida, we were met with signs that said we didn’t have to wear our masks if we were vaccinated. But, we had already discussed this as a couple and decided that we would be wearing masks indoors, unless we were on-stage or eating or in our room. At lunch, a woman asked if she could join me, and I said sure, and then during our conversation she revealed that she was not vaccinated. She assured me she was “respectful” and said she “wasn’t going to be the type of person who coughed all over me.” But we had been sitting across from each other for the better part of a half an hour, and coughing or not, if she had COVID, I probably did, too. I was furious. Isn’t respect about doing the thing that’s best for the larger group, even when it’s inconvenient?!
We went to Disney World, and joked that Mickey Mouse should run for President. Masks were required indoors, and people wore their masks. PROPERLY. Attendants didn’t have to ask people to pull their masks over their noses, they just wore them, as was required.
We flew to France from Orlando, and knew that the French government had begun issuing a ‘pass sanitiere’ for those who had been vaccinated in France. Before our flight, we submitted our COVID vaccine documentation to the government, so that we could be issued one. The site was confusing, but we submitted everything a week before we left.
When we checked in to our United flight, it was operated by Lufthansa. We’d need to go to the airport to be issued our boarding passes. Upon arrival to the airport, they asked us if we had more masks. “Plenty,” we said. “Ok because cloth masks of any kind are not allowed on this flight,” she responded. “Um…. all of our masks are cloth,” we responded. “Well, you’ll need to figure out how to get a KN95 or surgical mask of some sort before you get on the plane, or you won’t be allowed to board,” she said as she checked us in.
I’m not going to lie, I was pretty annoyed at that point. I went back and looked through my emails about flights, and checking in, and there was nothing there that said as much. I went to the Lufthansa website, and clicked on “Traveling and Corona” (which I’m sure I had already visited), and nothing about this disposable mask mandate. I clicked on “Travel Preparations” and scrolled all the way through. Nothing about the mask requirements. I clicked through to “Care and Confidence” and then again to “Boarding & On board” where there is a sentence that says “medical masks are required.” But is this how we’re going to play it, Lufthansa?? It feels like if this is a requirement, the brand should put it a thousand different places, making sure you understand, rather than requiring 4 clicks to scroll down to find a single sentence.
(At this point, I might also mention, that as we were traveling for work, we were traveling in business class, on a long haul flight. It wasn’t cheap. Surely they could have just given us the mask that they require when they gave us our boarding pass?)
We sucked it up and bought to KN95s for $12.50… and mine gave me hives. Yes, really. Where the mask touched my chin and my neck, I had little red bumps that appeared within minutes of putting it on. Cool, cool.
On arrival into Frankfurt, Germany (layover), and at the lounge, and again on our arrival into Marseille, France, we showed our vaccine cards.
However, once we got to Aix en Provence and decided to grab a bite to eat, our plans were foiled. We showed our vaccine cards and explained that the French government had yet to process our pass sanitiere. The woman apologized profusely, but said that restaurants here were not allowed to take paper vaccine passports, and that we would be required to get the pass sanitiere. “No problem, we’ll just sit outside,” we said. She gave us a confused look and said, “No, you cannot. You cannot eat inside or outside without the pass sanitiere,” and went on to explain that the police had been doing spot checks, and restaurants were fined for allowing admittance from anyone without the French pass sanitiere.
We checked on our application, and it hadn’t even progressed from “in process” to “under review.” We had our French friends visit our submission and include a note to ask about our application. No news. We visited the website for the consulate and embassy, which very clearly said, “We cannot issue the pass sanitiere. Only the French government can do so.”
The next day, we visited a pharmacy to see if they would be able to convert our vaccines to the pass sanitiere. Nope.
The pharmacist said, however, we could take a COVID test for 25 euros a person, and that with a negative result, we would be issued a temporary pass valid for 72 hours from the time the test was taken. “You can do that every three days, and you will be OK.”
We’ll have to get a COVID test and temporary pass sanitiere before our travel from Aix to Toulouse at some point. And we’ve told our friends here that we’re happy to go the the test before dinner one night, if they want to eat out.
Instead, we’ve opted to make use of the markets and cook — something we love to do anyway, and something we were excited about before we came. And our friends hosted us in their incredibly lovely Bastide, where we got to meet goats and chickens and take a nighttime swim.
TL; DR
So, where does this leave us? A few notes to sum up my reflection.
Travel is hard. It feels much more difficult than it did in the past, and the process of getting from point A to point B is not so enjoyable. And you’re not out of the woods when you arrive somewhere else either. For those that lack a ‘go with the flow’ attitudes, it’s sure to be even more stressful. To us, though, the inconvenience is worth it.
Everyone/Everywhere has different standards. It’s one thing to have to talk to friends about their vaccine status, but it’s another thing to try to manage different standards by countries, especially when the information is not easy to access. Countries need to make their standards clear; airlines as well.
(We’ve been told the French government is known for being incredibly slow with any kind of paperwork processing and the stories we’ve heard about drivers’ licenses and citizenship have been laughably horrendous. So we’re not expecting that we’ll get the pass sanitiere while we’re here. But, you’d think, considering our travel dates and flights were included, that they would want to process our documentation, so we could eat out, and spend more money in their country!)It’s going to be tough to be an airline brand for the next oh… 1-5 years. When the countries don’t do a good job of relaying information, airlines, as the intermediaries will suffer. If I were an airline, I’d be investing in this area - information dissemination. It’s a pain, as it’s constantly changing, but how amazing would it have been if Lufthansa had automatically submitted my data, including my COVID vaccine data, to the French government when I purchased my ticket?
At this point, I’m ready for a chip, with all my vaccine data. A chip that can be read by all the governments. I’ve been carrying around my yellow fever vaccine passport for years. It’s paper. If I lose it, I’ll need to get another. I’ve used Facebook since it first existed and so I’m convinced the government already knows far more about me than I’d like it to. Delta and Lufthansa both used facial recognition rather than boarding passes to allow us onto flights.
:: AND NOW… OUR PATHS MAY BE DIFFERENT, BUT WE’RE ALL CONNECTED ::
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faris & rosie & ashley | your friends over at geniussteals.co
@faris is always tweeting
@rosieyakob hangs out on instagram
@ashley also writes for deaf, tattooed & employed
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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
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