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Creative StudiesThe show and newsletter that audits brands re-imagining what it means to be a brand in the 21st Century. Written and produced by Geoffrey Colon, host of the Disruptive FM podcast, author of the book Disruptive Marketing (2016), executive producer of... Author: Geoffrey Colon
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Revenge of the Humanities?
Thursday, 2 April, 2026
Tech bros and their Patagonia vests have reigned for quite a long time in the culture of business. We’re easily past the dawn of the era when Windows 95 debuted some 30 years ago. As we know, this swept in a whole new way to organize, work, live and function in the world of work, and life. It ultimately ushered in social media platforms, online advertising and a number of digital innovations. The fact you are checking your Slack messages in between reading/listening/viewing this is one example of a shift that occurred as a result of tech’s domination for several decades. Usher in on top of this that the hottest religion of late has been the gospel of AI. But are we missing a pull in a different direction that could impact the world of business slowly and ultimately change it in ways we don’t hear about on LinkedIn or CNBC? It feels like the recent AI bubble beginning to deflate shows that there is change in the atmosphere. Mass layoffs, lack of jobs, offshoring, nearshoring and a number of other workplace trends are leading to new ways to organize in addition to new business solutions looking beyond the tech bubble. Much of that taking place in real life (IRL) scenarios again.Could the next wave of businesses being formed now in 2026 possibly be way more balanced than the current model due to an injection of humanist thinking over pure tech solutionism? The Bezos, Musk, Zuck approaches (which were just updated versions of a Jack Welchian philosophy) might be looked at in five short years as “cooked” or performed strictly by “fossil corporations.” Change must occur if labor projections showing a mass shortage of workers are correct. Why? If we understand that the coming years will not enjoy the abundance of workers that past decades did, and yet we have a scarcity of solutions that help us with the how but not the what, then everyone’s approach to the labor market will need to change. This is leading to two opposing forces in the business world. One that is THX-1138 meets Blade Runner meets Minority Report themed vs. another Star Trek meets The Orville more humanist approach theme that puts more emphasis on stakeholders over the statistical rank and yank, automate everything, you’re just a human capital asset approach.Tech solutionism failing is possibly a signal we’re at the end stage of 80 years of neoliberalism. The consequences of prosperity it promised has led to austerity. This is now slowly dismantling as we see the beginning of the end of marketplaces. We cannot “spend” or “automate” our way to a free society it appears. As entrepreneurialism gave way to managerialism we are seeing zero innovation to the problems we face. Markets are not neutral and people are fed up with the crushing of the public sector. We need a mixture of humanism meets futurism as we straddle an old operating system with a new one. This means we need more people who understand and study the humanities as a life learning lesson mission. Who use it as a way to unlock curiosity. The humanities will help give us three elements currently missing from present day tech solutionist styled business leadership.1. A better understanding of people.Humanities fields like history, literature, sociology, and philosophy train people to understand human behavior, motivations, culture and context. This translates to stronger insight and empathy,more inclusive and effective leadership andbetter communication across cultures and teams.2. Stronger ethical judgment and long-term thinking.Right now everyone just thinks in quarterly profit motives. The humanities push us to ask should we? Not simply can we?History has constant reminders for leaders of what happens when short-term profit, cough, Enron, cough, overrides ethical responsibility. Just take a look around us right now. Do we really like this world we’ve designed?3. Clearer communication and persuasive storytelling.Writing, rhetoric, and narrative analysis are core humanities skills.A great idea doesn’t matter if no one understands or believes in that idea. The humanities helps ideas make an impact.Note: The humanities don’t replace technical or financial skills. They balance and amplify them by making businesses more human, ethical, and persuasive.We’ve over-indexed to be either all technical and all financial but not at all human. Not at all caring. And that’s showing now in the larger business leadership world. Things ebb and flow and humans seem to be reacting now in ways that are showcasing the need to put people back in the priority column and not treat us like we’re some metric in a P/L spreadsheet.Iceberg ahead. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit creativestudies.substack.com
