Inactionable

The now-classic saying “drinking the Kool-Aid” has come into my life a couple of times in the past couple of weeks, mainly as people discussed the job prospects they have lined up and the cult-like nature that many of the big firms display.  Having worked at McKinsey, I can confirm that it’s a common phrase among early tenure folk as they struggle with their initial skepticism about the all-encompassing way the job can take over your life.  With that said, I thought it might be time to share an interesting story I have about the phrase.

Back in early November 2008 (you’ll soon know why I remember the timing so specifically), I hopped on my routine 7:00 am flight from DC to Houston on Monday morning.  After sleeping for the first hour, I woke up and sleepily looked over at the guy next to me.  Being a poker player for so long had trained me to pick up small details and put them together so it clicked in my head that the plane ticket he was using as a bookmark and the book that he was reading were both marked Charles Krause.  Interesting.  If you know me, you’ll be completely unsurprised to know that I immediately struck up a conversation.

Charles, it turned out, was on his way out to California for a memorial of the 30th anniversary of the famed Jonestown massacre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown).  He had been the Washington Post foreign correspondent who traveled down to Guyana with Congressman Leo Ryan to investigate, an action that some say tripped the powder keg and led to the mass suicide.  Ryan had been assassinated and much of the rest of the contingent (including Krause and Ryan’s aide Jackie Speier*) had been shot by Jones’ followers.  Despite his injuries, Charles still faithfully investigated the site the next day (after the mass suicide) and filed the first report on the tragedy.  According to Charles, the phrase ‘drinking the Kool-Aid’ comes from the story that he filed.

Now the amazing part of the story is what I learned next.  Kool-Aid was not the drink that was consumed by the Jonestown folk.  The real drink was grape Flavor-Aid, but that didn’t sound as good in the story.  Hence, because of a catchier name, Kool-Aid will live on with free marketing while Flavor-Aid languishes wherever it currently is (when’s the last time Flavor-Aid ever came up in a conversation?).  Obviously it associates them with a negative event, but even so, how much do you think Kool-Aid would have paid for that type of enduring publicity?  It makes you think of the famous PT Barnum quote (“I don’t care what they say about me, just make sure they spell my name right!”), doesn’t it?

*- In a fascinating part of the story, Speier eventually became the congresswoman the same district.