Give Tim Armstrong credit for doing what President Obama could not. In just one day he managed to humanize the healthcare debate and make it topic number one in nearly everyone’s conversation.
There were many reasons for this, um, achievement: An incredibly inept turn of phrase, a dignified and articulate mother, and an accommodating news cycle that carried the story throughout the weekend and beyond.
Armstrong’s comments ignited a firestorm and firmly cemented his reputation as a communication blunderer. But he deserves credit for a couple of achievements, however inadvertent they might be.
First, Armstrong destroyed a few of the convenient props that many CEOs have used to communicate cutbacks in employee benefits even as they’re reporting tidy profits.
Obamacare is a favorite bogeyman. It’s being blamed for everything from driving diners out of fast-food eateries to creating a nation of stay-at-home slackers. And Mr. Armstrong was quick to hop on the bandwagon, saying Obamacare’s costs had to be absorbed by employees. Mr. Armstrong actually went one better, cutting retirement contributions to ‘pay’ for healthcare costs.
The other familiar theme Mr. Armstrong used was singling out individual health care consumers as the source of the problem. Whether it’s “distressed babies,” the elderly or those with chronic medical conditions, the subtle message is: things would be great if we could only find a way for someone else to deal with ‘those people.’
Blaming “takers” didn’t work for Mitt Romney, and it didn’t work for Mr. Armstrong, either.
The second of Mr. Armstrong’s achievements was that he showed you can’t dismiss pay and benefit issues as “HR stuff” that isn’t of strategic importance. These issues define a CEO’s leadership and a company’s brand. Perhaps now they will get more attention from the board of directors, alongside acquisitions, capital spending and whining about regulation and taxes.
Last, Mr. Armstrong reminded us that there are real issues at stake about the kind of society we are creating. Are we building companies that appropriately share gains and risks among shareholders, management and workers? Who has the right to know the most intimate details of a family’s health?
Mr. Armstrong didn’t answer any of these questions, but at least we are talking about them a little more now. So, thank you, Tim Armstrong.