In today’s world, we are bombarded by noise, we are bombarded by information, and we are bombarded by “expertise.” In today’s world of connectivity and a social media, where everyone has a platform, it is hard to discern where to turn and most certainly whom to turn to for information, especially unbiased information that is purposely driven for the sole intention of furthering a cause, a purpose, an industry, others, or even humankind.

We now live in a world where everyone is a subject matter “expert” and it is up to the reader, the viewer, the consumer, or the attendee to determine the accuracy of someone’s self-proclaimed expertise. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “It is unwise to be sure of one’s own wisdom.” Gandhi, whom most people in the world know by name, was a lawyer, whose life, curiosity, calling, and purpose took him from India, to London, to South Africa, and back to India. What he learned along the path of his life not only changed India, it changed the world. The very definition of how one voice, one person, standing when no one else is, can truly change the world. Mahatma Gandhi could have easily followed everything and everyone that was going on around it him. He was surrounded by colonialism every single place he went and lived. Rather than subscribe to the points of view of those that dominated the world, he quietly stood up and was imprisoned for (six) years, yet his movement of satyagraha could not be silenced; instead, it flourished. “Mahatma,” a beautiful honorific title, means “great soul.” Do we all, as human beings, have the ability to have our own voice, to choose what we want to listen to, and more importantly, have the ability to change, not just ourselves, but everything around us? Yes, absolutely, but we must be willing to stand up, stand alone at times, and listen to rhythm of our hearts.

In our great industry, let’s say if I just write about printing and packaging, one could feel very much like a child lost in a dense forest wondering where to turn—if you read the news of the industry every day, see the postings on social media, see all the events around the world, and perhaps even suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out). There are messages and musings everywhere. If we specifically speak about color management, now, we are talking about something that is specific, something that greatly impacts efficiency and profitability, something that affects the supply chain top-to-bottom, and something that touches every point in the supply chain. There are so many opinions in the world of color management that perhaps it should be named “ego management.” Where does color management begin? It begins at design intent. What is done from design through prepress all the way through production must be aligned or there is chaos/undesirable product/unusable product and what you are left with is fingers pointing everywhere. Accountability is on the run and what happens more often than not, is that rather than things being aligned, someone is blamed and takes the fall for the outcome. The loudest voice often wins, the biggest coffers often win because others have so much to lose, and nothing is solved.