TTAC Contest: Turn GM Around In Ten Words Or Less: The Results

With an ambitious goal and over 100 entries, judging today’s contest wasn’t easy. But a big, beautiful copy of “The Art And Colour Of GM” has to go to someone, so it’s decision time. We saw a broad range of approaches to the challenge, from the nostalgic (Build a time machine so you can undo past mistakes), to the painfully obvious (It can not be explained in 10 words or less), and from the lyrical (Fatten your animal for sacrifice, but keep your muse slender), to the symmetrical (Screw Creditors, Bust Unions, Modular Car Platform, One Truck Platform). We even had a few answers that you just know were mentioned at the Senate Republican caucus meetings (sell everything and give the money back to the shareholders) and GM-UAW strategy sessions (Hold gun to governments head, “BUY GM OR ELSE!”). One comment, however, stood out.

Holydonut’s assesment that

No simple answer

was not only poignant and concise, it also conformed perfectly to the ancient Japanese haiku form. And like any good haiku, it compresses a situation of immense complexity into a few evocative lines.

Dedication to the art, craft and business of building and selling vehicles is, sadly, not something which can take hold in a culture as large as GM’s overnight. No matter how much tax money is at stake. The gallery of photos from our prize book prove that GM (or at the very least, it’s divisions) once had this dedication. Regaining it will require a vastness of change and a fullness of rebirth that would be difficult to encapsulate in any amount of words. And situations like this are why haiku was invented in the first place.

So, Holydonut, congratulations and check your email. You’ve got a sweet new coffee table book on the way.