What are these tattoos really saying?

How Not to Get Lost in the World of Flashy Fakes

MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, is a notorious criminal gang operating primarily in the USA and Central America. They're famous, or (rather infamous) for their extreme violence and being often heavily tattooed. These markings include symbols and letters such as “MS”, “Salvatrucha”, the devil's horns, and the number 13 (the letter M is the thirteenth letter of the alphabet). The aren’t just for looking cool or tough; they mean a whole lot more. Each one tells a story about what the person has done or how loyal they are to the gang.

One of the most striking aspects of MS-13 is their initiation ritual, the "13-second beatdown." As brutal as it sounds, this initiation involves new recruits being beaten by existing gang members for exactly 13 seconds. It's a harsh way of proving one's resilience and commitment to the gang's values. The tattoos that members earn afterward are not just for show; they carry the weight of this experience and commitment.

Now, I don't want to educate you about gang rituals and their lifestyle. I'm not a fan of those activities myself, but my point here is that these tattoos have meaning. You have to go through their initiation ritual or even commit a serious crime (in some regions that may be a murder) to “earn” them. There’s a history going well beyond the tattoos— and even if it's a really bad thing, they prove and mean something.

At the same time, if you live in Paris, you can save a photo of this tattoo on your phone and go to the nearest studio to have it done. A hundred euros less in your pocket, and you end up with the same artwork, but beyond the visual aspect, it holds absolutely no meaning.

We live in a world where we are often "charmed" by various certificates, awards, job titles, , university diplomas or past professional experience. However, we rarely ask ourselves what they actually mean. Does what we expect really lie behind the guise of a given "certificate"? Or whether all individuals working under a specific job title will deliver the same?

Take a look at many web forums. Reading different posts, you may quickly find that people are far more interested in passing an exam than actually acquiring knowledge or developing thinking habits that will allow them to pass that exam.

In a similar vein, in our professional life, we’re mostly focused on job titles without much thought about what they really mean in terms of skills or experience we gain, as if they would automatically reflect our value in society. At the same time, when the work required for this job needs to be done, they lean back and hesitate to take any action or responsibility.

I want to become a senior product manager, but I'm not really keen on going through user interviews to become an expert on the problem my company solves. I want to become a sales director, but I'm not necessarily eager to deal with people problems and emotions. I want to be a CEO or part of the management board, but I don't want to work on the vision and strategy of the company; I just want to deal with operational issues.

As Benicio Del Toro rightly stated in the movie 'The Way of the Gun':

"These days, they want to be criminals more than they want to commit crime."

I remember when one of the companies I worked for decided to set up a new department focused on an activity that was completely different from what we were doing at the time. Since we were then considered a team with limited capabilities and sales awareness, a consultant was hired to establish the sales process, lead to the first sale, and change the mindset in our heads.

The guy was presented as somebody who had worked with all the top IT companies on their sales, resulting in these companies achieving massive success in the market (they grew substantially). What's more, he served on the management board, so he understood the situation not only from the sales perspective but also from the standpoint of other departments within the company. Additionally, he was recommended and 'appointed' by the CEO, so nobody dared to even dispute the validity of this move. Truth be told, at that point in my life, I also had too little experience to even engage in a debate.

He began his adventure with a high-level story of how the world is changing, emphasizing that the most important thing is to deliver value and do it like Apple - you have to build in a way that attracts customers and makes them happy to collaborate with us.

Everything he said seemed to make sense.

Additionally, we heard that we are unique and there is no company like ours anywhere in the world (so why do any research or benchmarking if we are alone in this ocean?). Of course, there was no discussion about the market or customers.

No, we started with the website... if you want to be professional in the modern world, you must have a website. And it cannot be built on ordinary tools; it must also have professional photos.

Months passed, along with the paid hours.

Ultimately, cornered by the team, he made one phone call that went terribly; the client hung up after 30 seconds. We all looked confused - not only did he lose us the client, but he also had trouble with the English language.