afordrunning

As the end of 2009 has come and we are just getting into Twenty-Ten I wanted to take this moment to just say, Thank You.

I challenge everyone this year to say it more often and need it less. The more you thank others and expect it less frequently – the faster it will become a part of who you are, and not just something you say. Gratitude is an attitude…and a vastly beneficial one to boot.

Thank You is one of the most powerful phrases you can use to establish yourself, not only as a person who appreciates good effort and has some aptitude of manners – but a being with a depth of understanding into human behavior itself. Consider, who doesn’t like to hear those words?

So thank you – for reading this, for being a curious person, for keeping a connection with me, and for so many more things I’m sure I would love to know about you. You don’t need me to say, but I will anyway – Thank You.

Next, I’m personally gonna work on “You’re Welcome”…and meaning it.

Want to be around in the next few years? Get small. Not “Steve Martin small” but smaller than you are right now. I’m working on large thinking and smaller scale – can I do what I want to do with the current set of circumstances and limited to no funds? Do we need 6 people in this meeting when only two of them will actually do the work?

Not only does it make sense from an economic standpoint, but it also stands to reason that you’ll have less grumbling and complaining if your back is against the grindstone.

Ever been to a elementary school play? Went to one a couple of weeks ago and it had many parallels to some work environments I have been in. First of all, it had my kid in it – so some parts were decent (actually was a little girl who could sing her ass off), but for the most part it sucked eggs! Here’s why: bad lighting, no discernible plot line (I know there was one, it just wasn’t discernible), crappy acoustics, poor performance, too long, and everyone got to say something. Even the janitor had a line I think.

This is why most presentations I have seen over the last few years fail. Too long, unclear direction, bad timing and performance – and we make the mistake of having everyone talk.

If they COULD have (I know why they didn’t) let that little girl sing three numbers and most of the other children be rocks or back-up it would have been killer. I think everyone would have left better KNOWING what they saw, who rocked their socks off, and where their kid stood in their chances to potentially win a Tony one day.

Just like that play we should be prepared to play the non-speaking role sometimes in our own work – and maybe suggest when other children (coworkers) should be the rocks….hmmm now that I think about it – sometimes you are the rock sometimes the rock-star.

if the marketplace had street signs, 2009 would be marked with yield, one way, and caution signage. i look forward to the day when our signs change to “men at work”, “exit”, and “no u-turn”.

Talking with some friends the other day and hit upon the realization that I don’t want my children to grow up not understanding competition. Let me back up.

Modern sports programs that cater to kids from 5 to whatever teach our children to not keep score. The reasons for this are varied and in many cases valid, but extremely skewed when it comes to passing on quality-life lessons. Realizing that the different levels between kids at this age can be fairly drastic – but just like real life – we don’t always get the opportunity to compete with people who are on our level.

Adults are forced out into the world to fend for themselves, try to win over people, and influence others toward their means – and frankly teaching our children to “play nice” is misleading. In real life no one is waiting for you to shoot the basket without trying to block it first. And frankly, kids are keeping score for the most part anyway. Somebody wins, somebody loses – everyone learns.

Got a chance to listen to Alex Bogusky talk about advertising, his philosophy, and life in general and was duly impressed. Not just his resume in this field, but his candor, his honesty, and open conversation was compelling. 

Bogusky said that since he has started in advertising the industry has always projected the demise of the business. He wondered why the people who make up this industry are so cynical and self-loathing? My favorite line he stated yesterday “We can’t seem to wait until we are all out of business.”

On that note he said their theme at CP+B was “Delusional Positivity”. When someone in the crowd asked how they dealt with not winning a pitch, he countered we’ve never lost a pitch (silence) clients have decided to go in another direction, and we had a good learning experience…but we’ve never lost a pitch. 

This fits my personal brand 90% of the time – occasionally ”Abject Reality” sets in and I realign myself with where I think I should go.

Look at that butterfly – isn’t it pretty, I wonder if it has a mother? Do you think styrofoam coffins would be a good idea? Where do you buy fishnet t-shirts these days?

Ok, ok – back to work…what were we talking about? Oh yeah, business. Let’s consider then the plight of our client as we address the needs they have in the 22 century pertaining to the growing trend in mullet chops. 

Speaking of chops – did anyone watch Kung Fu Theater Saturday? That flying monkey chop was the killer move wasn’t it? That client we met last week had a pet monkey as a child. That’s weird, I had a dream once that a monkey drove me to the airport in a Hummer….

So the life of a creative ADHD goes…my next post is going to be about FOCUS – as soon as I get clarity and write it.

“Analog will continue to struggle with digital until it no longer cares if it loses the old game.”

Read an article today about how analog is getting killed by digital formats in every business from magazines, to newspapers, and finally junk mail, uhm I mean direct mail.

Dear analog – let go! It’s over. If you want to stop struggling with the analog vs digital argument – go for something that digital has yet to crack you over the head with – artistic appeal. You are going down in the current business model…drop it quickly. Hire some wild graphic artists, outsource the reporting or go for ORIGINAL CONTENT with drastic changes to the model.

Create something people would be crazy to throw away, like information that could pass as art.

Do you go to a lot of conferences? Industry standards where people who have seen each other for the last several years mingle, drink, talk about their respective organizations and the people they have in common – you know a live version of Linkedin.com. 

Well, I have been to like 6 conferences this year and can tell you that they have all been different than they were last year. Other than the typical comments like; “Seems smaller than last year”, “Less participants”, “Projections are off”, and “What time is the midget rodeo?” the other comments I have heard have been, “I am connecting with people in a much more meaningful way.” Deeper conversations, more opportunities for solutions and a clear understanding that nobody is at these things is there for a massive boondoggle.

Advice to conference participants and coordinators – make the most of your time and the opportunity people are paying you for.

Thanks to Brian F. for sending me this article. Pulitzer Prize winner Maureen Dowd sits down with the creators of Twitter to get their spin on their annoying creation (her words). Even though I think Miss Dowd intends the article to be funny her first question stuck in my crawl and I had to express my opinion of what I think is a rampant issue today. “I sat down with Biz Stone, 35, and Evan Williams, 37, and asked them to justify themselves.”

Justify yourself? Everyone might take a minute to think about how they would justify themselves. Most of the people I know would go straight to the family, beliefs, community section of their bios.

• I have a good family, my spouse/kids/parents/siblings love me? 
• I am connected to the Universe in some eternal way?
• I support my local community, and volunteer to help people out?

Ok, that’s done…now do your work. 

• I contribute to the economy through participation in business? 
• I make my company and it’s co-workers better?
• I provide a vital role in bringing our product/service to market? 

Even if you could justify yourself, why should you?  Why should you even answer? I realize Ms. Dowd is busy and her readers won’t give her too long to make a point in her narrative, but “How do you justify yourself?” strikes me as sophomoric. Our answer should be…I don’t? If you can use what I do, then bonus. But justifying yourself to anyone doesn’t prove your worth, it your diminishes life. Putting what we do in a box and breaking it down to the most digestable bites so the lowest common denominator can rate your importance, and move on takes all the fun/whimsy/and passion out of what we are and who we are. 

Take a minute…this isn’t about Twitter or a Pulitzer Prize winning author – it’s about you and me, and eternally we are worth so much more than justification. 

“We’re trying to get it done, rather than get it right.”

The problem with our economic/business structures today is that organizations seem to be dropping employees left and right, yet keeping the same amount of expectations regarding output for work. Everyone in any management position understands that DEMAND for resources, not just money is tight! The fact that employees are most likely maxed-out is not surprising.

We have to take into consideration that if we continue to push our people without understanding what the outcome could/should be – then we are potentially just checking things off our to-do-list and not actually doing things RIGHT. If whatever you are doing is worth the activity- then why not take the time, and the effort to fight for it to be done right? Otherwise we are performing the same tasks as an Excel spreadsheet. FIGHT for the RIGHT thing to do.

Don't Avoid the Elephant in the Room

If you have ever had a problem inside any organization you were affiliated with I bet at some point you knew exactly what they were and couldn’t or didn’t deal with them. Let me guess, the situation was difficult? The storyline complex, the people in charge mentally unstable? It was a Mexican Soap Opera?

No matter…it’s the same for me, you, and everyone. We often avoid our problems and quickly move past them, instead we should run straight at them. Not in a self-flagellation beat down way, but with solution-oriented cause and effect discipline. 

Require ourselves to: Repair/Replace/Refund/or Rebuild. More on this later…

“I remain an Unrealist in a retail world, and remain eternally thankful for it.” 

There is a tremendous amount of fear-mongering occurring in the business-sphere today. Don’t get me wrong, things are way different than they have ever been. People are losing jobs at record rates since TGD (the great depression), business leaders are running and desperate, but the amount of chaos being absorbed by regular people through news and reports is more than most can handle. For example, saw a report about a janitor opening in Ohio having several thousand applicants.

All in all it seems to be dire on all fronts, and that is why I gave a speech last week about creating a small strategy of how to get ourselves out of this rut of negative influence and into a position of excitement and news in our brands. It seems completely counterintuitive to what is happening in the marketplace, and that is the genius/madness that makes it work!

As the Chief Insights Officer of an advertising company I often get asked the question…”What’s next?”

I don’t get asked from a mountaintop perspective, “Oh wise one with massive title and funny facial hair, what is the future?”, rather from a what could we use as fodder for our next campaign/product ideation/strategy session/etc. Often I/we (there is a WHOLE TEAM working the Insight Sphere over here) need more time to narrow the parameters, but one thing is for sure. Whatever it is…it won’t be finished. The notion will need a layer of professional perspective that most naturally comes from a insider who understands how to make traction for their or a client’s business. 

The jump off, the launch pad, the aha moment is the INSIGHT. The real work begins after we find a moment of inspiration in a sea of sameness. chaos, or parity. The core truth is often one of only a couple of basic human emotions or behaviors. The nuance and application takes on multiple messages/forms/opportunities that should truly drive differentiation in business, or the marketplace. In my opinion an Insight has no ego.

It is a piece of information, a truth that is extendable to others through simile, understanding, or a shared narrative. And yes, it took a powerful observation to uncover the good ones…someone always looking for what’s missing…but without the “killer app” it could always remain…what’s missing. So, take the insights you glean from whatever or wherever and apply the magic that allows the metamorphosis to begin. 

Also…I really appreciate that the best ideas come from a connected group of people. We hit one yesterday that flipped my wig and I can’t even remember who said it, which part came from who, and that is the best part. A good insight has no memory to maintain, no ego to boost, no nerves to calm.

I would much rather move swiftly than have exclusive rights to anything. Exclusivity gives one a fleeting glimpse of ownership, when I would much rather be faster on the draw. You can own it, I’ll hit it first and get a feel then make it mine later on down the path.