Posts tagged learning
national program to support Childhood Curiosity
Jul 27th
So I saw a TV commercial encouraging maintaining arts/music in schools curriculum the other day. I didn’t pay much attention to the details and I am not really a government program gwonk (whatever that is) but I assume someone in their infinite wisdom is cutting money supporting these things in schools.
Well, in general, I would say I would jump on this soapbox.
But.
I won’t because of ignorance with regard to the choice. Huh? If I support this, does funding get cut from some other children’s education program? As I stated I am not a policy gwonk so I don’t really know how these things work.
But.
Here is what I do know.
Every child is born curious.
And every child has an unopened box of curiosity which has a key to open it.
And I do know every child needs a different key to open it.
For me it was words. Words in songs. Words in books. Whatever. I listened to the radio music incessantly and read every Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy book I could get my hands on. Somewhere in elementary school a teacher read us Tolkien’s The Hobbit during reading hour. (I couldn’t wait to be able to read it on my own.)
For others I assume it’s something else.
The stars and planets and space.
Playing an instrument.
Understanding what makes things run and go.
How do things live.
Why is the grass green and the sky blue.
Crap like that.
Frankly I don’t care about any individual program (music, math, social studies, chemistry, etc.).
What I care about is giving children a box of keys and let them figure out what opens their curiosity box. And then making sure that curiosity never grows hungry. That it can be fed for as long as they want to keep eating. Curiosity will never have an obesity issue .. there should be an all-you-can-eat buffet 24-7 for kids.
Is that realistic? Once again, frankly, I don’t care.
This is me being unreasonable. Having music fight for money from sciences who is trying to make sure they have money from machine shop/woodworking is kinda nuts. You are choosing among the children (literally and figuratively).
So while I am okay with a TV commercial fighting for something like music in schools I am not okay that money has to be spent on the fight (versus actually using the money for feeding kid’s curiosity).
This is not “no child left behind” (although I guess if I did some research I could be really sure about that statement).
In fact, I read somewhere that inadvertently the ‘no child left behind’ program kind of created the arts cutback situation because funds had to be diverted to sciences & math to insure the program met its goals (I don’t think anyone planned it to work that way).
Heck. President Obama announced a $250 million initiative to train math and science teachers and help meet his goal of pushing America’s students from the middle to the top of the pack in those subjects in the next decade. Obama said the $250 million in public and private investments for his “Educate to Innovate” campaign will help train more than 100,000 teachers and prepare more than 10,000 new educators in the next five years. I am all for that also. Just not at the expense of other curriculum options students could select.
Why do we have to choose one over the other? (I guess that is where I get stuck on this issue)
So. What would I do? (being the unreasonable guy I am)
Use that 250 million to train Curiosity Fulfillment teachers. Create a Curiosity Fund and go get stuff in front of kids. And keep shoving it at them until they find something they gravitate to. The only reason (in my opinion) kids “give up” in school is because they just don’t find anything relevant to them. I am NOT suggesting we should ignore a well rounded education (they do need to know 2 and 2 is 4 and stuff like that) but give them a “hook.” Something to hold on to. Something that inspires them to want to know more.
There you go – a National Childhood Curiosity Program. Educating to feed Curiosity.
a rant on ad agencies differentiation: part 1 the missed opportunities
Jul 25th
So. I have managed advertising agencies, I have been business development director at agencies and I have talked with so many business owners about advertising agencies as well as search consultants (kind of like executive search people for businesses looking for agencies) that I think I have seen pretty much every angle any agency has ever taken to differentiate themselves.
And I think any sane person who stuck their head into this padded room advertising agencies live in would suggest the occupants exhibit some relatively insane behavior patterns on occasion.
Look. No matter how you slice it my friend Luke Sullivan said it best “it’s all about the work.” An agency both has the work and can do the work or they don’t and they can’t (but are trying to convince everyone they do and can).
We in the agency business hate admitting it’s “the work” because then it makes us sound like a manufacturing plant cranking out widgets. Well. Tough nooogies (I love typing that). Agencies are what they produce. Simple as that.
Do they produce ideas (so they can claim they are ‘thinking agencies’)? No.
Those are consulting firms (who typically in my harsh point of view have absolutely no value to the world because they shirk the responsibility of the actual ‘doing the work’ once they have the insight/idea).
Anyway.
Advertising agencies produce “tangible creativity” based on an idea.
Doesn’t mean you should be any dumber because you shamelessly state it’s the work (cause if you don’t have the insight or the idea you ain’t gonna produce ‘the work’ anyway).
A person I admire said “well, our work sells shit.” That works for me too.
Does it mean they do crappy work?
Nope. Just that if you come to them and they develop work for you it will … well .. work.
Anyway.
Differentiation.
So most agencies that can do the work fall into three categories.
- Ones known for a charismatic talented personality. Jeff Goodby. Roy Spence. Alex Bogusky. Stan Richards. And going back in time … David Ogilvy, Mary Wells, Bill Bernbach. Let’s call them “zen masters.” Kind of the Phil Jackson’s of the advertising industry. These are at the top but there are a slew of well known charismatic personalities that can raise the level of an agency that can and does the work to a place in the marketplace where they are differentiated. Oh. And charismatic takes on all shapes and sizes. You may not know the people I stated above but one is reserved and taciturn and brilliant, one is bombastic and pulpit worthy and one is casually brilliantly articulate and one is formal and disciplined and concise. There ain’t no formula here folks for charismatic talented personalities. Other than the fact people like to listen to them and follow them.
- Ones who are known as an agency that does ‘this kind of work.’ So the agency isn’t driven by a charismatic personality but most probably by a distinct culture or attitude that has consistently generated a distinctive look & feel of “work” that has worked and they have become known for something. Cliff Freeman agency probably the easiest one to point out here.
- Ones in between but wanting to be one of the above two (oh. Most agencies are here).
This third group is a morass of all size agencies ebbing and flowing as several are always on the cusp of moving into one of the two categories above and some slip in and some never make it and fall back into the pack. All always seeking that ‘differentiation’ that makes them get considered. And group three is doubly difficult to compete in because this is also the group where agencies who don’t really do ‘the work’ (because they cannot … because … well …. they suck) reside and wander around trying to look like agencies that can do the work and confuse the whole kitandkaboodle (another word I like to type).
Oh. Before I get to the differentiation thing.
So why can’t some really good agencies get up into one of those two categories?
Well. I am going to generalize but try these on for size:
- Charismatic personality. Agencies are typically hotbeds of egos and politics. Elevating one person above the rest is a gauntlet that even the most charismatic person has to be slightly lucky to get there. It is certainly the easiest way for an agency to get in the game but most agencies waste this opportunity through politics and egos. Or. They simply choose the wrong horse to ride to the top. What do I mean by that? Well. An owner of an agency may feel they are the anointed ‘charismatic one’ because it is their name above the door. When in reality they are simply the one who has the cahones to own an agency and manage an effective agency and hire great people so it becomes a great agency. The owner is the wrong horse in this case.
- Agencies that are known for their work. This is a complex group. Couple things fall in here. If you don’t have the account how do you get known for the work? (that is the issue but I will suggest an answer in part 2 in differentiation). Or even worse is the battle between making money and doing work. All agencies have clients in their stable where they don’t do work that completely sucks but it isn’t “all about the work” and it pays a lot of bills. Maintaining that balance is really really difficult. Combine that fact with the fact that most agencies in this group chase anything hoping it is ‘the one.’
Please note that almost everything I have written in this section translates into “the agency is not in control of their destiny.” That is until they get ‘the client’ and even then you are having to prove it wasn’t a onetime fluke but sustainable. Even Crispin, who began in group three, shifted into group 2 (about the work) and ultimately now resides in group one (Alex Boguskyland) was only able to achieve this over a period of time. It takes some consistency to move from group three to two. The one thing that doesn’t take time is a charismatic personality. If you got one ride that horse until it breaks a leg and you have to shoot it.
Ok. Back to the work and differentiation.
First.
I believe most agencies confuse differentiation and being distinct. Agencies known for their work aren’t really different. They just have a point of distinction. For whatever their work is known for.
Second.
So. In the attempt to break out of the morass in group three agencies go to incredible heights of zaniness to break out. The most typical and tried & true is the “proprietary process.”
whew. Okay. Unless some agency has a magic cube they throw their work into that they shake up and then pull out the magical “work that works” no one has a proprietary process.
Sure. They may be some differences. But they are nuances. Pretty much everyone does a derivative of everyone else.
Why wouldn’t you? The best processes are smart and well done and copied.
Anyway. Process differentiation is part 2 of this rant.
Part 1 simply suggests differentiation is simpler than ad agencies tend to make it. Doesn’t mean it is easy. Just means it is simpler if they would allow it to be so.
purging sucks: Purged Living Part 1
Jul 24th
Sometimes you move for a job and sometimes personal. Most of the time you purge some stuff (and its ok) but sometimes you have to take the big step and do “the massive purge”. My mother and I just went thru it at the same time.
Here is the thought. Purging sucks.
Financially and mentally.
The act of downsizing or simplifying is called purging. And purging sucks. If anyone tries to tell you it is invigorating or cleansing they are full of shit. Part 2 will talk about the aftermath of purging (let’s call it the positiveness of simplifying). But this is about getting there. The mental and financial and physical gauntlet you need to run to be able to join the famous and spiritual tribe ofSimpliriquois or Simpleminoles? Simplaches? (I believe Crazy Horse was a simplicity guy himself. But they did call him crazy).
Let’s talk financially. My first inclination is to suggest if you want to downsize simply pack everything up, put it in a trailer or van and then proceed to have the van “accidentally” drive over the closest cliff and be declared unsalvageable. Or go ahead and just burn your house down instead. Or rent a moving van and park it downtown with the keys in it. At least with insurance replacement value you get some cash to overcome the mental aspect. You collect fair value in insurance. And you can physically just start over. Yeah. I am kidding. But I am writing about money at the moment. Or at least what looks like money on paper when you list all the items you own in your space, closets, attic, garage, etc.
By the way. If you do anything I suggest above (and you don’t go to jail) you have no mental anguish of attacking each item one by one in the keep versus no keep mental cage match (by the way .. playing the card game War would be simpler in choosing what to keep and what to go).
Alright. So that’s not really an option for legitimate sane people (although I envy in illegitimate insane who get away with it).
Downsizing preparation. Remember. Purging sucks. Be prepared. Financially it is a bottomless drain of which you will watch money value disappear down the sink to be dispersed somewhere into some financial cesspool where wasted dollars and cents slowly rot and the stench sours your nose.
When I moved out to west coast to help my mother we ended up purging both our households at the same time. She sold her house to move into a senior complex.
Her? A two bedroom three story townhouse (after 22 years) into a one bedroom two room apartment (yup. The mental aspect may outstrip the financial on that one).
Me? A three bedroom house of things down to a studio apartment.
Let me give you a financial example to prepare you.
I went from around a 75-80k value in things on my homeowners insurance to maybe a 4k check selling the stuff and the core things I kept (but my replacement insurance is a lot cheaper now). Yeah. On paper your net worth takes a pretty big hit.
Mom? Well. How do you put a dollar value on the wedding gift silver set? (eBay and consignment store can do that).
Dollars and cents wise it gets painful to even write this. Describing either myself or my mother’s situation. But it helped we did it at the same time. And interestingly there was a reverse relationship that kind made the mutual purging palatable. Because she sold her house in less than a week financially it became easier (and take that with a grain of salt) to swallow “things” slipping out of her home and ownership to the tune of small amounts of cash. While I was tempted to drain an entire bottle of Jack every time I thought of the dollars and cents.
I will be honest here to anyone truly thinking of extreme home purging. I got lucky. I did it at the same time as my mother. It put my situation in a completely different light.
If I did it myself? Whew. Not sure how that would have gone. The reverse is true (so keep it in mind if you are dealing with moving parents or grandparents). If they are the ones solely going through the process, and you are the one standing around pointing “go”, “must go”, “yup, that too, go.” You are gonna be in a world of hurt my friends. Be aware.
Ok.
Let’s talk emotionally. It is difficult to compare my loss of ownership of that Pousette Dart cd with the song that reminded me of great times in the bar with great high school friends in Vermont to the loss of my mother’s mother’s (my grandmother to you who don’t want to draw a diagram) best plate set. Or something my father gave my mother years ago.
I lost things. Sure. Some things important to me (my 3000+ cd collection and half my library of books). But my mother was losing memories. She hung tough. There were certainly some really tough days. I spent a lot of time on the phone with my sister talking about how to help her through it.
Emotionally, no matter how careful or selective you are about what to keep and what to let go, you will, yes, will be letting go of memories. Some are good to let go. But, doggone it, they are memories.
So. that said. If you are going to do a major purge I recommend one of two things (or do both):
- Hire someone to do an estate sale or huge garage sale for you. And leave. Do. Not. Be. There. Yup. You won’t make as much money (but I have already made it clear that percentagewise of value you are gonna have to suck it up anyway). Yup. You won’t be there to watch a slow and painful excruciating death. Let someone else deal with it.
- Consignment shop. Out of sight out of mind. Oh. And don’t stop by the shop. Let them just send you a check whenever they sell something or whatever their protocol is.
Emotionally the key to not self destructing is to get it out of your hands and out of eyesight. Say your goodbyes the night before and let them go.
Bottom line.
Think of purging as running a financial and mental gauntlet. (gauntlet definition: a form of physical punishment wherein a man is compelled to run between two rows—a gauntlet—of soldiers who strike him as he passes.)
The journey sucks but it is the destination that matters. Part 2 of Purging showcases the destination.
But the only way, and let me repeat that, the only way you can make it through the actual purging is to keep the destination (a simpler space and life) in clear site.
Trust me.
Your eyesight gets a little fuzzy (possibly clouded in pain) every once in awhile during the process but focus on the destination and as you get closer to the end of the gauntlet you start seeing it a little more clearly (and it seems like a huge light of hope at the end of the tunnel).
Do I regret going through purging? Nope.
It did make me realize some of the stupid nonsensical purchases I made over the years and while painful to release some of those things, and painful to recognize what I paid and lost, in the end, these things didn’t matter because you know I kind of like the destination I reached.
It is a nice spot.
And I think more people should visit it.
And I mean that mentally and physically.
My purge was so extreme that it is almost like my mind has been ‘reset’ with regard to purchasing and priorities and stuff like that. Me, being a studier of behavior and such, may suggest that the purge shock actually prompted a behavioral shift.
Do I recommend it for everyone? Nope.
Is it a bad thing? Nope.
And physically … it has made me recognize ‘space and value’ or maybe better said … space and usefulness … better.
Unused space has no value. Often used space has high value.
Okay.
Let’s get past the pain and onto the positives.
Purging Part 2.
the riches of Purging: Purged Living Part 2
Jul 24th
So you now have purged and are living “small space living.”
The functional benefits are really obvious – financial savings, less upkeep, etc. and they become obvious very quickly (which helps overcome some of the emotional shock of turning around and seeing your entire living space).
A good friend of mine suggested simplifying is all about a decision to live simply versus simply live. And it could be. That is a big big thought.
But big thoughts usually take a while to incubate in our pea like brains (well … at least mine for sure).
So. Possibly after a period of time it smacks you in the back of the head as such.
But in the beginning it may sometimes just be simply that it is … well … simpler.
Less choices. Less maintenance. Less expense.
So it means you have more of other things … one of which is time.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh … but there’s the rub.
We Americans rarely accept “free time” as a gift to relax but rather we fill it up with other things. Therefore this “smaller space frees up time” slips through the cracks in the consciousness pretty quickly. (but I bring it up with the hope you try and remember it as a positive).
Shifting to living simply is also a neat opportunity to give life a “fresh start.”
And I imagine I never really thought about the outcome of the purging as having a variety of paths until my mother and I went through it at the same time. My mother and I going through it at exactly the same time showed us two paths:
- I simply consolidated my stuff and took the best of the best and created a space where I love everything that I have.
- My mother took a core favorite group of pieces and items, basically built her bedroom and kitchen with the comfortable stuff from her past things and then started from scratch in the living room (reupholstered comfortable chairs, bought new couch, used two of my paintings she liked, bought new lamps, etc). So she created a new look in her main living space.
So once you get through the purging gauntlet you do have a smaller space, a simpler life and, frankly, a space you have difficulty finding fault with.
While there are fewer things to fondle or juggle you have more to be happy with. It may sound odd but you don’t doubt any purchase you look at around you. Nothing seems like “wasted investment.”
And no matter how rich or material oriented you are there is a lot of satisfaction in “dollars invested well.” and smaller space living focuses you n this each and every day.
Smaller space living ain’t bad. That’s the net of it.
Lastly. The odd conversations.
Inevitably the people you know knew you as a “larger living space person.” So. You find yourself in many conversations explaining your smaller space living arrangement.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh .. the harsh edge of perception versus reality. Another friend of mine when talking about our health issues in the United States stated it is because we Americans associate value with quantity (quantity of food in that case). It is similar with living space particularly if you are dealing with people who have seen you in ‘large space.’
You had quantity of space – you were happy.
You no longer have quantity of space – you cannot be happy.
It’s weird. You spend a lot of time trying to explain to people something you have already gone through (the pain of the purge .. which you don’t particularly want to relive but are constantly forced to) to explain you are happy in smaller space living.
Sure.
You rattle off all the functional reasons (smaller bills, less time cleaning, less chores) but people associate that with “you have less money and you had to do that.”
Well.
They may be right. But more likely they are wrong.
Sometimes you reach a point where doing something right for you just doesn’t seem right to others.
Okay sure. Maybe at some point after we get through this depression (oops. recession.) people will accept smaller space living decisions as something like “living life simpler” choices but for now?
Be prepared if you elect to do this.
Remember these three things:
- Purging sucks.
- Simpler life doesn’t suck.
- Explaining it sucks.
Hopefully over time #2 carries more weight in your life than 1 and 3 combined.
As I did all of this myself within the past year I am not positive I have reached the balance yet.
But I hope. And I am fairly sure it is a good place.
the origins of the personal ‘purge’
Jul 24th
So. I have had a couple of requests on the topic of purging things in order to make a radical living space change. Oh. I also have had requests on how my sister and I weaved our way through the discussion and transition with our mother (that post will come later).
This post precedes two following posts (Purged Living 1 & 2) which describe the purging my mother and I went thru when I moved out here to support her and she sold the house she lived in for over 20 years and moved into a one bedroom senior living complex. I have already written about the benefits of small space living (my own current situation).
So. Purging.
As I looked back over the years I realized, being the nomad that I am, that I have probably purged more things than even this last massive purge (just in increments).
I have probably bought 4 sets of washers/dryers over the years. Maybe 3 refrigerators (a couple of awesome ones painful to leave behind). At least 2 full dining rooms sets. Uncountable amounts of bookcases. Maybe 3 entertainment centers. I probably cannot even count the number of televisions of different sizes. Bed frames … yikes … double to king to queen to 2 queens to 1 queen and a futon to 2 queens and a futon to … well … geez .. I think there may be a couple other iterations. Pictures, paintings, artwork … framed … not framed … should have been framed. Dozens (I have always been a sucker for great visuals and artwork). Sofas, chairs, tables, plates … okay. You get the idea. Moving around a lot sometimes means starting over a lot. And, of course, looking back there is a variety of things that I would probably have been better off keeping around. But anyway.
Suffice it to say over the years and assuming you continue to move up in your career you start having more space to fill up. And that space kinda starts to match where you are in your career (generally speaking the senior accountant living space will look different than the General Manager of an advertising agency living space).
Place that scenario underneath the fact that Purging 1 & 2 is really about the purging that took place within my mother’s transition from her home of 22+ years to a one bedroom space in a senior complex. So that is the background for Purging 1 & 2. Enjoy. There were amusing moments and painful moments but in the end I would suggest the majority of all issues are in your own head (that won’t make it any easier but something to keep in mind).
stay thirsty my friends
Jul 23rd
I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.
Dos Equis. What an awesome campaign. What an awesome idea. What an awesome way of elevating a relatively unknown product to a place where people are wondering, if not just thinking about the product, of not actually buying to maybe to try it.
Look. I should have written about this campaign, and idea, a long time ago. In fact so long ago I shelved the idea thinking what the hell … it’s too late.
But this campaign keeps coming back and is still interesting.
You may not know that this is the second attempt at using this “most interesting man” character and development of product personality.
The actor behind the ‘most interesting man’, Jonathan Goldsmith, has been playing this part since 2006. And I believe the first campaign of commercials was in 2007.
Apparently it didn’t kick ass originally and went away for a long while. But someone, either at Dos Equis or Euro RSCG (who created the campaign), must have seen enough promise in the concept to stick with it because the same spots started running again the following year. And this time around the “most interesting man in the world” struck a chord and this new beer icon was born.
So. Pretty much anyone who has a TV is aware of, “The Most Interesting Man in the World,” campaign.
The salt-and-pepper haired gentleman with the smooth voice and a taste for adventure. I am addicted to him. I admit it. it is the things that make him the ‘most interesting’ … well … interesting:
He once had an awkward moment, just to see how it feels.
He can speak French… in Russian.
He is the life of the party, even when he does not attend.
Policemen often question him simply because he’s interesting.
He once had an awkward moment, just to see how it felt.
He lives vicariously through himself.
He goes to museums and they let him touch the art.
Even his enemies list him as their emergency contact number.
Years ago, he built a city out of blocks. Today, over six hundred thousand people live and work there.
If he were to give you directions, you’d never get lost, and you’d arrive at least 5 minutes early.
People hang on his every word, even the prepositions.
He is the only man to ever ace a Rorschach test.
Every time he goes for a swim, dolphins appear.
His personality is so magnetic; he is unable to carry credit cards.
He never says something tastes like chicken. Not even chicken.
He could disarm you with his looks… or his hands. Either way.
His charm is so contagious; vaccines have been created for it.
And his closing line “Stay thirsty my friends.”
So. I am not gonna give you any brand or branding gobbledygook because this was a great idea and it builds a personality for the product.
Period.
(all the branding experts can pile on about all the other things associated with the gant charts you present on how to build a brand).
I don’t care if it’s a shitty product (well. I do actually but that’s a different post).
But. If I drink a Dos Equis I can almost guarantee people will think I am interesting (or at least joke about it).
Once again. Period. Stop. Good enough. Job well done.
Few advertising campaigns actually go beyond advertising and begin shaping the kind of character development you kind of dream of when you start marketing a product. And this one is doing just that.
And it’s not just me. People love this campaign. I know they do (how?).
Because Millward Brown says so.
Dos Equis has been able to take an extremely popular tongue in cheek character and through targeted placement through a variety of tactics get people to send it around the web (and the world and just talk about it) and make it successful according to market research by Millward Brown. The TV campaign is in the top five percent of most enjoyable ads in U.S. research history.
The campaign covers TV, print, interactive online, radio and event promotions. Videos and ads were posted on YouTube as well as a number of other sites with the intent of having consumers appreciate the ‘out of the realm of possibility’ character and send it to one another.
The website is pretty awesomely done also.
So. What makes the character appealing?
The campaign idea (I guess I could call the guy a mnemonic tactic) is not insulting.
It’s so deeply satisfying because it is intriguing, well written and so outrageous it is fascinating to see how “interesting” the most interesting man can be.
Like any great fictional character, even though it’s completely made up, it’s so outrageously true. It lives on in people’s minds because it takes real attributes and stretches them to the unbelievable boundary (which is funny in its extremes).
This fictional character is a cross between Ernest Hemingway, Bill Murray, Burt Reynolds and some Count from a nonexistent place in central Europe. This guy harkens back to the old concept of what a man’s man should be. To the exponential factor. The nth degree.
In love with women and booze, but classier than most, he travels the world seeking experiences (“his beard alone has experienced more than a lesser man’s entire body.”). Awesome.
Lastly. The part I truly love. Possibly the most interesting thing about the commercials is that he never really commits to promoting Dos Equis. He only prefers it. The closest he comes is with the tag line:
“I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.”
So. The most interesting man in the world is not an avid beer drinker but when he does want one, the most interesting man must select an interesting beer to quaff (or if you are the most interesting man do you sip, gulp, chug or drain?). Whatever, the ads are totally awesome.
Here are a sampling of Three Most Interesting Man commercials (enjoy my friends):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ym2Jma04qo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYdwe3ArFWA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9GYocBqGyA&feature=related
Don’t stay thirsty. Grab a Dos Equis!
simple complicated. complicated simple.
Jul 23rd
Making the simple complicated is commonplace.
But.
Making the complicated simple is not commonplace.
That.
Is.
For.
Frickin’.
Sure.
In fact. I have almost started believing that they are teaching “how to complicate things” in schools these days.
And even worse? (and this is really nutty)
Say for example you really have been able to articulate something simply AND it is actually so awesomely simple it is brilliant.
You are feeling pretty good with yourself about right now. You were clear, concise and brilliant in simplicity.
(here comes the nutty part)
No one believes its right.
Yup. No shit.
“It cannot be right. That’s too simple. WE MUST BE MISSING SOMETHING.”
(I capitalized it not because when it is said someone is shouting but, rather when you hear it, it sounds like someone shouting in your head and there is a buzzing sound in your ears like a grenade went off beside your head)
You want to look around and calmly say:
“You are correct. Brilliant insight in fact. What’s missing is all the COMPLICATED SHIT YOU WANT TO COMPLICATE THIS WITH.”
(note: on occasion you may actually shout this but on the off chance you don’t you will want to shout it)
Somewhere in the past it became uncool to do something simple.
And since that time (and I would shoot the bastard if I could find him who did it) it seems like we have gained momentum surrounding this concept and not is it uncool to do something simple the majority of people cannot even recognize a simple solution.
Simplicity has gone the way of the Dodo (extinct).
On occasion someone stands up and says “hey, I am not sure Dodos are extinct, I am pretty sure I saw one in that conference room.”
Everyone laughs. “Dodos are extinct.”
“Well, I have seen a picture of one and I am pretty sure it was one.”
Needless to say you either become extinct in the company if you stay the course or worse they throw you into the loony zoo with all the other Dodo sightings.
So.
Here’s the deal.
If you are one of the rare birds who can see simple things as they are (simple), don’t get frustrated. And every time you watch something simple become more complicated just take note and put that thought in a little box for another day.
Because one day you are going to be in a position to tell people what to do. I guarantee it.
How can I guarantee it?
Because you are one of the rare birds who can see the simple within the complex.
It won’t matter how many of these discussions you lose in early years.
Oh, and you really aren’t an extinct bird. Just so rare no one recognizes you.
You will lead one day.
Then you pull out your box and start doing simple things and kicking some ass (just don’t tell anyone you are a Dodo … probably not a good idea … let them think you are extinct).
Fun aside.
Lack of simplicity in the business world is probably the biggest issue in business these days. And it is overlooked as everyone focuses on ‘building brands’ and bottom lines and organizational alignment and whatever the business buzzword du jour is.
Shove ‘em off to the side.
The biggest issue facing American businesses today is over complicating simple things.
It’s that simple.
(and no one will believe me)
capitalism, crisis and cycles
Jul 22nd
So. I rarely simply cut & paste an existing article but then I came across this interview. I believe all of us think about the current economic situation and is it a recession or a depression and why it happened and what will happen. This interview with Richard Foster is probably one of the most concise down-to-earth every day language discussions on the topic I have ever seen.
In addition. The concept of creative destruction (which is not about advertising) is one I have always been interested in. Simply it suggests that creative minds in a marketplace, think entrepreneurs & innovators, will ultimately destroy the boundaries of the existing marketplace and in the wake of the destruction a new system will be created. And the cycle will resume. Of course, anyone who follows my thinking know I like cyclical behavioral patterns so of course I liked the interview. Below is a nice image I found from an innovations company which simply shows creative destruction concept.
There are a couple of real gems in here if you fight your way through equities and hedge funds.
- The essence of capitalism is capitalizing. Such a simple statement that explains the essence of not only our economy but our ethos as a nation. That means at our core we are “growers.” We are happiest when we see opportunities or innovations or new things and capitalize on them. Literally and figuratively this is a huge thought.
- Creation will happen again and will again leave behind the big guys trying to rely solely on operations. For those of us in the world who talk about brands (and really mean companies) and repositioning and revitalizing this thought is very important. As the marketplace cycles we so often seek to freshen stale imagery when the reality is we should be seeking to refresh some creativity WITHIN the company (that could be attitude, innovation or a variety of things) so that their world becomes bigger than ‘relying solely on operations.” Another huge thought.
Anyway. It’s interesting reading. Enjoy.
A coauthor of Creative Destruction explains how the business world—and the capitalist system—will change in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Richard Foster, a McKinsey director from 1982 to 2004, is a coauthor of Creative Destruction: Why Companies That Are Built to Last Underperform the Market—and How to Successfully Transform Them. In that book, he and Sarah Kaplan argue that to endure, companies must embrace what economist Joseph Schumpeter called “creative destruction” and change at the pace and scale of the capital markets, without losing control over current operations. In a recent interview with the Quarterly, Foster offered his view of how the current financial crisis might change the business world and the capitalist system.
The Quarterly: How does your vision of creative destruction apply to today’s situation?
Richard Foster: Let’s start by looking back. In the 1970s, we had the “Nifty 50”—invulnerable companies that couldn’t possibly lose, and of course they all did. It will be the same today; there will be surprising losers, and survival will come down to simple things, like cash and margins. If you’re a low-margin company without a lot of cash or perhaps with too much leverage, you will not make it. Someone will figure out how to do better.
In the financial-services sector, the upheaval will create a new generation of leaders. Fifty years ago, we didn’t have 8,000 hedge fund managers. Then somebody said, “We can go short as well as long; we have much better information than people did in the 1930s, and the information comes to us instantaneously rather than days after the event. We can make a lot of money modeling and leveraging that information.” So the hedge funds were born. How many of those guys had been successful at mutual-fund management? I don’t think any. They might have been commodity traders, but few were mutual-fund managers. Today, other kinds of people with no experience or expertise will challenge incumbents from outside the industry, and there will be a lot of them. Most of the challengers will fail, but a few will succeed, and they’ll become the heroes of the next generation. If you had to bet on anything, that’s it because that’s what has happened in the past.
The Quarterly: Could you elaborate on this life cycle?
Richard Foster: In the book, Sarah Kaplan and I show that over the long term, the market performs better than companies do. There can be periods—5, 7, 10, even 15 years—when that isn’t the case, but corporate performance always reverts to a lower level than the market because the economy is changing at a faster pace and on a larger scale than any individual company so far has been able to do without losing control. That’s the challenge: to create, operate, and trade—to divest old businesses and acquire or build new businesses—at the pace and scale of the market without losing control.
The balance among creating, trading, and excelling operationally changes over time. When the economy is in a growth spurt, there’s more creating. Few companies are trading very much and operations are fine. In those circumstances, the newer companies in the economy tend to outperform the index, and the older companies that are only focused on operations underperform the market.
As the market collapses, the weaker upstarts get squeezed out. The survivors are the cash-rich “operators,” which perform at levels closer to the averages, which themselves are lower. Companies that operate well shine in down times, as they are now. Every investor on the planet is looking for companies that have cash left. The turmoil will clear away the weaker companies—the companies that have taken too much risk. This doesn’t mean they’re bad companies; it’s just that they’ve taken on too much risk given their balance sheet resources.
The Quarterly: What happens then?
Richard Foster: New, young companies that have conserved cash and have solid and often expanding margins surge ahead. When this happened in the ’70s, companies such as The Limited, The Gap, Home Depot, and John Malone’s TeleCommunications Inc. sprung from the burned forest. After the crash of 1987, Microsoft, Oracle, and Amgen took off. Then in the ’90s, we had the Internet companies. Creation will happen again and will again leave behind the big guys trying to rely solely on operations.
The Quarterly: To what extent is today’s financial crisis different from earlier ones?
Richard Foster: The granddaddy of cycles in this economy is the equity premium, which is the difference between the longer-term total returns to shareholders and the supposedly risk-free debt rate. It is the premium the equity investor gets for taking the equity risk. Looking back, we can see seven great cycles. During the boom times, when the equity premium goes way too high, everybody hocks everything to get in on the game, and this creates the conditions for a crash. When the crash occurs, the politicians come in and say it was this or that person’s fault. Then they create regulatory institutions, and virtually every one of those institutions—starting with the Federal Reserve, in 1913, as a result of the crash of 1907—has been quite productive for the nation in the longer term. This includes the formation of the Securities and Exchange Commission, in 1934; the Investment Company Act, in 1940; the beginning of the end of fixed commission rates in 1970; and the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, in the early 2000s.
The Quarterly: What happens in the aftermath of the new regulations?
Richard Foster: What do self-respecting entrepreneurs do when subjected to new regulations? They learn the regulations backward and forward and then vow never to start another business that falls within the scope of those regulations. And so off the entrepreneur goes to find a new way. That’s one reason credit default swaps eventually took the form they did—the other options were regulated.
The new entrepreneur often seeks ways to innovate outside the scope of the newly established regulations. In the beginning, all that works out fine. We have innovations, we love the people who created them, they’re great heroes, the returns are strong, everybody says, “I’m going to be one of those guys.” Eventually, all the truly good guys who are going to get into that business have done so. The opportunity starts drawing less savory figures—charlatans who overmarket, cut corners, establish usurious contracts, and do other clever things to generate profit for themselves. They end up bringing the system down. Then guess what happens? At the end of that period, after the equity premium has soared and collapsed again, the government steps in and regulates the systems, this time focusing on the last wave of abuse. And then we start over.
We were getting somewhat better at handling these cycles until 2000, but since then we’ve gotten worse. The collapse of 2008 isn’t like the crash of 1929, because we have the institutions that were created in the last century, and they are very effective. Understanding the differences between the ’30s and today is at least as important as understanding the similarities.
The Quarterly: Capitalism has just taken a beating. What will the future look like?
Richard Foster: The essence of capitalism is capitalizing—bringing forward the future value of cash to the present so that society can grow more quickly by taking risks. It goes back to the Dutchmen in the 16th century, sitting at their coffeehouses in Amsterdam and Leiden, loaning each other money for a guaranteed return. Someone said, “I’ll give you a little higher return if you give me a piece of the action”—and equity was invented. That had the effect of bringing forward, into real cash today, the net present value of future earnings. That levered society and allowed it to grow at a much higher rate than it would otherwise have. Equity was a very clever invention, and we are not going to give it up. This is the way people are. This is the way commerce works and will continue to work unless capitalism ends. And that won’t happen, regardless of what you read in the press.
seeking immortality
Jul 20th
“If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.”
John Kenneth Galbraith
Spectacular errors can only happen if you take spectacular chances.
I am not fond of irresponsible risk taking and decision-making, but I am fond of doing ‘the right thing’ even when it may appear to be going against the stream.
Sometimes that means a spectacular success, sometimes a spectacular error.
But always something spectacular.
Now. I don’t know about all this immortality stuff. Sure. I would imagine it would be nice to be remembered for something (even if it was a spectacular failure).
But probably most important?
What more could you want to say about your life but that you have done something spectacular?
Now. Don’t start running around like chickens with your heads cut off attempting ‘spectacular chances.’ I don’t want to get blamed for that.
But if everyone looked around in their life and thought about it for awhile and were smart about it (well, as smart as you can be) and decide to take a spectacular chance because … well … it could lead to something spectacular?
I could live with that.
In fact. I think we could all live with taking a few more spectacular chances.
Playing it safe is comfortable. And, especially in this wacky world we are living in these days and all the responsibilities that seem to reside on shoulders that struggle to carry the burden they already carry, what I am suggesting may sound unprudent, unwise and unrealistic.
Maybe.
All I am suggesting is make sure you don’t deprive yourself of the possibility of spectacular.
Because in the end? What people will really remember is not the success or the failure but rather you made the attempt. And that, my friends, is spectacular.
old el paso advertising
Jul 20th
I have been meaning to write about old el paso for awhile. Mostly because I want to write something positive for once about marketing and advertising.
The old el paso flat bottom taco advertising campaign is brilliantly simple (and simply brilliant).
It has a couple of below the line less than obvious components that really take the idea to a higher level.
Solving a problem.
Heck. I don’t know if making my taco stand up is a real problem or not but if someone is speaking Spanish and I am in Middle America than … well … I would assume it is something that keeps them up at night.
Big problem.
Maybe I won’t even buy this product until they solve this issue dammit.
Oh. An advertising campaign all in Spanish (with subtitles).
Wow. Authentic? Heck. I don’t know but I think so.
The simplicity of the solution offered by a new generation. Gosh. Everyone loves it. It’s not just that a kid with a simple thought can solve what was an apparent centuries old problem but rather that a new generation is able to see through honored tradition that those stupid adults (and past ‘stuck in archaic thinking’ generations) were blinded by to see a fundamental functional solution.
Awesome. “Out of the mouth of babes” as they say.
And the production of the execution. It’s the juxtaposition of all the elements which is awesome.
The adult conversational delivery of the problem. (let’s call this a simple build)
The innocence of a child offering a solution (in a subtitle).
Silence.
A moment of silence as everyone contemplates the solution. A moment as the simplicity of the solution slices through generations of adult traditional behavior to get to the core of what would actually be more useful.
Volume. Noise. Celebration.
The raising up of the volume to celebrate the idea (and the ideator) almost shouts that the solution is brilliant.
At the end of :30 even if you didn’t think that it was a great idea how could you not think it may be the greatest idea since the beer frig 12 pack box the way they are celebrating.
Even I, who doesn’t even eat this stuff, now take a second look as I wander the grocery store.
Awesome idea communicated in an awesome way.
It entertains. It educates.
It offers a solution to a problem (I wasn’t even sure I had).
It is delightful. And it seems authentic. And it is a great use of marketing and communicating an idea.
So. Here they are. And I included the :15 version because it is so well done also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrbyVDMUT10&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3KXaF2_UzU&feature=related
(second is :15 second version)
Oops. Gotta go get some mexican food now.
