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“Ideas are a dime a dozen. People who implement them are priceless.”

—

Mary Kay Ash

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“Chance favors the connected mind.”

―

Steven Johnson

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Ok. This is about ideas. Let me be clear. There is absolutely no excuse for not having ideas in business these days. None. Zero. Now. Do I believe ideas are a dime a dozen? Yeah. I do. To be clear, I think great ideas are priceless. The world tends to reside in the wretched hollow between the dime a dozen & great.

In the way-back good old days you had to brainstorm and by magazines with niche readership in the 100’s not millions or pay some think tank gobs of money to hear what they were seeing around the world in order to sift thru trends & global ideas. Then things like trendwatching & springwise popped up, places who curated random ideas so you could sift thru the coolest ideas. Today there are those (plus more) and blogs and articles and, well, you can simply tap into some of the greatest thinkers & strategists via LinkedIn, twitter & Instragram.

Uncovering Ideas (not discovering).

To be clear. To come up with good ideas you didn’t need all of this new stuff (reading, traveling, research, curiosity is the natural fodder for ideas) but these grander resources gave us all a layer of actual ideas as fodder for “what could be.” Today the world and what is thinking is at our fingertips. I will also note, today, if a company used its own internal social media all of their employee thinking is at their fingertips <different innovation article>.

I have worked with startup incubators, large organizations, innovations groups, brand consulting firms, smaller organizations, in almost any industry imaginable and I can promise anyone asking … you don’t really have to work that hard for ideas. Most times the best ideas lie within easy reach if you only look close enough.

About Ideas.

I don’t think I’m the sharpest knife in the drawer and I have dozen of ideas scribbled everywhere. Some business, some on education, some debunking existing ideas, just lots of ideas. I bet I have even forgotten more than I’ve written down.  I give away ideas all the time mostly because I know ideas are a dime a dozen and maybe someone can make a buck off of my dime <because I have not>. I also share them because I will think of far more ideas than I will ever be able to do.

It’s possible I think about this differently than other people. I call my idea creation “practice”. Practice? Well. Mainly because I never curb my ideation I have lots of practice for when someone actually needs an idea. I may be biased but I think more people should think this way.
Now. To think this way you also have to understand that most so-called ideas are horrible. Just as ideas come in tall, grande & venti sizes they also come in horrible, useless & extremely useful categories. Sometimes I refer to them as shallow, dimensionally intriguing & the best — deep. Deep <capturing culture, need versus want & behaviorally insightful – linking people with purpose> is a mandatory for a great idea. Even then you can still end up with a dysfunctionally useful idea.

Suffice it to say not many people are deep let alone can GO deep in the thinking, therefore, the Dunning–Kruger effect almost guarantees most of the people excited about their ideas are the people least capable to evaluate those ideas.

Great Ideas.

Great ideas are not always obvious. Why? Well. Most of the greatest ideas are so good they look obvious. Amazon is a great idea but all it really is <and was founded upon> is an online curator of things & an efficient marketplace (store) for those things. Many of the greatest ideas simply took what exists and just made it better for us. That doesn’t seem great … but it is.
All that to say there is absolutely no excuse for not having ideas for your business. None. Zero. Zilch. And if you don’t think you have any ideas worth a shit, before you panic, just explore other people’s ideas … and ideas as they spring up anywhere globally at any time.  Before the internet we often had to wait for some of the big research companies to issue these reports on what they believed were the best of the best ideas.  Today?  You can track ideas daily. Globally.  And assess the best of the best as they happen.

Springwise and Trendwatching are my 2 go-to curators of ideas but there are dozens if you look around.

I firmly believe you can never have enough ideas. So let me end where I began .. “chance favors the connected mind.” Ideas always arise from a connected mind but the chance of a great idea increases exponentially with a connected mind. If you connect your mind to all the other ideas out there and to other things that inspire your thinking, well, your ideas may be favored.

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“Any system of ethics must account for scarcity. If it doesn’t, humanity would perish due to misallocation of finite resources, including one’s own body.”

—-

Daniel Alexander Brackins

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“If somebody never gets enough of you, they will always want more”

―

Ashly Lorenzana

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I recently was asked to help a Brazilian design & brand consulting company expanding their business into the United State after they read my thoughts on Velocity in business (in particular my thoughts on the Velocity Zone).

It was a fascinating discussion in which I was, once again, reminded of the attitudinal differences between the United States and other countries.

While a Brazilian attitude with regard to how their work should come to life (a stronger attitude with regard to vividness & distinction) in this case it came down to abundance versus scarcity. I often found myself sitting back just thinking about how Brazil viewed the world thru a scarcity lens. It had a sense of urgency with regard to not just ‘use it or lose it’ but rather ‘if I don’t use it I will not survive.’ And that is where I gained my deepest insight – survival. In an abundant world survival may not be accepted as a fait accompli, but it certainly feels like it is more likely. In a scarcity world you almost feel like survival is a moment by moment aspect of life. This isn’t to suggest desperation but it does suggest two things:

• Enjoy the moments you have and maximize them (this comes to life in a business attitude of distinctness, boldness & distinction)
• Not fear of death but more aggressiveness in the moment to survive (this comes to life with grabbing what exists now rather than thinking something better may come along tomorrow)

Anyway.

It led to Velo. It’s a Portuguese spin on Velocity.

About Velo

We made up this word because, to us, its meaning is new. Velo is velocity with a Brazilian twist. Let’s call it the Portuguese version of Velocity.

We arrived at the term because we believe America business view is tainted by the concept of abundance – an abundance of opportunities, resources & money. It doesn’t mean all businesses actual have an abundance of money & resources just that in the back of their minds they believe America is abundant therefore attitudinally they don’t approach things through a scarcity lens. This affects decision making, strategic approaches, brand positioning and messaging, design , messaging and even budget allocation.

Abundance versus scarcity attitude

In an abundant world options are limitless, in other words, miss an opportunity and another will arise. Let’s call this a “limitless supply of water” attitude. Water is abundant so when presented with a glass of it unless I’m desperately thirsty it’s just a glass of water.  In a scarcity world a glass of water can mean life or death.

Now. In America we talk scarcity, but think abundance. This ‘abundance of options’ attitude affects not only our general attitude but also behavioral decisions – business decisions. We sift thru options with a slight lack of urgency. In Brazil one cannot simply talk scarcity but act upon it to insure you get your glass of water. Options are limited and you maximize the ones you do have.

We think of velocity in the same terms. Velocity is a scarce resource and demands a versatile view of communications, design, branding combined with a bold view on crafting a distinctive idea & brand. Velocity falters under an abundance attitude and can quickly become just speed – hamsters on a wheel in an abundant world. Velocity thrives within a scarcity attitude by assembling minimal viable teams with minimal viable products utilizing minimal viable assets & resources applying communications principles & thinking to maximize opportunities as scarce moments in time.  That’s a mouthful but suffice it to say Velocity thrives in a minimalist view.

Comunicação and scarcity

Comunicação is a little different than America communication. It’s a little bit bolder and distinct (remember, resources, including time & money are viewed as scarce therefore need to be maximized). The design has more vividness. The strategy is a little more bold. The branding is more distinct. The communications have a little more edge. Generally speaking the ideas are treated as a scarce resource not to be wasted with ‘safe’ thinking & doing, but rather vivid thinking that demands people pay attention.

Criatividade and scarcity

Criatividade is a little different than American creativity. In a scarcity world everyone is expected to be creative (remember, resources are scare therefore need to be maximized) therefore creativity comes to life from unexpected places in unexpected ways. There are no thinkers and doers in a scarcity Criatividade world, just doers who think & thinkers who do – all the time. Creativity is only abundant if you maximize the scarce resources at hand.

In an abundant world options seem limitless and discussion can actually be infinite all of which just ends with a less creative ‘safer’ solution. In a scarcity driven world options are treated as limited so discussion is finite with bolder, more vivid, creative solutions.

Think: Value on the Move

The essence of Velo is enabling value transactions to happen as effectively and efficiently as possible. By treating the world thru a scarcity lens we maximize time, resources, minds & skills to generate brand velocity.

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I am
a series of
small victories
and large defeats
and I am as
amazed
as any other
that
I have gotten
from there to
here

—

Charles Bukowski

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Ok. This is about how a zero sum game world creates the wrong view on victories & losses.

I recently wrote about how we are increasingly being encouraged to think this is a zero sum world. An “us versus them,” you win or are a loser, “if you aren’t getting something it is because someone else <most likely less deserving> is getting it” type world.

This is a dangerous slippery slope way of approaching Life.

Personally, I balk at viewing Life, the world, and pretty much anything we do in Life as a zero sum game. It just seems so “I” when we should at least acknowledge it is a “we” world, society & culture. It just seems so empty of anything but ‘the win’.

Look. I am not opposed to putting an emphasis on the fact winning is good and that winning is a viable objective <which takes some determination, persistence and focus to achieve>. In fact, I fully endorse this type of thinking. I certainly understand the whole “if you are not committed to winning that means you are already accepting a loss.” But I have a little secret for everyone that kind of throws a wrench into the whole zero sum world thought — not every day has to ‘count’ in terms of a tradition world view of a “victory.” The truth is that some days your sole purpose is to make it to the next day. I could even argue that actually counts. I could even argue that it is a victory <small, medium or large>.

What do I mean?

Everyday there are people who go into work, hunker down and not only understand how to translate ideas into action but actually figure out a way to make it happen.

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Progress.  Just make progress.

It’s OK to have setbacks … It’s OK to draw a line in the sand and start over again – and again. Just make sure you’re moving the line forward … Take baby steps, but at least take steps that stop you from being stuck. Then change will come. And it will be good.

Lysa TerKeurst

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Some would call that “progress” and not “victories” which means the people who believe in a zero sum world would view those people as “on the loser slippery slope.” It does drive me a little nuts that we want to always rush to label something a victory or a defeat or a winner or a loser and, I would point out, all a zero sum Life view does is exacerbate that discussion. To be clear, while you will find gobs of well written articles online stating that Life, and business, is not a zero sum game you will find several “supposed harsh truth tellers” who will tell you otherwise:

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Angel investor Jason Calacanis—a Silicon Valley veteran who has invested in more than 60 startups—has some pointed advice for young people who are just starting their careers: Success is a zero-sum game. He writes in a blog post:

——–

“Many folks will tell you that the world is not a zero sum game, with one person not having to lose at the expense of another winning. This is simply not true, as in most startups there is a very limited number of seats and they go to the people who work the hardest and who have the most skill. In your career you will find that life is a zero sum game: the winners get the prime positions and the person who comes in second place for that position is the first loser—not the second winner.”

———————

I can’t argue with some of the thoughts good ole Jason has to offer, but I don’t have to like it. And I don’t agree that Life, or a business, offers you a limited amount of seats. That is where , to me, the zero sum Life all falls apart.

That’s beauty of America at least <in many other countries also> is that if I am somewhere with a limited number of seats and I am willing to work hard, play fair and constantly improve my skills, well, there are seats elsewhere.

I could argue that there are more than enough seats for hard workers, play fairers and skilled workers in the business world.

<note: I am not suggesting it is an equal opportunity world just that there are more than enough seats available for success>

Which makes me think I need to remind everyone … a zero sum game is a game in which when one person gains, you lose, and when another person loses, you gain. That may be so … but if it is … it is more like the ‘butterfly affect’ than it is direct cause-affect within your finite environment. I will say it again <and will do so until the end of time> that I just do not believe that most of life is a zero sum game and that measuring your Life by victories and defeats is a fool’s errand. It is too easy to say “if this, then this” or that there is a finite amount of opportunities which we wrestle over.

I am not suggesting working hard doesn’t matter <because it does … you need to work fucking hard and long hours to move up a ladder if that is what you want to do>.

I am not suggesting honing skills and learning new skills doesn’t matter <because it does … you need to learn more … constantly … and get better … all the time>.

It really does seem like we make all of this hard on ourselves. Far too often we compare our situation with the situation of someone else and, using some pretzel logic, we can view them from afar and think that because something good happened to someone else that it is either no longer available to us, taken from us or … if viewed positively … has delayed what will be due us.

That is really nuts-type thinking. Crazy thinking. Good things can happen to us and others … at exactly the same time. I imagine we get caught in our pretzel logic because when we see someone else succeed it is kind of a gut-punch reminder that we have not yet succeeded. That’s nuts. Comparing the success <however you define it> of another person to your own is silly and, frankly, a losing gambit.

But here is the thing when someone tries to convince you that Life is a zero sum game. This belief that we are all competing with each other for scarce resources completely ignores the fact we are humans. We like being with other people, we like coexisting and … yikes … we like having friends and having social spheres to enjoy Life. So even though competition and scarcity exist and, sure, we would much prefer victories over defeats … we have an inherent human need, and desire,  to exist in a social support system in which we share some mutual respect <of which is not earned by ‘winning’ but more by ‘how you play the game’>.

I imagine the point on this is ‘zero sum’ suggests a very one dimensional view of victory & defeat when the reality is a little more complex and multi-dimensional <sort of like ‘victory in defeat’ as a concept>. In other words. I can be part of a team … we train hard, compete hard and work seamlessly together and lose the race/game and, yet, we have improved … learned that ‘defeat’, while still a defeat, has been ‘halved’ in sharing with others … and we learn victory is partially progress & moving on to the next competition.

But let me end on competition & ‘the game.’

While we pound away on competition between businesses, competition for career promotions, competition for bonuses … and they are all real … life itself is less a competition or a race but rather a journey.

Well.

If you look at it that way … well … my victory may look nothing like your victory because I am on a different fucking journey. The same with defeats. My big defeat may look incredibly small to you. You may view me as lost and I may smile and say “I am exploring.” So instead of viewing everything as having some starting gate and a specific track & lane Life starts looking like one big fucking map and instead of you being a sprinter <or hurdler> you are actually more like an ‘orienteer.’ Maybe we should have degrees and classes in orienteering instead of how to navigate some rat race.

If you view Life as a journey than the only ‘zero sum’ part of it is either simple survival or reaching some destination or destinations <and not any specific way to get there>.

Look. I will not argue with anyone who wants to suggest business & career is more like a race because, yeah, that part of our Life can take on many characteristics of a race <depending on your vocation>. But almost everything else in our life is less a race and more a journey.

We choose where we start, where we go, what we do and where we think a good destination would be.

We choose when and where we stop and say “I am home.”

In the end.

And, of course, if you want to know why an obsession with winning can steer you off course I will always remind everyone of winning & Charlie Sheen.

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“Don’t lose touch of reality, it might drive you insane if you’re locked in your own world of possibilities for too long.”

—

Unknown

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 Ok.

This is part business and part social media culture thinking and part how the world is coalscing into smaller worlds, with world views, and some thoughts about those worlds.

The world as it exists within social media is different than the real world. What I mean by that is while we blather about some massively interconnected world it is far more likely you are part of a 10 million twitter following and that is more often than not is your world. Or. If you are part of a 5 million blog feed following that is more often than not your world.

This may sound counter to what everyone suggests about the role of media in influencing people. The truth is that the concept of ‘mainstream media’ <which, in my eyes, is being so poorly discussed and labeled similar to how political correctness has become the go-to phrase of the day> has difficulty penetrating an established social world. Tidbits get filtered in and then bounce around this parallel universe in which the facts create new constellations that the real world cannot see, do not see, when they look up at the sky. Inevitably all these tidbits feed on itself and only grow stronger and stronger the longer they exist within the world ultimately helping to share real tenets, beliefs, rites and established norms

The trouble is that, in this social world, thoughts and untruths and truths echo as equal opportunity informers. This begets a real world truth … and a parallel world truth. Sometimes they can be the same, sometimes just similar … and sometimes a parallel truth which, well, as parallel suggests … travels a lane that never intersects with the real world truth.

Some of us older folk and maybe some real world truth tellers gnash our teeth and pound the tables and imagine if we yell loud enough, or calmly tell the truth in maybe a different way <the ‘go-to’ thought by older folk is ‘be visual … it is a short attention span world’>, that somehow we can communicate the business truth or the Life truth or real world truth or whatever real truth which will impact the alternate world we are frustrated with.

Well. That is a slightly ignorant and totally egotistical view <as well as it will get you nowhere>. Whether we like it or not an alternate world is a real world in and of itself. It may not actually be a reflection of real truth or overall reality per se  but that alternative world captures the reality of that ‘follower world.’

That world takes on the same characteristics of any traditional civilization and culture. Ethics, values, norms, dreams, despairs and hopes.

Some idiots call it a ‘tribe.’ I call it idiotic because it sells the world in which this social following lives short. Tribe is too small. The social world, and the online communities which is created in these different followings, are like small civilizations which may, or may not, interconnect with other cultural views & values, religious views & values and societal views & values.

Others may attempt to call this ‘countries’ … heck … Facebook is the largest country in the world. And, in some cases, this may actually be the correct metaphor … but in more cases it is not. Countries coexist. Worlds are, well, worlds apart. And entering into one of the larger follower social world groupings is absolutely like a world apart. Within the following are individuals who have come together based on a world view in which they do not see anywhere than in this virtual population <which are real people in a made up world>.

What I can promise you is that what each alternate world DOES coalesce around is like minded individual self-interest – views & values & aspirations. It is easy to see how his could happen.

It is incredibly easy to feel powerless in the real world but in this new world all you feel is … well … power. Power to feel what you believe and do <at least virtually at the moment> what you want to do.

It is incredibly easy to feel one person can do so little and now, all of a sudden, the individual finds themselves in a world together with individuals who think the way they do, say the words they say and want to do the same things they do. The world exists only in a virtual sense <and they now that> and, yet, they can envision this world being created as a tangible reality.

It is incredibly easy to block out all the noise <even things that may represent Truth> trying to infringe upon the beautiful sounds echoing in this virtual world.

Look at whatever news or information sharing research you want, but the majority of people seek one main source for their information. If that is true <which it is> than once you have decided to become part of a social follower world that becomes your main feed of information, truth and reality. Once you have decided to become part of this following it becomes your world and then it becomes obvious <at least to me> you now have a world mainly of likeminded people cocooning thoughts, norms, cultural beliefs, civilization characteristics … and desires, despairs and hopes.

Anyway. While I like to wax philosophically I am a business guy … and I like to offer solutions.

sigh.

I do not have a solution on how to penetrate these alternative worlds <assuming you want to>. But I imagine if I were to do so I wouldn’t barrage them with facts or pontificate about my world view <because it is counter to their world view so why would I care> but rather I would assess their world, and their world view, and figure out a way to appeal to some aspect.

And I would definitely better understand the core of this alternate world view — the self-interest. Because in the end, while this is a sweeping generalization, the main way to connect with someone quickly is to do something or say something that appeals to “me.” Me as in self interest, self esteem, self view and self actualization.

That may sound like a selfish world view but it really isn’t. It isn’t as cold & harsh as “what’s in it for me?” as the foundation for all attitudes & behaviors but rather it is a nuanced world view of individual survival within a larger world view. Think about it. If I see other worlds around me crumbling or spinning out of control in its orbit I see those worlds as a threat to my interests and ultimately my survival. Therefore I am going to want to be part of a world in which an orbit is established, a global climate of prosperity & fairness <however that world may establish it> & my world view survival is insured.

I say that because “what’s in it for me?” sounds too small for what I view in this alternate world this group of individuals are seeking as we try and view their individual self-interest motivations. To penetrate this word in any meaningful way we need to appeal to some sense of self … and offer a new world view in which the individual decides to find a different world to live in.

By the way. Parts of what I am sharing today pain me. It pains me because a significant thread of what I am suggesting is grounded upon two thoughts that go against everything I believe in

<1> a large group of people do not desire to be fully enlightened <or are okay knowing what they know and want to invest energy doing other things>, and

<2> I am recognizing that the individual has more power to create ‘worlds’ than societal needs.

Neither of these are incredibly bad in a larger view it is simply an acceptance I have acquiesced to the greater need – that there are worlds apart from the real world which need to be brought back into the real world.

That said. Instead of calling people stupid or suggesting they are ‘unenlightened’ in some way or ‘they just don’t understand what I am trying to sell them is good for them’ … maybe it would be more productive to begin our own thought process by recognizing these are worlds in which they are happy, seemingly productive and hopeful. In their world they are not missing things … they have things.

These are worlds of their own making and maybe we should think that people do not build worlds based off of fear or anger or despair, they build based on hope & dreams & beliefs. Think about that last thought before you start spouting off about “tapping into anger” or “driven by disappointment.”  Things are not built from anger and disappointment, things are built by hands seeking a house for the future.

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“Nothing is perfect.

Life is messy.

Relationships are complex.

Outcomes are uncertain.

People are irrational.”

=

Hugh Mackay 

——————–  

“The most successful organizations in the world are the ones who work together, play together, and get messy together.” 

=

Jeanne Malnati

——————–

Well.

This may sound a little wacky but 98.2% of successful businesses are successful because, uhm, there is some conflict <note: I made up the 98.2% but you get the point>.

Suffice it to say conflict, in and of itself, doesn’t make them successful. It is that the conflict tends to create the positive friction which sparks better thinking, better ideas and a better company — in other words —  a more enlightened organization.

I often argue that conflict within an organization is natural … and healthy. Conflict is natural because while organizations try and create some ‘tidiness’ to the institution itself … the people within are messy. Inherent in this messiness is  a clashing of certainty & uncertainty, known & unknown, learning & unlearning and all the messy things thinking people do when all are aimed toward a greater vision, purpose & objective.

We often like to talk about business as ‘rational’, effective within organizational constructs and boundaries of behavior & rules, but, c’mon, Life itself is pretty messy — outcomes may be uncertain and people, particularly in business, can certainly be irrational <at times>. In addition, truth itself is messy. I mention that because if there is one thing every business seeks in their pursuit of success, it is ‘truth’ with regard to “what do we need to do.”

Regardless. It is quite possible the messiest part of any business is found in the simple objective of getting good shit done. It’s mostly messy because, once again, people are messy.

Messy in terms of how we interact.

Messy in terms of not knowing what we are good at … and sometimes not standing up for what we really are good at.

Messy in terms of inconsistent communication.

Messy in terms of selective listening.

Messy in terms of … well … our attempts to avoiding conflict <we can turn ourselves into pretzels trying to keep things as smooth as possible>.

Now. That may sound like a shitload of messiness, but it is simply a natural state of things — people, once again, naturally make business messy.

Oh. Even people with good intentions are messy.

Yes. Even good people.

Throughout my business career:

I have enjoyed a “force of nature” person who has forced enlightenment for the force of good.

I have endured a force of nature person with good intentions …with less than good behavior … who has forced us to face enlightenment.

I have encountered an essential force of good within a business … who doesn’t have the ‘nature’ part of the ‘force’ DNA … but is still an essential undercurrent force with which the business prospers by enabling enlightenment.

And the entire experience has emboldened me with a sense that even good organizations with good products and good people and a good idea can be messy AND enlightened AND be a force of good.

Yeah. Sure. I have also seen how messiness can negatively encroach into the good fiber of a business with bad conflict. But the one thing I can guarantee is messiness with good conflict will lead to enlightenment. It is just that I cannot guarantee whether it will be enlightenment used for the force of good or enlightenment used for the force of, well, something less than good.

Regardless.

All this messiness leads to Enlightened conflict. Enlightened Conflict is a term I often use <heck … it is the name of my site>. To me it has multiple dimensions of relevance to not only to what I believe & what I believe should be done, but what research shows creates a smarter thinking individual <and individuals> and, inevitably, a smarter version of collaboration <one driven to sharpen ideas rather than compromise on dull mediocrity>.

So.

A lot of people push back on the “conflict” part. Here’s the basic idea. The more someone understands <or is less ignorant>  the more respectful the “conflict” will be. Conflict can be debate, discussion or simply when two people have different points of view on things. It’s the basic thesis being challenged, navigating a crisis <the conflict>, antithesis all ultimately arriving at some synthesis. Its not a novel idea nor a contentious idea. But it IS an idea which empowers a business. Unfortunately, it is also an idea which many people suggest creates negativity.

Anyway. The positive side of enlightened conflict resides in the sharing of information so that people just know more. And I would hope <and actually believe> they use that additional “know more” <knowledge of some type> so they can make better informed choices. Conversely … I could suggest that the enemy of ignorance is enlightened conflict. I often suggest people think about that because I could argue <and I do> that one of the biggest obstacles to any progress, in business & in Life, is ignorance.

Well. The one thing I can guarantee is that Enlightened conflict aggressively attacks ignorance. Therefore, any business with an enlightened conflict  future will inevitably have smarter discussions, more respectful competition between employees <and better teamwork>, become more informed and, ultimately, create better decisions. And, maybe best of all, in their own way the business organization itself <model, organizational structure & roles/responsibilities definitions> becomes more enlightened.

Look. When I speak of enlightened conflict with businesses I am relentless with regard to my belief that little actions can make a big difference. I do that because I believe as long as you empower individuals to embrace enlightened conflict, and respectful conflict, you empower everyone to believe they are all architects of life … and fate.

All that said. I admit. I, personally, love a great debate and I typically feast on partially ignorant point of views. I am not that smart but I can spot a generalization or a sweeping judgment a mile away. I am kind of like a vulture lurking over ignorance seeking to swoop down for the debate.

It also helps that I am a curious vulture. I like to think and lurk over a variety of topics. On a separate note I am biased in that I believe businesses, and society, would be a better version of its current form if there were more curious vultures.

To conclude.

At least I have admitted being a vulture. Don’t let that stop you from loving the idea of Enlightened Conflict.

Life, and business, is messy. I would argue the only way to attempt to find a path through the messiness is to wade into the conflict, embrace your enlightenment throughout the engagement and, well, make whatever you can a little less messy.

=====

originally posted December 2009

===========

“Sliding down the slippery slope of mediocrity.”

–

David Ogilvy

=====

Ok. I believe the actual quote was “the slippery surface of irrelevant brilliance”, but I thought I saw somewhere he said what I wrote above.

Regardless. This is a Life and business lesson. So let’s just call it “truth.” Its a truth about work, effort, decisions, compromise, lies (or “half-truths”) and almost anything else I can think of.

Slippery slopes are incredibly easy to step onto AND get stuck on. What do I mean?

“Just this once” you say to yourself when you are tired. Whatever the decision or action we are discussing, to you, in the moment … it is mentally “an exception”.

“Just this once” when you are asked a question and you ponder your answer. Maybe you embellish.

“Just this once” you say to yourself when you put off that thing you wanted to do. A workout. A chore. A book. A project. A diet. A decision.

“Just this once” you say to yourself when it is a silly rule or it isn’t really unethical, but its not 100% ethical, it’s just in the margins of “okay to do.”

Before you know it <after some “just this onces“> you have edged on to that slippery slope. Once has become many and many becomes the standard.

Life is funny that way. Its sneaky. It permits you to look at things in a mutually exclusive way so that you don’t really see the accumulation of events & decisions.

Think of it maybe this way. In that incomparable <and totally underrated> movie The Replacements there is a scene where Keanu Reeves talks about it as “quicksand”.

It’s the same thing. You get in it. And you fight hard but you just can’t stop sliding down. In fact the harder you try to fight it … the worse it seems to get. And it is a truly helpless feeling. That’s quicksand in life. That is the slippery slope.

Oh. Maybe the worst thing about the slippery slope is that most people don’t realize they have started sliding until it is too late. Because the slippery slope is tricky smart. Sly in fact. It teases you with some easy low consequence decisions upfront. For example … you are on a diet and just have one dessert. One occasion, one time <some people are tempted to call this “reward for good behavior” which is simply another trick the slippery slope plays upon you>.

Maybe the slope even tempts you with permitting a small embellishment. Just a small addition at the end of a thought. Just a couple of words you wish you hadn’t said but didn’t seem to be that big. And the next time it becomes a few more words. And then … before you know it … the embellishment has taken on a life of its own.

Anyway.

It is one of my quests in life to find good people who have mistakenly started the slide and lend a hand to pull them back up. Professionally and personally.

Does that mean I am better than mediocrity? Shit no.

I just recognize that sense of helplessness and I like people to have hope for something better then the helpless feeling found on some stupid slippery slope.

I also believe there are a shitload of really good people … and I mean good as in talented and good as in heart & soul … who just get caught on the slope and life makes it even more difficult to figure out a way to get off the fucking slope.

Anyway. This quote reminds me of two things.

1. Pay attention to everything. It’s the only way to insure mediocrity can’t gain momentum (because we all have to compromise on occasion)

2. Help those who have that look of “how the hell did I get so far down this slope” by grabbing their hand and pulling them back up whenever you have a chance. There are some incredible people and some incredible talent out there that just got caught on life’s slippery slope. It doesn’t mean they are mediocre by any stretch of the imagination. It is simply that they got caught on the slippery slope and didn’t know how to get off.

Ok. Because I used a Replacements scene as an example of the slippery slope <and a really good scene in the overall perspective of the movie with a good message about second chances and shit like that> I want to end with one more Replacements reference.

==================

“Greatness, no matter how short, stays with a person forever.”  

gene hackman (replacements)

=================

We all seek t do something great – be it big or small. For most of us greatness will never be a lifetime tag. In fact for many of us <me for sure> this is a Truth.

But. A great moment? A great action? A great thing? Yeah. We all have it in us. And maybe that is where the slippery slope is such a bastard. Once you have done a couple of ‘just onces’ and you are on the slippery slope that one moment of greatness may appear and, well, that greatness slips by. All your ‘just onces’ cost you a chance at the one ‘once’ that really matters. How does that happen? When you are buried in the suckhole of mediocrity 2 things happen:

(1) your doubt with regard to whether you can actually do the great increases (and doubt creates hesitancy and hesitancy creates, well, missed opportunities),

(2) your slow side into mediocrity convinces everyone around you that you are, well, mediocre – only capable of doing that which is mediocre. this matters because 99% of greatness is attained only with oethr’s assistance. No assistance, no greatness.

All that said.

We shouldn’t dwell on greatness nor that one moment or thing  (for a life is never defined by one moment of greatness). We should invest that ‘dwelling energy’ at doing our best to avoid the slippery slope of mediocrity.

However, I will point out an easy moment of greatness. When someone who has been stuck on the slippery slope and is struggling to get off and just can’t see how to get off and out of the mediocre suckhole, well, reach out, give them a hand, remind them what greatness looks like, point out what makes it happen and what they are capable of. I would argue if you did that, in that moment, in some magical way, you may also have achieved your own moment of greatness.

Well. There is a lot of talk in the business world about how creativity has been squashed by data, numbers and an unhealthy pursuit of efficiency. All is true. However, to rediscover creativity I believe its helpful to think about how fearless you have to be to actually BE creative. Creativity is a tricky thing. Originality is an objective but less important than not copying. Inherent in almost every creative idea are elements of something that already exists or has been done.

I say all that because, having been involved in the creativity business in some form for over 20 years, I recognize that the best of the creative best are part insecure and part fearless. And it’s the fearless part that I am going to write about because I saw this quote somewhere.

—————

“I seek fearless work that challenges me”

Martha Graham

——————–

This is good stuff.

This is the kind of stuff not for the faint of heart.

And, frankly, this is the kind of stuff for few people, but, I can pretty much guarantee its at the essence of every great creative mind. Why? Because this quote is indicative of someone whose heart lies in doing fearless work.

Oh.

Fearless work means being fearless of failure.

Fearless work does NOT mean doing something wacky just for wacky sake.

Oh. But that is the first thing people who condone fearless work bring up.

You hear words like “stupid” or “what were they thinking” or “I could have told them it wouldn’t work <or be popular or be liked>.” In my mind those are words of people who fear work that looks fearless. This fear can be disguised as a variety of things … discomfort in something new … misunderstanding … lack of ability to recognize something.

Whatever.

This is about people who actually DO the fearless work. Because people who seek to do fearless work recognize several things:

–          how difficult it is (even though it may seem simple to the creators)

–          how unpopular it may be

–          when to stop being unpopular (the guard rails in fearless creativity)

In fact. I am going to use someone else who pursued fearless work to make the point. Kristen Hersh (one of the founding members of The Throwing Muses). As a teen (just to make another point that teens can often be wiser beyond their years) she said this about the difficulty of pursuing fearless work:

——————-

“Do you know how hard it is to not know how to sound like other bands? There aren’t any lessons to teach you how to do this and no one can help us figure out what <to play>. It’s hard to learn something that no one can teach you.”

Kristen Hersh

———————–

Actually. I wish I could share this with anyone who is critical of any original idea so they could think about the fact someone is doing something that was self taught because there is realistically no one to teach someone what has not been done before. Sometimes fearless work is difficult, and defined, by the fact you are forging your own path.  There are certainly some principles you can stand upon and some rigor of thought you can apply, but, there are no lessons,  there are no rules &  there are no real guardrails. In fact. The real difficulty is knowing when to put up your own guard rails.  Knowing when to stop innovating and just be creative with fearless work.

Kristen, as a 19 year old teen, pursued fearless work and did some amazing stuff (along with her fellow teen and musical genius in her own right – Tonya Donnelly).

Anyway.  I think the fearless ones tend to hear and see things the rest of us don’t. In simplistic terms it is only popular in their own heads. And unfortunately for the fearless there is only a minority who truly understands what they are doing:

(Kristen Hersh) … “but we play unpopular music.”

(producer) …

“that’s exactly what you play because you’re inventing something. You’re gonna be hugely influential.”

I do believe the best of the fearless best recognize that what they do may be initially unpopular to the majority. It is an uncomfortable position to be in because ideas are fragile and affirmation often makes it less fragile (people too).

The fearless just forge ahead. They may not like it. They may not embrace it.  But they understand it. And fight their way through it.

Because it is a fact. All the truly influential fearless creators didn’t have it easy early on.  They were creating something – inventing something. In their fearless work they were paving the way for people to think differently, see differently and just experience something different.  Yeah, I know, that is what being influential is all about.  But that doesn’t make it any easier. Now. While fearless work is often unpopular initially there is a difference between bad unpopular and influential unpopular. Good fearless is about understanding how to put up the right guardrails. Oh. Yeah. Those guard rails.

So how do the fearless know when to stop innovating?

———————

“when you start to suck, stop”

Kristen Hersh

———————-

Sounds simple, but it is not. I believe the best of the fearless best have an internal quality control.  Conversely, in the mind’s of the ‘less mature’ innovative thinking maybe the guard rails are less defined. But. In the best of the fearless best they have that inner barometer to recognize what sucks and what doesn’t suck.

Oh. And before we start putting too much weight on ‘less mature’ and associating it with age I would like to remind you that Kristen said this last quote when she was 19 (oh, these smart teens as I like to remind those wise stodgy adults).

Like I just said.

The best of the fearless best have an inner barometer.  They are born with it. They are born with the guardrails.

But this doesn’t mean there isn’t fear.

Even the fearless creative people have fear.

Everyone has fear (lest we forget).

————————–

“We fear the idea of something more than the thing itself.”

Steve Chandler

——————

Fearless work means loving the idea of something more than fearing the thing itself. I imagine that thought encapsulates most good things in life. But in this case those who pursue fearless work have overcome their fear in pursuit of what is good fearless work.

Anyway.

Today’s business world needs more people to pursue fearless work. To fearlessly create beautiful ideas that may make some people feel uncomfortable. We need these fearless people because they have a ripple effect beyond their own work. They influence how the rest of us look at ALL things. I do worry a little bit because I know these people exist but I am not sure a business world exists for them to exist in. We say we want more creativity, more risk, more fearlessness and, yet, the business word does not reward creativity, risk or fearlessness. I do worry a little bit because those who DO create fearless work live in an insecure world and if the business world does nothing to offer a security safety net being fearless can become an almost insurmountable daunting challenge.

My personal thought?

If you are fearless, all you can do is …

Act.

Do.

Create.

Discover your fear, face it and seek your own version of fearless work. In the end maybe we are lucky enough to positively influence people. And, at its best, maybe we actually be influential. And, of course, maybe something fearless we do will create the change necessary for the next fearless work to be done.

=======================

“But I will find new habits, new thoughts, new rules. I will become something else.”

—–

Divergent

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Well. I encountered a neat thing called the “20 Things” which is a little assignment this small consulting company sometimes uses with people they are considering adding to staff:  “What are the 20 things that have defined you – experiences, books, movies, people, travel, challenges, etc.”  When a friend told me about it I immediately began scribbling down ‘things.’ It was surprising how fast the important ones are noted and how easy it is to “fill in” to get to 20.

That said … and me being quite comfortable not following rules … I ended up with 15. They show up in no real order except number 1 and number 15.

I purposefully bookended the list with the two most impactful in terms of immediate and ongoing impact. 2 thru 14 can be juggled any way you want.

–          my grandfather

The greatest man I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. A simple kind man who honored integrity, kindness and truth above all. He taught me more about me, life and how to live Life <without overtly teaching> than anyone I have ever known. He remains my North Star for my life. I can only hope to be half the man he ever was … but at least he gave me something to aim for.

–          the pulled foul ball

Sports always came quite easily to me. And then I pulled a foul ball off a Tom Seaver fastball <before I struck out swinging on a slider which disappeared just before I was sure I had the fat part of my bat on it … hey, c’mon, the guy did win 3 Cy Youngs>. Regardless. I realized this was as good as it was going to get with me & sports. It didn’t mean I stopped sports, it just meant that I realized I needed to get going on the rest of my life.

–          The Hobbit

The first “real” book I remember. I devoured Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew until there were no more, but when I heard The Hobbit read to me during reading period in elementary school I entered a world of words & imagery & imagination — and thinking of ‘what if.’  It hooked me on books and reading and thinking. The first time I read The Hobbit myself I was still too young to see anything but goblins & elves. I have read it maybe 10 times <probably more> and I still see new things every time I read it.

–          Diplomacy <by Henry Kissinger>

I wish I had found this book earlier in my life. On the other hand, I may not have understood it earlier. Kissinger writes about diplomacy, but he is really discussing problem solving. He gave me one thing: “studying history is not analogous but contextual.” More people should heed this lesson. I certainly have learned this lesson.

–          Supertramp <my first concert, and more specifically, their encore song “crime of the century”>

I grew up in a house with music, but it all changed at my first concert and especially the encore. The encore was maybe 10 plus minutes of music and film with a growing image of hands on prison bars in space and I walked out of there in a thoughtful excited daze. I had words & notes & imagery imprinted in my brain from that point on as a powerful tool to inspire me to think in different & creative ways. Music has never left my life <and I have forgiven Supertramp for doing Breakfast in America>. Music and imagery is at the core of how I think and like to express myself <when it is possible and relevant to do so>.

–          Spike Lee

I was in my early 30’s in the audience when I heard Spike Lee say these words about his films: “I recognize everything I do impacts how people think … and even what they do … I have a responsibility every time I create anything.” It changed how I viewed what I did and actually how I did it moving forward. Basically I began assuming responsibility for everything I created. I have never stopped assuming that responsibility.

–          unstuck

I was a young manager with far to much responsibility doing the best I could and after one meeting my boss looked at me and said “nice job, they’ve been stuck on that for years, but you got them past it.” It was when I realized it appeared like my skill, or ability, was to “unstuck” people, businesses & situations. The truth is from that point on I actively began seeking things to ‘unstuck’. Maybe an odd version of ‘finding my passion’ or ‘doing what I love to do’, but I preferred thinking of it as making things unstuck.

–          St. Chappelle

I grew up in a home where we were expected to understand religious choices, but was, in general, ambivalent to religion. I was always indifferently interested in religion. I imagine I just took a pragmatic view on life in which God didn’t really enter into the equation. And then I visited St. Chappelle in Paris <across the street from Notre Dame>. As I entered the petit chapel and the sunlight filtered through the floor to ceiling stained glass it is the closest I have ever felt to not only believing in God, but actually believing I was in the presence of God. I am still not religious, but I respect religion and I imagine, in some small way, I better understand how God can positively affect someone’s life.

–          Madman Across the Water

The first time I heard Elton John’s Madman Across the Water album I think I immediately stole the lyrics from the album sleeve. The words made me think. The words made me create images in my head. The words inspired me to try and create words of my own that made others think & create images. That album made me a “words guy.” Plus. Every song on that album was just darn good.

–          suicide

I believe anyone who has been impacted by someone close to them committing suicide is never the same again. She was beautiful, kind and a friend. And she left with an entire life ahead of her. I imagine I felt like I did not do my part to show her what great things lay ahead of her. I vowed to never make that mistake again.

–          “I do not really care”

Graduate school. Case study discussion

“Mr. McTague … what would you do?” Me? “Well … I do not really care.”

Flippant careless response. It ended up on the front board for the remainder of the semester. And I should have been hung out to dry. I was technically correct that the point <of which I seemed to have grasped fairly early in business life> is that there are several ‘right’ or even ‘best’ solutions to a challenge, but I should have realized that words and how you articulate an idea & thought are almost as important as the idea itself. I vowed to never make that mistake ever again. A good thought can die if it is not articulated well.

–          “do not go gentle into that good night”

I have a love/hate relationship with poetry. I am fascinated with how words can be put together in ways that make you feel something inside, but all the rules of ‘effective and proper’ poetry drove me nuts. It was so constricting for something that should be so free. And then I came across Dylan Thomas’ “do not go gentle.” Whew. I found my anthem. Some call it ‘bull in a china shop living’ I simply point to ‘do not go gentle into the good night.’ It isn’t about dying it is about living. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. It was a great lesson.

–          Polly

My first boss. A woman in a man’s industry <advertising> who was in a senior position and did it her way, but with the flexibility to permit the next generation to flourish. She didn’t know shit about these new fangled computers that all the young people were talking about <this was in the 80’s>, but she put one on every one of our desks. She could do the same thing by hand faster than we could do it on the computer, but she kept sending us back to our computers. She mentored the youngest, guided the more experienced and managed everyone. She permitted individuality and built a team. Oh. And she set me up with her daughter. Anyway. She taught me how to be a boss and I was straight out of school. Most importantly, she taught me women were essential to progress & productivity in business. Simplistically, I owe everything in my career to a woman.

–          Kiev war museum <although I could have put the Holocaust Museum here>

Perspective. Nothing provides perspective in life than viewing the kind of death inflicted by one human on another human. And not just ordinary death but death in the extreme. I cried in both of these places. I could pound out some horrible numbers on my keyboard that would make your head hurt to express this learning tangibly … but why?

Simply. I cried. Humans can be very cruel if they are not careful.

–          To Kill a Mockingbird

My bookshelves are strewn with books I value and love. It is tempting to list the best of the best because they all made a positive impact and have been reread time and time again. But when one book is simply ‘the one’ why invest energy overthinking. To Kill a Mockingbird is my ‘one.’ I fell in love with Scout – her words and thoughts and questions. I still ask the same questions looking at today’s world and think of Scout’s thoughts daily. Harper Lee showed us that sometimes a child can see clearer than the most brilliant adults in the world. Listening to the young reminds us of things we have forgotten and they can actually teach us many things through the simplicity of youth. Regardless. Everyone should read this book.

That’s it. I had a bunch of other ‘things’ fighting for the 16 thru 20 slots but, frankly, they were just at a different level than 1 thru 15. I believe lists like this should be about quality and not quantity.

This is a worthwhile exercise for everyone. Everyone’s list will look different and some people may actually have 20 worthwhile events/learning moments instead of just 15, but who cares. It isn’t a competition. It is simply reflecting upon who you are as a person. This exercise reminded me we are all architects of our own Life. While many things are out of our control, many things are ours to do … or not do.

Is my list done? Gosh. I hope not. “This I am today … that I will be tomorrow.“

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“In the business world, 800-pound gorillas run with the big dogs, swim with the sharks and occasionally find themselves up to their asses in alligators. And if they are not crazy like a fox, they can get caught like a deer in the headlights.”

—

Richard Conniff

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“An idea is a feat of association, and the height of it is a good metaphor.”

—

Robert Frost

====================

Well.

One of the most discussed topics in the hallowed backrooms of marketing & advertising think tanks in the creative process is “the metaphorical icon.” This visual metaphor not only captures the essence of what it is they want to say, but can become some useable thought to extend out beyond the TV commercial, the magazine ad, the whatever tangible paid marketing tactic in the plan and inject itself seamlessly into culture <to the entertainment of the public and the advantage of the marketer>.

Here is the thing.

No creative person likes to talk about it <the extendable metaphor> and no one wants to aim for it because these kinds of ideas just kind of happen. You cannot ‘try’ for them they just are discovered from the strategy & discovery for a variety of reasons. That said. Suffice it to say, the more you want it the less it happens. And of course the corollary … the less you think about it the more likely you will think of something like that.

The only people who discuss it? Typically the corporate people <I want something like “x” company did, can we do something like that?>, scared marketing /advertising executives to their development teams <”x” company did that and we need to come up with something like that – please note the silent “you better” underlying these comments> or just hack senior management <we need a metaphorical icon or a mnemonic device … come up with one>.

Regardless. Every time someone suggests “I want something like that little <annoying> gnome that Travelocity has” or “can’t you guys come up with something like that giant asparagus … you know … the jolly green giant?” … creative teams cringe.

Heck. Most people with a brain cringe.

Anyway.

The problem is, well, when it works it works. Sometimes it even works in ways you could never imagine <ok … you can imagine … just never imagined it would happen with your idea> and sometimes it just works <and you have to avoid the temptations to make it better than the good idea it is>. Unfortunately. Sometimes it doesn’t work. And it cannot work in a couple of ways.

It can simply be a bad idea that is just bad <simple as that>. Or it can be a forced idea – one where an icon or visual device is forced in because it was demanded in the assignment. And it is the latter I am gonna mention here … and I get to talk about Giraffes. And some hotel. Oh. Not a hotel … an inn … Residence Inn.

This is an older ad – Residence Inn Giraffe:

Yup. It seems that Residence Inn caters to giraffe-like people. Apparently research must have suggested they must travel a lot <along with some other animal like people I guess as you will see later on>. Apparently this “Inn” has extremely high ceilings, lots of head space for those really tall people who are traveling all the time, for people to feel comfortable in. Oh. But the giraffe is in bed. So they have really long beds?

Ok. Sometimes the metaphor is kind of a stretch <pun intended>.

I get the point is a “spacious” room, but, I am not really sure a traveler wants to be a giraffe <even metaphorically>.

What do I mean? Oh. Don’t lions eat giraffes? Oops. The lions must stay at other places.

<note: there is actually a Hotel Giraffe in new York city … I have never been there … google informed me … apparently it is an “oasis of sophisticated style” which embodies the gentle power, grace and beauty found in one of nature’s most beloved animals … so if you do not want to go to the zoo and feel like a Giraffe … stay there >

Next up for Residence Inn?

An elephant. Residence Inn Elephant.

And they have used penguins.

Well.

I know their next product extension. A zoo.

Look.

I don’t hate the commercial. Of course it is well done <done by McGarryBowen I think> and metaphorically I get where they are going:

I imagine it all began with some brand manager standing up in the front of a room pounding the table saying something like:

“everyone listen … we ARE different … not only are we an Inn instead of a Hotel … but Inn rooms are bigger than Hotel rooms … LOTS more bigger … we aren’t talking inches but square feet for gods sake … spacious … almost cavernous … no … so spacious you can almost roam the space like the wide grasslands of the open wild.”

It was an impassioned speech based on what is probably a true, if not discernibly different or truly important, functional aspect semi-relevant to someone sleeping in a room who is ultimately there only to do business for the time they are out of the bed <and out of the room> but extremely relevant to the company and its employees.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the same room, a brand planner lounged in a chair languidly using some big words to suggest that business people who stay extended amounts of time in a hotel <oops … Inn> have read every positive thinking sales/business book ever written and every time they step across the threshold out into the real world in the morning they pump up their confidence <and their fist> like they are going to battle. They need to stand tall with confidence. The planner even probably summarized the project brief with something like “Residence Inn. Stand Tall.” And everyone sagely nodded their heads in unison and said “brilliant insight.”

<note: somewhere in the back of the room a bored creative guy – who was kind of chuckling on and off again at the rambling idiots briefing them – doodled a giraffe standing in the middle of a room thinking “maybe I could shove this giraffe up some brand manager’s butt”>

So. When are giraffes relevant in marketing? Gosh. Maybe For African documentaries? Ok. Ok. Toys ‘r Us developed a fabulous idea with a giraffe many years ago. Geoffrey the Giraffe.  Fabulous. One of those ideas of which if they could have come up with it maybe two years earlier and had a CMO who had the kahones <and brains> to maximize it … they may have avoided some of the business challenges they inevitable encountered.

Anyway. I understand that advertising is difficult … to be entertaining as well as trying to communicate some functional useful reason for someone to spend money on you … but sometimes it becomes too far a reach in the use of metaphors. The biggest argument <slam> I am going to receive from the otherwise brilliant McGarry people is “but people remember the advertising <with positive perceptions.>”

(me) Yeah, yeah, yeah.

See my ‘awareness isn’t enough’ post <its not enough to just be remembered … that is a low unprofessional bar>.

I absolutely recognize it is a difficult category <the “hotel, motel, Holiday Inn category” to use Sugar Hill Gang ‘Rapper’s Delight’ lyric reference> but using animals, kids and “Free” is kind of a cheap advertising trick.

That’s my gripe.

The actual animals aren’t really relevant to what Residence Inn actually stands for … therefore … they must only be using the animals as cheap trick to create an ‘entertaining ad to increase awareness’ <and get noticed by us idiot TV watchers>. Nicely done ads though.

So.

This is about a specific dysfunction in business – communication (or over communication).

I think we all have seen plenty of dysfunction in the upper ranks of business. This may sound obvious but what this means is a lot of dysfunctional people are actually chosen for upper level positions. It is curious because I struggle to believe we are oblivious to the spectrum of dysfunctionality. So why would any executive actually choose a person with some type of dysfunctional leadership qualities to take an upper level position?
I actually believe it is because we are breeding a brood of dysfunctional managers <or less competent managers if want to be kinder>.

To discuss this thought I begin with an article the Economist had about the British East India Company (article: “the company that ruled the waves”).

In the early 1800’s, before there was email and fax machines and overnight delivery and twitter, this private company successfully, and effectively, managed a far ranging organization across oceans & continents when the only means of communication was letter <or in person> by ship or overland <think months>. The success of the organization was dependent upon autonomous management. Note. The British East India Company was quite successful. Yes. Of course there were some spectacular management mistakes and there were also the ‘unmanageable’ factors … hurricanes, war with France, privateers, etc. but in general the upper level positions were manned by competent decisionmakers who balanced autonomy and the overall organizational needs and vision.

A couple thoughts on this success:

1. Traditions & values. The tradition & values of the organization <lets call them attitudes> were so intertwined into the individual’s learning & values that not only ‘in the field’ likeminded managers were consistently reproduced but the ultimate leaders in London could confidently predict the behavior of those in the field.
2. Distance honed responsibility. Without constant communication and feedback in the field managers had to make decisions on their own. They were responsible for their actions … to the home office as well as to the livelihoods of those immediately affected by the decision.

Therefore, with few communications, business was conducted … successfully. This suggests that the immediate and constant communication/feedback does not necessarily create better managers. In addition you would have to assume the depth & breadth of the constant communication <beyond the time consumption> does not help develop managers who take risks, learn on the job and take responsibility.

I thought of my own experience and I, frankly, envision I would have become a really crappy upper level manager if I had learned my management skills in today’s world of instant feedback/input.

In my 20’s I had three out of town clients and a team in the home office which I didn’t see all the time. For several years I had to delegate & trust a team, make decisions in the field, access my own managers based on assessed importance to do so … oh … and assume responsibility <for the good and the bad>.

Note: I am not old enough to have worked at the East India Company in the 1800’s.

Anyway. My guess is that delegating did not come naturally to me and if I hadn’t been forced to learn to do so, and inevitably learn how to trust a team, I most likely would have never learned it. This is not research proven but I imagine most people who actually like to make decisions suck at delegating <and have to learn to do it>.

Interestingly <and I am not sure it is exactly the same these days for young people in business> at that time moving up in an organization was often a battle of attrition. Most people who moved up did so based on their decisions balance sheet. In my words, decisions were not ‘blurry’ … they were yours.

Today? Decisions are often made within ‘smart systems’ in which there are immediate communications gathering consensus and gaining input. In other words … decisions are blurry. And, depending on the organization, the smart system can be used by someone to smartly shirk decision responsibility and place it in the hands of the system. Just to conclude that thought … that means a person’s resume is then stacked with blurry decisions <of which no sane interviewer would ever admit to>.

Look.

I am not anti-email. I believe it actually, when used correctly, enhances efficiency. I say that despite the fact I do believe “real time decisions” are not often necessary <we treat each decision like it has to be made in real time and often it doesn’t> as well as they are bad decisions <made without the use of information that could be easily available if you take the time to get it>. Regardless at no time prior has there been an ability to access a store of information and a computing capability with to enrich decisions … almost instantly. Therefore, if used correctly a smart system can enhance decision making ability.

But emails <and instant communication> have several costs – from the honing of managers to poor time utilization.

Email use is a hidden cost for many businesses but a formula developed by researchers in the UK/Australia assessed how much of an employee’s salary is effectively paying for their email use. The formula, reported in the International Journal of Internet and Enterprise Management, estimates that email use costs anywhere between £5,000 and £10,000 (about 8k to 15k) per employee each year.

The survey of company email use revealed typically that almost one in five emails was cc’ed unnecessarily to staff members other than the main recipient. 13% of received emails were irrelevant or untargeted and a mere 41% of received emails were for information purposes. Less than half of emails (46%) that required an action on the part of the recipient actually stated what the expected action was. And 56% of employees remarked that email is used too often instead of telephone or face-to-face. Ironically, almost half of employees (45%) felt that their own emails were easy to read.
But. This post isn’t about emails it is about developing good managers.

In a business world where it appears to me that hiring practices seem to initially filter <and increasingly post initial> almost exclusively on experience and qualifications assuming it is the most important factor of all, it ignores a reality where someone’s experience and/or qualifications is often … well … not really theirs. Oftentimes someone’s experience is simply experience of shared decision making responsibility – their main qualification is delegating risk and responsibility. And, yet, their qualifications are a list of ‘accomplished deeds.’

In my eyes, we are breeding <and rewarding> a group of managers whose strength is not making decisions. <yikes>

I truly believe you can take a person who is very smart who has the right attitude and train them to do a fantastic job, and be an excellent autonomous decision maker, if they have the right attitude. I personally prefer filtering on personality as a slightly higher selection factor than related experience.

Regardless. Even if we resolve the ‘teaching manager’ issues dis-functionality in upper level positions won’t ever completely go away. Why?
Well. Let me give this one a shot from personal experience not offering any solutions but rather offering ‘whys’ <and, by the way, I am not proud of number 2>. Although I believe it is fairly rare that a totally incompetent ‘dysfunctional’ person is elevated to a meaningful position <unless nepotism or favoritism is involved but let’s disregard those two> here is how I know I have been personally involved <please note: these are all partially outcomes of a traditional heieraccy oragnization and a distributed decision making model would resolve much of this>:

–          1. You believe you can fix them. The person is productive at some valuable aspect. Maybe even REALLY valuable. You convince yourself you can either fix the part that is obviously dysfunctional or supplement that person with someone who can fix it <deal with it> as part of the ongoing process.

–          2. Horse trading <the one I am not proud of>. Even with the greatest psychological/competency tests in the world you can still torture the numbers/information until they say what you want. Therefore a number of candidates get placed in a subjective discussion pool. In the end, sometimes, you are horse trading positions and people to get what you want, i.e., put someone here and you get someone there. Doesn’t matter if it is a small or large organization … I believe we all do it with good intentions (or how about … belief what we are doing will better the company).

–          3. Not ‘placing out’ flawed employees. Not many organizations have a ‘planned place out’ system for employees as they move up higher in the hierarchy. As people rise, and earn their stripes, we begin seeking to place them in an organization and not ‘place them out’ at any point. They have proven some value <albeit tied to a lesser responsibility> and therefore get assessed on value provided and not on value not-provided (or value they impede).

–          4. Today’s “speed to solution’ needs. Experience seems to count even more today than ever because of leaner organizations. At the expense of originality or innovation we are putting higher & higher value on speed to solution (getting something done). If you are good at the speed to solution, we seem to be able to overlook a slew of dysfunctional attributes.

Of course, none of these suggests that the decision maker is oblivious to the dysfunction and that is an entirely different issue. In the end I believe this creating dysfunctional managers is a big issue now … and certainly in the future. And I truly believe the incompetence is being driven significantly by instant overcommunication (which probably has some underlying issues like ‘less tolerance for mistakes’ and the concept of ‘share responsibility’ as well as managers who just don’t know how to delegate and instant communication continues to feed that behavior).

Somehow we need to resolve this issue or the only non-dysfunctional managers who will be in the upper level will be those who truly manage by numbers <because we know numbers never lie>. And that, my friends, is scary. The number crunchers will rule the world.