Lessons from an Ad Man #2 - On Fear and Creativity

Over the holidays I finished off an old book that had been on my 'I really should read that' list for ages -Confessions of an Advertising Man by ad industry legend David Ogilvy. The 'Confessions', first issued in 1963, provide a little bit of a glimpse into the Mad Men world of advertising in the 50s and 60s.

Ogilvy's book is a little short on the dramatics and indulgence portrayed on Mad Men, but it is long on practical, insightful, and simple advice for running a business, managing people, serving customers, and more.  Since I love to share such nuggets of solid business advice, and I need to create a few more blog 'series' to help keep this little blog updated, here is dispatch #2 in a semi-regular series called 'Lessons from an Ad Man.'

Here's Ogilvy on how at times, the often adversarial nature of the client/agency relationship impacts the ability of the 'creatives', i.e. the ad people, to produce great work:

Most agencies run scared most of the time. This is partly because many of the people who gravitate to the agency business are naturally insecure., and partly because many clients make it unmistakably plain that they are always on the lookout for a new agency. Frightened people are powerless to produce good advertising.

We can of course take this point with a grain of salt - Ogilvy is writing from the perspective of the ad agency owner that would very much prefer to have the security (and steady, predictable revenue), of long-term contracts and stable client relationships.  But buried past that bias is certainly some truth - that making people that you rely upon to produce interesting, innovative, creative, and even unforgettable work nervous and afraid for their positions and their livelihoods is unlikely to be a successful long-term management strategy.

It certainly makes sense - you can probably recall times in your career where the element of fear, or of intimidation, shouting etc. could produce improved short-term results, particularly for singular, repetitive, and less complex tasks.  But have you ever had success walking into a room and berating or threatening a group of artists, designers, writers, or other so-called 'creatives'? Shouting -  'We need five innovative ideas by tomorrow or you are all sacked!', seems a pretty dismal approach as Ogilvy suggests.

It leads to more 'safe' ideas, a climate of second-guessing, and an overall reluctance by people to stand up for they believe is right, and for them to stick with more of what will be accepted. And 'safe' might not be what propels your business into the future.

So that's Lesson #2 - 'Frightened people are powerless to produce great work.'

Have a great week everyone!

How exactly you are wasting all that time on Facebook

If you are one of about, I don't know the BILLION or so folks that are users of Facebook, and more precisely if you are one of the smaller-but-still-pretty-big group of Facebook users that seem to be a little obsessed with the social network, then this resource is for you.

Check out the latest release of the WolframAlpha Personal Analytics for Facebook utility. This little, free service analyses your Facebook activity, network, and usage patterns for the service, and in addition to providing some really cool information and graphics, (an example of my FB network is in the image on the right), it also provides some insights as to the nature and structure of your connections as well.

The data and charts highlight outliers, calls out people very similar to you, (i.e. you share many of the same friends), and also identifies people that could be bridges for you to make lots of new connections. Again, assuming you care about this sort of thing about your Facebook network.

But while this is a cool tool, especially for the Facebook obsessed, it also provides a bit of a starting point for analyses of internal networks. Wouldn't you like this level of detail, depth, and presentation of information for your LinkedIn connections, or better still, the actual people you work with, sell to, or attempt to influence in some manner? Networks are better when we actually understand them, I think.

Take a look and the WolframAlpha tool if you get a spare minute today and let us know what you think.

Have a great weekend all!

VIDEO - For when you're certain you could do the other guy's job better

It can get pretty tempting to see someone struggling a little bit in a job, or maybe doing fine in a job that you just don't see as very difficult or challenging and think to yourself -

'Look at Jim Bob over there in Marketing or PR or Comms, (doesn't really matter what), anyone could do that job. Heck, they should let ME do that job for a while, I'd show them it's not that hard and I'd get some things done.'

Yep, it's pretty easy to critique from the sidelines, and it's really common, (you know you've done this at least once), to devalue the relative complexity and contribution of functions of the organization that from the outside seem kind of simple, so simple that anyone could do them. Never mind the fact that it is pretty likely some folks in Operations or Logistics are looking at YOU, Mr. or Ms. Talent Pro and are saying the same thing about HR and Recruiting.

Guys are especially guilty of this kind of hubris I think, and nowhere is that kind of misguided confidence/arrogance manifested more completely in the context of sports.  Most guys have played at least some sports in their lives, more watch professional and amateur contests on a regular basis, and still more 'retired' from their chosen sport more than a little disappointed in how far and how successful they actually were as athletes.

It was from this shared experience of frustration, combined with a good dose of the 'He isn't that great/that isn't so hard' I referenced at the top that led to video below, (email and RSS subscribers please click through), a basketball contest between retired journeyman NBA player Brian Scalabrine, and four talented, but definitely amateur players that all, to a man, must have been thinking - 'Scalabrine? He was a bum. He rode the bench for most of his NBA career. I can take him.'

Check the video below, (you don't need to watch the entire thing, a few minutes will give you enough a feel for what went down.

Long story short?  Scalabrine, the 'bum', and during his career one of the worst players in the league, and no longer in what passed for his 'prime', crushed the assorted challengers by a combined score of 44-6. 

And while the challengers were certainly not professional caliber players, they all tried out for the show to play Scalabrine and were vetted as talented amateur players. From the video you can tell they all were actually pretty solid - the kind of guys that probably dominate their local gyms or rec leagues. But up against NBA-level talent, even the last guy on the end of the bench talent, and now too old and slow to keep playing talent, they all were exposed for what they really are, a bunch of guys who now realize, if only a little, what an NBA player can do.

So what? So what that a few playground ball players lost to a just-retired NBA player? What's that got to do with me?

Maybe nothing. 

But for me, well I just like the little reminder that often even the worst guy at a given job might still be pretty talented at that job, and perhaps more importantly, just because a job looks easy doesn't mean it is, and that just anyone could do it.

Congrats White Mamba... 

The 2nd Annual Tim Sackett Day Honors the Great Paul Hebert

First off - Happy Tim Sackett Day!

What the heck is Tim Sackett Day you might be wondering?

Let me take you back to a similar cold, windy, snowy January day just one year ago when a rag-tag band of Human Resources bloggers joined together to honor one of our own, one of the often unsung HR heroes, toiling in the trenches, working day-in and day-out to improve the workplace, one step at a time. The idea was to recognize and praise the type of HR, Talent, or Recruiting pro that all too often goes, well, unrecognized in an era where 'Look at me' sometimes trumps, 'See what I have accomplished.'

Last year, the inaugrual Tim Sackett Day honored, well duh, Tim Sackett. 

For the 2nd Annual Tim Sackett Day, the HR blognoscenti honors one of the stalwarts in the world of motivation, incentives, and influence -  none other than the amazing Paul Hebert.Paul Hebert

If you know Paul then you won't be surprised at all by the decision to single him out for this type of recognition. He is, for me, the single most knowledgeable, well-informed, experienced, and level-headed thinker, writer, and implementer in the world of influence, behavior, recognition and rewards.  

He has forgotten more about what really works to drive change in organizations that most of us will even know.

And he won't hesitate to tell you if the latest buzzwords are BS, that often times you actually don't need, or are not ready for his services, and that influence, rewards, and incentives have to be connected to the needs of the organization to truly be successful.

But beyond all that, past his insight and expertise, Paul is simply and unequivocally one of the most giving, considerate, and thoughtful people I've come to know in many years. 

Have a question? Paul is there to try and help.

Have a new project or endeavor? Paul is there to support.

Want an intelligent conversation, or just a laugh? Paul is there to advise, educate, and commiserate.

Quite simply, Paul is one of the very best people I have ever met, and I am proud and honored to call him a friend.

Lately, Paul has been fighting a brave and courageous battle against cancer - you can learn more about Paul's situation here. I know you join me in praying for a speedy and full recovery for Paul.

So congratulations to Paul for this great honor, and congratulations as well to all the great, hard-working, unsung, but essential HR and Talent professionals that do their part, every day, to try and make all our workplaces better, more meaningful, and more important.

Happy Tim Sackett Day! 

Note: You can participate in the festivities today on Twitter - use the hashtag #TimSackettDay 

Job Titles of the Future #1 - Wikipedian in Residence

Here is a quick hit for a cold, cold Tuesday morning in beautiful Western New York - check out this excerpt from a recent piece in the New York Times Arts Beat blog titled 'Gerald R. Ford Library Hires 'Wikipedian in Residence'':

Gerald R. Ford may have governed during a time of economic stagnation, but his library has just laid claim to a cutting-edge distinction: becoming the first presidential depository to employ an official “Wikipedian in residence.”

Michael Barera, a master’s student at the University of Michigan’s School of Information who has been editing Wikipedia articles for five years, started the job last week, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. He is charged with improving the Wikipedia presence of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum, which is housed at the university’s Ann Arbor campus.

More details about the actual role and duties of a 'Wikipedian in Residence' can be found in this piece from the Chronicle of Higher Education:

A Wikipedian in residence is a Wikipedia editor who has an on-site placement at an institution. It turns out there are many such Wikipedians at archives and museums around the world, including the National Archives, but there has never before been one at a presidential library.

If you dig a little deeper into these pieces you discover the real reason that the Ford museum and some other institutions have taken the step to hire staff to focus explicitly on maintaining, augmenting, and often, correcting information and articles about them on Wikipedia. Namely, that's were they are seeing the majority of web searchers, potential visitors, and heck, maybe even job candidates are landing when they are doing research.

Sure, the Ford museum has a website, they are on Facebook too. They have control (mostly with Facebook) of how their message gets conveyed on those platforms. But they've figured out the important medium for how people learn about them is Wikipedia and by hiring a 'Wikipedian in Residence', they've taken a step toward better managing those messages.

There you go - your first installment of 'Job Titles of the Future' - Wikipedian in Residence.

Have one for your organization yet?