Job Titles of the Future #4 - Cat Video Technologist

Quick reader poll, how long has it been since you've watched a cat video on the internet?

A very important POLL 

(NOTE - If you get re-directed, just click the browser BACK button to return to the post)

Liars, there is no way that you didn't watch one today. Or maybe it wasn't a cat video, it could have been an animated GIF of some bros cheering at a ball game, or a Tumblr filled of photoshopped pics of a random dude out on dates with super models.

Let's all just admit it, we are collectively wasting the best years of our lives on this nonsense.

But all that time translates to opportunity for others, and while marketing, advertising, and PR have all been around forever, the specific skills, attitude, and aptitude it takes to connect with consumers today - in our time crunched, multitasking, and multi-device lives are possibly quite a bit different.

Check out this piece from Business Insider, This PR Agency Wants to Hire a Cat Video Technologist, on PR firm Taylor Herring's quest for this kind of new talent to get a feel for what I mean.  The job ad (spoofed to look like an old-fashioned print ad) is below:

Sure, you could quibble with me in that the actual job, (and Taylor Herring assures it is real), is not different from any of the thousands of other 'social media marketer' jobs that are probably being advertised across the world right now. And you would be partly correct. The list of required skills has many familiar elements we'd recognize from similar and existing roles.

But what makes the Cat Video Technologist different are two things really. One, is that it points out directly the connection (to their business anyway), and importance of goofy internet memes like Ryan Gosling stuff and cat videos, and actual commerce. And two, the very way that Taylor Herring presented the job ad - the funny title, the internet job ad that looks like an old newspaper ad, the use of Twitter to market the opportunity, etc. all have a 'recruiting strategies of the future' feel to them as well.

The PR agency needs to find and attract some of the most creative, interesting, and social web aware people in the industry. One way to do that is to be creative, interesting, and to leverage the social web to try and make that happen. Everything about this seems smart to me, and forward-looking, so thus I bestow a Steve-approved 'Job title of the Future' to the 'Cat Video Technologist'.

Have a great week!

If you want more leaders, you have to let them lead

The NBA Finals are underway, and as I write this post the San Antonio Spurs are still enjoying a 1-0 series lead, primarily due to the steady play of their veteran stalwarts, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. Parker, their point guard hit a remarkable shot near the end of the game to put the Spurs in a commanding position, and Duncan shook off a bad start to put up 20 points and 14 rebounds and contributed all-around solid play.

These two players, (along with Manu Ginobili), with a combined 10 championships between them, have formed the core, of one of the most auspicious franchises in all of professional sports. Throughout the Spurs run of success there has been one more constant - the Spurs long time coach Gregg Popovich. Popovich has been at the helm of the Spurs since the late 1990s, (an amazingly long tenure in the coaching world), and has helped build and lead the Spurs to four titles, (going for number five as we speak). 'Pop' has been successful for a myriad of reasons, (getting the #1 pick in the Draft in 1997 and landing Duncan perhaps the most important and fortunate one), but I'd like to call out just one in this post, one that I think speaks to the trust he places in his leaders, and how he challenges them to continue to develop.

In Game 1, Parker hit his amazing shot to put the Spurs up by 4 points with just a few seconds left to play. Miami called timeout, and after the timeout would have a just about impossible task, make up 4 points on one possession. But still, stranger things have happened, and a Spurs mistake, say fouling a Miami shooter attempting a 3-point shot made the unlikely scenario at lease possible. In situations like this, coaches always take a minute during the timeout to implore the players on the team leading by 4 to make sure they play smart, do not foul under any circumstances, and generally stay focused and sharp despite the seemingly high probability that victory was safe.

As I say coaches usually give these kinds of instructions, especially NBA coaches, and especially in the waning moments of what was an incredibly tense and close game, and in the Finals no less, the pinnacle of competition for these teams.  

What did the Spurs and Coach Popovich do and say during that last, tension-filled timeout? 

Catch the video below and see, (Email and RSS subscribers will need to click through).

Did you see that? Tony Parker, the on-court leader of the team, talked with Coach Popovich, made sure they were in alignment on the preferred message/strategy, and then proceeded to walk back the huddle with the other players and run the timeout conversation just like the 'real' coach normally does. 

Did you see all the players immediately lean in to listen to Parker? Did you notice that Parker sat in the chair facing the other players?, (where in 99% of these timeout huddles you will see the coach usually sits).

Did you see any of the players looking around, confused, wondering 'Where is the coach?'

And finally, did you see Popovich sticking his head back in to the huddle at all, to make sure everything was taken care of?

Of course the answer is No to all those questions.

Popovich has done a lot of great things in a legendary coaching career, and from this 45 seconds or so we can see that developing leaders is one of them.

If you want more leaders in any organization, you have to let them lead, like Pop did to Parker in this moment - a big, important moment no less.

You have to let them lead. It's the only way to know if they will do it. And if they can do it.

And this is hard to write coming from a guy who is puling for LeBron.

Have a great week!

Off Topic: The Home Office of 2001

Even back in 1967, smart folks were thinking about work and life and how to balance the two. And as an aside, I get really annoyed when the work/life police go out of their way to constantly remind the rest of us that we shouldn't use the term 'balance', but rather something like 'fit' or 'blend' or essentially something they approve of. Quit it already. If the world wants to refer to the subject as 'Work/Life Balance' its you that need to adapt, not everyone else.

But to get back to the topic, or non-topic as the case may be, back in 1967 none other than the 'Most trusted man in America', news legend Walter Cronkite gave viewers a glimpse of what at least of the part of the future of work might look like, all the way in the distant future, the year 2001. 

Check the video embedded below for what Uncle Walter had to say about the home office at the turn of the century (Email and RSS subscribers will need to click through)

Some awesome points from the Kronk, (if you can ignore he is only referring to 'men' workers throughout the video). But think about it, back in '67 folks were already thinking about technology that would free the employee completely from the office. Throw in some connected computer terminals for news and weather reports, as well as one for catching up on your investments, (beats doing emails, right?). Mix in an odd-looking phone that connects to a video monitor to have video calls. Finally, yet another monitor for the business man of 2001 to see all the other rooms in the house, (and if you look closely, it seems like Walter is looking in on the Mrs. making the bed). 

The funny thing about the home office of the future as imagined in the video is it really doesn't speak much if at all to the business man doing any actual work. And it doesn't at all speculate that work itself might change dramatically, just that there would be fancier tools to assist in the effort. And lastly, it continues to assume, like probably lots of men did in 1967, that complex work that would benefit or even require all this cool technology would only be done by men.

Let's hope that those shortcomings or lack of vision from Kronk were just a product of a more old-fashioned way of thinking, and narrow point of view. 

Because we know that in 2013 and beyond, the technology of the future will not just make things easier and more convenient, it will help make the world a better, more open, more equitable, better place.

Right?

Have a great weekend!

The three questions to ask when you're thinking of creating something

These notes, taken by Blake Masters from Silicon Valley legend Peter Thiel's Computer Science class on startups, are completely worth reading - whether you work in a startup, are thinking of joining a startup, are thinking of creating your own startup, or just thinking.

Of the many interesting nuggets and insights in the notes, (the difference and difficulty of taking a brand new idea from 0 to 1, versus taking an idea from 1 to n - with n being infinity and the different stages of technological progress and advancement), I wanted to call out from Masters' notes Peter Thiel's three questions you need to ask when evaluating your idea.Hélio Oiticica, Metaesquema No. 348, 1958

Here is Thiel's take:

The path from 0 to 1 might start with asking and answering three questions.

First, what is valuable? Second, what can I do? And third, what is nobody else doing?

The questions themselves are straightforward. Question one illustrates the difference between business and academia; in academia, the number one sin is plagiarism, not triviality. So much of the innovation is esoteric and not at all useful. No one cares about a firm’s eccentric, non-valuable output. The second question ensures that you can actually execute on a problem; if not, talk is just that. Finally, and often overlooked, is the importance of being novel. Forget that and we’re just copying.

 The intellectual rephrasing of these questions is: What important truth do very few people agree with you on?

The business version is: What valuable company is nobody building?

Earlier in the week I posted about the proliferation of tablet devices that are primarily designed for and used to consume content, rather than create content and the implications of this growth for career management. In a world where people want to consume and consume and consume, I argued, that to have real lasting and sustainable value and advantage that you want to be a creator, not just a consumer. I still believe that, and I also believe it can be really hard for lots of folks to actually create things - blog posts, presentations, podcasts, videos - whatever.

And after reading the notes from Thiel's talk, I think these same three questions about startup formation and practicality of an idea can even be applied to more mundane, or day-to-day scenarios like content creation.

What is valuable?

What can I do?

What is nobody else doing?

Try thinking really hard about those question and you have a start at least or a guide to moving from consumer to creator. And the good thing is for most of us the 'right' answers to those questions can be drawn from a much narrower context than Thiel was probably thinking about (the entire world). 

You can probably get by with just finding what is valuable, achievable, and novel in your own company, or city, or industry, or even your group of friends for that matter. 

You can be a content creator, and I think, you and definitely your kids, need to become creators too.

WEBINAR: Hire for smart (unless you think the world will stop changing)

I'm sure you've seen or heard statements like '61% of the jobs in the USA by 2017 don't even exist today' or 'Kids are learning things during freshman year in college that are already obsolete by the time when they graduate.' Ok, I made up the '61%' stat - but the gist of the assertion is probably accurate. No matter what you or most of the people in your organization are doing today, there is a pretty good chance you and they will be doing something different, even significantly different, tomorrow.

What matter more to long-term, sustainable, and adaptable organizational success probably isn't finding and holding on to people that (just) know how to do their current job, but to find, develop, engage, and retain the kind of people that will be able to thrive in tomorrow's uncertain future as well. Way back when, before we knew anything about competencies and personality types and employee engagement mumbo-jumbo - most smart managers knew that finding the smartest people was the only to be able to navigate uncertain times. With this in mind, my friends at Fistful of Talent are back to help you make the leap to hiring smart vs. hiring a resume.

Here are the deets: 

Join hiring smart (people) experts Kris Dunn and Kelly Dingee for Brains Before Bros: Why Hiring Smart People over Experienced People is a Winning Talent Strategy, sponsored by our friends at SumTotal, on Tuesday June 12 at 1pm EST and they’ll hit you with the following:

 

A rundown of the factors driving talent scarcity in today’s workforce and why it’s better to hire smart people and train for success.

1. FOT’s definition of “smart” and common false positives you need to consider when defining what smart looks like for your organization.
2. Three signs that your top talent may be looking to jump ship and how to reel them back in by providing the incentives they really want. (Hint: It’s not always monetary).
3. Five ways to keep training and development programs aligned with evolving expectations from top applicants and your existing talent – without breaking your budget.
4. We’ll close this webinar by bringing in Steve Parker from SumTotal to help you ensure your leadership team is creating the right environment to get the most out of your existing talent.

Your traditional approach to talent isn’t working –- start putting brains before bros and maximize your talent strategy today.

Register for the FREE webinar HERE.

As always the webinar comes with the standard Fistful of Talent promise: 100% of the time it's guaranteed to work 60% of the time.