Artisanal HR

For the beer fans out there I have a question for you: When is the last time you had a cold, refreshing Budweiser? You know, the classic, iconic, King of Beers?

I think I can hear the beer snobs out there answering 'Not for ages, who drinks Bud anymore?' You likely prefer some kind of triple filtered, quadruple hopped, double bocked India Top Secret super pale ale, (aged for 18 months in oak casks imported from Bordeaux).

(For the record, I like Bud and Bud Light, so there.)

But the reason I bring up Budweiser on the blog today was this interesting piece from Ad Week - Budweiser Woos Hipsters With Artisanal Wooden Crates and Throwback Logos. Here is an excerpt from the Ad Week piece:

(Budweiser) today revealed it's planting 10,000 vintage wooden crates in stores across the country this week. The packages will contain 18 bottles of Bud adorned with a classic label from either 1918 (beginning of Prohibition), 1933 (end of Prohibition) or 1976 (the brand's 100th anniversary) as well as two pilsner glasses. The crates were handmade by a North Carolina shop called Vintage Editions.

Additionally, the throwback labels will appear on 1.6 million Bud bottles to be shipped in the next several weeks.

Why am I bringing this up?

Because I think it is interesting, (the number one reason I blog about anything), and also because it is about beer, (the third reason I would choose a topic for the blog, the second reason being some kind of a take about basketball).

What is interesting about the move by Bud, is that beyond a simple re-packaging tactic it is also a play to evoke and leverage Bud's rich history and mythos as America's traditional and largest brewer. Bud has been a part of America longer than any of us have, and likely even if many of us have moved on to more (allegedly) 'better' beers, that most of us have memories of family and friends and Bud.

But somehow along the way Bud (and other mass-market brands), become not 'cool' any more. Bud is too generic, too large, too mass-produced for many folks. For them, whether it is beer or tomatoes or cheese or even physical products like furniture or clothes what is valued is new, unique, and something called 'artisanal.' I don't want the thing that lots of other people have, (or have access to). So while Bud can't change and somehow become hip or artisanal, what it can do I think, via smart messaging, packaging, and leveraging a strength of theirs, (their history), is remind a new generation of potential customers that they are still around, still relevant, still cool, (in an ironic way, see Blue Ribbon, Pabst).

What's the connection to HR/Talent/Workplaces?

Well, lots of what we do (and have done) in HR probably seems more like Bud and not much like Pliny the Elder (Google it).

But just like Bud is still a pretty refreshing drink, especially on a hot day, lots of what we do in HR and Talent is still relevant and valuable - even if it doesn't seem cool anymore. Maybe there are a lot of old-sounding processes for training or leadership development or even mentoring that still have value (and you can prove it), but just need a refresh, some re-packaging, and a way to remind the new wave of customers of their value.

Maybe instead of re-inventing everyrhing, you should start by considering re-packaging the best of what you already have first. 

And don't be a beer snob.

The App that will make me switch to Android

I am super busy with last minute prep for next week's HR Technology Conference, but I had to take 10 minutes to call out a piece I spotted on TechCrunch about a new app called 'Offtime'. The App, currently available only for Android devices, provides a more sophisticated way for smart phone users to manage the incessant stream of phone notifications into more thoughtful groupings to better manage their work time, down time, and the times in between.

The Offtime app is built to allow you to unplug without missing any important or urgent matters. It lets you create an approved list of contacts who are allowed to break through your downtime, e.g., family members, important customers, your boss; but otherwise shuts down your phone's apps, incoming calls, texts, and emails. The app can also be configured to auto-respond to incoming messages when you are taking some unplugged time, while compiling for you an activity log of the things that you missed while taking a break from staring at your phone.

I think this just might be the coolest idea ever.

Many of us have spent the last several years diligently building up enormous lists of friends, followers, and contacts in various social networks and messaging apps. But now lots of people are starting to feel the backlash from such massive networks and active presence on these platforms.

Namely, we are almost never not being pinged, nudged, mentioned, liked, or otherwise being notified about something.

And that can get kind of exhausting. But doing a simple 'full shutdown' doesn't usually work either. We still need to be reached by our family or by one or two close friends or work colleagues no matter what. The problem is that it has been kind of hard in various apps and networks to make a more selective list of who you want to be able to contact you at any given time. It usually is an all or nothing prospect.

The Offline App seems to have found a way to help folks manage this scenario by allowing a more discrete way to take control of that endless series of beeps and pop up notifications and actually allow you to get some real work done, (or take some downtime), without the full panic of not being contactable by anyone consuming your thoughts.

I still have an iPhone, so I can't try out Offline as yet (they say they are working on an iOS version), but if this reeally works as advertised, it might be the App that sends me over to Android once and for all.

If you have tried the Offline App, I would love to hear about your experiences. 

Want to shift power dynamics? Stop saying 'I' so much

Think about the last conversation you had with your CEO or an Exec at that big new client you are trying to impress. Even better, if you have one, take a look at the last email exchange you have had with one of these big shots. 

What are you looking for in these interactions?

How many times you use the personal pronoun 'I'.

As in 'I am writing to ask you about....' or 'I was referred to you by...' or 'Since you are a distinguished executive, I wanted to reach out to let you know I am a talented.....'

That kind of thing. It turns out that we don't use the word 'I' so much in these interactions because we are self-centered or conceited, we use 'I' because in these kinds of interactions with whom we perceive to be more powerful people, we get really self-conscious, and start playing the 'I' card way too much.

This conclusion is based on research from James Pennebaker, from UT-Austin and is reviewed in this piece from NPR - Our Use Of Little Words Can, Uh, Reveal Hidden Interests. 

Here is an excerpt from the NPR piece that explains why we use 'I' so much in these situations:

But some of his most interesting work has to do with power dynamics. He says that by analyzing language you can easily tell who among two people has power in a relationship, and their relative social status.

"It's amazingly simple," Pennebaker says, "Listen to the relative use of the word "I."

What you find is completely different from what most people would think. The person with the higher status uses the word "I" less.

To demonstrate this, Pennebaker pointed to some of his own email, a batch written long before he began studying status.

First he shares an email written by one of his undergraduate students, a woman named Pam:

Dear Dr. Pennebaker:

I was part of your Introductory Psychology class last semester. I have enjoyed your lectures and I've learned so much. I received an email from you about doing some research with you. Would there be a time for me to come by and talk about this?

Pam

Now consider Pennebaker's response:

Dear Pam -

This would be great. This week isn't good because of a trip. How about next Tuesday between 9 and 10:30. It will be good to see you.

Jamie Pennebaker

Pam, the lowly undergraduate, used "I" many times, while Pennebaker didn't use it at all.

Pretty simple, yet kind of profound too, I think. There, I just did it myself. Two times in fact.

How could 'Pam' have shifted the power dynamic just a little, while making the same request? How about something like this:

Dear Dr. Pennebaker:

My name is Pam, a student in your Introductory Psychology class last semester. The class was enjoyable and the lectures were extremely valuable. Regarding your recent email about doing some research with you, would there be a time for us to meet and talk about this?

Pam

Not too bad, right? Still respectful enough, but not as cloying/begging. Not constantly trying to 'prove' in the message that the Professor should take the request seriously. 

Anyway, check out the piece on NPR for more on Pennebaker's work. 

And stop saying 'I' so much.

Have a great week!

The best 'Out of the Office' message might be this one from Germany

Regular readers (and people who have the occasion to want to get in touch with me) probably know that I have a troubled, difficult, and often non-productive relationship with email. Honestly, email and I should have broken up a long time ago, as clearly it is just not working out for either of us.

So it is from that point of view that I offer up what I think might be the best (partial) solution to one of the biggest problems with email today for the busy professional - just how much of it piles up when you are away from it for some time, like when you are out on holiday or if you are traveling for business, or even if you just need to turn off the email incoming fire hose for a while and actually do some work.

Check out what the German automaker Daimler is offering up to its 100,000 or so employees to help stem the tide of email when they are out of the office on holiday. Note: these excerpts are taken from a piece on FT.com, it is free to read but requires registration to get access to the article.

The Stuttgart-based car and truckmaker said about 100,000 German employees can now choose to have all their incoming emails automatically deleted when they are on holiday so they do not return to a bulging in-box.

The sender is notified by the “Mail on Holiday” assistant that the email has not been received and is invited to contact a nominated substitute instead. Employees can therefore return from their summer vacation to an empty inbox.

“Our employees should relax on holiday and not read work-related emails,” said Wilfried Porth, board member for human resources. “With ‘Mail on Holiday’ they start back after the holidays with a clean desk. There is no traffic jam in their inbox. That is an emotional relief.”

An 'Out of the Office' that not only lets the person know that the intended recipient is actually out, but also deletes the incoming email entirely? 

Sign me up for that right now!

Email and the never ending battle to not allow email to sap productivity, destroy morale, and turn into your job instead of a tool you use to help you do your job is likely to continue to be a contentious subject as long as email remains the primary tool for business communication and collaboration.

And that kind of stinks, because in 2014 when we have robot butlers, self-driving cars, drones that can make package delivery, and digital assistants that can guide us and help us navigate our days that most of us have to stare at and wade through hundreds of seemingly random messages every day before we actually get to 'do' anything.

I am going to be on vacation/holiday for a few days in a week or so, I wonder if the good people at Daimler would be willing to license out their little 'Out of the Office' auto-delete tool to me.

I definitely would use it.

Have a great day! (And if you are waiting for an email from me, be patient a little longer....) 

Off Topic: The Refrigerator Door

On the right is a (partial) picture of my very cluttered and busy refrigerator door.

Maybe yours looks a little something like that too - unless you have one of those shiny stainless steel refrigerators that don't like to cooperate with 'fridge magnets, then chances are there are at least a few things pinned up on the door. click for ginormous view

According to researcher and co-author of Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century Anthony Graesch, families with small children at home have on average about 50 magnets and items tacked up on the refrigerator, (you can see more from Prof. Graesch in a recent interview that aired on CBS Sunday Morning, hat tip to Trish for sending me the link to the video).

That number of 50 seemed pretty high to me, until I began counting up all the stuff I have up on my 'fridge door, mostly mementos from trips or events or airports I have passed through in the last few years.

One funny side note about my door, when I mentioned to my 13 year old that I was going to post something on the blog about refrigerator doors and magnets, he took a closer look at the door and asked, "Why do you still have a picture of you and that MetLife dog up there?"

I replied, "Do you mean Snoopy? That is the dog's name, he isn't 'The MetLife Dog'. He was in Peanuts for about 50 years. You know Snoopy, right?"

"Whatever, Dad. I know him as the MetLife dog."

Welcome to 2014, when stainless steel refrigerators, smartphones, and social networks are eroding the power and majesty of the well-decorated refrigerator door.

And where a generation of kids only knows Snoopy as "The MetLife dog."

Note: I am heading to Vegas for the next four days with most of The 8 Man Rotation crew to soak up a little NBA Summer League action, so the blog will probably be dark until next week.