Jim Seybert's Fool's Box has moved!

You should be automatically redirected in 10 seconds. If not, visit
http://jimseybert.com/blog-foolsbox
and update your bookmarks.

Everything that was here has been posted on the new site. Use the Search Feature to locate the post you're after.

10/17/2007

Virtual products??

Cali Lewis at GeekBriefTV asked viewers of her podcast to share their favorite new product of 2007.

I suggested JOTT, but that raises the question:

Is JOTT a product?

Do products need to have physical dimension, or can a service be a product?

10/10/2007

My first hardback book

This is exciting.

My first hardback was released this past week by Tyndale House.

The One Year Mini for Leaders is 365 daily devotions on leadership.

The jacket says the book has "daily, thought-provoking insights" - I hope you agree.


For those following the promotion we ran in August - More than 2,500 people downloaded the entire content of the book and they will be receiving a follow-up email this week with links to various retail and online outlets.

9/26/2007

Who wins the "PR Battle" in the Ahmadinejad visit?

It's all about image.

Seems to me there have been a number of "wins" in the recent flap over the Iranian leader's visit to Columbia University.

NPR reports this morning that Ahmadinejad's comments have earned him bonus points in Iran. But those same comments earned him negative points among American listeners.

Among pure Free Speech advocates, Columbia wins for inviting Ahmadinejad, while the school loses among hard-line Truth advocates, who claim his speech was full of lies.

In any situation, you will win and lose image points. Each is merely one "play" in a game that goes on and on. The important thing to keep in mind is your over all brand promise - determine what you stand for and don't waver from that position.

Seems to me both Columbia and Ahmadinejad did just that.

9/21/2007

I would be licking the glass

Now this must be SOME incredible Scotch -

Tasting For $30,000 Scotch Garners Free Advertising

Two bottles of The Balvenie Cask 191--a single malt Scotch priced at $30,000 per bottle--arrived under Brinks guard at a Toronto liquor store yesterday as part of a publicity stunt. One media specialist valued it as the equivalent of $300,000 in advertising because of the free articles that would presumably be written.

To the palpable delight of organizers, about 25 reporters and drinks critics dutifully showed up with uncommon punctuality to partake of a tutored tasting of the single malt Scotch, led by kilt-clad Balvenie brand ambassador David Mair.


Not only did 25 reporters show up, they arrived ON TIME for the event. Lesson learned: Do something remarkable and people will show up.

9/15/2007

Are we running out of ideas?

I went to NextFest in Los Angeles yesterday and was bored.

This was a collection of the "next" ideas coming down the path and a majority of what was on display consisted of re-purposed existing ideas.

  • Miniature versions of bigger things;
  • Smoother running versions of existing machines;
  • Quieter, louder, brighter, softer;
But very little I would consider new and quite a bit of what I'd consider pointless.

There was a cool bio-engineering display about growing human body parts in labs, and a nifty machine that "prints" 3D objects on a small enough machine that in-home use could be imagined. But even these are not new ideas.

So, are we running out of ideas?

I don't want to think so, but if not, where are the really new things?

Perhaps NextFest should have been called the Almost Ready for Prime Time Fest and I should have been looking for the You Are Not Even Gonna Believe This Fest.

9/13/2007

If stuffy old lawyers can change, you can too.


When you need (or want) to bring about change you can do things differently or do different things

This very traditional Boston law firm is doing things differently.

What are you waiting for?

9/12/2007

It's not easy being green

From the WSJ through MediaPost

Hotels Struggle With The Meaning Of Green
As more hotels try to become more environmentally friendly--in part to satisfy customers who are demanding it--they find themselves cluttered with "green" products and hype--but without many reliable guideposts for what's effective.

So - when you travel, what can hotels you stay at do to support your green-ness? Is it enough to not change bed sheets and towels every morning? How much are you willing to give up to be green in a hotel?

I find that housekeeping will often ignore the towel I have draped over the shower rod and will replace it anyway with a fresh towel.

9/07/2007

What will they think of next? No, really - what?

Saw this piece about comic book episodes being delivered to cell phones and got to wondering, "OK, that's cool. What's next?"

It's like Disneyland - while you're still standing in line for one ride, you start asking, "When we finish this one, where are we going next?"

Thanks to MediaLife:

Now available via cell, the first mobile comic book
Reading a paper comic book is so last month. Just ask Sean Demory and Steven Sanders, authors of “Thunder Road,” the first comic book to be released exclusively on a cell phone in the U.S. It’s offered by uClick, which has about 55,000 readers a month for its GoComics service, launched last year on Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint Nextel. Released last month, “Thunder Road” joins nearly a dozen traditional comic book titles including “Bone” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” being offered via subscription from $3.99 to $4.49 a month. New chapters or issues are uploaded for each title on a weekly basis by the comic’s site. Japanese comics known as manga, some of which got their start on cell phones, can be read on mobile phones through a separate service.

9/03/2007

Freeing up disc space

I am a disc space fanatic - always looking for ways to reduce the amount of stuff on my drives. Must go back to that very first x386 machine with a 20MB hard drive and 2K memory.

Cali Lewis, the gadget maven, has a few tips on great "clean up" tools for Mac and PC users.

8/30/2007

Book Promotion Update


Looks like we're going to end up with more than 2,500 downloads of the PDF when the promotion ends sometime in the wee hours of September 1. 

I've tracked dozens of blogs and websites that mention the promotion, and my StatCounter logs indicate we got a significant amount of sneezing, which helped spread the virus even further.

Now, we lay low for about 6 weeks until we're certain the book has arrived at retail and then send a reminder to buy a copy at selected outlets.

Of course, the final reckoning will be how many we SELL, but the promotion has exceeded everyone's expectations and just proves that some of the crazy ideas we've all been talking about actually work.

8/29/2007

The scent of a chicken

Ah, the power of aroma.

Brain scientists know that smell is the most powerful of the senses because it goes straight to the limbic system, the control center of our emotions.

The folks at KFC have launched an amazing promotional campaign, recognizing that the aroma of freshly prepared fried chicken is more than finger-licking' good.

Thanks to MediaPostPublications.com for this. (May require free subscription).

8/26/2007

How amazing is JOTT?

Accidentally hit "redial" after Jotting myself. Didn't realize I'd connected.
Got to my hotel and had received a lengthy email detailing the TRAFFIC REPORT that must have been playing on the radio at the time of my dialing error.

The typist was clearly not familiar with our freeway system in LA, and many of the words were spelled phonetically - 405 became four or five - but the amazing thing is they also included the audio, so if I needed to, I could have deciphered what I had recorded.

And all that for $0.00

8/24/2007

BigMac Update

They used to be messier.

To celebrate the BM's 40th, I went to my local McDonald's for lunch today and ordered the #1 Extra Value Meal - BigMac, Fries, Coke.

Hmm - the sandwich seems to have changed. Somewhat drier than I had remembered. Could it be less Special Sauce? Or perhaps a leaner patty?

Happy Birthday Big Mac(TM)








The Big Mac turns 40 years old today. (Guess where I'm going for lunch?)

Not really the first triple-decker hamburger sandwich, Bob's Big Boy had a double and triple before Micky D, but certainly one of the most famous food icons of all time.

I think one of the main reasons for its longevity is the catchy "Two all beef patties . . . " jingle.

What do you think? Why has the Big Mac lasted?

And, what lessons could you learn from the history of the Big Mac to help you think differently about what you do?

8/13/2007

New Ad Space is Anti-Viral

Look!!
Up in the sky!!
Well, actually on the side of that building . . .

Just when you were finally starting to "get" the whole viral marketing thing, Gene Ely's Media Life posts this update on a 2-year old advertising tactic that's gaining popularity.

New Wine in a New Skin at Chrysler

I love the fact that Chrysler has gone outside the auto industry to name their new CEO.

Robert Nardelli had been the top dog at Home Depot before being canned there a few months back. His recent trouble at the hardware giant notwithstanding, I'm excited for the possibility of new ideas being infused into the sagging auto industry.

Hiring from inside is a good way to boost morale, but it also perpetuates old ideas. The folks at Chrysler are taking a bold step in rolling out a completely new "model."

8/09/2007

Free Book Promo Update

Never underestimate the reach of an ideavirus.

On July 27, I sent about 800 emails announcing the promo for my new devotional book due for release in October.

Within 24 hours about 200 people had downloaded a copy.

Then, a friend mentioned it on a service that reaches more than 20,000 readers and the download total jumped to more than 1500 in one day. Most of those came directly from my email and his column.

I thought the thing would die down a bit after that, but now we're getting a steady stream of people coming to the promo site through referral emails. There's a strong contingent in New Zealand that I can trace to what looks to be a school administrator's blog.

It's spreading like a virus - an ideavirus.

Freeing Up Your Mind So You Can Think (Differently)

Once a year, or so, I like to step away from my practice of providing something provocative to ponder and instead introduce you to some sort of new tool or gadget I have found extremely helpful.

This time it's the concept of Life Hacking - Defined by Wikipedia as: any small productivity tool that solves an everyday problem in a clever or non-obvious way.

I've found three such hacks useful in taking care of things I previously thought about more than I needed to. You may have heard of these. If so, skip to the end and read an update on my free book promotion.

Life Hack #1 is the aforementioned Wikipedia. The online free encyclopedia has an ill-deserved reputation because too many people rely on it for what it isn't - a reliable source of factual information. I find it to be great starting point. If I hear a new term on the radio or learn of something I'd like to explore, Wikipedia has already "been there, done that." I have a Wiki widget on my Dashboard and use it frequently.

Life Hack #2 is del.icio.us. (That's a URL, by the way. No dot com, org or net). Most of my consulting assignments involve a good bit of research and del.icio.us allows me to catalog every web page I visit with literally one click of a mouse button. Download a very small application to your Firefox toolbar and you are ready to go. I can access my saved tags from any computer and I've used it to send groups of pertinent URLs to clients for their review.

Life Hack #3 is a fantastic memory enhancer for me, and an effective communication tool for others. With JOTT, I push a speed dial button on my Treo, dictate notes to myself (or anyone else I've previously set-up) and within minutes my voice message is transcribed and emailed to the recipient. It helps me keep track of expenses on the road. I used to have little scraps of paper all over my car from notes I tried to write to myself while whizzing down the freeway. I still have scraps of paper, but there's nothing written on them because the important stuff is already in my IN box.

I am sure there are others. You may have some of your own. The idea is to give your brain more time to do what it was created to do, which is something more than keep bunch of To Do lists up-to-date. If you have one you'd like to share with me, fire it off.

8/08/2007

No more 39-cent stamps

When the Post Office raised 1st class postage to 41-cents a few months back, I bought a stack of 2-cent stamps to extend the usefulness of the 39-cent stamps we still had.

I misjudged and ended up with a few sheets of extra 2-cent stamps and when I went in to the PO today to buy a roll of 41's- I was told they no longer sold the 39-cent version.

So, I have a sheet of 2-cent stamps that are pretty much worth less than the sticky on which they're printed. (Granted the page represents only 40-cents in actual cost).

As I grumbled out of the Post Office about "stupid government agencies" that should "operate more like a real business" I realized that the government doesn't exactly hold a corner on the "ridiculous policies" market.

There are plenty of private commercial businesses with their share of inane decisions. Chances are you have a handful of them in your shop.

7/16/2007

Quick Fire Challenge -

STOP EVERYTHING and take 5 minutes to think about this idea.

Ask yourself (or your colleagues) - "How can we take advantage of this idea?"

Thanks to Gene Ely at MediaLife.

If you need someone to help your team work through ideas like this, my practice specializes in helping companies find new ways to do things.

6/04/2007

Review of Pink's "Whole New Mind"

I was asked to write a review of Dan Pink's A Whole New Mind.

The book (and my review) are worth the time it takes to read.

6/01/2007

Starbucks - Alternative Idea

Not knocking their success, and not ranting about "corporate" coffee.

Just an alternative question:

They position stores close to each other because they presumably don't want people to walk past a competitor.

Is there anyway Starbucks could instead make their stores SO compelling as to give customers a reason to go out of their way to shop?

I'm not sure this would make sense but the resulting discussion could be valuable for other industries.

Understanding The Beatles


The 40th anniversary of Sgt Pepper is upon us - and I know this means next to nothing to a ton of people born after the Summer of Love. My 20- and 30-something friends roll their eyes when I use Beatles metaphors because to them I am just talking about "another band."

I can understand the feeling and until now had no way of explaining why the Beatles were SUCH a huge deal.

THIS piece does it. If you've ever wondered why the old guy in your office gets a tear in his eye when a Beatles tune comes on the radio, THIS piece may shed some light.

Enjoy - or as Sgt Pepper said, "I hope you will enjoy the show."

5/30/2007

Not sure this is good sign

Well, my first hardcover book is due to be released in September.

Just for giggles, I googled the title and found this on Overstock.com.

Should I be worried that the book is already considered an "overstock" item before it even hits the store?

PS - be watching for a special FREE COPY offer coming to readers of my monthly newsletter - Market Intelligence.

"The" Quintessential Restaurant Experience

I was born in San Francisco. My dad gripped cable cars when I was a kid. We lived on a very steep hill in China Town. I am San Francisco to the core, complete with a strong parochial view of anything San Franciscan. Just like Tony Bennett, my heart will always be there.

What sets it apart? San Francisco has things no other city can boast. Cable Cars. Golden Gate Bridge. Lombard Street. Sour dough bread. Alcatraz. It is "the" City by the Bay, not merely "a" city by the bay.

I had a chance recently to share a meal with fellow consultant Tom Pryor and a friend of his who were on assignment in San Francisco. I came to town for a client meeting and Tom invited me to join them at McCormick & Kuleto's on North Point in Ghirardelli Square.

The experience was everything I expected. The view was amazing - I could see Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge from my table. The service superb and the food delightful - just as it would have been in any one of the other great restaurants along the water and in other parts of The City.

And that raises a question:

If you are a top-flight restaurant in any city,
how do you differentiate yourself from
the other great restaurants in the same zip code?


You expect greatness in a world-class restaurant, regardless of the location. But McCormick & Kuleto's did something that set them apart from their elite crowd.

Tom had made reservations the day before our visit and had provided his telephone number when asked to do so. On the morning after our fantastic dining experience Tom received a phone call from the manager asking about his meal and thanking him for choosing McCormick & Kuleto's over all the other choices he had for the evening.

The folks at McCormick & Kuleto's recognize the commoditization of their industry, and they've taken a unique and very simple step to set themselves apart. They aren't satisfied with being "A" great dining experience. They want to be "THE" great dining experience that calls you the next day to thank you for choosing them.

Exercise
  1. Get your leadership staff together and make a list of all the things you do well.
  2. Then make a list of all the things your competitors do well.
  3. Cross out anything on your list that shows up on their list.
  4. Now, look at the items still on your list and ask, "Could someone else do these if they tried?"
  5. Cross out the items that could be copied.
  6. Are you left with anything?
  7. Now, brainstorm ideas you could do that no one else does? Be careful. The temptation is to do more of the same only bigger, cheaper, louder, stronger, softer, tastier or with more variety.
Note - McCormick & Kuleto's didn't WOW us with their culinary skills or the size of the portions. They did something unexpected and unrelated to their core product.

5/03/2007

Are You Protecting Pebbles

Consider this:

  • Emeril Lagasse and I purchase the same ingredients at our local grocery store and people flock like wolves to his table, but not mine.
  • John Steinbeck and I have the exact same 26-letter alphabet from which to construct stories and there are entire shelves of his books in the library, but not mine.
  • Both football teams walk on the field with an equal amount of time to play; one wins.
  • Pianos have 88 keys. Whose would you rather listen to? Norah Jones' or mine?
So what?

The basic ingredients to nearly everything are a collection of common commodities. You can distill anything down to sand & gravel, ones & zeros, time & space. Knowledge itself is ubiquitous. We are living in a post-information age when everyone has access to everything.

Philip Evans and Thomas S. Wurster in Blown to Bits: How the New Economics of Information Transforms Strategy (1999-Harvard Business Press) call this the "deconstruction of [traditional] information" channels. They make the point that having information is not nearly as critical as knowing what to do with it.

I'm one of those people who thrive on knowing new stuff. And I don't mind sneezing what I've learned to anyone who'll listen because the knowledge itself isn't worth much more than a pocketful of pebbles. When I pass along knowledge, I haven't given up anything because the real value - the worthwhile intellectual property - exists in my ability to fashion IDEAS from the knowledge I've obtained.

Knowledge, facts, data, ingredients - are ALL over-rated as something to horde.

Holding on to what you KNOW only gains you an advantage among those who lack the ability to execute new ideas based on the pebbles in their pocket.

Besides, these days the ingredients are there for the taking, so why waste energy locking them up? If you don't share what you know, someone else will - and they'll reap the benefit of building relationships while you're building bunkers to protect something that isn't worth much in the first place.

Exercise:

Step one: Make a list of "ingredients" your organization uses to do what you do. Start with physical things, move to intangibles such as data, talent and time, and finish the list with meta-physical elements such as innovation, relationships and passion.

Step two: Make a similar list for your competitors and then cross out everything that shows up on both lists - or that COULD be on both lists with a little effort or a well-timed staffing change.

Step three: The items you crossed out are the "pebbles." These are things you can easily share without giving away what's really valuable - they are commodities because everyone already owns them.

Step four: Make plans to stop hoarding the ingredients and concentrate on developing the nuggets of real value that remain.

4/25/2007

Equity VS Ubiquity

Seth Godin got me to thinking about this issue in a recent post.

Awareness of your product or service isn't the ultimate goal. Knowing WHO you are doesn't count if the potential buyer doesn't know WHAT you can DO for them.

A very wise man once told me that confusion is the mother of indecision.

If they're confused by your message the only choice they can make is to ignore you and go on to someone else. You may have the best product on the market, but if they can't see through the clutter of other crap you're throwing at them - they'll walk.

4/24/2007

Top Brands of 2007

What's in a name?

Google beats Microsoft - because people love Google and tolerate Microsoft.

4/17/2007

New vocab term - WILF

Stands for "What was I looking for" -

Refers to people who get lost while online and wander aimlessly through the net.

"What did you do this afternoon?"
"Oh, I was bored so I wilfed around."
"Yeah? Find anything cool?"
"Actually yes - this blog from a guy named Jim Seybert."

Found it on MediaLife

4/10/2007

Keep 'em talking about you -

Found this on the AAFSmartBrief email this morning







STOP
what you're doing right now and ask, "Are people talking about us?"

They better be.

4/09/2007

How bad do you stink?

I recently wrote about the difference between "the" and "a" - encouraging organizations and the individuals who populate them to accentutate their uniqueness.

Here's another good example of that concept from Seth Godin.

As you read this, replace references to the fruit with thoughts of your own situation and ask, "Do we smell bad enough?"

4/06/2007

Looking Past Pigment, Language and Gender

I'm always on the look out for "new ways to do things" and a recent piece in AdAge.com explains the concept of identity marketing where you look past the obvious demographic segments to get a better understanding of messages that will resonate well with your target audience.

4/05/2007

User Generated Content in the Soda Wars

It wasn't that long ago that marketers gave themselves goldstars when a consumer would alter their lifestyle to use the product (leaving the house earlier and driving to Starbucks versus brewing your own coffee at home) -

Now, everywhere you look consumers are altering our products to fit their lifestyles -

Here's the latest -

For you, the question isn't WILL this become an issue for my industry, but rather WHEN will it happen and WHAT will we do to give consumers some input in our process?

4/01/2007

Give Your Ideas Time to Ripen On the Vine

Long-time readers of this monthly newsletter know that I will occasionally write on an idea I have not explored to its ultimate conclusion. I do this because the idea is intriguing and worthy of open consideration, despite its nascent existence.

This is one of those -

I spent the past week leading a client's strategic planning retreat on a tiny island 45 kilometers off the eastern coast of Nicaragua. Little Corn Island is like no place I've ever been. On its 900 square acres there's not one single road, which is OK as there are no motorized vehicles. Bicycles substitute for cars. Wheelbarrows serve as trucks. Electricity is provided by solar panels and generators. Our hotel has one computer, connected to the Internet by satellite. It works when the power is on, which last Tuesday it was not.

At about 8:15 Tuesday morning, the power went out. No computer, no water, no fan. My cell phone had been out of range for two days already.

The lights had gone out previously but they normally came right back on. This time, the hotel said it was a problem with the generator and no one had any idea when it would be repaired.

I found a shady place with a decent breeze, picked up a pencil and did some old-fashioned, hand-powered "analog" word processing.

Over the span of 4 hours, I did by hand - in slow motion - what I had planned to zing out in 30 minutes on my computer. I didn't find something else to do until power was restored, I just did what needed to be done - by hand, at a much slower pace.

And you know what? The end-product was better. It took longer, but it was more intuitive and met the needs of the client in ways that a "digital" effort might not have done.

Vine-ripened tomatoes are immensely superior to their artificially matured "hot house" cousins because chemical reactions that result in the perfect fruit aren't rushed on the vine.

Because things are so automated these days, it is too easy for us to pound thoughts into our keyboards, without really thinking about them. And, just like hot-house tomatoes, our end-product suffers for lack of time to ripen.

So, take a moment to think about this -

What would happen if your company had a "black-out period" when everyone in the place was forced to work in "analog mode" - by hand?

  • No computer access - turn it off at the server.
  • No phones - find a way to kill the ringer.
  • No copier, no musak, nothing electronic.
Tell them to spend the time writing letters, reviewing agendas, thinking through strategies, looking for ways to be more effective (rather than simply more efficient).

As I said at the beginning, this idea hasn't been fully explored, but it certainly has potential.

How often should you do this? I don't have a clue what would work for you, but after this week on Little Corn I am going to try and go "unplugged" for about 4 hours a week. I wish I were the CEO of a big company so I could pull this off and watch what happens on a grand scale.

At your next staff meeting -

Read this to your team and ask:

    1. What benefits might we enjoy by doing something like this?
    2. How extreme should we be with the elimination of electronic tools?
    3. When are we going to have Seybert lead a strategy retreat for us on a tiny Caribbean island?

3/01/2007

The Difference Between THE and A

I am one of those people who can latch on to subtle differences in word meanings. You will often find me in the midst of an argument that includes someone saying, "Isn't this just a matter of semantics?" And, they're usually correct.

MOST semantic disagreements are minor and not worth the effort - but I want to focus on one such distinction that might make for some valuable dialog around your organization.


One of the hottest books in America these days was written by a 50-something Australian divorcee who has attracted the attention of Oprah Winfrey and million of others. Rhonda Byrne titled her book The Secret - a decision that could have a lot to do with its success.


It's a self-help book with some rather unusual suggestions. Want to lose weight? Don't heed your doctor's advice by changing your eating and exercise habits, rather follow Byrne's suggestion and "avoid looking at people who are overweight." [I'm not kidding.]


In a world saturated with advice and how-to books, why has The Secret drawn so much attention?


Donavin Bennes, who buys books for Borders says, "It was an incredibly savvy move to call it 'The Secret.' We all want to be in on a secret. But to present it as THE secret, that was brilliant." [Newsweek - March 5, 2007]


Do you catch the subtle and critical difference?


Byrne's book doesn't promise to be ONE of a number of secrets? It doesn't promise to share a dozen secrets - she claims to have the THE secret.


So?

  • Do I want to be A consultant who helps people brainstorm, or THE consultant who helps companies do things differently?
  • Do you want to have A shoe store? Or, would you rather be THE shoe store that caters to busy working moms?
  • Which airline would you prefer to fly? One of many who travel to New York, or THE airline with the most on-time departures.
There is tremendous value in consideration of the difference between THE and A.

To borrow from Seth Godin - do you want to be a purple cow or just one of the herd?


Navigating the stream

  • Sometimes you are defined by the products you offer - We are THE computer that runs the Mac operating system.
  • Sometimes your definition comes from the market you serve - We are THE exercise club that caters to busy moms by providing free child care while they work out.
Bottom line - if you can't come up with a credible THE for your organization, you should probably close up shop before someone else does it for you.

It isn't necessary to have a singular focus - the workout club with a child care area for busy moms, can attract other clients but they are THE place a busy mom can go. Having a multi-focused perspective is a necessary paradox in the 21st century. What you can't afford to go without is something that sets you apart from all the others who do what you do.


At your next staff meeting -

  1. Read this article to the group and ask them about the places they shop and products they use.
  2. Can they define the THE factor for their favorites?
  3. Then, turn it around and challenge them to define that which provides your organization with its own THE.

1/29/2007

To PPT or not to PPT

Lots of blog talk today about the proper use of PowerPoint and Keynote - the ubiquitous presentation applications.

Seth Godin and Mike Hyatt both provided their own list of DOs and DON'Ts and they make good points -

But here's a thought -

Do you REALLY need presentation software?

Last year, I was faced with leading a retreat in a place where it was going to be impossible to use a projector.

OH MY I thought WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?

There's wasn't much I could do besides go to my notes and make the presentation SANS all the pretty graphics and other crap I'd taken so much time to develop.

And you know what? It was one of the best sessions I'd done in a long time.

I'm a good storyteller, so I used words to grab their attention. In a couple of instances I drew on a board to illustrate a point.

Since then, I've done a few more with nothing but my notes (and charming personality) - and the comments are always positive.

"He knows his stuff and doesn't get lost in PowerPoint slides."

My point is this - presentation software has it's place, but if you are a good storyteller and you know your stuff, take a deep breath and jump off the board without a projector to keep you afloat.

1/26/2007

Does this twist work?

The axiom "Less is More" makes sense on many levels.

So, I'm wodering if there are an equal number of situations where the opposite is also true.

Think about this.

Can you name situations when "More is Less" in your life or business?

1/19/2007

Fish where the fish aren't

The biggest fish are seldom swimming with the pack.

If you want average success, drop your hook where everyone else is fishing . . . but the trophy is out there swimming in uncharted waters.

Seth Godin makes a simple observation about the downside of "targeted marketing" in this entry from his blog.

1/18/2007

Much Ado About Idol?

Every commentary from Rosie to Keith was crying about the terrible treatment of a contestant by the judges on American Idol.

It was pretty brutal, but accoring to Toni Fitzgerald, writing for Media Life, the folks watching the show either weren't offended, or their remote controls were broken.

Idol's season opener scored 2 million more viewers than last year and was the second most watched episode, ever.

Will Someone Leave a Note for Our Loved Ones?

Reading this story about the Dooms Day Clock being pushed ahead two minutes, primarily because of climate change issues, I'm wondering if society isn't in a way committing suicide.

Unhappy thought, but certainly a call to each of us to do what we can invidually to beat the clock.

Mankind will adjust to changes, we always do. But, what if some of the changes are a result of our collective ignorance, indifference or arrogance?

If God put us here to take care of things (read Genesis), how are we doing with the task?

1/16/2007

Books I Read Every Year

There are always new books to read, but I have a short list of titles I re-read every year.

Who Moved My Cheese? - It takes 45 minutes and reminds me that change is not only inevitable, it's necessary.

Purple Cow - It is SO easy to allow my remarkableness to get soft.

Management Methods of Jesus - Hands down, the best of it's kind. Concise. Relevant. Thought provoking.

The Bible - I try to read the entire text every year. Different translations and reading guides.

Marketing Success Through Differentiation of Anything - Ted Levitt's 1980 paper on being different. Makes me proud to do what I do.

1/10/2007

iPhone? Eh, tell me something new

Hmm - full disclosure, I am a huge Mac fan.

So, what I'm about to say is almost blasphemous. What's up with the iPhone?

Oh yeah, it's probably going to be an incredible piece of gear. And given Apple's track record, it'll work a lot better than any similar device brought to market by anyone else.

So, what's the beef?

Well - It strikes me as ironic - Apple is such an innovative company that when they announce something that's going to have a major impact, people just shrug and say, "Oh, we expected something like this from Apple."

Has Apple reached a point where their own innovation is a commodity? If some other firm had rolled out the iPhone, people would be have been amazed and bedazzled. Apple does and folks yawn.

Oh, don't get me wrong. People will still buy the darn thing, because it'll work. But what will Steve Jobs and his team need to do to break the next ho-hum barrier?

1/03/2007

Redefining Resolutions

(Note - this appeared first as a monthly column emailed to subscribers).


The world has been consumed this past week, as it is every year at this time, by the theory and practice of setting resolutions. News broadcasters and print journalists have trotted out their annual story of peoples' desire to change something about themselves or their situation.

    "I want to quit smoking, lose weight, be a better person, take more time off, spend more time at work, get organized, be more relaxed."
In a few days, we'll hear and read a series of reports confirming what we already know, the majority of these goals are abandoned before the end of the month.

For a couple of weeks we seem to be obsessed with the idea of changing things. The status quo, that comfort zone of sameness we worship and struggle to maintain all year, is shuffled off to the corner for as long as it takes us to realize that change is difficult. We lay a problem on the table and no matter how resolved we are about fixing it, we either allow the resolution to quietly fade away or announce to ourselves and those who matter that we are no longer in the race.
    "I have decided that losing 50 pounds in a year is impossible, so I am going to stop trying."
These active decisions to stop fighting the status quo, or the gradual realization that we've failed, are usually met with a sense of unease. Human beings dislike change, but we like failure even less.

The dilemma of trying to change goes beyond your personal life. If your company is like most, there's a file cabinet somewhere labeled, "Things We've Tried to Change but Can't."

So, is it our destiny to set and fail at resolutions each year? Is this an unalterable path?

Let me suggest a road less taken.

Perhaps all we need do is to pronounce the word differently.

Instead of the conventional pronunciation - res-o-LU-tion - it might help if emphasis were placed on the first syllable, as in RE-solution.

REdesign, REthink, REposition - REsolution.

The whole process of resolving to change might take on new power and meaning if we look for new solutions to old problems. Rather than trying to fix today's problems with yesterday's answers, maybe what we need are RE-solutions.

This is much easier to write about than it is to do, so here's a little exercise I have used with some of my clients to help them begin the process of RE-solving old issues:

The problem with looking for new solutions is that the left side of your brain - the logical side - loves to follow patterns. When you ask it to think of solutions to problems, it goes through its file of "things that solve problems" and comes up with ideas that are, unfortunately, logical. The secret to finding new solutions is to bring the right side of your brain into the picture. I do this by tricking the left side into thinking we're just playing a game.

  1. Have a group of 4-6 people each tear a sheet of paper into 6 sections. On each slip of paper, have each person write a simple noun such as dog, tuna, hammer, kitchen, sky, book and pencil . Put the slips in a hat, bowl or box.
  2. Ask the group to suggest a couple of "problems" that need solutions. They should be somewhat simple things to start with, "My son is always late for school" or "My aunt is always changing her mind at a restaurant."
  3. Choose one of the problems, then pick a slip of paper from the pile and have the group offer up simple solutions using the chosen word as part of their suggestion. The solutions can be silly, in fact, I find that silliness helps. Encourage the group to fire ideas around the table, branching out to derivatives and synonyms of the word and then playing off other suggestions. Keep it going quickly and change to a new word as the momentum sags.
  4. After running this with a few simple problems, try something a bit more complex or more in touch with your corporate reality, perhaps "The staff doesn't seem to be engaged with our new product line."
  5. As with the simple issues, allow suggestions to start out silly and keep the pace up. You're doing this to fool your left brain into thinking it's "just a game." But, if you pay attention, somewhere along the way an idea will float up that can actually lead to a plausible RE-solution of the problem.

As your group becomes more adept with this exercise, you can add adjectives and other types of words to the pile. Some of my clients play similar games every time they get together, as a way of encouraging creativity. If this one strikes your fancy, I'd be happy to suggest others.

Here's to a great new year, filled to the brim with new ideas and successful RE-solutions.

1/02/2007

Stop trying to win the election

Wow - In this post from his blog, Seth Godin writes about elections and what it takes to win them, but read between the lines and hear what he says about the rest of us who aren't running for office.

I confess to being guilty of trying to win the election with a majority of votes. By doing so, I make my product far less remarkable (and valuable) to the minority of companies who actually find value in what I can do for them.

Unless you are running for political office, there's no need to please everyone. Doing so can actually work against you.