The link above includes great before-and-after photos. This is my favorite, from Rochester, NY. Here's the train station built in 1914, before it was torn down in the 1960s:
And here's what got built on that site, in 1965:
In particular, I'd invite you to consider: are you creating a good experience in whatever you do, day-to-day? And more importantly, are you having a good experience? By "good" I mean truly, authentically good, in the long term, for you and the community and the world.
It was a radio interview that got me thinking.
Julian Koenig, one of the most accomplished ad men of the 20th century (he was even referenced on "Mad Men"), was featured in a recent episode of my favorite radio show, "This American Life." Now at an age when he's looking back on his life and career, he had this to say about his profession:
Advertising is built on puffery, on, at heart, deception. I don't think anyone can go proudly into the next world with a career built on deception, no matter how well they do it.
That's quite a statement about your business, after a career that spans decades. And it speaks volumes about the methods and intent of advertising, that all-American activity. But it also raises a more important question:
What can you say about the work you do?
When you're in your twilight years and looking back on what you poured out your life to create, what will you say?
Here's what Steve Jobs said when he addressed Stanford's graduating class a few years ago:
...for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
And Seth Godin wrote, around the same time, about the decision you make every day:
The thing is, we still live in a world that's filled with opportunity. In fact, we have more than an opportunity -- we have an obligation. An obligation to spend our time doing great things. To find ideas that matter and to share them. To push ourselves and the people around us to demonstrate gratitude, insight, and inspiration. To take risks and to make the world better by being amazing. ... You get to make a choice. You can remake that choice every day, in fact. It's never too late to choose optimism, to choose action, to choose excellence. The best thing is that it only takes a moment -- just one second -- to decide.
Now I understand that, especially in a recession, one especially good experience is being able to pay the rent, keep the lights on, and have health insurance. And if that means a job writing sorta-kinda deceptive ad copy, so be it.
With that said, I think there's an urgency to this question - perhaps even more so now, when we're naturally taking stock of our work. Whatever you do, is it a good experience? For you? For the people you create it for?
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See also:
• Video interview of Julian Koenig
• For what it's worth, another thought on looking back - Do not go gentle into that good night.
]]>The link above includes great before-and-after photos. This is my favorite, from Rochester, NY. Here's the train station built in 1914, before it was torn down in the 1960s:
And here's what got built on that site, in 1965:
Just like a good Russian novel, it doesn't have a happy ending.
But begin a search for "should i get" and you see the arc of a story with a more positive ending. It's practically "Bridget Jones's Diary."
Any other good "autocomplete novels" out there? Post 'em in the comments.
]]>People complain about Hollywood's tendency to be unadventurous with its big-money titles, but the moviegoing masses clearly get the most excited when they are not being surprised. In other words, the multiplex really rocks when movies are served up the McDonalds way: predictably and comfortably. "Transformers" is definitely that.]]>
The anchor tenants that set norms encouraging the free flow of ideas and collaboration, even with competitors, produced enduringly successful communities, while those that mainly sought to dominate did not.
Collaboration - even with competitors present - allows a community to thrive. If one member tries to dominate, though, the community withers.
This is much to the point of our Executive Councils, where members help each other, even in a context where competitors are present - and no one member owns the network.
Quote above is from The Cost Conundrum, from the New Yorker recently. I've listed it in the Gel Health recommended reading page, though I'd say it's required reading for anyone interested in health care.
]]>Studies have found that patients recover better with a navigator to coordinate doctors' appointments, facilitate telephone contact between patients and doctors, arrange rides, help with insurance forms, and help patients prepare their questions for the doctor.]]>
I think developers have an ethical responsibility to set proper defaults, by the way - which is why I included defaults as one of the most important issues in the letter to developers at the end of Bit Literacy.
]]>Any company's ads that boast "we're authentic" or "we're for real" might indicate that the truth is exactly opposite.
I was surprised by the energetic response from readers - apparently there's a good bit of pent-up frustration with the overuse and misuse of authenticity, or purported authenticity, in packaging and marketing.
Here are a few of the comments, which together would serve well as a brief Marketing 101 class to anyone who packages or sells anything:
"The word 'fashion' functions the same way. If it is called fashionable on the packaging, it is not."
"Also, if 'My prerogative' is written on the back of your car, it's probably not."
"It's like people that will tell you how smart they are."
"Anything with the word 'classy' on it is not. Then there's 'gentlemen's club.' And action movies the content of which is for 'mature' audiences only ..."
"Or, 'We Get It.'"
"I once kept a list of all the brands with a line that included 'not just a' or 'more than a'. But then it became more than a list..."
"So true, Mark. This is also like people who start sentences with 'To be honest...'. Why? You're not usually honest?"
"What if they are Authentically Real?"
To which I reply, I only begin to believe when they promise to be Super Incredible Authentically Real. Then it's true, for sure.
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P.S. If you're interested in more social not-working,...
• My Twitter feed
• My Facebook page
]]>I posted my response on my Twitter feed: if you really want people to focus on the meeting, get them to disarm first: pitch iphones & BBerries into a bowl on the conf room table.
]]>Remember that the early bird ticket price lasts only through this Tuesday - sign up soon!
]]>Here are three quick lessons, each with a case study:
1. How important are you? Just ask a customer.
A team from Google interviewed dozens of people in Times Square the other day, asking a simple question: What's a browser? This was in an effort to understand and improve the customer experience of Google's own browser, called Chrome.
Turns out that over 90% of the people interviewed could not describe what a Web browser is. Most conflated it with a search engine. Here's a video, showing conversations not too different from listening labs.
(P.S. The project was led in part by Ji Lee, who spoke at Gel 2005 about his Bubble Project - watch the video.)
(P.P.S. I also wrote a quick piece called a reminder that not everyone twitters.)
2. Accept your unimportance. It may help.
A couple of weeks ago the podcast of the New York Times Book Review included an interview with Danielle Steel, the popular novelist whose books have sold over half a billion copies. I've never read any of her books, but what she said about her creative process rang true:
When I realize how unimportant I am, the book flows through me. In the same way, in life, if you go around feeling important and how terrific you are, you really miss the boat. I have a strong sense of my unimportance and how small I am and how vulnerable I am, just like everybody else.
I've seen this in my own work - in listening labs, making the customer the focus of the research - instead of playing the knowing researcher or super-smart consultant or some kind of "guru." My role as facilitator is to stay unimportant, so that the focus stays on lab respondents and the client stakeholders observing and discussing behind the glass. The more I get out of the way, the more I enable things to happen.
The full Danielle Steel interview can be downloaded here (see June 5) - and by the way, the Book Review podcast is excellent - a star in my media diet.
3. When people start believing their own hype, run.
The radio show This American Life ran a show called "The Watchmen" on June 5, covering the financial meltdown - and in particular, what happened at the ratings agencies that were supposed to be advising the world against bad investments.
The show - listen here - is a perfect example of what happens when people overestimate their own importance, believe their own hype, and focus on their own aggrandizement: namely, the world falls apart.
(BTW, This American Life host Ira Glass spoke at Gel 2007 - watch the video here.)
Consider the differences between these case studies. One person declares, "I'm an unimportant speck" - and can create a body of work beloved by millions. Another person declares, "I'm the most important person here at the center of the world" - and can mount a decent attempt at destroying the world.
How we approach our work is often what determines its outcome. The more it's about us, the knowers or gurus or smarter-than-thous, the less good the experience we create.
But the less it's about us, and the more we're willing to disappear as we create the experience, the better it gets.
As the Zen proverb says, "When you seek it, you cannot find it." I think that's true, so far as it concerns seeking one's own importance. The way to do something significant and meaningful and authentic is not to try to be important, but to try to create something good for someone else.
]]>This, by the way, is exactly why more people need to hear about Gootodo, the todo list built precisely for that purpose... (todos usually come in via email, so just forwarding them to Gootodo gets them on the appropriate day's list). (You do have a separate todo list for different days, right??)
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