Rocks Are Hard

Try Not. Do or Do Not Do. There is No Try - and other good advice from Yoda

I'm trying.

I tried.

I tried again.

All things we want in our kids -- for them to try new things, to risk a new activity, or relationship or food. But as working adults we must learn the fine line between trying something and learning from the trial.

Because, although effort matters (what's worse, someone who didn't try or someone who sat on their ass and threw up their hands and said it can't be done) - in business, results matter more.

I want to hear...I tried and this is what I found out. Every time, I want to hear that. It worked, it didn't work. How to make it better and easiers? What to do now that the try did not work.  Please don't end a conversation with anyone with "I'll Try." 

I think it was Ben Franklin who said the defininition of insanity is doing something the same way over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Trying counts the first time. But not the second.  Changing course if your try was not succesfull counts the second time, and every time after that.

As parents, it's easy to say "please try" to our kids. But we expect them to gain something from their effort.  We need to make sure we apply the same standard to ourselves as working adults.

No, You DON'T Know What It's Like

Before I took a client-side job, I really thought I was the most important person my client could talk to every day. My agency was doing great things for the client, we were making things happen; what did they have to do except give us briefs and approvals.  Why couldn’t they call me back when I asked them to? Ah, the suffering of the Account Lead at a PR firm.

      And then I went in-house.

Who were all those people calling me? Wanting approvals to move forward on some low-priority project? Didn’t they know I was busy doing my job consulting with the President on upcoming plans, telling Sales what we needed them to be saying to their accounts, scripting customer service answers for irate customer calls, fielding calls from the media who had heard a rumor from an inside source? trying to convince PD that “no, the bouncing boobs” was not a good feature in the game?

So I’m here to tell you the day in the life of the agency professional and the in-house counterpart bears little similarity.  The title on the card might similar, but the day in the life is very different. In house staff have many more masters to serve than in a client-agency relationship (even given agency politics).

And if you haven’t had that job, you don’t know.

You don’t know what it’s like not to be able to pass along the agency’s reports because they have typos, don’t present a full picture of the situation,  are poorly written, or don’t adhere to protocol. 

You don’t know what’s it’s like to have the question “what are we paying for?” posed to you repeatedly. 

You don’t know what it’s like to have to defend your agency against “when I was at X company we used this other firm that was great” and you don’t know what it’s like to be the first to a function that your agency is supposed to be running and not be able to do your own job other people are counting on because your agency is late.

So, when people tell you that typos matter – they do. In the best situations, your internal client will just send along your stuff – and you will earn the credit and respect you deserve. 

When your client tells you that reporting matters, it does – so they can be prepared for when their boss comes in and says “what are we paying for?”  -- and just open a drawer and hand them a report. 

And when your client says be on time, they mean it – so they can do their own job and say with confidence to the other people who matter “they have it under control.”

Never underestimate the power of a typo to bring down an account. It may take some time, but it’s often the beginning of your client not being able to trust your work, to feel they have to babysit, or not let you alone – and as soon as you can’t be alone to do your work, you’ve lost your value, and ultimately, your account.

Write a Damn Agenda

How many meetings do you have on your calendar? Do you know why you’re going to those meetings? How many meetings have you been to that could have been a fraction of the time if people had actually come prepared for the topic at hand? Countless.

If you take nothing else from me, take this: write a damn agenda for your meetings. 

Tell people WHY they’re there (in person or on the phone), and provide a progression of relevant topics to the topic at hand.  Ideally send the agenda at least 24 hours before the meeting so people have an opportunity to prepare.  Before you get thousands of dollars an hour in manpower around a table or phone or videoconference make sure you’ve done what you can to make it the most effective use of everyone’s time possible.

If there is no agenda in a meeting you’re in – write one on the board or ask the question “do we really need a meeting?” 

DO NOT be the person who the loud, demanding CEO looks to and says tersely “I’m in your meeting without an agenda.”  (Yes, that happened to me. Yes it wasn’t really my meeting, but it WAS my area of responsibility.) 

Once you have an agenda, USE it! If someone goes off topic, put that topic into the parking lot (segment a part of the whiteboard or paper and record them) to be addressed later.

At the end of the meeting recap your purpose, progress made in the meeting, next steps and responsibilities, and the parking lot issues.

Your client has hired you to take responsibility for your area of expertise. They did not hire you to babysit you or have you waste their time – or to give the perception that you are wasting their time. They did not hire you so they could run meetings so you can do your job.  They hired you to take weight OFF their shoulders, to get things done, and so they wouldn’t have to worry about the task on your plate. 

Demonstrate you get it by driving the project (ongoing or one-time only) – it starts with a simple agenda.

Is There Any Blood?

This is what pops into my head anytime someone calls with a crisis.

Most of the time it's what comes out of my mouth then too.  And then next thing I say is: "Could there be any?"

There are actually very few crises.  Dire situations, yes. Career-compromising situations, yes? But let's put it all in perspective here people, if there's no blood then we can take a deep breath and figure out what to do.

Not that I always felt this way. But being on the front line when the media calls to tell you that a sniper used your company's videogame to train to kill his ex-wife's divorce lawyer tends to put things in perspective.

So... Is there any blood? No. Could there be any blood? No.  Ok, now tell me what's going on.

Now we can start dealing with the situation at hand.

The Best Thing That Could Happen

This week I met with a woman who is at a crossroads in her life. After a long and successful career at a high profile company she lost her job last year.  Now she's figuring out what to do next. I'm going to say that losing this job was the best thing that could happen to her -- hard? yes. Fair? no.  But still the best thing that could happen.

Now she has the forced opportunity to do what she wants -- scary? yes. But now is the time for her to start moving towards her dream -- a career that does not consumer her life -- a satisfying career doing something she has passion about but that does not command every moment. A work day that energizes her instead of dragging her down.

How to start?

How much money do you need to make so that you can save for the future?

What is your dream day? What do you WANT to do with your time?

What are you qualified to do now? What's the delta for qualification for what you WANT to do?

So what do you need to add in your asset column to be qualified?

What could you do NOW that would move you in that direction? Do you need to take a half-time job to get experience, while you make the money you need to live and save?

Make the list of EVERYONE you've worked with and know. Start crossing off people that you don't want to work with again -- for any reason. (No one has to see this list but you.) You will whittle that list down to less than 20 people.  Make the list of people who know who have connections to what you want to do? Do any of these cross over? Make the list of people who may not be fans of yours, but who will give you the straight scoop on your reputation.

Get on all of those people's radars now.

Don't do anything that doesn't serve a PURPOSE towards your goal.  Better to do that now than wake up in 3 years having not moved toward your goal. 

Once you've had a career -- and when you still need income -- you need to win the lottery or work towards the ultimate goal NOW.

Well, that's what came out of my mouth at least....still the best thing to happen to anyone who has a career that is their whole life is to lose that job and reevaluate. (better than having a personal health crisis and not have the time to adjust)......