Rocks Are Hard

Keeping it all in Perspective - the Benefit of outside eyes and ears

When we're deep into our work, it's sometimes hard to see the big picture -- how our work plays in the context of a bigger story, community, phenomena, trend.  On the one hand -- heads down, nose to millstone (what is a millstone?), everyone into deepend gets the job done.  On the other hand, that job may need some redirecting from people not quite so close to rubbing their nose to a nub.

Working with an agency is a developed skill.  Being a good agency is a developed talent.  On the agency side we want to be all the way in -- taking the work off the client's shoulders, making things happen they couldn't do themselves, helping them move the ball down the field.  Yet we also need to be hovering "over" the work -- getting a larger picture of the work to see how it fits, how much it matters, where the path to success may curve away from the plan.

Stop what your're doing and ask a few questions.

- What will this mean outside people who already care?

- Are you doing the right thing to make NEW people care?

- Are detractors keeping you from your purpose because they are loud, not because they are influential in the big picture?

Make sure you answer these questions with a clear head -- that usually means getting someone else removed from the actual day-to-day work involved, because most of us have a hard time discerning a larger picture when we're so into it.

Keep things in perspective and help others weather a storm or navigate a path to success will make you more useful, more valuable, more trusted -- and more successful.

Acknowledge Feedback and Direction

I always say the purpose of communication is to end it.  Meaning, write the memo, the plan, the email, make the case, pitch the idea in such a way that the reader/listener is not required to ask any questions to get a relevant, full picture.

This does not mean re-write War & Peace. But be succinct, appropriately illustrative or instructive and give the context the reader needs to gleen the information you want them to.

At the same time, it's important for the reader or listener -- particularly in a 1:1 dialogue or exchange to ACKNOWLEDGE receipt of said message. Otherwise it requires the sender to have to re-say, re-send, and/or wonder "did s/he get it?" "does s/he understand?" etc. etc. etc.

It's pretty simple. Say what you mean, well. Acknowledge that you got the message AND/OR get clarification so everyone's on the same page.

It's good protocol. More importantly, it's good etiquette.

The end.

And We're On a New Path - Power of the Upside Down Isoceles Trapezoid

When Dan and I started Double Forte in 2002, we were in the last downturn and the business we set up was in reaction to the condition of PR firms in San Francisco after the bubble burst and some personal things that my life required - mostly, the flexibility to travel to Wisconsin to be with my dyng mother (who outlived her prognosis by 3 1/2 years - yeah mom!).

So we decided that hey we LIKED, no LOVED the work involved in PR and Consulting, were tired of having to make stupid moves based on NYC home office demands, and really really tired of training young staff to show up on time, and learn how to dress and how to actually finish something before they went to Yoga class.  Double Forte was born with an upside down model -- 10years minimum to qualify + you had to like to work + you had to be a good person.  Oh and we didn't use the term PR anywhere, because we didn't like what PR had become in San Francisco.

It was destined to be small. We thought 10 max.

But no, the special sauce that is our special brand of service helped us grow to 18 last fall. 

 
Around us, boutique firms with experts only had grown to about 8-9 and traditional model firms and media-company-owned firms had swelled -- staffed by a plethora of 1-4 year experience people learning the ropes.  Last summer we started hearing more and more in pitches that clients were tired of the bait and switch, and not getting experienced people on their accounts, etc. It was deja vu to 2001 all over again. Actually it really pissed me off -- how could this be? How come no one was shifting to ensure that the one thing that brought us all down before wouldn't bring us all down again. 

At the same time, it was getting increasingly hard to find qualified good people at the 10 year mark, and the 5-8 year experience pool was looking shallow (because no one hired between 2001 and 2004ish).

And then on September 15th as the Dow was falling 900 points, it was clear that our world was shifting again. We knew that several clients wouldn't get the funding they needed to keep us. We knew that spending would tighten up quickly; we knew that many people in our field would lose their positions -- in house and at agencies; we knew that big firms would slash their minimums; we'd seen little onesy-twosey firms hit the skids earlier in the year, so that was drying up too.

So we cut expenses immediately; we re-oriented the staff on what to expect and how we needed to react and act, and despite our moves and great work we had to downsize by 3 in January.

And then the hard work of reconfiguring to ensure that we THRIVE in today's market and in tomorrow's market started. Because now, with no one getting hired NOW, there will be a really small talent pool in the 10 year experience mark in 18 months - 2 years. Our business model has been made obsolete.

And frankly we're not that encouraged by the caliber of the training that has happened in agencies in the last several years. So what to do?

Well it's clear we need to shift to this situation. And we need to train our own staff now to fill out the ranks. And we need to get them early so that they don't learn bad things.

So we're going square -- if the typical agency model is a pyramid with 1/4 at the top and 3/4 under 10 years billing 95% (so on the client dime to learn the work), and we were a long, flat rectangle with everyone with 10-20 years doing everything, now we're going square, well actually it's an upside down isoscles trapezoid  - where the experienced staff will outnumber the junior staff.

This of course is heresy. But since 25 cents isn't going to NY then we can do what works. And what works is people who know what they're doing, doing the work and more junior people just billing the time for real client work not Learning work. 

But we can't revert to the old tried and untrue - because IT'S BROKEN PEOPLE! We've all proved over and over and over again that the pyramid doesn't work, is not sustainable, and creates client conflict.

Now is the time to shift so that you are in a stronger position on the other side of this downturn. Join the upside down isosceles trapezoid!

Please Say Please

When the going gets tough - it's time to pour on the manners.

Please and Thank You go a long way in a difficult situation.  Go a long way in ANY situation.

For clients who regularly say please and thank you, my experience over 24 years says they get better service, better results, more for their money. For co-workers who use please and thank you, my experience says work gets done faster without as much drama and bitterness.

Even if you are giving a direct instruction, please and thank you have a serious place in the dialogue. It shows you respect the other person. It demonstrates that you are dependent on them to do something well for you.

At the same time, please and thank you do not mean the request or directive is necessarily a suggestion. Rather that the person has respect for you. If your "current" understanding of your day does not accommodate the request or directive, it is incumbent on you to explain that you have a full deck and to accommodate the request you will need to shuffle the deck and then seek input on how to get it done.

(Of course this sign is all wrong, but it makes the point!)

I know I respond better when the please and thank you buttons are pushed.

So Please say "please" and Thank you for saying "thank you" as you go about your day.

It is the give and take of working together.

A Sense of Urgency is Something You Feel, and it DOES NOT Feel like Panic

A sense of urgency -- let's define it.

A drive to deliver something BEFORE it's due so that you can be ahead.

An understanding of what the other person is dealing with so that you can provide what they need IN TIME to make a difference for that person.

A respect for the other person's day.

A sense of CALM because you're not always up against a deadline.

Now, actually I'm not talking to my staff. I'm reminded of these things because in many parts of my life I am the client and frankly service out there sucks. Why am I chasing these people down? How come everything I need to act on comes in when I need to act on it?

Double Forte-ains -- a sense of urgency -- a calmness around delivery -- will always differentiate us from those around us.

Bring on Your A Game - Part Deux

So let's just acknowledge that it's going to be a tough year. The Media is shrinking, clients are looking for (justifiably) excellent return on their more limited investments, the economy is in trouble, which in turns makes us all nervous, I could go on, but I won't. 

Still now is the time to SHINE. Now is the time for your A game.

So, specifically, what to do?

• Be helpful -- to each other, to the media, to our clients, to our partners. If we help others, others will help us.
• Be nice -- say hello, and goodbye, Say please and thank you. You will feel good and the person you're talking to will feel good.  More "feel good" vibes in the world is a good thing.
• Dress the part -- now is not the time to just be comfy. Be comfy at home. At work, make an effort to be professional -- whatever professional means at your workplace. Unless you work at a surf store or in a flip flop shop, leave the damn flip flops at home. Take some time with your hair (I saw a few doozies on my way into work today). No rips, no wrinkles, no dirt -- pretty simple.  I'm considering putting up a sign on our building (not our office!) that says "if you didn't shower today GO HOME." 
• Act with a sense of urgency. What needs to be done by when? Work backwards and with a sense of getting it done RIGHT the first time (and hello RIGHT includes ON TIME). 

Do these things and you will be ahead of the game.  AND you will make the world a nicer place to be in. 

A Sense of Urgency

Now this may be repetitive, but it bears repeating - a sense of urgency (as opposed to panic) is the KEY to great service.

Urgency -- that it be done well

Urgency -- that you prepare for a good meeting, call, interaction

Urgency -- to deliver what you promise

Urgency -- to think AHEAD

Urgency is what separates us from all the crappy PR firms out there.

Be Urgent NOT panicked. Be planful and not knee-jeck. And secure your place in the ecosystem forEVER.

The End.

We're Not in a Bubble

My observation is that the smaller the organization the more time consuming the politics.  Church, schools, interest groups, etc.  how come these "small" places take such delicate hands to maneuver through?

Is probably not true for a transparent workplace like Double Forte where everyone hears everything -- but more than two people not just is God among us, so are agendas.

But it's important to remember that nothing -- no one person, no organization -- is a self-contained bubble, the actions and dynamics of which can really be contained.  That person you piss off at church could have the veto power at your next new business meeting -- likewise the client you make happy could be the one to advance your career or standing in the community by recommending you for a board position, etc.

So dammit, be nice. Be respectful. Do what you say you're going to do. Leave an indelible positive impression. Be known for helping.  Be known for being fair -- tough but fair is always better than easy but spiteful.

NO enviroment is a bubble that doesn't leak. Even the Bubble Boy did everything he could to get out.

Keeping Up

Keeping up with what's happening in the world is a daunting task.  Figuring out who to read, what to read, how to incorporate how to shift -- it's a lot to deal with on a constant basis.

Be deal with it -- absorb it -- we must.  In fact we must go BEYOND absorbtion to embracing the task of finding new ways & more effective ways to do our work.

The good news? There's lots of advice out there if you can learn to find it and then separate the good advice from the crap advice -- a digitial diving rod is my next invention.

On twitter today this gem was tweeted (is that the past tense?) on how to keep bloggers from hating you which is a gem -- to be read, to be absorbed, to be practiced by all.

I don't think the world needs to live on the edge, but we need to be constantly casting our nets wide and finding the most practical means to staying current and relevant. This is where the FUN is!    

2009: Year of the "A" Game

Ok People - it's a new year and as with all new starts (a new month, a new year, a new page, a new notebook, Labor Day when I break out all the new pencils) it's time to cast a theme to help guide us.

And it occurs to me, among all of the turmoil in the economy and unpredicability around us that once again, focus is our friend and that if we control ourselves we will be FAR ahead of the game.

And what does control mean? It means BRINGING YOUR "A" GAME EVERY DAY.

We can have bad calls or less than stellar plays, but we MUST play an A game every day.

Decide what your A game is and play it.