Rocks Are Hard

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.

"Anyway" is NOT one of the Right Ways

There is NO one right way to do things -- really ever is there? I mean executionally, you can get to the same great end with many different "right" paths.

But "any old way" is definetely not a right way.

Because "any" way means that you haven't considered your purpose, and worked back from that to a process that gets you to reaching it.

So as the great Stephen Covey says  "Start with the End in Mind" -- understand your purpose in everything you do -- a memo, a phone call, a meeting, and a RIGHT way will emerge.

The Golden Rule At Work

"Treat others as you would like others to treat you." 

The Golden Rule -- taught in schools and in houses of worship around the world. Often forgotten in the workplace. And a standard of interaction -- a modus operandi -- that builds teams, eliminates confusion and creates a positive, productive work environment.  And as importantly a standard that fosters a great client-agency relationship.

How does this show up?

• Always Provide Context With Instruction: Always provide reasoning and context for instructions, due dates or projects so people understand what they're doing and why, this allows them to better do the work you've assigned.  You probably don't like it when you don't know why you have to do something, so:
  • a) make sure you always provide context -- especially if the instruction is different than orginally discussed;  and
  • b) ask for context if you don't have it.   
•  Always Give the Whole Picture: Most of us operate better when we understand the ultimate goal (see above bullet). When working together under deadlines, make sure your teammates have all the information they need (what else will preclude you from helping? what is your schedule? what resources do you need to accomplish your task?) so that project leads can plan accordingly. Nothing is more frustrating than adjusting a schedule to find out that that schedule won't work either because you didn't have the all the information.
• If You Have An Issue With Someone Tell Them First. He said, she said. She said, she said. He said, he said. Not constructive. If you have an issue with someone, find a quiet place to talk it out RESPECTFULLY. If you aren't getting to a good resolution, bring in someone else to moderate. The Reasonable Person Theory is put to test here. Be reasonable. Be respectful. Treat the other person like you want to be treated and resolution will come. 
• Tell People When They Do Well. AND When They Can Improve. 'nuff said.
• Tell OTHER People When Someone Has Done Great Work. 'nuff said.
• Answer every inquiry with "How Can I Help You?" What if every time you needed something from somebody they said "How can I help you?" and they meant it? What if you said it every time someone came to you? What a difference this question makes.
• Never Say No. No immediately puts up a defense. If you think 'no" evaluate what you're thinking. Say, "let me get mull it over and get back to you." Say "interesting. Let me think about how to accomplish the goal." Say "cool idea. Let's knock it around the team and we'll come back to you with a plan."   The answer might be "no" to the question presented. But there is usually a way to get to the goal that is actually YES to the intent and NO to the immediate action plan. Think Yes.

If we can treat our team mates and our clients the way we'd like to be treated, we will be so far ahead of the game that no one will be able to touch us -- in client service or in the workplace.

Control Yourself And You'll Be Ahead of the Game

I've always said that in the uncontrollable world of service firms and PR that we don't control much (the irony of course is that we'll all control freaks)  -- our clients, their competitors, the government, the media, the people we reach out to -- but if we can contol ourselves we are way ahead of the game.

Why?

Because MOST PEOPLE DO NOT control themselves.

They don't think everything through before they present it. They don't really hone hone hone their work so that response is more likely. They don't research before they outreach. They don't keep on top of their reading, so they're a few steps behind.  They think their plans will unveil in perfect lock-step order.

So if we prepare, if we think about contingencies, if we research, if we do good work, if we think ahead, and if we are flexible, and if we don't overreact when things don't go our way -- then we're ahead of the rest of the group.

And now it's even more important to control yourself. Because the world is topsy-turvy. The market is up; the market is down. The market is upper; the market is up and down in the same day. People are nervous. Thousands of people who never thought they'd have to worry about their six figure jobs lost them and are wondering what they'll be doing to bring home the bacon.

The next 18 - 24 months are going to be hairy. Service remains service; but the pressure is about to turn up. Clients will be under increased pressure to keep their own jobs. And it all rolls down hill.

Stay on the game; be flexible; control yourself and you'll win no matter what happens.

It Doesn't Work That Way: Relevancy in Today's Media Market

From where I sit it doesn't matter how old you are or what process you use in generating positive coverage for companies, products and people. What matters is HOW RELEVANT YOU ARE.

This is particularly true for companies providing consumer products and services.  We've had a rash of conversations about this topic with clients in the last 6 weeks --  spurred on by Sequoia's Deck. Clients wondering why some of their/our outreach programs have stalled.

PEOPLE! We were/are  in the middle of a worldwide financial crisis the dynamics of which the experts don't understand (hello! when John Doerr says he doesn't understand what's going on, that there is time to worry), on top of a game-changing presidential election on top of highly contentious statewide and regional elections. PEOPLE! If your company or product or executive doesn't have something precient to offer about these issues, you're not going to get covered in a meaningful way. Really, not many companies MATTER in this environment.

COMPOUNDING this problem is the huge number of reporters who have lost their jobs in the last 12 months -- todays reporters are covering more topics, in more formats, and simply do not have the time to respond to everything they like. Today, the pitch needs to be "cut and pasteable" so that if they like it, the cut and paste and bookend it and they're done -- you've got your story, without any feedback and they're on to the next. It's not rude, it's practical.

Of course we saw this coming and started changing tactics in mid September. We moved to con calls and virtual meetings over in-person meetings. We started changing up the pitches and "loading in" different options so that when the election was done, reporters would have a suite of stories to pick up. 

And it's working. The whole situation started changing last Wednesday -- loosening up with more reporters freed up from the election back to their regular business. 

So now the pitches seem to be working and moving into print or tv. BUT NOT JUST ANY OLD STORY. Stories that are RELEVANT to the national financial situation, to the time of year, to the trends going on (job losses, healthcare costs, smaller personal budgets, etc.). 

So -- the job is to get postive, business-driving coverage for our clients. In many cases today that will mean, NOT delivering the kind of stories the client wants, but stories where the client is cast in a positive and relevant light in relation to the macro trends impacting the consumer today. That is the job -- stop doing what doesn't work, start doing what does.

Be relevant. Focus. Be HELPFUL to reporters. And help your client understand what is possible and what is not for their programs.

You're Not Done Until You're Done

How often have you revved copy or a pitch or a deck or an icon not to be done?

It's all great work, but it's not totally informed work.  That is -- your work is "finished" at point 1 in an internal process. An internal process that may have 10 steps -- your client's boss, his boss, other marketing stakeholders, legal, and other bodies in and out of the company.

Getting to step 1 approval is often arduous work. Brainstorming, honing, editing, feedback, honing some more and finally presenting to the client. So that THEY can present and socialize it internally. And by the time it comes back you it's butchered, or you have to start over again (even after acknowledged great work), and it's back to the drawing board.

It's the agency process. Presenting things that your client can then present without too much work on their part. Presenting things with a strong recommendation and even a presentation/buy-off strategy (e.g. "go for A and have B in your back pocket") -- NOT presenting options for them to choose from, presenting solid ideas and recommendations on course of action.

This is the difference between agencies who serve their clients well and those who don't understand what it's like to hold the internal position and serve their clients for their own interests.

This came home to me recently when I was the client. And the company serving me made me work harder to do their work than if I had done it myself.

NOT THE POINT. The point is to take work off my plate, not add to it.

It's not done until it's done. 

The End.