Imagine you own a music production firm. You create jingles for clients of all sizes for radio and television.
In fact, your composers create the best jingles anybody has ever heard. There's nobody as talented as the composers at your firm.
But your sales team sucks. You've had zero clients in the past six months and only two clients in the six months before that. Your composers are now just as good at twiddling their thumbs as they are writing music.
On the flip side, your biggest competitor has the best sales team any firm could ask for. They're signing clients faster than Starbucks is building stores.
But their composers are terrible. You're convinced a cat dies every time a jingle these guys create is played. Actually, probably two cats.
What's more important - the talent or the sales team? Is one more important than the other or are they equally important?
As the saying goes, keep plenty of irons in the fire. The more you've reached out, the more chance for opportunity.
On the flip side, you could instead concentrate on keeping the right irons in the fire, and not worrying about the irons that have little chance of generating opportunity.
How do you know which irons are the right ones and which are the wrong ones? Does it help to throw'em all in at once and figure out which work the best over time?
When we're young, we experiment. We explore the unknown world around us by trying new things and learning from what happens.
If we touch the stove and burn our finger, we learn not to touch the stove again.
If we start walking and fall, we remember what helped us walk and concentrate on that.
When we're young, we fail before learning how to succeed. That's just human nature, right?
A lot of people criticize those who advocate this idea of failing a bunch before succeeding. They think we should concentrate on succeeding, not failing.
I don't think we're concentrating on failing in these situations. I think it's just natural that we fail and learn from our mistakes.
What do you think? Is it natural to fail a lot in order to learn to succeed?
Things have been slow here, mostly due to an increasing focus on my Chicago web series Beyond The Pedway. That focus continues with the launch of the Beyond The Pedway newsletter on January 7.
I'm going to be exercising my writing skills more with the newsletter, so if you enjoy my writing/style here, I encourage you to subscribe to the newsletter.
Also, if you're simply looking to get your company more involved with web video, I invite you to subscribe. Every Thursday morning, you'll get tips, ideas, and techniques on how to tell your company's story with video on the web. My goal is to share my knowledge and what I do through Beyond The Pedway with you every week to equip you to use online video for your company.
If you're a small business looking to get creative, web video is a great place to start.
Ready to join in the fun?
I’ll admit, I am a sucker for the holiday season. My fiancé and I were driving down the road last week, looking at all of the houses covered in Christmas lights, their yards littered with Nativity Scenes and inflatable snowmen, and somehow, all seemed to be right with the world.
I’m also a sucker for traditions – Putting up the Christmas tree while watching “Christmas Vacation”, Black Friday shopping with my family, grabbing my Gingerbread Latte on the first day Starbucks introduces the almighty “red cup” for the holiday season.
The smart companies, for the sake of example in this post we’ll go with Starbucks, know that this time of the year is all about tradition – and they’ve established themselves as a part of the holiday routine. To that I say, BRILLIANT!
There’s this aura about Starbucks that has me entranced. Their coffee doesn’t always taste great, they don’t have the charm of a small independent coffee shop, but where they lack in some areas, they make up for in customer service, convenience, and TRADITION.
I was having a conversation with a coworker – someone who religiously picks up her Vente Carmel Macchiato every morning before coming into the office – She told me that it wasn’t so much the coffee itself – it’s the “experience” that keeps her coming back for more. It’s having your gloves and hat on and holding that red cup.
It’s comfort and tradition in a paper cup. It’s snowy weather and family and bonfires in every sip. It works.
Do you “buy into” tradition? What are some other examples of “comfort buys”?
Winter makes you appreciate your garage thirty times more than in the summer.
Winter makes you realize you love sitting on the couch next to your spouse in your warm, warm house.
Winter makes you really happy because it's the holidays.
Winter makes you really sad because it's the holidays.
Winter makes your comforter seem ten times heavier and twenty times warmer.
Winter makes the carpet in your bedroom heaven for your bare feet.
Winter makes you want to stay in bed a half hour longer just to stay warm.
Amaing how the simple change of tempature can change your whole outlook, isn't it?
My wife jokingly asked me yesterday if I would go to our 10 year high school reunion (which isn't for another 4 years or so). I said I wouldn't because everybody I want to keep in touch with from high school I'll go ahead and keep in touch with. And those I don't want to I won't.
And, jokingly I added, who needs high school reunions with Facebook nowadays?
Wait. That's not a joke. That's true.
How many people from high school (and/or college) are you friends with on Facebook yet don't keep in touch with otherwise? Do you troll Facebook for the specific purpose of learning about others' lives? Babies being born, career changes, starting graduate school, new boyfriends and old girlfriends, last year's Christmas parties, vacations in Miami, the good old days.
Who needs a high school reunion?
We'd all show up and have nothing to talk about. We'd probably whip out our iPhones and Blackberries and check Facebook. Because that's how we keep in touch.
We live in a "me" centered land, buried in a "why" minded world. We want to know "why" something will relate to "me". We don't care how inspirational your blog post is or how funny your commercial is or how useful your business book is.
We simply care about why it relates to me.
After all, if there is no context, is there any meaning?
I think I've become a snacker. Someone who consumes a little bit here and there throughout the day, rather than having a few solid, bigger meals.
I'm not talking about food. I'm talking about information. I like to snack on information. And I'm unsure whether this is a good or bad thing.
Back in the day (which was a Wednesday), I used to read entire newspaper articles in the morning at the kitchen table. Well, as long as they were on the front or back pages. But I would read the whole article, because I enjoy reading.
Nowadays, I've caught myself reading half an article online and than skipping to another site to read something else. I've read two full books in the past year. Two. But I've read hundreds of blog posts, online newspaper articles, tweets, Facebook status updates, Flickr photo captions, etc.
I snack now.
What's going on here? Are we substituting full meals of information with lots of snacks?
I recently remarked that you couldn't pay me enough money to work for Microsoft. The person I was chatting with then said you take a job for the money.
"What do principles have to do with it?"
I think they have a whole lot to do with it. If you're not working on something you believe in yourself, how can you expect to do it well? If we exist for a century or so, why the hell would we devote a good chunk of that time to something that doesn't align with our beliefs, values, and principles?
Right now, the difference between 12 year olds being wired to the Internet and 62 year olds being not wired so much is huge. There's a very large gap there, mostly due to the fact that the Internet is very young and these 12 year olds have literally grown up with it. The 62 year olds had a lot goin' on before that.
But what about 30 years from now? Will the digital gap between generations be that large? The Internet will be well past its teen years by then and the number of people that aren't familiar with the digital world will be much smaller.
Or will it? Will this generational digital gap remain consistent because old people just generally don't get it? Because technology accelerates so quickly that just because the young generation is hip now, doesn't mean they will be with the new stuff 30 years from now?
What do you think? Will there come a time we'll all be on the same page digitally?
I saw a woman a few days ago scanning several lottery tickets to see if she won. She simply placed the ticket under the scanner, checked the tiny screen to see if she won, and moved on to the next ticket. Within a minute and a half, she was done.
That's it? That's the experience the lottery has been reduced to?
It's almost more of a chore than a fun (and potentially life altering) game. Buy a bunch of tickets, scan, repeat. You could really do it all within a few minutes without leaving the store.
Back in the day (which was a Wednesday), you watched the lady on TV pull out the numbered balls from the big spinny thing. She was smiling, you were excited, there was happy music.
The word traditional often leaves a funny taste in your mouth. These days, word on the street is traditional is bad. Traditional signifies the way things used to be, not the way things will (should) be.
But are traditions really that bad? Or can they be the foundation of greatness?
Think of the traditions in your life.
Christmas.
Weekly staff meetings.
Getting up at 2am on Black Friday to get all the deals with your girlfriends.
Monday night football with the guys.
American Idol nights.
Choosing and cutting down the family Christmas tree.
Board games on New Year's Eve.
December ski trips.
Spring Florida vacations.
The beaten up old shoes you've worn for a year and are ready to throw out might be a saving grace for a kid somewhere without shoes.
The annoying rain you've gotten all week could be a slice of heaven for a village that has been dry for three months.
The thirty-five minute drive from your house to your parents is a godsend compared to the two hour trip somebody else experiences via public transportation.
What is ordinary to you could be extraordinary to someone else.
Sometimes, when you're leaving the train station, everybody's coming into the train station. And they're all coming in through the left door. Because the first person went through that door, so everybody else follows.
Twice the amount of people could get in if somebody simply opened the other door too. But nobody does.
