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Tech heads and other odd fish

13 Dec

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I’m the King of Content.

Well I self styled that one, but after working on advertising campaigns (above and below the line,) blogs, websites (static and interactive,) brochures, newsletters, flyers, trade stands and collateral, email marketing, social networking, training programs and lots in between … I think I am the King!

But I’m not a coder … yikes!

I’m a content planner and builder, creative director and project manager.

I’m also a talent scout.

I source artists & illustrators, graphics people, TV/Radio producers …

I also source web people. The people that code. They know HTML and CSS deeply, whereas I just know about it.

I need these people. And I need to get the work done.

Sometimes, but not always, these web people can be difficult. Why? could be a generational thing. Could be a time management thing. Could be a simple communications thing. Could be all of the above.

Here’s a scenario:

The project is lagging and lacking. The vision has not come together. I can’t get the person on the phone. I can’t get them via sms. I wonder should I go out on my balcony and call their name like Steve Martin did in The Lonely Guy.

Yes … they don’t always follow my timetable.

But when you get a good one it’s amazing.

Manage these people with tenderness and care.

Coach and mentor them.

Be understanding, bit not too understanding if you get my drift.

Got kids? You’ll know what I mean

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Meet Dr NO

12 Dec

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When my son was a toddler my dear mother in law happened to mention that it was sad that little kids heard the word NO a lot of the time.

NO you can’t do that.

NO don’t be naughty.

NO. NO. NO.

Workplaces can be like that too.

Have you worked with a Dr NO? I know I have.

NO, too different.

NO, you can’t do that.

NO, NO, NO.

What makes a Dr NO?

Fear of change

Insecurity

Resentment

Risk aversion

All of the above. The only problem is that the world is changing. Industries are disappearing. Just this week our iconic car, the Holden, announced they were ceasing manufacturing here. Horror. All those people losing their jobs.

What will they do?

They’ll do something else.

Creativity is the enemy of Dr NO

Change is like Ju Jitsu … when you are attacked you step aside and push your attacker past. Going with the flow.

Scary but ultimately satisfying.

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Hello SILO … you’d better be flexible!

3 Dec

ImageI work on many projects with many different organisations. Corporations, authorities, not for profits and small to medium businesses and I often find that I’m cast adrift between mountains of giant silos.

Silos form when the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

I’m not casting aspersions (or aspidistras) at all the hard working people I interact with. I’m just making an observation. Silos form when people are rushing to meet change.

Change happens rapidly these days. Policies change, then procedures or ways of doing things. Regulations and laws change when governments change or government policy changes. Change happens when businesses are growing exponentially and new people are brought on board.

Silos also form when there’s a lack of communication across organisations, strategic business units (SBU’s) and teams.

Silos can also form when people don’t share.

Silos affect content developers too. We can be working away using some accepted template, or creating content in a suggested way and then … it’s not quite right.

Can this be a problem? Yes and no.

Clever consultants can pick a silo a milo off (sorry, it rhymed.)

Clever consultants communicate widely.

Clever consultants are flexible and don’t go into spasms of disappointment  and take things personally regarding their work.

My mum told me that a truly sane person has an ingrained ability to change their minds!

I tell my kid all the time, life is full of paradoxes … be flexible and open minded.

And smile a lot          : )

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BAT CEO = CREATIVE + STRATEGIC

15 Nov

bat maskA young guy I know well has recently been appointed as CEO of a large not for profit organisation. He’s a very clever person and I have watched his career unfold.

When he was first appointed, I know he struggled as to how to be the CEO. He doesn’t wear suits. He’s not a fan of corporate speak. He’s a blend of creative and strategic. He’s an entrepreneur, a musician, a story teller but probably not an administrator.

He knows how to network and he does so at very senior levels. His passion for the good deeds and the clients his organisation serves are what makes this guy so compelling.

He utilises the media and has clear objectives for the publicity. Often it’s to inform policy makers on what’s happening ‘on the ground.’

But what astonished me is a video he sent me: BAT CEO

He filmed himself with a Bat Mask on going around the office enquiring how the team was going but in the gravelly, vigilante voice of the new BATMAN. The reactions of many of the staff was unmitigated glee at seeing their big boss being so light-hearted and well, damn funny.

It was a master stroke in my opinion as it disarmed and calmed while introducing a different mode of leadership.

It’s not always appropriate being BAT CEO. There are difficult strategies and difficult conversations leaders have to have but why not engender some fun.

Humour is a strategy in itself and it breaks all kinds of ice.

Here’s to BAT CEO. Long may he serve!

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Percy Bysshe Shelley … Ode to a Control Freak

3 Nov

ImageI had an amusing english teacher at High School. He had a loud voice and a pompous manner. He liked to peer at the more rebellious among us and proclaim quite stentoriously ‘shut up son or I’ll belt you!’ And back then, he did and they could. Under this man’s iron fisted rule I learned about certain poets and poetry. The only poem that I can still recite is Ozymandius:

‘I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert…’

The poet was that great pioneer of pop star literati poet loser Percy Shelley. He also wrote Ode to a Grecian Urn amongst other treasures. But Ozymandius has always fascinated me. A monumental king of kings > all gone, boom! Just a pile of dust.

Which brings me back to the blog. Control freaks. I kind of love them.

Just recently I was involved at a workplace. The minute I arrived and set up, a person was there, next to me.

Not to be at all sexist here, but it was a lady. A women. You know, the other sex.

She fixed me with her glaring gaze and started to let me know how things were done ‘around here.’ I nodded and smiled and occasionally muttered a phrase of complete understanding like ‘yeah sure.’ But I could see that she (who could have easily been a he) was lost somewhere. Maybe she was in the desert looking at the gigantic monument and trying to make out the visage. All I know is that she was on her own planet and i was only docking for a while.

Now, I’m experienced. I’ve been around the block a few times.

To be honest, I could have been a waiter at the last supper.

I’m skilled and reliable and people relate to me. When I teach they might not learn everything, but they have a good time, which makes for good learning. I use humour a lot to bring people back into the room and off their Iphones. It works for me. I get great feedback. All you have to do is tell me where and when, the topic/subject, any materials and leave me to it.

But this person, lets call them Ozzie had to control me. Why?

Well I thought about it later. What drives a control freak? Insecurity? A need for power? Recognition? Panic? Fear?

All of the above.

Control freaks should read some Shelley and start with Ozymandius.

‘I met a traveller from an antique land who said …’

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What gets you up in the morning?

27 Oct

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A good friend of mine and my former boss applied for a position with a company the other day. He was contacted by phone and one of the questions he was asked in a semi formal telephone interview was ‘What gets you up in the morning?’

I thought about that. Why he was asked that question when he was obviously a highly qualified and experienced candidate with a huge background and lots of runs on the board?

How do you answer that?

What’s the question driving at?

Some answers might be:

“I love my work. I’m lucky!”

“My kids school fees.”

“Life gets me up.”

“The smell of the coffee brewing.”

“The alarm clock.”

Sometimes it seems that HR people want to hear responses so that they won’t hire great people.

I know there must be some deep psychology behind that question, I just don’t know what it is, and I’m not criticising the HR person here. I’m sure they know why?

I get up for all the aforementioned reasons.

And I’m lucky … I do love my work. I don’t care what anyone else thinks.

Doing the absolute best that I can is just something that was hardwired in me by parents and circumstances.

But the barriers are put up. The hurdles to jump over.

People don’t score well in interviews for many reasons. Possibly the same reasons why different kids get bullied at school. They are different, unique, smart, sometimes odd, and … they don’t run with any pack.

As we all know, a lot of those kids went on to start up global phenomenons in the fields of art, business, music.

Let’s try and let the sometimes awkward ones in and lead them well. Stop putting up the hurdles.

Give them the confidence to do what they do best.

Do better things differently.

Revolutionise.

I believe it’s called constant improvement.

I just noticed that the clock is set to wake me at 8.02 PM. Better change that.

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Working with a genius

15 Sep

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I have worked for a couple of people who could be termed geniuses. They are unique in the business world and like fire, often can’t be tamed.

Geniuses are innovators who continually change whatever it is their doing in their business, even when it would appear to us normal people that things were going well.

Geniuses are restless and highly inspiring.

They can also be maddeningly difficult. They do things that drive the process driven among us quite crazy. They can be downright demanding and sometimes over critical. I believe that Picasso wasn’t easy going. Look at his eyes.

But geniuses change things. They also take risks that can be un calculated.

How do we manage a genius (we manage both up and down?)

Can we tailor our personalities and expectations so that the future will come and we won’t go crazy in the process?

In the presence of real genius we do just that. It takes time.

But don’t worry … there’s not many around.

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Can you let go of the wheel?

13 Sep

Encourage disobedienceEncourage disobedience and other dangerous concepts

I came across a blog with an ebook attached entitled The Happy Manifesto written by Henry Stewart (manifesto@happy.co.uk.) It is about workplaces, people, processes, innovation and creativity. One section is entitled Encouraging disobedience, which got me thinking about a lot of the workplaces I have been and am involved in.  Which ones were ‘open’ and which ones ‘closed.’

In the west (as opposed to the east and eastern philosophy) we have been pre-occupied with HAPPINESS possibly because it is often a fleeting emotion and not at all about possessing ‘stuff,’ or prestige and power. HAPPINESS comes from within. Well that’s what I tell my son when he’s looking at the latest gaming device.

Encouraging disobedience is a powerful concept in workplaces if it’s embraced and understood. Translated into leadership, it’s about encouraging input and innovation, thoughts suggestions ideas. Workers at the coalface know their jobs and know how things can be done better. If they are in a micro-managed environment where things have always been done like this; where it’s silently frowned upon to re-invent the wheel, then it’s disobedience not to blindly obey.

Trusting your people and encouraging thought about new ways of doing business motivates people more than money.

Everyone wants to be loved, appreciated and recognised. That’s at least part of what makes people happy.

Advice to micro-managers: Let go of the wheel sometimes and hop in the backseat.

Then watch your people grow.

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It’s lonely at the top

2 Sep

CEO’s, business owners and managers have to do a lot of things ‘in’ their jobs.

Leading is just one of them.

To be a leader a person must be someone that inspires people on a daily basis whilst taking care of business everyday. A quick nod to Elvis here!

Add to that the skill of acquiring a ‘helicopter view’ of the relevance of the products and services offered to the marketplace in a fast paced global environment.

A leader must understand his/her people and what makes them tick and possibly hardest of all … understand themselves. Almost Zen-like, this is known as mindfulness. It takes skill to master it, but once mastered it is the difference between real leaders and line managers.

Leaders build teams that perform. They inspire creativity and innovation even when it’s dangerous. Leaders look for better ways of doing things, building resilience and optimism.

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emotional intelligence

28 Jun

emotional intelligence

A drawing I did for my 11 year old son Max. Never too young to learn. Never too old for that matter.

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