Servant of Chaos

How to Collaborate

I have worked on and with teams for most of my career … and I have found that I am most productive (and creative) when I am in a team environment (ok I like to lead, but can play nicely with others!). But I know this is not the case for everybody – yet I am always surprised to learn that colleagues don’t understand the mechanics of collaboration. Even the basics of brainstorming seem foreign to some people. But now, Leisa Reichelt provides a solution that will get your collaborative process off to a flying start … with some great tips and techniques for brainstorming.

 

   

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The Stories Inside My Head

The first spark can hit me like a revelation. It sizzles from synapse to synapse and in that instant, I am all tingling nerves and tunnel vision. There is no here and now, there is only this. ONE. idea. Burning like a fuse.

And before I can breathe, a lifetime passes. All tousled bed clothes, babies, bits of paper and smudges of ink. It is not the images I see, but rather, clarity emerging from the chaos. It is what Angela Maiers may call "making the connections" -- but it feels more like creativity than learning. More like riding a bolting horse than sitting in a classroom.

And yet, I know, before my hearts pumps another beat, that the whole world has changed. I have learned something and have been transformed by it. The challenge now lays before me ... you see the easy part is over. I have seen forever in a moment and the opportunities of a lifetime in a single glance; but now I am faced with a dilemma. To act or to demur.

When I write a blog post, work with a client or brainstorm with a team, my creativity is on tap. All I need is a starting connection (a word, a song) and it begins. Quickly. But the ideas are easy. Really, you can have them for free. The stories inside my mind can draw unexpected meanings, but they are straight and true. Of course, bringing them to life -- transforming them into something that can change your business, delight your customers or motivate your staff is a longer haul. For while ideation runs like a sprint, execution requires stamina. And whether it is a blog post or a fully integrated marketing campaign -- there are always tears ahead.

Laurel, this great stop motion video by Carlos Lascano actually comes close to capturing the way my mind works. Enjoy.

A SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION from Carlos Lascano on Vimeo.

It's Not Time to Cut Through But to Cut Out

As I have grown older, I have been amazed to realise that the more I know, the greater is my capacity to learn. Not only can I quickly absorb new information and transform it into knowledge, I can also direct this towards business and branding opportunities. Even where I come in contact with some completely foreign information, my brain scrambles to find a connection that allows me to contextualise it.

But what about you? Do you find that your capacity has increased over time?

Angela Maiers provides a great explanation in this 30 minute class. She leads us through the different types of connections that we can make so that our memories can be stimulated:   

• Easy – the simple connection can be made because of our exposure to a topic. There is no work involved here. A common topic will add a new layer over the knowledge schema that we already possess – and the information will be readily accessible to you in an instant.
   
• Dig – while a piece of information may not have an instantly recognisable hook on which you can make a connection, a small amount of digging into your own knowledge will help you. This will require some effort, but will also help turn a piece of new information into actionable knowledge.
   
• Impossible – when we are introduced to an alien concept, we are faced with an impossible situation. There are no EASY ways to make sense of the information. Digging provides no context and no prism for understanding. When faced with the impossible piece of information, our natural instinct is to begin to memorise, to rote learn – but this is a mistake, for without providing some personal context to this information you will not be able to retain and apply this knowledge. It will gradually fade from memory.

In the last 10 minutes of this video, Angela shares an approach that allows us to begin creating NEW memories. She explains the technique for creating the first thread of retained knowledge upon which you can build additional context.   

 
• Chunking: After reading/absorbing a piece of information, the main ideas are categorised by the ideas that they invoke. This is not about collecting facts. It is about finding one or two words that connect and explain the overall concepts.
• Joining the dots: Once you have the “big ideas” you then need to make connections between them. You need to write them down. You need to establish a narrative between them.

Now, think about this from a branding and marketing perspective. Have you ever wondered why some things stick and some don't? In general, the information that comes to us through advertising is “impossible”. We are hit by facts and assaulted by images. These all seek to CONVINCE us.

However, if we are each subjected to 5000 marketing messages per day, the blink of an eye that acknowledges each new message will instantly erase the previous one. This means that those marketing messages that are mediated, that come with BUILT-IN context, are more likely to anchor in our memory (hence the use of popular music/spokespersons) – and this plays particularly strongly for digital/social media.

And in a time of increasing financial uncertainty, brands will be looking not to CUT THROUGH but to CUT OUT. It won’t be a matter of your brand standing out in a crowd, but of eeking out some space in which it can create meaningful context in which your consumers can participate. Those brands who have begun experimenting with social media will have an advantage in these tougher times; and those who have not will need to accelerate their engagement by hiring agencies and consultants who have a deep understanding of hands-on brand activation in the digital/social media space.

Interesting times? Sure … but really, as Angela Maiers says, it’s about making connections.

Reversing the Launch

We all shuffle into the meeting and take our chairs. We greet one another, sip our coffee and lift our pens in silent readiness -- after all, one never knows when an action point will be thrust across the room.

Before long, even the most strategic of strategy sessions will be punctuated by tactics (and let me admit I am as guilty of this as anyone). In a bizarre twist on meeting bingo, marketing bingo is littered with words such as "viral", "youtube", "facebook" -- and increasingly, "social media". Much of this is driven by short-term, campaign oriented thinking and a focus on short-term objectives. However, when it comes to advising our clients (whether they be internal or external), it is important to remember that campaigns (and microsites) are no longer stand-alone. Google has seen to that.

Where once we built our discrete campaigns around various plans to raise awareness, generate demand, build brand, stimulate sales, accelerate trial etc, brand custodians now need to consider a longer term narrative line that incorporates the way that consumers engage with the brand over time. We no longer have disconnected brand campaigns but discontinuous brand interactions. The crucial link between each of these campaigns is a combination of social media powered by Google. That is:

• The articles or references that bloggers make about your campaign (whether it is digital or not)
• The perspectives published by the media (advertising media as well as other publishers
• User generated content that riffs off your campaign

All of this can be found by Google. More importantly, it can be found by Google well into the future -- long after your campaign has ended. For example, when I search on some of my old projects, I can find all the pointers, the conversations and the discussions AROUND them, but the project has passed. The microsite has gone. All we are left with are traces leading nowhere. This is brand equity being squandered.

In the future, we need to think about brand lifecycles. We need to think about brand "through lines" -- and design experiences with entry and exit strategies. We need to start putting as much thinking into "reversing the launch" as we put into the start of a campaign.

When we reverse the launch, we can draw upon the P-L-A-Y framework, delivering an experience that enhances and continues the conversations that evolve around your campaign. In fact, part of your strategy could be to build upon some of these user generated conversations as a catalyst for ongoing dialogue. After all, creating the talking point is one of the early challenges, maintaining or stoking that conversation requires much less effort and attention.

What's Your Strategy?

One of the most effective methods of getting an answer is to ask a question. Makes sense ... but what happens when you receive an answer? Do you hear what you are hoping for? Do you hear something else? Or more importantly, is your question ANSWERED? And when it comes to strategy, not only do you need to ask the right questions, you need to listen for the real answers.

What do I mean?

No matter whether you work for a large or a small company, or whether you work on the agency side, any strategy work that you do will require input from various stakeholders. That means creativity, innovation, collaboration ... and of course, compromise. But, perhaps more than anything else, you will get STRATEGIC FOG.

The strategic fog creeps up slowly, spreading uncertainty and confusion. It looks harmless, but consumes all insight, process and creativity in its path. Unfortunately, we can all fall prey to this fog. It seduces us with its questions. It suggests that responsibility can be passed. The role of the strategist, however, is to hold your line of questioning and to pursue a path of inquiry.

A strategic fog normally takes two shapes:

• Tactics masquerading as strategy
• Unfounded solutions answering non-strategic problems

You know when you are dealing with strategic fog when you ask a simple question -- "what's your strategy?". This one, single question is like a grenade. You throw it and wait. In the wake of its detonation you will get one of two things -- the clarity of a bell or the steady onslaught of fog.

Things to remember. A strategy ...

• Is not a solution -- you leave that to execution
• Can be supported by multiple tactics
• Should not be set in stone, but respond to your changing business conditions
• Will serve as a basis for action and decision-making
• Sounds simple, raw even, but resonates with the energy of your brand
• Is nothing without insight

Have you ever experienced the strategic fog? Did you find your way out?

In a Commodity Market, Good Design is Imperative

The problem with living in "internet time" is that the "new" very rapidly becomes commonplace. Think back 12 months. What websites were you visiting regularly? Which blogs? The velocity of change that haunts our everyday lives means that we are living with the ghosts of old applications that struggle to remain relevant to our ever shifting focus.

When I first looked at Tianamo I liked the interactivity that it offered around search. It was novel. Useful. But the razor-sharp mind of Greg Verdino punctured my enthusiasm -- or rather, asked me to elaborate a little more:

@servantofchaos very cool but what do you think the practical application for 3d search visualization is?

My initial response was that 3D visual search has great application to structured data, especially within the enterprise ... but there was something more. This approach offered something far more insightful.

For what 3D search does is bring good design (interaction, user interface, usability) to bear on what is now a commodity (albeit a very useful commodity). Take a quick look around at Tianamo and you will soon see that the relationships between data points can yield fascinating insight.

As new products and services accelerate through various adoption cycles, spiraling from awareness to adoption with exponential growth, the lustre of "the new" fades. Think about the term "Google" ... which has entered the lexicon as a verb -- we now Google <insert term>, rather than search for it. And with that ready acceptance comes user complacency. It is not that we don't appreciate its value, it is simply providing an acceptable level of service. It fulfils our needs, but no longer astounds us.

However, the future of your brand is dependent upon good design. Good design will ask the restless questions -- it will push you to examine the shifting patterns of consumer/participant behaviour. It will demand that you consider a variety of usage patterns. And it will prompt you to continuously deliver new value. And the fact that it will find hidden gold within the mountain of enterprise data is an added bonus. After all, it is still about surprise and delight.

The Yelp of Surprise

What happens when you see a great creative idea? Can you recognise it for what it is worth? Do you turn away? Do you get shivers, goosebumps or sweats? Does it make you smile or gasp? Any or all of these reactions (or more) indicate that an idea will deliver on the "Yelp of Surprise and Delight" that I discuss in the P-L-A-Y framework.

But, of course, the challenge is not just in the conception of such an idea. It must also follow-through in the execution. For TV that means, a myriad of challenges -- setting, casting, script etc. For digital this is magnified -- call to action, availability, timing ...

Kathryn Schlieben has provided a great demonstration of how this can play out, with this video aimed at attracting the next Gordon Ramsay to the Caterer.com job portal (specialising in hospitality employment).

To deliver a knockout in terms of RESULTS for your brand, it is important to bring all this together in a unified, yet flexible strategy. The P-L-A-Y framework is definitely at work here ... can you see the elements? And gasp! I certainly did.

A Man's Got to Do What a Man's Got to Do

Being a lover of good storytelling I live a life of disappointment between the hours of 8pm to midnight. With a vast array of low-rent, poorly executed television, there is little wonder that I turn my attention to the plethora of quality (and low-rent) content available online. And while I am sometimes appalled by what I see online, I have the control to simply move quickly to something that at least offers the promise of an engaging storyline, believable characters or even a toe-tapping number or two.

And given that Josh Whedon, the master storyteller behind the Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Firefly series has just released a new series, there was reason to hope. But where can one find this? I scoured the TV guides only to be beaten into a dull submission by old formats and "celebrity talent". At last I turned to Twitter to find salvation -- and it came to me in the shape of something horrible. Dr Horrible.

That's right. Josh Whedon's newest series is available exclusively online. You can watch it streaming via the innovative Hulu format or download via iTunes. And at 15 minutes an episode, if it doesn't capture your attention, you haven't wasted your valuable time -- quality content is only a click away. Just a shame they didn't add interactive channels to the format.

But, it just makes me wonder about the future of media. And the future of brands. And it seems, the answer is the same. Content. How else do you think you will attract the slim attention of audience 2.0? Time to stop reading and start participating.

Measuring the Hybrid Car ROI

A car purchase is the second most expensive investment that an individual is likely to make (the first being their home). And in that respect, consumers come close in behaviour to their B2B counterparts -- after all, vehicles are expensive, have ongoing cost requirements and (whether we like it or not) reflect on our own sense of self. Accordingly, when it comes to purchase time, we shop around, do our homework, check blog posts, search engines and customer satisfaction ratings. We ask friends for recommendations, take a keener interest in the cars we pass in the street, and think through the implications of this major purchase.

Recently though, the greater awareness (and concern for) the environment, coupled with ever spiralling oil prices has seen a massive spike in the popularity of hybrid cars. (Some US states have gone so far as to mandate the production of eco-friendly cars.) But, even a cursory glance at the prices of hybrid cars shows that they are significantly more expensive, meaning that you will need a longer timeframe before your hybrid car breaks even with its petrol equivalent.

However, there are other factors at play in the calculation of ROI -- and Todd Andrlik has developed a great online tool that brings carbon emissions into the calculation. Originally developed to assist his employer, Leopardo Constructions, in calculating the ROI impacts for their fleet of company vehicles, the calculator has now been made widely available. Simply enter a few variables about the vehicles you are comparing, press calculate, and you will receive data about fuel savings, unreleased carbon emissions and ROI timeframes. Check it out here.

It is a wonder that companies like Toyota or Honda, makers of leading hybrid vehicles have not produced something similar.

Coming to Love Classical Music

Katie Chatfield shares this great presentation at TED by Benjamin Zander. It takes 20 minutes to play, and at its completion, you will come to love classical music.

Six minutes in, Benjamin positions this transformation beautifully -- in terms of leadership. As he says, "one of the characteristics of a leader ... [is] that he not doubt for one moment the capacity of the people he is leading to realise whatever he's dreaming". But then, Benjamin spends the rest of the time taking us on a journey, inviting us into his own story and into the story of the music which is his passion. He explains how the music taps into our emotional intelligence and then demonstrates its power by asking us to go deeper into the music -- to make it personal.

He wraps up this artful talk magnificently with anecdote and personal story, explaining his own revelation -- "My job is to awaken possibility in other people". Fascinatingly, he also demonstrates how you can tell when this has been achieved ... but you will need to watch until the end to understand. Not a bad way to spend a lunch break on a Friday afternoon. Enjoy.