Manage To Change

In Search of WOW

A while back I stumbled on Michael Hyatt’s blog: From Where I Sit.  Michael is the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Regardless of where you sit, two of his recent posts are “must reads” for any one!

Creating WOW Product Experiences includes a list of ten common “WOW experience” attributes that he and his management team identified. Why would we aim for anything less than WOW in product development?

In the comment section the names Disney, Pixar, and Apple come up as companies that deliver WOW products. Can we name some more?

What I Have Learned in Four Years of Blogging is an excellent summary of the benefits of blogging in general, CEO blogging specifically, and experimenting with new things (not just technology!).  I couldn’t agree with him more.

Michael has been publishing online since 1998.  As someone who often manages and advocates change in publishing environments, I am thrilled to see a publishing CEO so openly experimenting and sharing his experiences.

Check out the quotes on his left side bar.  Some of them are priceless!

Web 2.0 Expo: Fake Steve Jobs

Dan Lyons, a.k.a. Fake Steve Jobs and a senior editor at Forbes, gave one of the Web 2.0 Expo keynotes this morning.  Dan was both hilarious and thought-provoking.

So how does someone become the Fake Steve Jobs?

Dan asked, but Forbes wouldn’t let him start a blog.  Apparently Dan was “old media” and Forbes didn’t have confidence in his “new media” abilities.

So ... Dan started Fake Steve Jobs (anonymously of course). 

Within six months he had 90,000 readers!  One of them was the publisher of Forbes who regularly emailed Fake Steve with comments and ideas.  He also offered a reward to anyone that could find out who Fake Steve was in real life.

“Oh crap!

What now?”

Once again, Dan asked Forbes if he could start a blog.  For a second time he was told no. 

Hmmm?

Back in his NY hotel room Dan emailed Forbes (as Fake Steve Jobs) and asked the publisher if he was interested in having Fake Steve work for Forbes.  As you would imagine the publisher was thrilled.

Dan’s identity ultimately came out and he came clean with Forbes.

What a story! Dan didn’t take no for an answer, proved himself, and simultaneously learned a ton about a medium he had never used before.

I hope Forbes learned something too!

Dan’s closing remark: “We focus so much on destruction that we lose sight of what’s springing up around us.”

Making Excuses or Doing the Job?

Every “explanation” we offer for why the thing that was supposed to happen didn’t happen is an excuse.

They’re not all bad. Sometimes they offer insights that benefit the recipient.

Mostly, though, they don’t.

This occurred to me as I wrote my first post after 10 days of silence. It was the longest I had ever gone without writing.

Did you need to hear that I was busy or traveling or sick or uninspired or just plain lazy?

No, you didn’t.

If I had written an explanation, it would have been because I needed to justify my absence. It would have been all about me.

So let’s make a commitment to each other.

The next time we miss a date, annoy a customer, say the wrong thing, or do anything else that we feel needs justification, let’s not.

Let’s just fix the problem, in the eyes of those impacted, and move on.

Are we on the same page?

Communication, while the single most important contributor to the success of any change, is the hardest part to get right.

Most people understand the mechanics of communication but we can miss some of the foundational concepts that make communication more successful.

Communication is bi-directional.

Even if we’re trying to “sell” an idea or a project, it won’t be sold by a series of decrees made without opportunity for interaction.

By listening, we develop relationships and refine our understanding. We also build trust. Without trust there is no effective communication.

Communication is informal before it becomes formal.

Informal interactions are what make formal communication effective.

People are more candid one-on-one and in smaller groups and informal settings.

At minimum, strong influencers and those who are exceptionally knowledgeable about organizational history, happenings, and politics should be consulted about ideas before we communicate en masse.

But most important, informal communication is critical to building relationships.

Communication effectiveness increases as relationships develop.

As we get to know people (and organizations), we can revise our approach to account for how they process information.

Understanding our motivations, stress level, preconceived ideas, and biases helps us construct messages more clearly. Learning the motivations and biases of those around us enables us to evaluate their reactions more accurately.

Communication is continuous.

Even if a message has been communicated, refined, validated, and communicated again, we’re not finished.

Circumstances and perceptions change. Busy people forget.

Communication is like a marriage.

Communication is most successful when each party attempts to fully consider the viewpoints of the other.

Focusing solely on our own objectives risks misunderstanding, resentment, and damaged relationships.

And even when those around us aren’t willing to consider our views, we’re not absolved from considering theirs.

It all comes down to how committed we are to making it work.

Connections and Respect

Tuesday night was dinner and a movie (a pre-release screening of Juno) with John Dodds. John is a blogger so I get to tell you about it (although he won’t let me publish his picture – I asked).

Wednesday morning Benjamin Ellis treated Liz and me to brilliant conversation and breakfast.

All week I’ve met interesting and intelligent people from businesses with which I work, have worked, would like to work, or simply admire.

But, the etiquette is different.

No one has ever told me, but I know:

It is good form to publish references to bloggers that you meet and mostly bad form to do the same with professional colleagues or business associates.

It makes sense. They’re different groups with different needs and expectations.

What’s the point?

If you’re like me, you may find yourself participating in many communities in varying ways and at various levels of involvement.

In order to respect these connections, we need to know where we are, who we’re with, and how we should behave.

We must always be ourselves, but there are shades of intensity, degrees of transparency, and wholly different topics of conversation that become relevant depending upon where we are.

While we have decided to cross the lines and participate in many communities, the members of those communities may not feel the same way.

We’ll only be welcome as long as we remain sensitive to that.

Grease or Glue?

I used to think I was glue, but I’m not.

I’m grease.

I work best in situations where the moving parts have gotten a little stuck; in tradition, in culture, in misaligned expectations, or for any number of reasons.

Which are you? (or are you something different)

FOBM: Advertising; Where Should the Money Go?

PaidContent.org host Staci Kramer interviewed an FOBM panel made up of Peter Horan (CEO, IAC Media & Advertising), Rob Norman (Global CEO, GroupM), Gloria Scoby (Group Publisher, Crain Communications Inc.), and Tad Smith (CEO, Reed Business Information).

Some highlights:

Is the advertising pie growing or shrinking?

Peter: Historically the ad business and the marketing business were a series of small pies. Direct market, media, etc. all had their own pies. Now the client is saying I have a marketing budget and it’s all one big pie.

Gloria: The pie is growing in opportunity. There are more opportunities to reach out and create relationships with companies and institutions that didn’t traditionally market with us.

Tad: The pie is growing but print is declining. The pie is growing from a revenue perspective but perhaps not in terms of profit.

Rob: “My pie is growing for sure. I was never in the direct mail or directories businesses and those businesses have now migrated online – now I am in those businesses.”

How has advertising and communication planning changed?

According to Rob, until about three years ago, their conversations were with brand managers and media mangers.

Now he’s got corporate affairs and PR people seeking to manage reputation. He also has sales people to serve since media is now “shelf space” and not just advertising space.

Peter made some great points about how no one owns the internet or the conversations taking place through it.  The real question is how you participate in a conversation that you cannot possibly control?

How has search impacted advertising?

Peter talked about how media is now intent driven. We ask questions and get a list of answers – we Google it.

Tad felt that in the traditional model before search, the value added to content was by those that could distribute it. Search has redefined that value and redistributed it to those that can help you discover content.

My quick account here doesn't do all of the panelists justice.  They all had some great insights into how the market for advertising has changed and even been redefined.  The takeaways:

• There is one integrated communication plan
• Elements of that plan can be managed and elements are beyond your control
• Search has redefined how people engage with companies and brands
• Consumer behavior has shifted toward "intent" - finding an answer
• Value in advertising has shifted from "distribution" to "discoverability"

FOBM: Interview with L. Gordon Crovitz, Publisher of The Wall Street Journal

(Staci Kramer interviews Gordon at FOBM).

On Print versus Online

Currently, when a new subscriber becomes a print subscriber they’re almost always subscribing to both the print and online journals. WSJ sells print and online together at a single price and has experienced 7 quarters in a row of increased circulation revenue.

Why is print improving?

One reason is the bundling described above.

Another reason is that WSJ sought to “reorient the print journal … [attempting to make it] … more relevant to the audience.

The journal reporter is tasked with taking a corporate earning story, for example, and turning it into something that is essential on the online journal and then essential the next day in print.

The online version focuses on news. The print version puts news in context and adds perspective.

To engage the online audience, the WSJ has also started developing content and features in different verticals. Media companies traditionally served broad audiences. Developing verticals is an attempt to engage audiences more deeply.

One example is the WSJ legal homepage. WSJ has brought on Peter Lattman “a talented blogger that has attracted an extraordinary audience of engaged lawyers.”

On Working with Yahoo and Google

Someone in the audience asked: when you look at Yahoo finance they’ve build quite a business leveraging WSJ and MarketWatch content. How do address that? How important is it to you to control your advertising inventory rather than outsource it out (Google)?

On the Internet, “other news sources are only a mouse click away online.” WSJ’s goal is to work with others and to be creative.

As for Google, they reach advertisers that the WSJ couldn’t reach on their own (small advertisers through search). It’s a complementary relationship.

On the News Corp Acquisition

Gordon says he sometimes thinks that he’s the last person on the planet that has newspaper and publisher in his title and is still an optimist.

Being part of News Corp. will be a cause for greater optimism.

FOBM: Transforming the Business Media Brand

Rafat Ali interviewed James Spanfeller (CEO, Forbes.com) and Roger McNamee (Managing Director, Elevation Partners) as the opening session at FOBM.
Elevation Partners bought a stake in Forbes in August 2006.

Here are some excerpts.

What does Forbes stand for right now?

JS: We think the web is a platform. It powers the ability to have a lot of media formats in one place. It’s not just about text. It’s about real time elements. The brand is on one hand analogous to offline companion and on the other it’s completely apart. “We’re not Forbes magazine online. We provide a different service to our end users who go to online for different reasons” than they consult the magazine.

Why hasn’t the magazine changed in a long time?

RN: “I look at this as an investor. It serves a specific purpose. The audience for business journals today needs something that wasn’t possible before the internet. Not just data but interpretation of it and debate around it. The magazine will change when the audience needs it to change.”

“The reason Elevation got involved with Forbes is because Forbes looked at the web as a unique platform. People start off reproducing the old on the new. But the people that win let the new run.”

RN: The audience wants to get engaged with the content. We’re bringing the audience into our content. We’re doing a lot of experiments – some will work, some will not.

Roger, I couldn't agree with you more!

Sticky Situations: Sparing Feelings or Being Cruel?

Have you ever worked with someone that, regardless of your feelings about them as a person, you knew they were completely unsuited for their position?

Have you ever seen someone that others regularly minimize, marginalize, or ignore because that person offers little or no value in their current role?

Do you think people in that position feel frustrated?

Do you think they ask for help?

I bet they do. I know they do.

I’ve seen it.

As managers, we often find certain topics difficult to discuss, but that doesn’t mean our best option is ignoring them. In fact, it’s usually quite the opposite.

What’s more humane?

1. Getting an issue out in the open
2. Letting someone struggle alone
3. Giving someone indirect or useless counsel because you don’t want to hurt their feelings

If someone isn’t suited for their job, or is missing vital skills that must be developed, avoiding the issue isn’t going help anyone.

We’re not sparing their feelings by not discussing their situation honestly. We’re sparing our own!

It’s selfish of any manager not to confront these situations honestly, respectfully, sensitively, AND with the goal of resolving them.