The other day, I was at the Campbell post office standing in the line waiting for my turn. It was a long line so (as usual) I was busy browsing a book. The person in front of me brought me out of my dream when he stepped out asking me to hold his place. I nodded and continued reading.
I couldn’t help notice what the person did.
There was a box to drop off a business card to win a prize at the end of the month. The person dropped off his business card and walked back. I looked at the box again. There were probably 200 other business cards in the box.
Not fully believing what I just saw, I struck a conversation with the person in front.
I asked, “So, what exactly is the prize they are promising?”
He said, “No clue on that one.”
I asked, “But you put in your business card in there…”
He said, “Yeah, what’s there to lose. There are hundreds of them who have already put in their business card. They can’t be wrong.”
We both smiled and ended the conversation there.
I couldn’t help thinking about what happened.
1. There is something “free” that is promised. Don’t know what that is.
2. Around 200 other people thought it was good to get that “free” thing and opted in to the offer
3. A new person thought that if 200 other people are not wrong, he can’t be wrong.
4. It takes only a second (and a business card) to opt-in to the offer
5. The new person takes the bait and opts in to the offer.
Just a simple example that the combination of “Free,” “Social Proof” and “Now” is a killer combination.
Here is an example of how Amitabh Bacchan (who needs no introduction for anyone who has heard of Bollywood) handled criticism from another superb Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah.
Here it is, in his own words (on his blog)
[ Note: I made VERY minor edits for the sake of readability. Emphasis is mine ]
A question came my way during the reading of the latest Filmfare. When told to comment on Naseeruddin Shah’s remark on how I had become a victim of my star hood and forgotten how to act (That he had preferred me in my earlier ventures due to the simplicity of playing characters who were closer to the earth)
I replied that when an actor of Naseeruddin’s stature speaks, you just listen head down and quietly with your hands behind your back.
We can all learn a lot from just the above incident.
When you are on the fence, sometimes all it requires is a gentle push and you will move to one side. But someone or something has to give that gentle push. It does not take a lot of effort (remember: it’s gentle) but someone still has to do it.
With that in the background, let’s put the “proverbial” fence aside and take a real situation.
You are contemplating whether to attend a networking event or not. You want to do it but you also have other competing priorities to take care of. You know that in the long run it will help you but there are some short-term fires to put out.
You are in a dilemma.
In other words, you are on the “proverbial” fence.
You are waiting for someone or something to give you a gentle push – and help you make that decision.
What is that one thing that the organizers can tell you that will give that gentle push?
How about the following?
What if they said:
As of <date> and <time> we have 40 CEO’s or Presidents of companies attending.
You suddenly have that “information” – something attractive enough to give that gentle push and nudge you towards making a decision to go to that event.
I was fascinated by the CEO Counter that was shown on the homepage of the website called The BD Event. It is a networking organization and someone there designed a much needed “carrot” to provide that gentle push.
Something to think about in your own situations -
What is that thing that will provide that (much needed) nudge or gentle push?
First, I have to share a personal story to set the context.
This is the “behind the scenes” story of how a book series and now a book imprint was created over a dinner with a long-time friend. A friend who I respect a lot.
If I look at the entire last year (2009) and reflect on all the events that I attended and decide to pick on one event that was game-changing, it would be a talk by Charlie Rose at the Flint Center.
To be brutally honest, it was not the talk but the dinner I had with my long-time friend Mitchell Levy before the talk.
So, it was really the “pre-event meeting” that was game changing.
For the ten or so years I have known Mitchell, I don’t remember a conversation that was less than insightful. I always walk away with one or two things that makes me think and reflect and become better in one way or the other.
So, I was not expecting anything less. We talked about a number of things and over that time, I shared about my crazy idea – a book that I had written on Twitter (not about it but using it). The book was called THINKtweet. I shared with him the genesis of the idea and why the format would be increasingly relevant in the future.
For those interested, here is a quick video that provides a sneak-peek into the genesis of this project ( in less than ten minutes.)
Mitchell patiently heard me and by the end of the meeting, we had a plan to publish THINKtweet. We alao agreed that we should partner on this book series and grow it beyond this first book.
Over the next few weeks, my friends at Stresslimitdesign helped us design and package the book. Long story short – the book was published on June 1, 2009.
Over the next few months, we got serious interest from MANY people to publish their work in this format. The general consensus was that these were books designed for the A.D.D. generation.
A couple of months ago, my super-smart friend Karen Kang helped us brainstorm the branding for the series. Over the next few days, we renamed the series to THINKaha ( our books are designed to give at least a dozen “Aha Moments” in less than 30 minutes ) and also finalized a tag line which is:
As of today, we have close to a dozen books in print and more coming. You can see the entire series here:
While this story was evolving, Mitchell and I realized that we had not finalized our business arrangement. I still remember that day when the arrangement was finalized. It was in a coffee shop (Roasted Coffee Bean) in Cupertino. It was at the end of a brainstorming meeting and we were just getting ready to leave. While heading back to our respective cars, we finalized the terms and the general roles we will play. It must have taken a total of two minutes to “negotiate” the business arrangement.
In essence, coming up with a “No Brainer” arrangement was a no-brainer for us.
Why?
The simple reason is that we both trusted each other completely. Trusted that both of us will look out for each other more than we look out for ourselves.
Mind you, that this “No Brainer” mindset didn’t develop overnight. It was the result of a long friendship built over a decade.
That philosophy of creating “No-brainers for the future” has saved me a ton of time, energy and heartache over the years.
No, this post has nothing to do with fitness and traveling.
It is about the confusion that occurs when you copy something blindly.
I will take the social media example.
There is a tendency here to follow what the most successful people are doing.
The general assumptions people make to convince themselves to copy are:
If it is “working” for them, it must be right
If it is “working” for them, it must “work” for me.
If it is “working” for them, all I have to do is follow their footsteps to make it “work” for me.
What people generally forget to do is to observe “how is it working for them.”
You can look at their actions and the consequences of those actions on social media but that is still a tip of the iceberg. This has to translate somewhere into their revenue. This has to provide a “return on investment” somewhere for their time. Otherwise, it’s simply not sustainable. Unless you see how they get their ROI from their efforts, you may have no way to determine whether their strategies are applicable to you.
If you blindly follow someone’s strategies however attractive they seem, you are running on a treadmill and hope to reach a wonderful destination. You will get tired after a while and it seems like a ton of work, but you won’t make progress.
If you want to head towards “your” destination, you need to come up with your strategies. Strategies that work for you. The way “popular” people use social media may not be it.
You are on a “train” to your destination only when you start using strategies that work for you.
There is no need to force-fit something that may seem to work. There is enough that you can learn from everyone around you. They are doing something right – yes, right for them. Something that will take them to “their” destination.
If you really want to get the most out of social media without breaking your back and without breaking your bank (remember: time is money) then I suggest you
First look at who has reached the kind of “destination” you are looking to reach.
Once you identify those people, observe what they are doing. What are their strategies and what are their actions on social media.
Lastly, improvise and innovate based on your learning.
In summary, just don’t confuse being on a treadmill to traveling on a train.
When I was at the San Francisco Airport recently, I couldn’t help notice the giant size Tiger Woods ad from Accenture. I didn’t have a problem with the message on the Ad, which read:
“The road to high performance isn’t always paved.”
But based on the recent events in the life of Tiger Woods, it was time to change the Ad to something else.
Of course, this is easier said than done. I have seen these ads in multiple airports and several other Billboards elsewhere. It would cost millions for Accenture to get these replaced.
Enough said on that.
Let us look at another angle. The price that Accenture has to pay for what happened is not because of anything that Accenture did. When Accenture made a deal with Tiger Woods, there was an indirect responsibility placed on Tiger Woods that he would enhance or maintain his personal brand. Without that, the deal does not have the same value that it had when it was originally made.
Now Tiger Woods would not have signed any contract to that effect. Think of it like an unwritten (or even ethical) contract. Nobody asks for it but everyone assumes that one would live by it.
Now, not many people have a celebrity status like Tiger Woods. But everyone has an indirect responsibility towards people and organizations they are (and were) associated with them.
You too have that.
The school you attended, the teachers that taught you, your friends, your close family all of them expect that you lead a good life. You mess up and you not only hurt yourself but everyone that’s associated with you. It is your “responsibility” to not hurt yourself. It is your “indirect responsibility” to not hurt people associated with you.
Please don’t forget the (indirect) responsibility.
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Note 1: Here is a Squidoo lens that links to most of the previous articles in this series: Squidoo: Distinguish Yourself
I had an opportunity to see the work-in-progress for an awesome project (featured above) by EDF called “The Power of Scale.” The outcome of the project was a 90-second video. The video is about something that we should all be concerned about – energy and what we can do about it to save OUR world.
You can see the video and see the brilliance of thinking, design and delivery for yourself but before that, I wanted to get you “behind the scenes” of this project. Here is the story about how the story got developed in the words of Justin Evans of Stresslimitdesign.
We were approached by EDF earlier this year to make a short video that help introduce and popularize the concept of reducing pollution across corporate car fleets. After reviewing a ton of whitepapers, infosheets and case studies, we realized that at the core of this initiative was a simple story about a quantity of little actions, that when put all together and applied across the huge number of fleet cars in America, would cause vast pollution reduction and huge money savings. Our visual research led us to Charle’s and Ray Eames Classic film “Powers of 10“. Repeated watching of this and other films of theirs helped us come up with a cool visual language, but also gave us the great central metaphor to tell EDF’s story as a story of “power of scale”.
Once we had this central concept the idea of the story fell quickly into place:
1. Establish the idea from something that everyone is familiar with
Establish the idea from simple stories of scale that everyone can identify with– in this case how much faster it is to pick up trash when you are 50 people instead of one. We then decided to reinforce this with the great visual story of telling just how much energy can be saved when everyone in a city block turning off their lights at the same time.
2. What’s a Fleet?
Once we established the story of scale, it was time to tell the story of the fleets. Starting out, none of us even knew what a fleet was. A parking lot, and some cool timelapse photography gave us a great way to talk about what fleets are, and the simple things that they can do to save energy
3. The power of scale
Having established our protagonist, The fleet driver, we then introduce the story of scale– by using small matchbox cars to illustrate the huge number of cars there are, it becomes quickly apparent how these small actions taken by one driver in the parking lot can make a huge difference when everyone does them. EDF’s statistics and predictions come to life as our little cars drive in and out of configuration.
To make the message visually exciting we chose to shoot using a combination of Tilt-Shift photography; a technique when used with highly saturated and colorful images, makes landscapes and humans look like miniature models. Combined with the effect of time-lapse photography, time appears to fly by very rapidly. And finally we did a bit of stop motion animation using actual models! All the visuals were done using a Digital Single Lens Relex (DSLR) camera Tilt-Shift lens, and a traditional lens. Playing with the concept of models and scale became a great way to illustrate visually the central metaphor of the story we were telling.
3 Idiots is a movie that touched my heart in the recent past. The movie was not just entertaining but was filled with so many life lessons. Brilliant storytelling made it memorable. I won’t go into everything as I am sure many of you have not seen the movie and don’t want this to be a spoiler
The characterization of the protagonist Rancho was what touched me most (apart from the core theme of the movie.)
The Protagonist Rancho (Aamir Khan, Aamir Khan’s blog) was not just different but someone who made a difference and touched the hearts and souls of so many people in his short stay in the college. Then Rancho goes missing and his two friends Farhan (R. Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi) search for him. They have not found him for five years but they don’t give up their search.
On a similar note, LINCHPIN (new book by Seth Godin) is one of my favorite reads in the last few days.
In LINCHPIN, Seth focuses on BEING rather than DOING. Seth’s compassionate plea is for everyone to “be” an artist – be a Linchpin rather than a cog in the wheel.
There is no premium paid for “being” a cog in the wheel. Not just that, your survival is at stake if you continue “being” a cog in the wheel. So, it is not like one has a choice on whether he/she wants to do something different. One has to start “being” a different person – an artist – someone who creates.
The book is BRILLIANT because it’s a wake-up call for most professionals. Wake up call to let them know that they are heading towards a cliff if they continue “being” who they are.
A LINCHPIN in simple terms is “someone who is indispensable.” Someone who has made such a significant impact that he/she is someone you cannot live without.
Now, combining the two of my favorites – 3 Idiots and LINCHPIN, what I can infer is that Rancho was the LINCHPIN in their lives. That’s probably one of the biggest reasons the friends never gave up the search on Rancho.
In this 5-minute song, his friends recollect memories of him and explain how he had touched their heart. The song is in Hindi but thanks to Bijith, I have found the translation for the lyrics.
A thought experiment for you:
1. If you go missing (and I pray you don’t) and your friends had to think about the difference you made in their lives, what would they think about? What would YOUR song look like?
2. What could you do in 2010 so that there is a better song for you?
You may not have an answer right now, but that’s something for you to think about.
Meanwhile, here is the song and the English translation for you to enjoy:
Translation Courtesy: Bijith
(Note: Made some minor changes to the original translation)
Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh He was like a flowing wind
Udti Patang Sa Tha Woh He was like a soaring kite
Kahan Gaya Usse Dhoondo Where did he vanish? Lets find him
Humko Toh Raahein Thi Chalati While we were always following the path
Woh Khud Apni Raah Banata He always made his path
Girta Sambhalta Masti Mein Chalta Tha Woh [He] Sometimes fell, sometimes balanced but always went ahead cheerfully
Humko Kal Ki Fikar Sataati We were always worried about tomorrow
Woh Bas Aaj Ka Jashn Manaata And, he always celebrated today
Har Lamhe Ko Khulke Jeeta Tha Woh He lived every minute fully
Kahan Se Aaya Tha Woh Where did he come from?
Chhooke Hamare Dil Ko Kahan Gaya Usse Doondo Where did he vanish… touching our hearts
Sulagti Dhoop Mein Chhaaon Ke Jaisa He was like shade in scorching sun
Registaan Mein Gaaon Ke Jaisa He was like an oasis in a vast desert
Mann Ke Ghaav Me Marham Jaisa Tha Woh He was like medicine for wounded heart
Hum Sahme Se Rehte Kuwein Mein We were living in our own well
Woh Nadiya Mein Gote Lagata While he would do a somersault in the river
Ulti Dhara Cheerke Tairta Tha Woh He used to swim against the waterfall
Baadal Awara Tha Woh He was like a carefree cloud
Yaar Hamara Tha Woh He was our friend
Kahan Gaya Usse Dhoondo Where did he vanish… lets find him!
The message there was to keep practicing our craft and continue to get better at what we do.
That message is still valid and very relevant.
However, there is a need for a new habit and this time developing this habit is “urgent and relevant.”
That habit is:
Sharpen your models
We all have models about how things work – what works and what does not.
How do you get a job? We have a model for that.
How do you make a sale? We have a model for that.
How do you make a friend? We have a model for that.
How do you build a relationship? We have a model for that.
How do you build your brand? We have a model for that.
How do you know what customers want? We have a model for that.
How do customers decide from whom to buy? We have a model for that.
Take any significant thing that you are doing and you will notice that you will base it on a model that you learned or created on your own.
In the new world, the models that work have changed. Working hard on models that are OBSOLETE won’t make them work.
If you not been looking at it, the time is NOW to sharpen your models.
Not just polish them, revisit them, refine them, recreate them and re-invent them.
This is not easy.
For you, the models that you are using represents “truth.” Just like you don’t question the “fact” that “sun rises in the east,” you won’t question your models once they are in place.
So, the best way to get new models in place is to get “good help.” There are other people who have figured out what the “new models” are. Your job is to “seduce” them and be an “opportunity” for them so that they start sharing with you what those “models” are.
You might say that you are intelligent enough to figure out the new models. I am not doubting that. There are a small percentage of people who can do that on their own. For the rest of us, we need teachers and mentors who can shepherd us through this process.
Whatever path you choose, may the Force be with you
What is said is important. Equally important is what is not said. If you are not noticing is “what is not said,” you might be missing a LOT more than you think you are.
To illustrate the point, I am going to use a song from one of my favorite movies “Music and Lyrics.” The song is just around 2 minutes.
Follow along with me on this experiment (meaning: don’t cheat)
First step: Listen to the 2-minute song without watching the video. Simply click on play and then close your eyes for 2 minutes. If you are too busy and can’t spare 2 minutes, please proceed to step 2 (not recommended but it works too.)
Second step: Just watch the video along with the song. This time, observe everything. Try to see the story that is being told. Try to notice why something and someone are there.
Third step: Reflect for a few seconds how much more richer the experience was when you started noticing what was left unsaid.
I have provided some of my observations to trigger your thinking. They are no way complete and you may have better interpretations than what is being told here.
Here are my observations:
0:00 The camera pans through the entire room giving you an idea of where this is happening. The setting is that of a large party hall in a hotel room.
0:05 There is a banner to show that it’s a class of ‘87 Reunion. So, we know that it’s the get-together of a tribe.
0:10 You see a bunch of women cheering Hugh Grant. There is absolutely no men around that place. Shows that he is popular among women.
0:30 You see a name badge on one of the women confirming again that they are all part of a tribe.
0:35 You see “1987″ in big fonts in the background reminding you again that it’s a class reunion of ‘87.
0:38 You see so many women wearing a POP! t-shirt – showing how crazy they are on something POP! ( It’s a popular band in the 80s in the movie)
0:50 Shows a bunch of really bored men. They probably wanted this song to end right away. Making it clear again that Hugh’s target audience is women ONLY.
0:52 Shows Hugh’s Manager imitating Hugh’s dance and is totally engaged with what’s happening. Indicates special relationship between the two.
1:05 Half way through the song, two women enter. Drew Barrymore and her sister. From the expression on her sister’s face, you know that she is a huge fan of Hugh Grant.
1:20 Drew Barrymore’s sister can’t wait to get in front of the line and runs. Shows that she is not just one of those fans but someone that adores Hugh
1:24 Drew Barrymore shakes her head in disbelief. Shows that she is really not into all this now ( at leas at that time )
1:51 Drew Barrymore shows from her smile that she does think Hugh and his dance are cute.
2:00 Hugh’s Manager is imitating (or giving a cue to Hugh) Hugh’s dance moves. Shows that he is more than a Manager – he is more like a friend invested in Hugh’s success
2:06 Hugh hurts his back during his dance moves. Gives a clue about his age.
2:32 Hugh’s Manager steps out with a clear concern for Hugh. Shows the level of friendship there again.
Last but not least, I have to say that there is a lot of thought that has gone into making this song. So every little thing that happens has a meaning attached to it.
In a business situation, this may not be the case but the need for noticing what is left unsaid will not go away.
Everyone can hear what is said, only a few will notice and powerfully interpret “what is left unsaid.”
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Note 1: Here is a Squidoo lens that links to most of the previous articles in this series:
There was a box to drop off a business card to win a prize at the end of the month. The person dropped off his business card and walked back. I looked at the box again. There were probably 200 other business cards in the box.
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