How many times (as an employee) did you:

• go along when a difficult boss shut down your well-researched idea to drive new traffic to the company web site?
• bite your tongue when a coworker lobbied hard for “the blue version” of fluffy creative served up by your agency, when you really wanted to challenge them to re-examine the brief so they might actually get to the crux of the problem?
• agree to a change in tactics when you knew the real issue was the choice of strategy?
• let someone’s own bias and values shape whether you pursued what instinct told you was the right direction for the business?

Happens to us all, you might say. There are days we win and days we lose.  Some situations call for thinking about the greater good.

Yes, I understand all that. But.

This type of fear and frustration can cripple an organization as quickly as uncensored tongues and contentious attitudes.

Fear of having our ideas rejected, of being pigeonholed and treated differently. Fear of being singled out as a lone dissenting voice when we ourselves hear no logic.  Frustration at spinning wheels, sapping resources and being ineffectual.

Now, as a business owner, do you want employee ownership and personal accountability? Do you look for partners that perform as an extension of your staff? Or are you content with sycophantic robots?

Fear leads to sameness. Frustration causes contempt. Neither bode well for your brand.

Fear and frustration are a blight on any business relationship, whether internal to an organization or external with partners and suppliers.

Fear constricts free thinking and wondrous exploration like a vise. Fear limits the number of problems that can get solved, and the degree to which we pursue solutions.  Fear discourages intrapreneurship and creativity, the kind of creativity that births innovation. Fear freezes us to operate within a time and space we already know. It limits the flow of nutritious ideas and flux of waste. Fear is an icy gray.

Frustration is a seismic red. Frustration builds isolating walls. Frustration causes us to go into survival lock-down mode, doing with very little thinking.

There’s no room for fear or frustration in your growing business. A dose of  diligence and caution, yes. The right measure of focus, absolutely.

But if you find yourself hearing (saying!) things like “This is what got us to where we are today. It makes sense to keep doing it this way.” Or “I don’t really know much about [branding/customer experience/public relations/community management/whatever] so it’s hard for me to put much energy there. Let’s stick with what will impact revenue today,” you may have a problem.

Heresy isn’t a bad word (see #5). It’s the equivalent of having a mirror put in front of your face and being forced to identify what you see. It may be a little uncomfortable, but only then are you prepared to pursue the good and deal with the not so good.

To achieve change, you as a leader have to be willing to accept intelligent challenges to your thinking and the rational questioning of indoctrined processes. Trust employees with a safe, open culture free from reprisal, where calculated risk and honest failure are accepted as the building blocks of innovation. Empower partners to surface ideas and suggestions in a reciprocally respectful manner. Hire for expertise, accommodate passion, and resist tying anyone’s hands.

Do you have what it takes to be a heretic? To let your employees be heretics?

This makes the 2nd time in a week that a song–an “old” song, no less–serves as inspiration for my writing. I guess it doesn’t really surprise me, I already knew that lyrics interest me more in music than any instrumental ever could.  Oh, I’m still a big fan of the groove. It’s just that the delivery falls flat without meaningful lyrical messaging.

Music As A Growth Opportunity

Tracy Chapman spoke to me in my often misspent youth, and she continues to be relevant to me today.  Her legendary “Gimme One Reason” is clearly about personal relationships, and while I finally managed to resolve that part of my life 14 years ago (thank you, Scott), the essence of the song is now also something I can relate to as a marketer.

Lyrics | Tracy Chapman lyrics – Give Me One Reason lyrics

What Tracy Chapman Can Teach Consumer Products Companies

“Gimme just one reason why I should stay…”

People need a degree of routine. Of normalcy, of familiarity. Absolutes to count on. Hey, that’s why brand marketers even exist–to exploit leverage subjective (even irrational) associations people inherently make with products they interact with.  Purchase decisions are not made on the club floor, and consumers are not trolling to switch allegiances. But that does not make it okay for a brand to abuse these truths and forget the thousand little ways to say “Thank you for your patronage.”

“You got to make me change my mind.”

Um, maybe covered well enough above.  C’mon, guys.  I have less money to spend today on goods than I did a year ago. I’m concerned about making choices that might have significant effects on my family or situation later.  How can you make me feel more confident, more rational, about taking a risk? Or, how can you validate this decision to buy that long ago stopped being a conscious one?

“You know that I love you. And there ain’t no more to say.”

I’m tired of talking. And maybe even of being talked to.  I want to be engaged. And I want action, passion, momentum. To be involved in something.

Sure, maybe in the end all I’m really talking about is whether to purchase Diet Dr. Pepper or Diet Coke.  But there’s a compelling story to be written here, and a consumer willing to be convinced. Sure-shootin I’m not going to stop buying caffiene. But which brand is showing a little consumer love?

Holy cripes, I thought it was only me who worried about falling flat on my face.  Certainly not Mr. Accomplished.  But his revelation made me think about innate fears and vulnerbilities we all have, and how glorious it would be if we could all just let it hang out.  No laughs, no snickers or surprised faces, no wrinkled noses or involuntary cringing.  What a wonderful place – home or work, school or church – it would be if we all felt comfortable enough to say, “I didn’t know what to do when. . .” or “I didn’t know how to start my. . .”.

Summoning all of my courage (or course, inspired by this one guy), I’ll go first.  Here goes.  I’m afraid I might someday run into someone with as much drive and determination as me.  And it scares the hell out of me, for that’s where I hang my hat (we’ve already established I’m not the smartest gal in the room, previous post).

Got to run (sorry to leave you hanging!) – my chariot won’t wait for long (aka, my husband is impatient).