marginally subversive

Dumbing it down is making it boring...

I just wrote about boredom in a previous entry.  And right after I hit "publish" on my Windows Live Writer, my RSS reader told me that Seth Godin just wrote something about "dumbing it down".

He writes about pandering to the masses and dumbing things down - and argues that hey, give me smart customers anytime because they are far more profitable, far more energetic, far more engaged.

Why?

The thing is, when you dumb stuff down, you know what you get?

Dumb customers.

And (I'm generalizing here) dumb customers don't spend as much, don't talk as much, don't blog as much, don't vote as much and don't evangelize as much. In other words, they're the worst ones to end up with.

I honestly don't think there dumb customers (and I believe that Seth Godin is being sarcastic...)  Ogilvy said that "the consumer is not a moron; she is your wife".

I have sat down in so many client-agency meetings where clients go "That's too sophisticated for our customers; they wouldn't understand that" or "It's nice and witty - but won't it be too witty to our consumers" or "Just tell them the specifications of our products - that we have GB of storage that could store X thousands of songs and videos" or "just plaster the brand logo there - and we'd be fine".

In other words, "dumb it down because consumers don't understand it".

This runs counter to my belief that we are overly underestimating our customers and our target consumers.  If they were "dumb", then we wouldn't have all these things called FaceBook, Wikipedia, and other tech wonders that were dependent on these "dumb" customers.

Simplify it, yes.  But don't dumb it down.  That's what I would say.  Simplifying it is not necessarily dumbing it down.  Simplifying it is all about making things intuitive, for example, in a computer software. 

(And this is why I like XLSTAT and XLMINER - they're advanced stats software but they're not assuming I am dumb; they just made how I use their software easier and faster.)

Anyway, the same is true with people:  Don't dumb people down.  When you explain things to your subordinates or your peers, don't dumb it down.  Simplify it.  But don't dumb it down.

Here's Seth's Blog on Dumbing down.

Playing Small versus Playing Big

I received an email from a friend.  He's one of those who writes "personal updates" about his previous year, publishes them on a word document, and distributes it to his friends and family members. 

(I know of families that do this - and mostly, they talk about how the kids have grown and how the Christmas play was - complete with kids in costume.  But a single guy doing these updates?  You gotta give it to my friend - he's got lots of drama to write about in his life.)

Anyway, one of the things that struck me was one of his resolutions for 2008:  This year - 2008 - will be the year when I start playing big.  I will aim for the stars and the sun.  I may end up not hitting the sun, but who knows - I might end up on the moon.

Which got me thinking about playing small and playing big.

I never believed that playing small will get my anywhere.  It will probably get me through the day unscathed - and perhaps, give me a night or two of complete peace.  But playing small would make me more bored with my life.  And boredom is bad - always bad.

But lately, I have been asking myself:  Must one always play big?  Must one always want, strive, dream, work hard to become the CEO of the company?  Must one's voice always be heard?

A part of me - the competitive side - would assert that things are not good if things are smooth.  It would assert that if it isn't broken (yet), then break it and rewrite it.  Reinvention, it would argue, is the mother of innovation.

But a part of me also argues against playing big:  Playing small makes one nimbler, faster, more flexible, and more at peace.  Playing big also means being a big target of others who are as competitive as one's self.

So the question - which may sound existential to some (if not everyone) - is For this year, will it be a year of playing small or playing big?

And the answer is...

It depends.

I am sure that I am going to be playing it big in my personal life.  The relationships that I value - the ones that cannot be "monetized" but are very important to my life - will definitely figure strongly this year.  At the same time, there will be relationships that I will dump - relationships that suck the life out of life, relationships that do nothing but destroy other aspects of my life.

In my career, I am also sure that I will play it big.  The competitive spirit in me still remains - but it will be tempered.  This year will the year that I will be playing responsibly.  The game will be played seriously - but there will be aspects of the game that I will give up on because it is not worth winning.

I guess it comes with age - this ability to discern what is and what is not worth playing for.   Not that I have mastered it - but the years have led me to this realization:  That not all games need to be played, not all games need to be won, and not all games need to be special.

Some games are worth playing big for - and some games are not.

My executive coaches will probably kill me for saying this - but nobody's last words were ever "I wish I delivered that presentation or report better". 

There are some things that not even stocks and stock options can buy.

 

Technorati Tags: Personal Journeys,2008,New Year,Views,Personal Views,Playing Big,Playing Small

funny...

This is really funny.

agencies, advertisers and consumers

Picked this one up from YouTube.

 

Interesting take on advertises, agencies, and consumers... Well, things have changed, people! Wake up!

 

Technorati Tags: MSN, Microsoft, Advertising, Ad Agencies, Agency Life

Good Enough and Excellent Websites

I was about to write a rant about Seth Godin's entry on "how to build good-enough websites" when I read his next entry on "how to create a great website".  The rant would have been around the idea of "why bother building something that's not great in the morass of the web?  Why bother doing something - creating something, getting involved in something - that is simply "good-enough" and not "great" and not "remarkable"?"

Coming from Seth Godin, who, in The Dip, wrote about being excellent, remarkable, stellar, and about Zipf's Law, it was quite unnerving (for a fan, at least) to see that he's now writing about "good-enough" things.

But thank God he wrote another one about building great websites.

The beauty of great websites (not that I am an expert in building them - look at this blog!) is that it doesn't have to be full of the latest tech stuff.  It doesn't have to be filled with animation, with flash, with the whole shebang.  Sometimes, simplicity in and of itself commands greatness.  It's not just the design - it's also the overall relevance of the website.

Anyway, my take is simple - If it's not going to be great, it's probably not worth doing.

And Seth Godin's advice on how to build great websites are very relevant - not just in creating websites, but in creating something great whether they are ads, media plans, communications plans, marketing plans, business plans, business vision and mission statements, living...

It's all about being great.  And excellent.  In all things one does.

1. Fire the committee.

2. Change the interaction.

3. Less. Fewer words, fewer pages, less fine print.

4. What works, works. Theory is irrelevant.

5. Patience.

6. Measure.

7. Insight is good, clever is bad. Many websites say, “look at me.” Your goal ought to be to say, “here’s what you were looking for.”

8. If you hire a professional: hire a great one. The best one.

9. One voice, one vision.

10. Don’t settle.

Technorati tags: Seth Godin, Great Websites, Being Excellent, Being Remarkable

del.icio.us tags: Seth Godin, Great Websites, Being Excellent, Being Remarkable

Bitchy Question of the Day: If you are that smart, why are you not with McKinsey and the like?

Somebody bitchy sent me this email last night:  If you are that smart, why are you not with McKinsey and the like?

Well, put it this way:  When I graduated from University, one of the big four consulting companies approached and wanted me to be a part of their team.  It was a company that everybody - from Management Engineering, Business Management, Economics, Psychology, and Organizational Development graduates - wanted to get into because "it looks good on the resume".

I refused.

Me and one of my best friends - who now holds a Ph D in Mathematics and Marketing Science - were smirking:  The measure of your being good is getting into the big four; the measure of your being great is being invited to get into the big four, having the option of saying no, and exercising that option.

So...  what was the question again?

 

 

Technorati tags: McKinsey, Accenture, Andersen, Andersen Consultnig, Deloitte, BCG, Working Life, Consulting, Career shifts, Career management, Insights on Human Behavior

del.icio.us tags: McKinsey, Accenture, Andersen, Andersen Consultnig, Deloitte, BCG, Working Life, Consulting, Career shifts, Career management, Insights on Human Behavior

OK... it's been an emo weekend...

Since my friends have been telling me that my blog posts have been really "oh so serious" - and I really can't think of something to talk about that is remotely related to work (which I guess is a good thing...), I am going through more of YouTube stuff that I found over the weekend.

This - I picked up - not because of the video, but because of the song.  It's the song There's a Fine, Fine Line  from Avenue Q.  I saw Avenue Q, the musical in Las Vegas at the Wynn Hotel - then I saw it again on Broadway when I was in New York.  I would say that it's one of the most beautiful, most innovative, most creative, and most controversial musicals I have ever seen.  (Think of this:  Jim Henson puppets making love onstage...  Not a nice picture - yeah?  But watch Avenue Q - and it'll be a blast!)

OK.  Enough of that.

For those of you wanting thinking I have lost it, nope:  not yet.  It's just a slow weekend.

 

By the way, I have no idea where the video came from. But this is the only decent copy of the song I can find on YouTube.

If you know what the video is all about, let me know?

Technorati Tags: Avenue Q, Musicals, Entertainment, Play Play Play

Is advertising, media, communications planning still a business of ideas?

Is that even the question that should be asked?  Are ideas still at the core of the businesses of advertising, media, and communications planning?

These are questions that floated in my mind as I read about Seth Godin's Blog in response to a question that was posted to him as to why he 'shares' ideas freely.  His response was classic-Seth-Godin: Simple and profound. Here was his response:

I responded that ideas are easy, doing stuff is hard.

My feeling is that the more often you create and share ideas, the better you get at it. The process of manipulating and ultimately spreading ideas improves both the quality and the quantity of what you create, at least it does for me.

I particularly liked his last two paragraphs in his post - and to a certain extent, I am guilty of having ideas but have too cowardly, scared, or perhaps, too concerned about being liked, respected, and keeping the peace that I have let them stay on in my notebook of ideas.

History is littered with inventors who had "great" ideas but kept them quiet and then poorly executed them. And history is lit up with do-ers who took ideas that were floating around in the ether and actually made something happen. In fact, just about every successful venture is based on an unoriginal idea, beautifully executed.

So, if you've got ideas, let them go. They're probably holding you back from the hard work of actually executing.

The last paragraph, though, I would insert one word - I would add in "exciting" after the word "hard" and before the word "work". 

Seth's Blog

Technorati tags: Marketing Communications, Ideas, Insights on Human Behavior, Management, Seth Godin, Simplicity, Ideation, Excellence, Implementation

MacJournal - A New Toy

I just discovered MacJournal. Ever since I got my MacBookPro, I have been Windows Live Writer and how easy it is to write on WLW and publish my blog. Given that I am using the MacBookPro from home to help me shift my mindset from work to home, I have been trying to get hold of a blogging software that would run on MacBookPro as easily as I would on WLW.
OK, I am a Windows-kid. And I like the friendliness and well, the familiarity of Windows. I just got tired of all the updates that I need to download every time I log on and the typical BSODs that come with Windows. Of course, there were a lot things sacrificed: Excel, which is my best friend in whole wide world, is something I have to give up. Word - which I have used in my university thesis - is also a sacrifice (although Pages seems to be taking its place... slightly). PowerPoint? It’s OK. I guess I won’t be making a lot of presentations on this Mac anyhow.
I still miss Windows. And I still miss WLW.
But since I have switched to MacBook, I need to think of other ways to blog. And MacJournal seems to be friendly enough for me.
I have gotten myself the trial version - and I am trying it now for 15 days.
I hope this works.
(Ecto was a bit of a disappointment. It wasn’t as friendly as I wanted it to be - to be honest, I am not a tech-freak. I like things running from day-1. Ecto simply didn’t meet that requirement, unfortunately.)

Do I still need an MBA?

I have been trying to discern whether I still want to go for my MBA at the Chicago GSB or not. I met up with a graduate of the school - Yan Ning - last Friday. And of course, her view was that I should. As it opened a lot of opportunities for her, she thinks that it just might be the same for me. Then again, I am still in a quandary to be honest.
What do I need an MBA for? There is really no compelling reason anymore to get one. I am beginning to think that all the things that I need to learn, I probably have learned on the job - and will probably learn on the job.
I no longer have the burning desire to be a highly-paid investment strategist working on Wall Street. I guess I am too old to make that career switch, realizing that having money and a nice Armani suit and Prada shoes isn’t really going to make me happy.
The MBA was a means towards an end of making more money - of becoming more famous, of being well-known... but I guess, there is more to life than just simply money, being famous, and being respected by people who don’t know me from Adam and Steve.
There are far more important things in life, I guess, than these.
(For those who are about to take their MBA degrees - I wish you all the best. See you in the real world.)

blogging from my new Nokia E90

this is gettong to be fun. At first, the E90 from Nokia seemed like a brick. It screamed 'all work no fun'. But not for me.

Well, still it reeks of work since it holds most of my business contacts. It also has my appointments fornthe day as well as new ideas about how to work and what I should be thinking about tomorrow. But it's getting to be fun. The 3g service from Starhub seems ok so far. And am maximizing it. My Google mail personaln account gets updated. My Lifehacker and GapingVoid.com and Sethgodin.Typepad.Com sites gets updated fairly quickly.

I think I found my perfect phone.

Bulky? Well, from an O2, no. Not really.

It's good. It may not look fashionable. Well, I am not. And i have no intention of becoming one.

So... The verdict?

Significantly better than my O2 and my tiny Samsung, which I lost in Bangkok.

One thing though: Microsoft Office and Windows Mobile. I still love WM.

the humanity of it all...

the earlier blog i posted was an anomaly, i guess - and misplaced. but for those who knows me and those who thinks knows me, i guess that's the human side of me. you don't see much of it in the office or in meetings or in presentations. because inside those rooms, i perform different roles. i stand for the consumers i study. i am their voice in the boardroom. i stand for the stakeholders in the endeavors the business wishes to pursue - and the interrelationships that exist amongst them.

this is my humanity - my celebration of my humanity.

either you celebrate with me - or you despise my humanity. in which case you also despise your humanity.

i am human.

sometimes.

haha.

specially when deadlines are met and projects are managed to the hilt and my standards at work are met: nothing short of excellence.

but humanity forgives - perfection is ideal. humanity is yet imperfect. and one needs to forgive.

in the next few weeks, i shall be writing about attitude theory and attitudinal change. apparently, "great strides" have been made in understanding attitudes and effecting a shift in attitudinal change - things that will have an impact on communications planning.

as someone who has studied attitude theory and attitudinal change theories in college - and wrote about it extensively in my Social Psychology and Cognitive Psych classes, I am afraid that my thoughts may be outdated by these "great strides" about schematas and schemas.

i shall find out.

Accidents happen

Accidents happen.  And in my case, it's almost always due to my own carelessness.  I deleted my blog with more than 300+ entries.  Somewhere, somehow, my blog exists - or does it?

It's not yet one year old.  I got it October 2006 - and it's only July 2007.  I have blogged more than 1x per day.  I was a prolific blogger (not a good one, perhaps, but wrote lots... haha)

Well, indeed I am starting anew as an earlier blog post says.

Watch this space.

Start the 'wondering' and the expectation:  What would he think of next?