Fouroboros

What does good corporate Culture look like?

2009-09-15T15:16:00.001-04:00

Online friend and enthnographer extraordinaire Grant McCracken is about to publish his book, Chief Culture Officer: How to create a living, breathing corporation. He's asking for votes on three choices for his cover art so go over there and throw your 2 cents in.

The title of this post brings what seems, to me at least, a good and layered question: What does good corporate Culture look like?

I haven't read the book obviously, but I'm betting Grant addresses in some way the wrestling-smoke nature of such a necessary but hard to describe thing. The folks I most respect in the brand-building realm, of whom Grant is one, all seem to get the sum-is-greater-than-the-parts aspect of a sensibility woven of one-half feeling and one-half matter and bound up in a product or service. And, beginning in the 1980s even CEOs began to grasp the idea of fragile and often nebulous thing called "Goodwill", so much so that it now factors in valuation of many companies when merging or selling. I hope these ladies and gentlemen will respond to what Grant offers with the curiosity and respect it deserves and that they can perceive the power of the asymmetrical ideas (to balance sheet cowboys and -girls anyway) that he's likely going to present.

But still, what does Corporate Culture look like? And can you skin it and say: "Voila!"?

I think so. In my experience it's hard to fake culture in the sense that encountering it is very much like Don Norman's Threebie: We usually have a visceral response followed by a behavioural one and, upon reflection, these sum up to be spiffy and sensuous and satisfying, or not. Okay, there's more to it than that but this is a blog post - It's a metaphysical baton-passing between expectation and experience, chock full of nuance and "english." I even drew a chart once ot try and explain the je n est c'est quoi:

That's a magical gap that a lot of metrics and sliderules just aren't calibrated to recognize nor jump. So, what does Corporate Culture look like? While these aren't book covers, the need to communicate something immediately, the requirement to spark further interest, and the visual channel/medium are the same. Question is, what do they convey? You tell me.

7 minutes that tell us all that's wrong with US Business

2009-08-21T01:15:00.001-04:00

CNBC's Maria Bartiromo makes a million-dollars a year to be this fanatically thick-headed. Roll tape:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Merit is dead.

Moonshot Day! The countdown to lift-off video, 40 years on

2009-07-16T10:07:00.001-04:00

Stringlish - would you buy this game?

2009-06-03T19:53:00.002-04:00

The above illustration is for a game concept I came up with last year right before the economy blew apart. I'd like your help in seeing if it's worth a damn. The concept is one that involves stringing different phrases, titles, words and cultural references together--sort of like Dennis Miller would do when he was still funny, except hopefully more fun for more people. I have used the concept when trying to warm-up or loosen-up teams for brainstorming sessions or just for breaking ice with new working groups--I welcome you to freely do the same if it seems of use. I could try and make it sound fashionably neuro-scientific but I have nothing but anecdotal proof that it works at what it's intended to do, and that people like it in it's limited use so far.

Oh, one more thing: The point? I'd love to be able to put this into some physical or cheaply downloadable format (examples, instructions, etc) via paypal and give the idea and the proceeds to my kids as a gift that, hopefully, might keep on giving as one enters middle school and the other rises to high school and they look forward to paying for college, or a start-up.

I've bored you enough already. Will you give me some feedback on what you think of the concept? Here's my original notes from an early morning, July 2008:

Okay, it was 12:30 AM Monday and I'm watching Spike's MXC waiting for Daily Show and Colbert. Did I mention MXC is a repurposed Japanese game show with dubbed English? Imagine Samurai standup mated with the old British show It's a Knockout. Yeah, some shows are funnier than others and it's likely an acquired insomniac taste for us Y-chromosome sufferers.

Anyway, one of the hosts, "Vic Romano," introduces a contestant as a "Shotgun Wedding Planner." Heh. A few minutes later, he drops another boolean job description: Trailer Park Ranger. They do that lots, in between the puns about poo, STDs and serial killer jokes.

Finally, it's 1:00 AM and time for The Daily Show.

But I can't stop the boolean job title thing running in my head and, yet, the job title thing seems so limiting. The best I can do still has the lurid themes of MXC:

Native tongue bather.
Nocturnal Emissions Checker
Maid of Honorable Discharge

Okay, I did kind of like that last one. But shouldn't it have more zing, more roll, more pointless associations? Sure..

The earlier lamo becomes the longer, lamer Nocturnal emissions check's in the mail bag o' donuts. (5 links - did u see them?)

Hmm. Skate Board of Directors Guild of America. Dining halls of Montezuma's revenge of the nerds?

Okay, by now, you're thinking two things. This fouro guy needs 1) a life and/or 2) psychiatric help. Bah, get lost in translation.

Somebody tell me there's a parlor game or meme already out there about this phonetic linking thing. And if there isn't, why the hell not? And if not, in the spirit of being aware of all internet traditions, I christen it Ringlish in honor of the fine culture that inspires MXC and the better-known mangled wordsong called Engrish.

There it is: Ringlish™, a string of known or recognizable phrases, terms or titles joined for as long as you can keep adding with the requirement that one links the next and that sustainable nonsense is the point of the thing. Extra points for efficient linking i.e.: least use of filler words between linked chains of words. For example:

Big bang a gong show me the money back guarantee (5 links, no filler!)

Employees must wash hands to work, hearts to God is in the Details Magazine stand and delivery room with a view. (8 links, one filler: Stand and Deliver is modified to Delivery to keep things moving s0 it counts as filler word!)

Am I obsessing on this? Sure. But so did Rob Angel and look how famous he is today. Ahh, mind your own businessweekend of the world as we know it.

Imagine the thematic options, extra points for staying on topic. Pencils ready? You have one minute:

MOVIES: Missile Command Decision at Dawn of the Dead Zone Troop (filler!) Beverly Hills Have Eyes of Laura Mars Needs Women in Love Story of O-klahoma. (14 unique links, but since it's topical, 2 points per, instead of 1 each.)

For those not playing at home:

Missile Command
Command Decision
Decision at Dawn
Dawn of the Dead
Dead Zone
Zone Troop[ers]
Troop Beverly Hills
[The] Hills Have Eyes
[The] Eyes of Laura Mars
Mars Needs Women
Women in Love
Love Story
[The] Story of O
Oklahoma

Here we have one filler: Zone Troop[ers] so .5 of a point deducted; one Fluffer™: Story of O is a porno (2 extra points). The is acceptably dropped from Titles, as in The Hills Have Eyes and The Eyes of Laura Mars, etc. Otherwise half the movies, songs and books written will kludge things up. Total Score: 30.5

Home of the Brave New World Order form follows function button fly fishing hole in my bucket list Maker's Mark.

13 links - did you count them all? 13 points.

Phew. Are your eyes glazed? If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Yes, I liked the name Stringlish better after sitting with it a few days. Good choice? Well, what do you think of the game?

The lost art of rhetoric: how to persuade, not assault

2009-06-01T16:30:00.002-04:00

A great find: How to teach a child to argue. Why do something so crazy? Because conflict is basic to humans disagreeing over what matters and how to channel scarce resources and energies. And because simply relying on increasingly raised voices--cable TV "debates" between actual grown-ups for example--gets us further apart not closer to useful co-existence. Jay Heinrichs tells us about it here.

...And let’s face it: Our culture has lost the ability to usefully disagree. Most Americans seem to avoid argument. But this has produced passive aggression and groupthink in the office, red and blue states, and families unable to discuss things as simple as what to watch on television. Rhetoric doesn’t turn kids into back-sassers; it makes them think about other points of view.

I had long equated arguing with fighting, but in rhetoric they are very different things. An argument is good; a fight is not. Whereas the goal of a fight is to dominate your opponent, in an argument you succeed when you bring your audience over to your side. A dispute over territory in the backseat of a car qualifies as an argument, for example, in the unlikely event that one child attempts to persuade his audience rather than slug it...

I must admit, this hits home. I'm the product of an Oregon-born stoic, a retired US Air Force dad. But my mother was British though and through, a Merseyside/Lanacashire shop-girl who saw The Beatles when they were just a club band. I bring it up because Heinrich's makes me remember a related example of what he mentions about argument. The scene was Christmas dinner back in the mid-90s when my brother and his wife were in the states on a visit from Birmingham. Attending were Mom, Dad, my brother Malcolm, and our two wives. During the course of the meal, we lapsed into our old pattern: A vigourous discussion about some topic or other after an hour or so of dinner table conversation-lite. For us, debate was alwyas good sport and about the only non-contact way we'd found, as brothers, to have a go at each other. But it wasn't shouting, not a fight. We would argue like we were jousting, and facts and supporting details mattered.

The point of the story? It drove my dad crazy. For him, the pure-born American, watching the to-and-fro was uncomfortable--he saw the animation, heard the argument (rhetorical definition) and thought "fight!" Maybe it was his military background and a need for cohesion and measured communication. Maybe it was because we talking about something he wasn't familair with. Either way, the stoic started to get amped up.

"Dammit, will you guys quit it! This is a dinner table--I just want to enjoy a good family meal!" And here's where Mom, who's been quite happily watching her two boys of 35 and 45 bob and weave over some forgotten issue, says her piece, one that struck me as familiar to Heinrichs' point:

Jerry, I don't see my boys together very often and I like this. This is what families are supposed to do--they talk about things, argue even. Dinner comes with interesting converation. If you don't like it, go in the other room.

He did. And mum picked up her glass of wine and said, "as you were."

Read Heinrichs' piece. For me it says alot about what and why we don't say enough, or much at all very well, about what matters here in the land of "Free speech."

Busted: F-R-E-E spells $14.95 a month

2009-05-28T19:01:00.001-04:00

Well, the boom has dropped on those seafood-serving pirates and renaissance hipsters we love to hate. Freecreditreport.com's free ride courtesy of a comatose Bush Federal Trade Commission is over.

Huffpost covers some of the ruling requiring full and clear disclosure of the fact that signing up means you get a monthly suprise on the credit card you are asked to submit to verify your identity upon registering for the "free service." It's always been a smorgasbord of outrageous puffery. The ID theft protection they "provide" means you must pay attention to all your transactions, the raw data: it's your burden to spot irregularity. Yes, that is kinda like saying green tights make you a brave and great bowman like Robin Hood. It's a shame this sham marketing has originated with a hometown ad agency that should know better. (Disclosure: The Martin Agency wrote me few checks for copywriting back in the mid-90s.)

The news of the bogus nature of these things is hardly news: NYT had a story in April 2008, "The High Cost of Free Credit Report"

Twitter: Newton's Third Law meets Groucho Marx's Axiom

2009-05-14T17:39:00.002-04:00

"Crowne Village Apts is now following you on Twitter!"

Yay!

I'm sensing some serious market mis-timing here, namely: all the folks who jumped into Pets.com stock after seeing a Superbowl ad. And what the hell is Groucho's Axiom anyway?

Whiny 13 year-olds in $2000 suits are still whiny 13 year-olds

2009-05-14T17:30:00.000-04:00

A new blog I found and like cuz he writes about money but good and somethin' funny: The Epicurean Dealmaker is apparently a handsome and refined practitioner of the Arts of Merging & Acquiring. Go there now as he roughly succors the holders of Chrysler bonds, gives fashion tips to GM investors and reality checks to armchair John Galts: More of a kickin' sitcheyation.

Plus: I like this quote...

"The wealth required by nature is limited and is easy to procure; but the wealth required by vain ideals extends to infinity." — Epicurus, Principal Doctrines

If I can make it there - The art school nude model in NYC

2009-05-13T10:00:00.004-04:00

Time Out NY tackled the not-so-fast-paced, not-so-glamorous wage-craft of the Art School nude model. It's only NSFW if you get click-happy with the accompanying galleries as you review this important sociological topic. I like this observation about studio space:

Time Out New York: What was your first modeling experience?
Laura Noble: I was going to Rhode Island School of Design for illustration. A friend told me that she modeled for an artist who hired three models a day, five days a week. I needed the money. The other girls warned me that it was in his musty basement. It wasn’t really a bad experience, but one should generally avoid musty basements.

Wisdom for the ages, I'd say.

Prayer - are you ISO 9000 compliant?

2009-05-12T21:40:00.001-04:00

Isn't it funny how diagrams can convey a certain legitimacy, albeit fleeting, to just about anything? Via j-walk comes this procedural breakdown for effectively petitioning the Chief Spiritual Officer in the sky...

And that reminds me of an interesting animation project emanating from the interwebs a few years back from the Vancouver Film School: Duelity.

Duelity is two videos, one borrowing scientific-sounding language and iconography to explain Genesis and, the other, using biblical prose style to explain Evolution. Worth a look if your Prayer Group's TQM is lagging industry standards and best practices.

What to wear to your next shareholders meeting

2009-04-29T17:22:00.003-04:00

Today's installment of Disaster Capitalism is brought to you by the letter "S," and by the Shareholders of Bank of America.

[8:45 PM Update: Lewis gets bumped from Çhair after cheesy "difficulties delay tallying the vote" in order to news-manage. Looks like a surprising win. See below]

NYT: When Mr. Lewis was asked about the bank’s choice not to disclose Merrill’s weakened state, he said he could not talk about it.
“I can’t because of litigation. You’re probably one of them,” he quipped. “So if you’d like to hear more, withdraw your lawsuit.”
Several shareholders made statements of support for Mr. Lewis. “Look over your shoulder, Mr. Chairman, we’re behind you,” one said. There was loud applause for each such statement.
But as the meeting proceeded with 2,200 people assembled in the Charlotte Performing Arts Center, plenty of angry shareholders were represented in the room as well, including pension funds like Calpers and Calstrs, two public funds in California; CtW Investment Group, which represents unions’ pension funds; and individual stock owners like Jerry and Jon Finger, who sold their bank in Texas to Bank of America 10 years ago in exchange for stock.

That stock?

Bank of America’s stock fell more than 90 percent in the last year from $37 a year ago to $3.14 in March. Since then, it has recovered some and closed at $8.15 on Tuesday.

"If you'd like to hear more.... [stop threatening to hold us accountable or expecting us to have shame or honor.]"

Lovely. And we're only halfway through annual meeting season.

Now, I've heard of more than a few executives (and witnessed one) flinging something in frustration. We've even seen a shoe vectored at our previous Chief Executive by an angry Iraqi, uhh, stakeholder. Well, it's been wryly suggested by a purchaser of our Shareholder mugs that they have just the heft to make fine projectiles for such statements and are "much cheaper than flinging your Cole Haans or Weejuns at brain-dead, malpracticing executives."

We liked the joke, but we don't recommend it. Much better to plonk one down dramatically on the table at your next board meeting. Fill it with scotch maybe, and pair it with your dayplanner and a dogeared copy of The Caine Mutiny.

Disaster Capitalism @ CafeFouro

----

UPDATE via yahoo finance. - Looks like the Institutions and pissed off mom-n-pop shareholders (barely) win against the broker vote. This means he's got weeks not months most likely unless he finds a magic lamp walking the beaches of Sea Island in May.

The bank said the shareholder proposal to separate the chairman and CEO jobs had passed 50.34 percent to 49.66 percent; it was the only shareholder proposal to be approved. Shareholders re-elected all 18 of Bank of America's directors, including Lewis.
Big investors including California's employee pension fund had called for shareholders to oust Lewis and his fellow directors at the meeting, which was attended by more than 2,000 people.
One of those investors, Michael Garland, director of Value Strategies for CtW Investment Group, praised the ouster of Lewis. His group handles 33 million BofA shares and works with union-affiliated pension funds.
"It's huge," he said. "It's an enormous victory for shareholders."
"We'll have an independent board chairman, and now the CEO will be accountable to a board chaired by an independent director. It's a critical critical first step," Garland said.
At the meeting, Garland openly criticized Lewis, saying bad managment decisions led to a dramatic drop in Bank of America stock.

Irony isn't dead. It's behind the couch, exhausted, bewildered and curled in a ball

2009-04-16T04:55:00.000-04:00

Washington Times tells us

"Free-spending liberals on Capitol Hill have already guaranteed years more of punitive taxes by passing enormous and wasteful spending bills that will saddle massive debt upon the next two generations of Americans," the conservative critics said.

The 108th Congress, January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2005:

Affiliation	Republican	Democratic	Independent	Total
Affiliation				Total
Members (shading indicates majority caucus)	51	48	1	100
Voting share	51%	49%
Notes			Caucused with the Democrats

Their Crowning achievement:

Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act

* Introduced in the House as Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003 by Representative Dennis J. Hastert [R] on 6/25/2003

* Passed the House [Majority R] on 6/27/2003
* Passed the Senate [Majority R] on 7/7/2003
* Signed into law by President George W. Bush [R] on December 8, 2003

One month later, the ten-year cost estimate was boosted to $534 billion, up more than $100 billion over the figure presented by the Bush administration during Congressional debate... By early 2005, the White House Budget had increased the 10-year estimate to $1.2 trillion.

Largest single spending increase since Lyndon Johnson, 40 years previous. But what use is a physical and provable fact if it doesn't feel good or it sucks the wind out of one's rage? Skip it, no use.

Michelle Poland, 33, a project manager from Southern Maryland who subcontracts map-making projects for the federal government, stood on the fringes of the rally with a large hand-painted sign that read, "Tax slavery sucks."

"I'm completely against the way my money is being spent," Ms. Poland said. "If we already have an extreme debt, we shouldn't spend more money."

Imagine. Certain individuals walk around looking quite normal, performing the tasks of apparently functioning adults. Maybe one in the next cube.

What if Bluto was an Art Major?

2009-04-14T01:56:00.002-04:00

Always wanted to make this since I hadn't seen it done. And it needed to be done.

Neglecting the homestead - visit shared air

2009-04-13T11:06:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the radio silence. It's time to start-crossposting because most of my blog-time is over at Shared Air recently. It's just getting going so come give us a visit and shout at us. (You can sign up to post, not just comment. See the Manifesto for details.)

Hubble and NASA aside, Galileo would have hated 2009

2009-03-31T00:45:00.005-04:00

Long experience has taught me this about the status of mankind with regard to matters requiring thought: the less people know and understand about them, the more positively they attempt to argue concerning them, while on the other hand to know and understand a multitude of things renders men cautious in passing judgment upon anything new."

via kottke, with more Galileo and links to other kewl things rennaissance-y

Structured Investment Vehicle (SIV): Hedge-funder's getaway car

2009-03-29T20:36:00.005-04:00

Matt Taibbi fires back at AIG whiner, Jake DeSantis, who wants millions in bonus and retroactive virginity...

Are we supposed to believe that Jake DeSantis knew nothing about Joe Cassano's CDS deals? If your boss and the top guys in your firm were all making a killing selling anything at all -- whether it was rubber kayaks, generic Levitra or credit default swaps -- you really wouldn't bother to find out what that thing they were selling was? You'd really just mind your own business, sit at your cubicle and put your faith in the guys up top to fill you in if there was something you needed to know?
...
I know plenty of people who work in this world, and I've met very few who didn't hate with every cell in their bodies anyone in their own companies who made more money than they did or got bigger bonuses at Christmastime. Gossiping about each others' bonuses, and bitching about each others' compensation, is the national pastime for these people.

Boo-freekin-yah! as Cramer would say, although he's quite the Sgt. Schultz, too.

As a fouro reader, you may already know the Mentorturous bitching Taibbi decribes from the soon-to-be-hard-copy "Executive Lexicon & Big Book of Business Wisdom." How about something from the "S" section: SIV...

Shared Air - Richmond. Come join in

2009-03-27T19:08:00.006-04:00

Attended John Sarvay's fun and encouraging Conversation Week group last nite at UR's new downtown building. At once, it was a breath of fresh air and also completely unsurprising: We all know that there's no lack of love nor commitment to Richmond's current and future well-being. (Here's Gayle Turner's new FB group catalyzed by it.)

But, as John and I discussed over lunch last fall, there's something missing. I called it Shared Air, a way to aggregate all the silo'd and off-radar conversations that are the seeds of change in any community, brand or organization. (And yes, it's a fair statement to say that brand is just a another word for community.)

And still, conversation, especially the virtual kind, is only one aspect, however primary.

After last night's 5:30 to 8:00 session (and thank you for it, John!), there was energy left to burn, new ideas left in mid-conversation, possible relationships prompted and yet momentum interrupted. It proved to me the concept: As much as proximity matters, it can be a barrier because of our other obligations and time-limitations. As much as virtuality breaks down barriers and facilitates connection, it still can't replace face-to-face bonded-ness and the energetic chemistry of groups that have been, well, actually Sharing Air. Each needs the other. And Richmond, nor many other cities, does not have that.

In the intervening year or three since first blurting out the name, me and my partners and associates and even clients have been pondering how to launch Shared Air and talking about it's potential and blah-blah-blah...

As usual, the answer is simple: Just start, stupid.

Well, that's what we've done. Go here and register: http://alchemysite.com/sharedair/

That's it. You don't have to be a pro to speak or post on a topic, but you can't be cranky, ill-informed or a ranter-only and expect to be read and respected. The community will sort itself based on merit and some benign admin rules. The idea probably explains itself, and it most definitely will evolve as users expand its content, usefulness and reach. But, for those that like such things, here's the concept from back last year:

Shared Air is a conversational collaborative of citizens, professionals, leaders, and those simply interested in finding new ways to discover and do great things for their communities.

We use regular gatherings and social networking tools to share, test and improve ideas and to connect like-minds. Our goal is to side-step the obstacles to ambitious, innovative and sustainable ideas that many organizations and structures often impose. Our methods are open and inclusive because silos and artificial barriers preclude the creation of broadly beneficial value and growth.

Richmond is full of amazing people and potential. This is a time of unprecedented challenge and opportunity. Shared Air works to catalyze these facts. We bring ideas and energy and curious individuals together in a new environment for the betterment of individual, company, community and region. We care. We explore. We connect. We do. And we share what works.

And here's something I quite like that was a soulful response from my partner Shelli on why she felt the idea needed to push forward...

Frownsize: Number of "personal days" after announcing there will be no bonuses this year

2009-03-20T10:42:00.000-04:00

Via CNN Money. How to...

Cut staff hours but keep the morale ... If you need to cut costs, here’s some tips on how to break the bad news to the staff.

-------

Do you like the "Frownsize" piece above? We'll be posting more of those shortly as our Executive Lexicon and Big Book of Business Wisdom gets closer to press for April.

Writer's block? Invent non-existent band names....

2009-02-26T14:49:00.003-05:00

I dunno if it's neuro-scientifically sound but this works for me sometimes since block seems to be mostly inability to hop out of a pattern. In that state of mind, even useful stuff gets obscured/nixed by the evil inner copy editor. Here's some examples I scribbled as an exercise recently.

Zambezi Arcade
Boltmuffle
Masonic
FluidOz
Cow Pilots
Becker's Analyst
40-second Lloyd
Suenami
Digital Femurs
Harper Tunnel Syndrome
Inflatable Synagogue
Schwamprats
SteamPress
4-Cycle Dildo
Elysian Throw Rugs
Youranium
Thereminium
Silicontinentals
Saltpillow
edison's tuba
Nurse, please

Better than staring at a blank page. Try it. Share your creations..

To we, or not to we, that is the question

2009-02-23T07:11:00.004-05:00

Steve Pavlina: Cave-Free Spirituality

...Personal relationships can be a tremendous source of spiritual growth. While it’s possible for us to fall out of touch with reality if we spend too much time alone, that’s less likely with abundant social interaction. If we become too impractical in our thinking, the people around us will tell us we’ve gone off the deep end.

My opinion is that the pursuit of spirituality is really the pursuit of accuracy, where our goal is to develop the most accurate model of reality we can. If we fail to include other human beings in this model, we toss away too much potentially valid information, so our model will be doomed to inaccuracy. Spirituality is really understanding. The more accurate your understanding of reality, the more spiritual I would say you’ve become.

If the pursuit of spirituality causes you to lose the ability to function in the modern world, then I’d say you’ve taken a wrong turn. Genuine spirituality should be immensely practical. If your model of reality is accurate, then you shouldn’t have to escape reality to feel whole and complete. You should be able to function even better than the average person, especially when confronted with modern day challenges.

I like his view and its confident comfort and embrace of the unknown. It made me think of some parallels: The above could easily be an extended metaphor to discuss what many call "cocooning" in marketing and ethnography speak. As our choices have multiplied, the pressures on us to make emphatic statements--to be sure and confident--have also expanded. Media pushes experts and analysts and assorted blowhards to the spotlighted fore on all fronts. That feeds and implies a zeitgeist or way things should be that we all consciously or subconsciously absorb. It's a lot of pressure by example. Of course, many of the experts have an agenda to sell, a master other than truth to serve, which only screws up the quality meter inside our subconscious as it's absorbing all this palaver from TV, meetings, industry papers or whatever.

The answer? Shut down, retreat, say "time out." Believe it or not, that's one reason for SUVs' success. They put distance and mass between me and the other guy in a more and more fluid world. The other reason is that in that world which is often bewildering to "seasoned" grown-ups those outsize SUVs, Hummers for instance, offer a rare chance to feel "tall" and grown-up and "capable." (Yeah, there's more to it than that, but that's another conversation.)

The odd thing is that as we fill our lives with packing peanuts and air bags and Amber Alerts, we still have a subliminal unmet urge: Danger; exploring the unknown. Planting your flag.

Steve's post references a solitary cave-dwelling kind of spirituality (or awareness). He finds it sort of pointless, and I agree. The ability to focus in an empty room with nothing but yourself and perhaps an empty notepad and pen is not so much a talent as it is a necessity: what else is there to do? But, when the cave is filled with others, jabbering, scribbling, humping, moaning, jumping up and down and telling you how they think things oughta be... well, suddenly a nice little walk-up studio cave with kitchenette starts to look good.

But for most, that's not an option and so the communal cave is it. And after a while, you get used to the sounds and smells of your fellow cave-dwellers. You sublimate your curiosity. You begin to breathe the fumes. And you know what they say about huffing:

Images of Organization

The allegory pictures an underground cave with its mouth open toward the light of a blazing fire. Within the cave are people chained so that they cannot move. They can see only the cave wall directly in front of them. This is illuminated by the light of the fire, which throws shadows of people and objects onto the wall. The cave dwellers equate the shadows with reality, naming them, talking about them, and even linking sounds from outside the cave with the movements on the wall. Truth and reality for the prisoners rest in this shadowy world, because they have no knowledge of any other.

However, as Socrates relates, if one of the inhabitants were allowed to leave the cave, he would realize that the shadows are but dark reflections of a more complex reality, and that the knowledge and perceptions of his fellow cave dwellers are distorted and flawed. If he were then to return to the cave, he would never be able to live in the old way, since for him the world would be a very different place. No doubt he would find difficulty in accepting his confinement, and would pity the plight of his fellows. However, if he were to try and share his new knowledge with them, he would probably be ridiculed for his views.

For the cave prisoners, the familiar images of the cave would be much more meaningful than any story about a world they had never seen. Moreover, since the person espousing this new knowledge would now no longer be able to function in the old way, since he would no longer be able to act with conviction in relation to the shadows, his fellow inmates would no doubt view his knowledge as being extremely dangerous. They would probably regard the world outside the cave as a potential source of danger, to be avoided rather than embraced as a source of wisdom and insight. The experience of the person who left the cave could thus actually lead the cave dwellers to tighten their grip on their familiar way of seeing.

The cave stands for the world of appearances and the journey outside stands for the ascent to knowledge. People in everyday life are trapped by illusions, hence the way they understand reality is limited and flawed. By appreciating this, and by making a determined effort to see beyond the superficial, people have an ability to free themselves from imperfect ways of seeing. However, as the allegory suggests, many of us often resist or ridicule efforts at enlightenment, preferring to remain in the dark rather than to risk exposure to a new world and its threat to the old ways.

Come to think of it, "You really should get out more" is very good advice. I'm off to [breakfast]. Hope it's a busy place.

[original post 02-03-06 ]

Pixar U on Learning and Working in the Collaborative Age

2009-02-21T13:19:00.005-05:00

We're at week four with our MindGamers, pictured right. Just passing the point where individual competitiveness starts to yield to trust - to actual curiosity and openness to the ideas of your team-mates. A great time to post the above from Pixar University on Improvisational Collaboration (via George Lucas' Edutopia.org). As always, examples from one industry, like Randy Nelson's, have application in others. That is, if you let them, if you don't insist that ideas must come from you (or your industry) before you'll give them grace inside your head.

Actually, that's a goofy conundrum for all ages, eh? -- I want to succeed, but on my terms, earning full credit. But I also want a safety net--blame insurance or cover--if I fail. The default position is not to try, because pain of failure, be it embarrassment, proven mediocrity or just choking, can seem that much more real and fear inducing than the far-off chance of success and its benefits. And that's kids and grownups. Hmm. Elizabeth Gilbert has some very cool thoughts on that part too. From TED...

Pretty good stuff. You de-mythologize and depressurize the "Creative Genius" or auteur trap by going back to the mythic root of the idea and the word. A "Genius" was what they called the Daemon whispering in your ear, not you, the creator. Saying "I admire your 'Genius'" was like saying "I admire your muse, 'Clio.'" You were just the channel, as cool and lucrative as that might have been.

As much as creative types (such as me from time to time) bemoan the John Wayne-ism or Jack-Welch-as-Oracle worship of the Business set, there's quite parallel types in action on the creative side of the fence: the tortured artiste of singular vision, the enfant terrible.

S&K Menswear, shirtless. And avoidable?

2009-02-16T13:05:00.003-05:00

Founded in 1967, Richmond's venerable S&K Menswear joins the list (CFO Mag) of meltdown victims. But was it the meltdown? Maybe it goes back much further to an inflection point they missed, say, 10 years after their founding.

Let's start with a few graphs. (open in new window for bigger) The nosedive one at left shows that being well-dressed for 2009 jobs that just aren't there may not be the best of business models for a struggling business attire company.

The second graph at right shows that S&K's model of dress and business casual is up against a compensation/productivity mismatch akin to stripes and plaids.

What's that mean? Let's look at some history to set up our story of S&K, a company trapped in the 80s.

Casual Fridays showed a loosening of formality in businesses as the Boomer/Levis/Dockers generation took over. But, as dress codes lost their luster, another directive kicked in to match the other 60s-induced self-destruction-prone revamps of American life: Kill organized labor and it's wage negotiating power. Looks like this:

The anti-labor idea had broad appeal thanks to crappy Detroit cars and loose threads on expensive American-made clothing. (Yes, ironically, the same kind of slackness, unaccountability and entitlement mirrored in today's Wall Street and Davos-level management class.) But divorcing labor had specific appeal to American management because they knew a boatload of new technical and procedural efficiencies were creating that higher productivity track in graph two. Notice that the trend logarithm never changes much.

That's because it's the cultural and social perception that changes. Even Rolling Stone magazine grasped this shift in the early 80s with their Perception v. Reality advertising. See:

Indeed, from bra burning to Victoria's Secret, penniless hippies to Amex's "Membership has its priveleges," that 40 degree logarithmic productivity slope meant Money! The gap between it and the compensation trackline means company balance sheets got to keep more, or less, of that made money.

Since executives are paid according to the money they "find" or preserve within that costs/productivity accounting structure (laugh loudly--mua-ha-ha-ha!--when someone tells you management "creates" value), those executives had very personal reasons to de-link and de-leverage the effectiveness of business from the compensation of those doing the effecting.

And there you go, S&K. The guys making money/wages would never shop your store. And the guys losing money/wages needed more than clothes from you to hold their ground.

Which brings us to Hip Siegel's and Abe Kaminsky's creation, S&K Famous Brands, circa 2009.

Go look at their website. Besides the heavy couponing and gift-card offers that are great for S&K banking as much future business as possible to today's balance sheet, where are the VALUE PROPOSITIONS that a working male cares about in 2009? The same place they were when S&K got delisted by NASDAQ in 2005 -- nowhere.

Click around and you find this:

As we celebrate 40 years in business, we remain true to our vision:

We will be the nation's premier menswear retailer, selling quality, stylish merchandise at prices that represent the best value proposition in the market. We will operate attractive stores in high traffic areas that customers aspire to visit, staffed by enthusiastic associates, thereby creating a great shopping experince that helps our customers feel good about how they look.

Umm. That's not vision, that's a squint through goulash-colored glasses. Let's parse it a bit. They do acknowledge the term Value Proposition. That's nice. But we start with an anchor, tied to a cinderblock and chained to a safe: The "nation's premier" anything tends to value camouflage over ideas. Leaders don't talk that way--they do, they challenge, they offer clarity and salvation from something or directions to something. In this case, the directions are to stylish merchandise. Okayyy, then. The rest of the statement is just as, umm, premier. Male customers, especially at this value price point, aspire to a great shopping experince? (Yeah, that's their typo.) Nope.

Now, we'll grant that even Ralph Kramden wanted to feel good about how he looked. But S&K's customer is no metrosexual. He wants shortcuts, secrets, a way to minimize the pain of the premier "shopping experience." Joe Smith or Ralph Kramden need more than enthusiastic associates. In fact, there's many a Honeymooner's episode built around Kramden's eternal search for specialness--shares in a dodgy gold mine, producing a Broadway play, real estate bets, get-rich-quick inventions and even, yes, a clothing line. As brands go in the archetypal library, Kramden was the Everyman, the Regular Guy or Gal.

S&K died because it forgot this, forgot it's own place, as the approachable Sage, provider of Wisdom in that everymans's struggle to survive and get ahead.

I bought my first suit from S&K in 1985, as a newbie copier salesman fresh out of school looking to not appear as lame and nervous as I felt facing all those cold calls. At the same time, I was also enduring sales training and reading whatever I could to make the inside of my head as well-heeled and semi-savvy as the the rest of the body was supposed to look.

Clothes are the avenue to many things. They communicate and cover. Grown-upness. Rebel. Wallflower. Risk or conservatism. In S&K's case, in their particular price band, they also fill a gap between confidence and ability, courage and competence. Clothes don't make the man. They give hope to the man who doesn't believe he's made it. Maybe wonders if he can make it.

S&K ceded this vital ground of professional guidance, the Retail John Malloy/Tom Hopkins partnership back in the late 80s. Jos A. Bank and others such as Men's Wearhouse were already working it to varying degrees of success. Didn't matter. (You don't abandon the appeal of hearty meals because Campbell is pitching Chunky soup.)

That others understood this realm better (but not by much) than S&K was no excuse to wander aimlessly for the next 20 years of workplace change and Everyman wage depression. The options for them were many. Where was their thinking and experimentation? Where was Hip and Abe's Salesman ethic and polish, made real for rubes like me at 23 years of age? And for today's rubes? Wandering through that store, I was a pigeon for new ideas, for a pedestal, or a toolkit, on my journey to becoming a Master of the Universe™. (Young and naive, remember?)

Stylish? Feel good about how they look? Sure. But what S&K's customer really wanted, then as now, was the means to feel good about what they could achieve. And their balance sheet shows how widely they've failed to understand this. S&K isn't selling clothes. They're mentoring Everyman Heroes. And clothes are only one aspect of that training offering.

S&K is in the tank for many reasons, but today's economy is not the reason they're shirtless. In fact, given the above explanations, maybe shirtless is inaccurate. They have one left, the Nessus brand. Too bad. Didn't have to be.

Love is in the air. And all over my new carpet, dammit!

2009-02-03T09:58:00.004-05:00

As I speak with more and more anxious folks, the virtues of diversification really do ring true. Farmers do it, multi-national conglomerates do it. And, as Robert Heinlein said, "Specialization is for insects." (Gotta find that quote.) So, here's Fouroboros Worldwide's February offering, available in card, mug and t-shirt form.

"Love is in the air. And all over my new carpet, dammit!" on Hammermill #94 Bright Copy paper, with Heinz Ketchup and a Kingsford briquette.

Shovels? Try Stencil-ready: Arts as overlooked Stimulus

2009-02-02T08:13:00.004-05:00

The Atlantic - Business Channel

The money for artistic projects is almost by definition ready to be injected into the economy. It may take years to draw up a plan for a highway, obtain the right of way and fend off legal challenges before the bulldozers start rolling. But to buy a canvass and some paintbrushes, or even some metal for a public sculpture, is comparatively straightforward. That puts quick money into the pockets of the companies that build, sell and ship those artistic materials as well.

"The money goes straight into the economy," says Janet Echelman, a sculptor whose giant metallic nets have revitalized public parks and downtowns from Texas to Portugal. "I pay two full-time assistants in my studio, plus consultants who are architects, engineers, and landscape architects, as well as lighting designers. A very large portion goes into fabrication, which is funding workers at a steel factory." Echelman currently has a commission from Phoenix to build a centerpiece for a new downtown park that may face funding shortfalls. There are "shovel-ready" arts projects like hers throughout the country.

The piece goes on to point out that public art, taken seriously at street-level and viewed as street-scape enhancing, goes a long way to increasing real estate values, encouraging foot traffic and sense of neighborood/community pride. For those who view things through a more law and order prism, well-considered and -executed public art initiatives (ongoing programs, not install and forget) are great at establishing a 'barrier' to the vices that unattended and disregarded public spaces devolve to. Bottom line, if you don't own and claim spaces with your icons and messages, you won't like the messages of those who take advantage of your disinterest.

A Visual Guide to the Financial Crisis

2009-01-28T17:34:00.003-05:00

From mint.com comes one picture worth a thousand powerpoints explaining millions of greedy choices needing trillions of dollars to fix. (See below for a zoomed segment.)

And, from the Guardian comes a list of 25 deserving of tar and feathers or just a smack in the mouth as just payment for that expensive fix. Maybe about 5 have actually stepped forward to say "Flounder, you f*cked up. You trusted us." The majority amazingly still retain their credibility and welcome in many media and business circles, not to mention large sums of cash as a cushion despite their utter failure.