Get Up to Speed on the Live Web

Check out this great overview of the new web, or the live web as it's being called, in the current edition of Newsweek. It covers the rise of sites like MySpace and Flickr and summarizes that these successes and many others come from the fact that the new, live web is based on the intimate involvement of the user ... you. The web is replacing the phonebook and even phones! You owe it to yourself and your business to stay up to speed and involved.

The Point? The last two sentences of the article say it best: "Cyberspace is no longer somewhere else. The web is where we live." Wow. Definitely worth a read.

Cliff Gardner

A few years back, me and probably two or three other people watched a short-lived series called Sports Night. It followed the on- and off-camera goings on at a Sports Center-like show.

One of my favorite arcs centered on a fight with the network over low ratings. They bring in a consultant named Sam Donovan (brilliantly played by William H. Macy) who battles the show's team as they struggle to make improvements. When the network intercedes and offers to make the consultant the producer he tells them the following story.

"Do you guys know who Philo Farnsworth was? He invented television. I don't mean he invented television like Uncle Milty, I mean he invented the television.

In a little house in Provo, Utah. At a time when the idea of transmitting moving pictures through the air would be like me saying I've figured out a way to beam us aboard the Starship Enterprise. He was a visionary and he died broke and without fanfare.

The guy I really like though was his brother-in-law, Cliff Gardner. He said to Philo, "I know everyone thinks you're crazy, but I want to be a part of this. I don't have your head for science, so I'm not gonna be much help with the design and mechanics of the invention. But it sounds like in order to do your testing, you're gonna need glass tubes."

See Philo was inventing a cathode receptor, and even though Cliff didn't know what that meant or how it worked, he'd seen Philo's drawing and he knew they were gonna need glass tubes and since television hadn't been invented yet, it's not like you could get 'em at the local TV repair shop. "I want to be a part of this", Cliff said, "and I don't have your head for science. How would it be if I taught myself to be a glassblower? And I could set up a little shop in the backyard. And I could make all the tubes you'll need for testing."

There oughta be Congressional medals for people like that.

I've looked over the notes you've been giving over the last year or so, and I have to say that they exhibit an almost total lack of understanding of how to get the best from talented people. You said before that for whatever reason, I seem to be able to exert authority around here. I assure you, it isn't because they like me. It's because they knew two minutes after I walked in the door that I'm somebody who knows how to do something. I can help. I can make glass tubes. That's what they need.

One last thing: The first and last decision making authority on this show will rest with Isaac Jaffee until Isaac Jaffee says otherwise. And if you disrespect him again in my presence, I'll re-dedicate the rest of my life to ruining the rest of yours. If you think I'm just mouthin' at you, ask around about me, I have absolutely no conscience about these things.

The exit's right there. That's all. The meeting's over."

– Sam Donovan, Sports Night

The Point? I love that story and I think it applies to all of us who are working to produce great work with a talented team. In short, be someone who can make glass tubes.

The Divine Art of Self-Parody

A WesterBlog first: Well done Microsoft!

Recently they posted a parody of what the iPod box would have looked like had their team designed it. "It was an internal-only video clip commissioned by our packaging team to humorously highlight the challenges we have faced RE: packaging and to educate marketers here about the pitfalls of packaging/branding," said Microsoft spokesman Tom Pilla. OK, Tom but it's also a pretty brilliant piece of self-parody.

I'm impressed not only with how funny this clip is but also with the sophistication required to be able to effectively mock oneself which MS surprisingly demonstrates. Anyone who has been a part of a marketing effort that has wandered through development should be able to appreciate this as well.

The Point? Easy. (Gulp!) Be like Microsoft. Laugh at yourself.

'P' is for Portman, 'V' is for Viral

Anyone watching Saturday Night Live on March 4 caught Natalie Portman's hilarious rap video (part of SNL's new digital short series -- lately one of the highlights of the show) in which she sends up her good girl image.

Or, if you're like me, try as you may have, you still fell asleep and missed it. So on Monday morning a friend emails it to you -- posted on YouTube or any other third party video site -- and you bust the aforementioned gut. Later you want to pass this funny bit of media on to another friend and go back to the site and find it yanked. The owner (NBC) has been policing and has ordered the content removed.

Bad for you. Good for NBC. Actually, once you snoop a bit, it turns out to be good for you both.

Good for them, not only for posting it on their own site but for adding a feature that encourages you to email it to a friend ... using the NBC website, of course. So now both you and your friend are frequent flyers on NBC.com. Plus, you've now been primed for when this situation comes up again and you hear about a new SNL video or see it and want to pass it on, you know that NBC.com is the place to go. While you're there you may even end up seeing who's hosting next week. Or watching more content. Or any number of activities that could lead to you becoming an even more loyal SNL customer. Smart.

The Point? If you see a trend out there such as people spreading free video online or any situation where your customers are engaging friends and colleagues about your product, find a way to include yourself in the loop and join the conversation.

Got 48 Minutes and One Second?

If so, watch Seth Godin's speech to the staff at Google. Sit back and enjoy this master class in which one of my favorite marketing gurus covers everything from the fall of the TV Industrial Complex to Permission Marketing and Purple Cows. And best of all it's FREE!

The Point? Take a minute (or 48:01!) and recommit yourself to being a life long learner.

Peter, John, and Contribution

Recently I read the late management guru Peter Drucker's classic, The Effective Executive. It more than lives up to its reputation as the definitive work on the subject of self-management and is worth reading and then stepping back and remembering that it was written nearly 40 years ago. Talk about a though leader. Anyone discussing business and management today has to own up to the fact that Drucker was probably there several decades ago.

I followed this up with another modern non-fiction classic, David McCullough's John Adams. In addition to being one of our founding fathers, Adams was himself an effective executive. The quintessential Drucker tenet that Adams exemplified was that of contribution. Drucker maintains that an effective executive focuses on their contribution to their organization -- what they contribute that no one else can that adds value to the organization as a whole.

Case in point, Adams was instrumental in recommending the appointment of George Washington as commander in chief of the Continental Army because he accurately assessed the strengths of the tall Virginian. A year later he would defer the glory of drafting the Declaration of Independence to another Virginian, Thomas Jefferson. As McCullough notes, had he only made these two key contributions, he would still deserve placement in our history books. Say nothing of his work as president of the War Board, numerous congressional committees, his vice-presidency, and later his presidency that helped set the stage for centuries of chief executives.

The Point? Think of today in terms of your contribution. Think of Peter, John, and their contributions and go forth and add value to your organization!