Openminds

Isn’t it interesting how reality TV has become an entertainment cornerstone? It plays on the rubber necking that people do whenever they see humans interacting in a way that is outside of what is perceived as conventional or “normal”. We pass people arguing and we quietly stare out of the corners of our eyes. We pass the police talking to someone and we look and then roll through in our minds a myriad of reasons why they may be being stopped. We see people on TV put into difficult and trying circumstances and we wonder both how they will react and how we would react if we were in their shoes.

The number one question I am asked about being on realitytv, dragonsden,

I participated in a podcast interview with the Globe and Mail recently. The experience was interesting. A recorder, a couple of chairs and some q and a’s that were then put into cyberspace for the globe readers who enjoy listening to audio versions of interviews.

Afterwards it made me think about how there is a real place in today’s online world for both the written word and the taped audio experience. Sometimes I want to read the journalists viewpoint and how they weave the story and fill in the blanks contextually for me as a reader. And sometimes I want to hear it straight from the person who is being interviewed without anything but their raw answers. Both serve a purpose and create interesting content for the reader/listener of the papers journalists.

I also think its true that sometimes the language of the new media world can be off putting to those of us who are used to more traditional terminology. The words used to describe the experience – podcast for example – can be in some weird way intimidating. But there it is. We are living in a world of podcasts, twitters, webcasts and on and on. All of us better not only get comfortable with the language but also gain a real grasp on what exactly that language represents in terms of our daily interactions.

I’d suggest those of us over the age of 40 may want to go into a room, close the door and spend an hour of research on wikipedia. There you will find a quick reference version on all the new words and lingo that matter in today’s world. It will help put that new language into common language that we “older” folks can understand.

Technorati Tags: globeandmail, podcast, terminology, technology, media, interview, arlenedickinson

I regularly speak with people who work inside of what they describe as an “entrepreneurial company”. They speak with both admiration and loathing for the company’s founders who they describe as erratic, unpredictable, too fast to action, and too slow to develop process.

These folks love the energy, commitment, enthusiasm, and above all else, the vision of their leaders. But they hate the lack of organization, policy and predictability that accompanies those same leaders.

Many times, I also hear them say they too are entrepreneurial, and ultimately they joined the company because it was led by someone they felt they could relate to. They wanted to be an entrepreneur and felt that by joining a company led by one, they would be able to live their own dreams without the risk.

It is in those conversations that I think to myself: I wonder if that company really needs another entrepreneur, or whether what it really needs is an “intrapreneur”?

Let me explain. Several years ago, I engaged a consultant to help us determine the personality types of the people who worked in our company. We all took a test and ended up with a coded color that helped to identify and explain our key motivators and actions. The colors were orange, blue, green, and yellow. Orange represented highly entrepreneurial-type people who didn’t require process and were bad at detail and follow through. At the other end of the spectrum were the yellows who needed clear process, direction, and detail in order to succeed. The objective of the exercise was for each of us to understand the other’s personality type in order to communicate in a more meaningful way.

I soon found myself engaged in a conversation with the consultant who pulled me aside to give me some unsolicited advice. She showed me that the company was approximately 50% orange with a mix of the other types of individuals across the remaining 50%. Her advice: I needed to quickly make the company more “balanced”. She said that what we needed wasn’t more entrepreneurial types, but more intrapreneurs - people who could act independently inside of a framed context. She said we had too many people who had no process discipline, and we could never be truly successful without those planner, detail driven thinkers to help ensure we were delivering in a scalable and repeatable manner.

I thought long and hard about what she said, and from what started as a simple, fun exercise to build teams, ended up with an epiphany of how to build my company. We didn’t need people who thought like me, acted like me and didn’t question me. What we needed were people in each area – thinkers, doers, dreamers and questioners. We needed to rethink the balance of our company and look for that perfect blend of process and vision that makes good companies great.

Subsequently, I made some significant changes in my organization. The biggest change was likely in my head. I accepted that the best thing I can do is hire great people who believe in the same vision as I do but aren’t exactly like me. I needed to surround myself by talented, unique individuals who can bring a different perspective and style to helping achieve our vision.

Together, we are an “entrepreneurial company”. Why? Because we are not bound by conventional thinking and we embrace what’s possible. But we are not “entrepreneurial” when it comes to disciplined thinking, process, structure and planning. In that sense, we are a professionally managed firm that can scale and compete with any firm, anywhere.

Technorati Tags: entrepreneur, intrapreneur, management, hiring, humanresources, venture

On a scale of 1 –10, I love owning my own business. There are many reasons for this, however the drive to succeed likely supercedes all others for me. I am not competitive with others by nature. I am highly competitive however with myself.

The best satisfaction I derive is from making myself do things in business that I never thought I could or that others said couldn’t be done. On the personal front, I’m not so great at this. If I were, I would challenge myself to be exercising regularly and eating healthier than I do. But that is likely a conversation for Dr. Phil’s site not for my work blog.

There are days however in business when I just frankly want to say I’ve had enough. The saying that it’s like a rollercoaster ride – with the highs being higher and the lows being lower than anything else you will ever do - is so true. One day you are feeling ecstatic that you have climbed that impossible hill and the next day you wonder how you are going to be able to dig yourself out of a hole that feels bottomless.

On those bleak days, I would fill in the blank in my headline with the world Hell. Whether its from feeling frustrated with the ongoing dynamics of business or whether its dealing with issues that are so clearly not what I got into business to deal with, it is often no fun whatsoever.

BUT. And, it’s clearly a big but, there is no better feeling for me then when our company has helped another firm to deliver on its business and marketing goals. There’s nothing that can replace the feeling I have when our team works together to do the impossible and does so with integrity, fun and intelligence. Nothing beats that. And that feeling overcomes all of the bad stuff and all of the business headaches I sometimes experience.

I guess the reality is that on 95% of the days I’d fill in the headline with the word Incredible.

And that feeling is enough to get me out of bed every day and wonder what the day will hold. I realize that sometimes it’s going to be just a plain awful day and, awfully hard to get through. But I know that on most days its going to be, well, incredible. So that makes me one of the luckiest roller coaster riders in the world. Because I know that when the ride is low it will surely go back up and I will feel like we’ve climbed a mountain. That thrill will always have me getting back on the train again and again.

Technorati Tags: entrepreneur, venturecommunications,

As a female in business, I have often found myself fighting back tears at moments when I least wanted them to appear. Sometimes I won that battle and sometimes those tears came out regardless of my resolve. Recently, I was discussing this topic with a group of male business leaders who insisted that it was NOT okay for women to cry. Particularly in the boardroom.

That made me ask myself a few questions. Why is it okay for men to often express their emotions through anger in a boardroom but not okay for a women to express hers through tears? Does it show a fundamental leadership weakness when we give in to tears or to anger? And, why is it considered okay for a man to slam his fist on the boardroom table to make his point but not okay for a female to show her emotional reaction to the same situation in a different way?

The answer is that neither reaction is great but both are understandable. We are, after all, human. We each react differently to any given circumstance. That’s as true when you compare one female to another, as it is when you compare one male to a female. Women and men often do have different emotional reactions to the same situation. We simply have a different chemical makeup so it’s only natural.

I would offer to you that showing no emotion in the workplace is, in my humble opinion, far worse than a controlled emotional reaction that is honest and heartfelt.

I doubt that any person who has worked for me over the years has not accepted that once in a while I will cry. I also doubt that those same individuals have ever questioned my capability or dedication to the work and task at hand as a result of a few tears shed over frustration, disappointment or fear.

There is nothing wrong with crying. Neither is there any shame in being angry at a situation. There is only something wrong when those emotions then drive a reaction or response from the person that becomes detrimental to solving the business issue at hand.

Business is hard. Business can be incredibly draining. But business does not have to be without heart, emotion and care. Triple bottom line business today is being embraced by the world. Caring about the social, environmental and financial success of a business means that the company has to have a heart. And sometimes, that heart can cry, get mad or be elated.

The days of faceless, heartless corporations are gone. Women and men today are creating business with souls. And, tears are not a sign of weakness but of truth. I suspect that the organization of the future is going to have to be one that accepts the human condition and allows emotion not to rule but to be understood and embraced.

Technorati Tags: women, business, emotions, crying, etiquette

This I know to be true – if an entrepreneur runs a business, there are many decisions that are made quickly, often only based on intuition. And, new business efforts are driven by the motto of “you eat what you kill”.

Of course, those characteristics are, by definition, what makes entrepreneurs either wildly successful or just another guy with an idea that flames out quickly in the flash of an eye.

I’m consumed these days with observing the impact of what doing the “wrong” type of business has on the success factors for any organization. This is particularly true in the services industry.

When you are starting up a company it is so easy to skip the step of determining WHOM exactly you want to do business with. You look for revenue and growth, in any form, to validate your model, idea and to keep the engine turning. There is a thought that if you can just get your business started you can always course correct and get to the clients and value proposition you really want, sometime in the not too distant future.

But, the problem is this. By taking on work with organizations that aren’t really buying the real service you want to offer, you end up giving up your ability to be true to what drove you to open the doors in the first place.

All revenue is not created equal. All clients are not good for business. And, the wrong type of business can harm your internal and external values and brand perception in countless ways.

What I have learned is that often the entrepreneur believes that he or she can “fix” the client by working with them and showing them the real service value they deliver. In fact, given your start up situation, the client has the hammer not the service firm. And, if their values are not aligned with yours then no amount of coaching, education and time and effort will change that. What generally happens is their culture can soon becomes yours.

Your company is in fact who you work for. My thought is that if you are running a service organization and want to be known for excellence then you should only do business for firms that have the same values and beliefs you do.

Understanding your unique selling proposition, your key audiences and the messages that will resonate with them is critical from the day you open your doors.

Technorati Tags: Arlene Dickinson, Venture Communications, Entrepreneurship, start ups

Yesterday I was flying to Toronto from Calgary and was pondering the value of time. As I sat on yet another flight, my mind turned to the business challenges of some of our clients. It is what I and most people in the marketing industry do – we consider the business issues facing our clients and think, sometimes 24/7, about ways to help overcome them in a creative and meaningful manner.

The marketing industry sells ideas and solutions masquerading as time on an invoice. It should instead only sell creative solutions and scrap the concept of selling time.

We deliver ideas that flow from creative and highly intelligent people who are given problems to solve and the time and information necessary to solve them. Our industry has, for too long, held up the creative product as the only tangible output of our thinking. We charge by the “ad” or by the hour instead of for the real business value of the ideas we generate. We defend an hour on an invoice and should instead be charging for the real value of the expertise we put forward. The ideas we create come from people with genuine knowledge and expertise in business and they know how marketing can be a driver of it. I think the reason people don’t value our time is that they don’t appreciate that great marketing actually involves deep expertise. Unlike law or accounting or engineering where you have an exam/credential process to certify that you have the required expertise – anyone can say they are a marketer. And, everyone thinks they know marketing because they have opinions about the marketing that is around them every day.

I recall a lawyer saying to me once that he would only ever bill me for the value of the work he did for me. And, if I ever got a bill that I felt did not reflect the value I believed I had received, that he would happily accept whatever payment I decided was fair.

That takes a guts and conviction that the marketing industry often lacks. Why are we so afraid to say that the expertise and thinking we deliver is of great and important value? Why do we continue to hide behind our ads instead of heralding our smart and creative approach to problem solving. An ad for sure is valuable. But is it a feature or a benefit or working with us?

Nobody likes to pay for time. Everybody will pay for a great business building idea.

This pricing philosophy has, in my opinion, created a commodity world in an industry that is anything but off the shelf. Instead of discussing our smart thinking and business and brand building strategies, we focus on the creative ad that was spawned from them and the time it took to deliver it. Yes, the ad is brilliant. But, what’s more brilliant and totally undervalued is the brains that drove the idea and then was able to put that idea into a creative form that can and does impact the way the world sees and thinks about a variety of issues and products.

When did the world stop valuing other people’s time and the ideas that flow from the time to think? We value widgets and anything produced that we can see, touch and feel. We seem to undervalue however peoples time and thinking in the marketing world.

Technorati Tags: Venture Communications, venture, advertising, value billing, marketing

On a regular basis I get to listen to a wide range of business ideas presented by a variety of different types of entrepreneurs. I hear smart people talk with great passion about their inventions, philosophies and aspirations.

I also listen to a lot of ideas that are doomed to fail.The truth is that a great marketing idea is only great if it’s centered on a great business model. Many of the people I speak to believe that marketing is the answer to everything.

Really, it’s pretty simple. Marketing isn’t a separate function in a business, it IS the business. A great marketing plan cannot cover for a poor business model. On the other hand a great business model requires marketing at its core to realize it’s true potential.

Some of the ideas I hear are truly stellar and just need strategic planning and great delivery to bring the person’s vision to a business reality. Some need immediate sales to keep the doors open. Some need funding. And some just need a bullet to kill the idea.It’s genuinely hard to tell any entrepreneur that the dream they have been chasing is not real. It would be a real crime, however, to allow people to throw good money after bad and provide marketing services for an idea that was doomed to fail at its inception.Dragons Den is really just a televised version of part of my day-to-day reality. Talking to entrepreneurs who have good and bad ideas and who believe that with enough money and marketing they too will be the next biggest global brand.Having to put my money where my mouth is from an investment perspective, is one way to show my belief in a business idea. However, I will not invest the money I have worked so hard for into just any idea - no matter how well funded it may be. Money doesn’t solve the root problem of an idea that simply wont work. Every day I am asked to utilize my firm’s services into supporting marketing efforts for other peoples’ brands. I invest the time and energy of my team in the desire to create a long lasting and meaningful partnership with the company who has hired us. If we don’t understand their business and co-share the marketing strategy, we are simply taking their hard earned money and crossing our fingers that creative alone will save the day.

I know the enormous brand power of a visionary person who is backed by discipline, funding and a great idea behind it all. I also know there are too many dollars wasted in marketing efforts that are not driving any real business value. Too many marketing firms are eager to take dollars from any business without a planned approach or mutually agreed upon success factors.

Just like the entrepreneurs, these marketing firms come up with creative ideas and expect that the idea alone will win the day. Yes you do need outstanding creative that breaks through and is relevant to the consumer. However, great creative that’s not developed as a result of a sound business strategy is never going to cut it.

Technorati Tags: Venture Communications, Dragons Den, entrepreneurs