May 27, 2017
Great cultures
Granted, this is coming from a guy who spends very little time on social media, but I think that’s actually an advantage.
It seems that people crushing it in social media are very clear on who they are and what they value (Once again, it’s all about values).
This all came to me in just a few moments. I just had a very fine cup of coffee, I got on Instagram and I suddenly realized what really works…
(and by the way, that term Social Media is pretty much everything within public digital communications)
These trends make the following assumptions:
With a million places to direct our attention, it’s not about what’s important or interesting or entertaining. It’s about what’s most relevant to us or our audience at any given moment.
The Joe Rogan Podcast gets more than 120 million downloads per month. That’s more people than watch the Super bowl. I can listen to it for hours (except for the parts on MMA).
I love how he mixes three vital elements:
1) Highly relevant topic matters
2) People highly qualified to talk about them
3) Improv comedy style humor and flow
The first segment of this episode with Michael Malice is incredible because I learned so much about what’s really going on in North Korea and how the people there are being held hostage. I feel like I’m being informed and having fun all at the same time.
Gary Vaynerchuck was at Mastermind Talks when I heard him say that nostalgia is going to be huge, I think because as things change faster and faster, the joys from the past become comforting and grounding.
In this video, comedian Bert Kreischer pretends to be in an episode of Magnum PI before his Hawaii shows.
I noticed how this is far different from everything else in my feed, so it immediately drew my attention.
This is a fancy way of saying it conveys everything you need to know, in one shot, without explanation. I got a lot of compliments on this post for that reason. This is me conveying my ideal productive day, without explanation…
The value of humor cannot be underplayed. I remember seeing Seth Godin speak and half the content was funny images. As a pro speaker I thought it seemed like cheating, but hey, he’s winning and it’s working. Funny cuts through, opens people up, lets us relax and take our guards down. I fully believe our next president will be very, very funny.
Fred Savage posted this clip from Netflix on Instagram. I love how I could understand the scene quickly, with our without audio.
This is brand new territory, so let me first say that a lot of people are getting this wrong. Having automated conversations (such as facebook messenger bots) that are actually relevant and helpful are speeding up interactions and keeping people engaged.
For an example of this, check out the opt-in at Bot Academy…
May 4, 2017
Great cultures
I sometimes call values the “Health Food” of business – It’s what we all know we should do, but aren’t really doing. Mostly because companies have not taken the time to simply figure out what their real values are.
But seeing stories like this in Fast Company, and noticing how both the strongest brands and the disruptor up-and-comers are focused on values, I think values are about to go vogue.
February 3, 2017
Great cultures
I was a facilitator and closer for the Culturati Summit in Austin, TX. It’s a gathering not only of culture authors, but people in companies, boots on the ground and implementing. Here are the notes I thought would be helpful to share:
1. Getting Real
It used to be about hype and spin and staying positive. Now it’s all about the reality check. It’s about being authentic over looking good.
2. Embracing contradictions
We want to succeed, but we also want to make it safe to fail. We don’t want to get political at work, but we want people to be free to speak their minds. We want stability but there’s a need to disrupt ourselves before someone else does.
3. Values as clarity
There are so many distractions and interruptions that values are the only thing that really keeps us on track. It keeps us deliberate rather than being reactionary.
There was a talk on the new book An Everyone Culture that advocates for organizations that are constantly growing their people. I found this model interesting because it shows the balance of challenging people (edge) supporting people (home), and creating systems and processes (groove).
Anders Ericsson, author of Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise, shared a fascinating way to improve performance across industries. The best way is not more and more practice. It’s this formula to generate the feedback loop of success:
Rinse and repeat.
I’ve seen how incredibly this works for me as a speaker. I’m excited to see if others apply it to their industries.
Note, studies have shown that people are really on for peak performance for 4-5 hours a day. Makes me wonder – What if a company had people work from 9am to 3pm – with just highly focused work? I wonder if they’d be more productive and they’d have time to do the other things that make them happy (or do things like pick their kids up after school).
November 27, 2016
Great cultures ,Hacks
One of the biggest challenges I hear from top performing cultures is how to keep their talent. In fact, some have speculated that the old adage, “People don’t quit companies, they quit their managers” is no longer true.
Top companies know that the key to keeping people is a strong progression plan, but they don’t know how to execute on it.
Russ Laraway figured out a great approach to progression while at Google. He discovered that a past/present/future conversation that is based on individuals (rather than positions and titles) is key.
This is the conversation to be like Barbara Walters and figure out what they have loved in the past. It’s about connecting the dots in their story.
The interviewer listens for the skills being developed and ask about what the person sees in their future (from the present view).
Now they co-create a plan together to help that person achieve those goals (both personally and professionally). The interesting part about the plan is that it’s not just about developing their skills, it’s also about developing their network (because that’s how you really get things done). I would also advise building their communication skills.
NOTE: As with any culture hack, it has to be co-created, and you have to keep experimenting. There is no “right way.”
October 26, 2016
Great cultures
A very different episode, completely guided by your questions!
