February 13, 2014 · 12:03 pm

Smart Can Be Stupid

I’ve written a number of times on the subject of hiring smart people.

The Thinking Man sculpture at Musée Rodin in Paris

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Raw intelligence and a natural curiosity about the world are two qualities I’ve found to be universal in the great executives I know and I always spent a lot of time when I was interviewing new hires trying to uncover those qualities in the candidates.  As I thought about the search for that brilliance the other day I realized that it’s just not enough.  No, I’m not retracting my statement.  I do think, however, I’m doing you folks a disservice by not providing context.  Let me do so now.

Suppose you knew a really smart ten year-old.  He is constantly asking questions about the world and more often than not can hold his own in a discussion with adults.  His logic is impeccable; his ability to express himself is superb.  Would you hire him?  Of course not (although you might tee him up for an internship in five or six years).  While he has two of the skills one can’t teach, he lacks many critical skills for success.  Emotional maturity is probably first on that list; the ability to contextualize (or not) is the other.

What do I mean by that?  When we get too caught up in a moment we need to have the ability to stop, take a step back, and see the forest as well as the trees.    That’s contextualizing. Math teachers would explain it as probing into the referents for the symbols involved – I like that.  Great businesspeople can also do the opposite – decontextualize – maybe even at the same time.  That’s the ability to abstract a situation and think about it symbolically without all the immediate pressures of what’s going on.  These abilities – as well as other critical thinking skills – take time and experience.  It’s why older executives such as me have value that our younger peers don’t: we’ve made the mistakes already and have learned.

Smart people can be stupid.  They need experience, a grounding in facts,  and the emotional maturity that comes with time to be successful in business.  We all know the brilliant jerk – the very smart executive who everyone respects and very few like.  They can crush a company. Our challenge is to find the qualities in addition to smart and curious that make for greatness.  You up to it?

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February 12, 2014 · 10:48 am

The Kid On The Bicycle

We didn’t get our newspaper this morning.  Not the end of the world, I know, but humans are creatures of habit and one of mine is skimming the paper while I have my breakfast.  We didn’t get it yesterday either.  These are not weather-related issues; other than the bitter cold, the weather is fine.  I reached out to the NY Times yesterday – they had another paper here by early afternoon.  Hopefully that repeats itself today.  I also let them know that these two incidents have become more common of late and I’m getting concerned.

Why am I telling you this?  No, it’s not my usual ranting about some slight.  There is a business lesson in here.  Strangely, I used to use this exact thing as an example many years ago when I would meet with advertisers to talk about media planning.  I’d talk then about the newspaper business and how many millions were spent hiring reporters and editors, salespeople and printers.  I’d talk about the money invested in paper and in presses and in ink.  I’d mention the thousands of people who print and publish and distribute a newspaper.  Which is then given to a kid on a bicycle to get to the home.  My point then was about the junior people were entrusted with taking marketing plans and advertising strategies and making them happen efficiently without a clear understanding of everything that had gone on previously.

The point today is a similar but broader one.  I’ve subscribed to home delivery of the Times, according to my account, since 1992.  My lifetime value to them is already into the tens of thousands of dollars.  The kid on the bicycle (ok, it’s a guy in a car that needs a muffler) has me wondering if I am better off just buying the paper and maybe not every day.  By comparison, the other papers I take have come every day without fail.  The last link in a huge business but the one that has a long-time customer questioning the product’s value.

We all need to think about who rides the bicycles in our businesses.  A beautiful office can seem less so if the receptionist is rude to guests.  The aforementioned junior person who executes plans by rote with no real understanding of “why” is that same weak spot.  As managers we need to ride along behind, checking off each delivery.  We need to make sure the delivery kid knows the route and we need to motivate them to do their job as well as we do ours – maybe even better (don’t throw the paper in the mud, kid).

Who rides the bicycles in your business?  Who is the last link between your brand and your customer?  When was the last time you paid attention to that link?  Any thoughts?

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February 11, 2014 · 9:53 am

B.B. And Your Business

TunesDay, and today it’s a visit from the King Of The Blues, Mr. B.B. King.  Anyone who has picked up a guitar in the last 60 years that has been influenced by his playing, even if indirectly. Number 6 on Rolling Stones’ 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time, B.B. King would be cited by each of the 5 ahead of him as critical in their learning. A member of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame (1987), he is one of the most influential musicians of all time.  Having seen him dozens of times I can also tell you he puts on a great show.  Today, we’re going to learn a little bit about business from him.

In 1969, he recorded an old (1931!) song called “The Thrill Is Gone“.  It was his biggest hit and remains his signature tune.  I’ll get to this in a second, but first I want to focus on the title track of an album he released in 1972 called “Guess Who.”  It’s a perfect marketing lesson in under a minute and a half:

This is exactly the message brands and businesses need to convey:

Someone really loves you
Guess who, guess who
Someone really cares
Guess who

So open your heart
Oh, then surely you’ll see
That the someone who really cares is me

We need to be asking ourselves if that’s the message we’re putting out there or is it all “buy this”?  Contrast that lyric with the message B.B. reminds us is on every customer’s mind:

The thrill is gone baby
The thrill is gone away
You know you done me wrong baby
And you’ll be sorry someday

Yes indeed.  Consumers have never had so many choices – and so many brands competing for their attention and dollars – as they do now.  As long as we keep those two songs in our minds, those choices will be made in our favor.  Ignore them and it’s you who’ll be singing the blues.  You with me?

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