Underwear and Deferred Maintenance and Your Agency

This story in MarketWatch caught my eye: Buy stocks when men buy socks – Socks and underwear sales may be an economic bellwether.

Ok correlation does not imply causation. You learned that in school. I suggest that sales are going up because of deferred maintenance.

I should create the underwear index and base all my plans on the economic bellwether of men’s underwear sales.

OMG! Too late. Wow, and Alan Greenspan followed this index. There’s food for thought.

To look back on the efficacy of this idea, take a look at this article from the Washington Post written in 2009, it states:

“The growth in sales of men's underwear began to slow last year as the recession took hold, according to Mintel, another research firm. This year, Mintel expects sales to fall 2.3 percent, the first drop since the company started collecting data in 2003.

But the men's underwear index -- or, conveniently, MUI -- may also have a silver lining. Mintel predicts that next year, men's underwear sales will fall by 0.5 percent, and as with many economic indicators, a slowing of a decline can be welcomed as a step in the right direction. Retailers are reporting encouraging signs in the men's underwear department. Sears spokeswoman Amy Dimond said stores are beginning to see more sales. At Target, spokeswoman Jana O'Leary said sales of men's underwear have been stronger over the past two months and multi-pair packs are moving.”

That – was 2009. Four years ago. Multi-pair packs. Sears. Target. How are things going now?

Oddly (to me), this is the Men’s Underwear Index. Do women cherish their unmentionables more and are willing to put rent money into a new thong or two? If we included women’s underwear-buying-habits would that skew the data?

I don’t necessarily see this as an upturn. I’m not a pessimist, I’m being realistic. I live in Las Vegas. The turnaround here is s – l – o – w.  A 12% up-tick in socks at American Apparel doesn't say anything to me about the economy. It’s conjecture. I place my bets on actually seeing people getting back to work.

In my enlightened opinion, it’s due to the fact that it is simply deferred maintenance – at some point you just have to buy new stuff.

That knock in the engine, the leak in the laundry room, the stomach ache that won’t go away. Or that mix of old and new – now redundant systems in your agency, that you haven’t realized, are too much work and producing very little data or efficiency. (See – I did get agency matters in there.)

No matter how well – or poorly – we’re doing, sometimes we just have to get a repair, fix a leak or go to the doctor, even if we don’t have insurance (yeah I know about Obamacare) – or search out a stellar system for getting your agency under control. (Did it again)

I think that the economy has been in a rut long enough; people have been un- or under-employed long enough that they just have to buy a new pair of socks.

Your agency is in a rut too, if you haven’t reviewed your processes, tools, and staffing (that includes a healthy review of ROLES) in a long time.

Keeping your head down and working is a good thing. But have you given any thought to the fact that all that mind-numbing stuff in-between – the forms, schedules, estimates, collaboration tools, email, spreadsheets, all that stuff – should be reviewed?

It’s 2013, Spring is here, time to face that deferred maintenance. Take a look in your sock drawer, organize and toss out the old, worn, and mis-matched.

If you can’t face the idea of throwing anything away, old socks, a bad process – call me. I’ll be happy to help. 

Bridging That Pesky Digital Gap

         ​I saw the future...and it was totally cool. It still is.

​I finally found an article that’s worth reading about agencies coming to terms with digital. Allison Kent-Smith wrote a nice piece in FastCompany called Reinventing Your Creative Talent.

It’s time to educate your staff – all of them. Bring them into the technology fold and quit with the silos already! 

There always seem to be silos, but here, the writer says – we all need to learn about technology. How to get it done. We’re better for it.

As the article states: We’re all technologists. We can’t be observers, and then hand stuff off to others to execute.

So, ongoing training is needed. The writer is calling this agency reinvention. We must be relevant – all of us. Or else.

Well, hallelujah!

Part of retaining awesome talent is keeping them up to date on technology. How it applies to our clients’ needs. There are six steps outlined in the piece - that make sense.

Now I'm gonna preach: It’s my belief that not every solution should be online or mobile, or TV, or direct mail (what’s that?!). But we all need to know when to use it, and the requirements – technology, timelines, cost. It is the same for any and all medium.

I have worked in siloed agencies, and for some reason the digital folks truly felt that the rest of us were completely incapable of understanding their magic. The voodoo they do so well.

Well, as an observer, trying to get a seat at their table was tough. Rarely invited, I invited myself. Then came the jargon. Spit out at rapid fire just to prove how uninformed – and stupid – I was.

So, do yourself a favor, learn this stuff. And if they don’t want to share, then take it as the big red flag that they are trying to not let you in on the fact that they might not be all that smart. Then plant yourself at their desk, couch, beanbag - and demand a few minutes of their precious time. It will translate into real dollars (aka create value).

Well, we are smart. After all, we all learned to use computers, cell phones and how to play pong.

By the way – this was overlooked in the article but very important – It’s not only the creatives who need to be technology savvy. Everyone should learn, and understand technology. From Account, through to your billers. If they don’t know what it’s about, they will sell something that can’t be done in within that window of time/budget (Account) – or just plain wrong; all the way to the end – billing incorrectly for services can kill profits.

If your digital team wants to hoard information – because it’s too technical for our little heads – remind them that they too had to learn it. They surely weren’t born with all that knowledge. And surely, they can learn a thing or two from you.

Like how to blend everything – online to offline – into one cohesive campaign.

Now go forth and learn.

I'm SURE It's DONE!

I have my fair share of self-doubt – or more precisely, I’ll give someone else the benefit of the doubt. I could be very sure about something, but perhaps in the context of something else, I could be wrong. And in my world, my goal is to just find out what went sideways and fix it. Then find ways to prevent a repeat of that particular error.

Memory is an interesting thing. I can remember details of events that are truly insignificant, and then forget that one thing I needed at the supermarket.

So in the course of a busy day at the agency, if I’m *sure* that something was this way or that, it happened, I’m sure I did it – but someone else says, ‘no way, I did not get X’; then I think – well, I could be wrong. And for me, the last thing I'll do is waste time arguing the point and say, ‘Prove it to me. Show me your work.'

I’d look like a total jerk.

Instead, I investigate. What went wrong, and if so, why? And then I want to figure out how to prevent that error – to ensure that it does not happen again. I’m not creating CYA, I’m refining process.

Where was the breakdown? Evaluate process, tools and people. Remind everyone we're in it together. To make the process of doing the day-to-day easier.

So, in the scenario, for a period of time, they did their job and I didn’t do mine.

Who is wrong? Is someone being a jerk because they never admit a mistake, or that they forgot to do something?

But...when I find that I was right - that the other person didn’t do their job, fix the error, pass it along, save it to the server. Perhaps, like me, they were sure they did X, but didn’t. They should fess-up. Yep. They should admit it, 'My bad.' 

Most often, that original declaration of ‘I did do X' is stated in the presence of others. When I confirm that I did my part, and the other person did not, the truth is usually revealed in private.

I look stupid. The other person looks brilliant. Together. Efficient.

So what do you do? Point out what a jerk they are?

Nope, that makes you look like a jerk yourself.

You have a conversation with that person and they say, ‘Oh, okay, I forgot to do X.’ And that’s it. Your reputation of not-having-it-together lives on in the minds of others.

I hate that. Because I’m smart, and I care about doing a Really. Good. Job.

So, processes and tools are put in place so everything gets done with a level of transparency – documentation with collaboration – then you don’t have to rely on your memory. Or someone else’s. And no one looks like a loser with bad habits and, even worse, a weak memory.

This is not CYA, by the way. This is good process to ensure everything gets done, everyone knows what they need to do and work moves along with minimal errors.

And no one looks like a jerk. Unless they are just jerks.​

Now, does Target carry staple guns?​

Advantage Project Schedule and Estimate Templates ... And More

I know it’s Sunday, but let’s start the week talking about those pesky issues like creating a quick schedule or estimate. How are those templates project schedule and estimate templates working for you?

Are you even using them? Do you know how they work and the value they lend to efficiency?

Using templates is the fastest way to build a schedule or estimate. (I’m a sticker for scheduling / assigning / allocating hours for every project).

And for that matter, have you customized your forms? Do you know all the wonderful (well, wonderful for me - I like accurate documentation) things you can create in the custom forms area?

A lot of great ways to document, track and manage your work.

If you need some help, just let me know. I’ve created a ton of templates and can help you make the most of Advantage.

Gun Control

Why would I ever write anything about gun control? Because this is about not understanding your customer or listening to them.

                          ​Oh shoot!

I read a tweet by Laurie Ruettimann that made me laugh so hard I almost fell off my chair.  She was in Target and overheard someone asking a question. Here’s the tweet:

OH at Target: "Do you sell staple guns?" "No, we don't sell guns."

Now, I know for a fact that Target does have staple guns. At least they sell them on their website. So I imagine they carry them in their stores as well. And probably the ammo for them. Like staples.

This is a case of someone not listening – only hearing the word gun, and giving an immediate answer to their perception of what was said.

Target just lost out on a sale. Because their staff is either uninformed of what a staple gun is, or they listen to every fifth word.

How many other sales do they lose because their staff Does Not Listen? They’ll never know. Because as my father-in-law used to say, “Profits hide a multitude of sins.” As long as they're making bank, they don't have to worry about a lost sale here or there.

So, how many times have you come up with the wrong answer because you weren’t listening? Failure to pay attention can kill a sale, an agreement, a smooth project or just a pleasant conversation quicker than you can say Stanley Sharp Shooter.

And you thought this post was about the Second Amendment and things that go bang.​

The Dark Side: When Process Becomes CYA

Back to matters of getting your agency organized…

​Clouds 365 Project. Shot dated 04/17/13. 

Process is in place for a reason. It’s your guide to the way you do your stuff every day. I’ll bet you don’t give it a second thought. But someone else probably does. And that person is trying to figure out what the heck’s going. It’s usually your friendly producer or project manager.

Well, you still need to get things done. And it’s that delicate balance of maintaining process – the checks-and-balances so things don’t go sideways – and CYA because of other issues.

I’ve said it many times before; if something is wrong in an agency it is one, or a combination, of process, tools (technology to manage work/collaboration) or…people.

Process – without it, priorities are set by whichever client is barking the loudest; things get lost; errors made; and who knows how many dollars you lose – every hour.

Tools – those awesome technologies that, along with a good process, actually can take some of the daily documentation burden off of you and allow you to do your real work. Like strategy, creative, tweeting.

People – your co-workers – you gotta love ‘em, but they can throw a wrench into the effectiveness – or usefulness of process or tools. When one or the other isn’t followed or used properly, errors can and will happen.

There is a dark side to process and tools. When they are implemented for CYA. You know what that is. And it may be more costly and time consuming than no process or tools at all.

How I hate CYA. Such a waste.

Process steps, put in place as punitive measures because something went wrong. An error, now there are extra steps / extra people involved in proofing, more reviews and approvals on everything.

Massive emails and documentation just to make sure that when a project goes sideways you can say, “See, I did my job” (aka: it isn’t my fault).

A tool purchased to ‘fix the problem’ without identifying what is really going on. It is ‘sprung’ on the agency with little warning, and expectations that you’ll be on easy street.

Uh huh.

Process is not CYA. An effective process – that is practiced and not cumbersome – reduces the need for time-wasting efforts. Process makes you more efficient.

If you really take the time to map out your process – the steps a project takes and who touches it – you will get a clear picture of redundancies, gaps and bottlenecks in your workflow. Then you can start applying the two other key aspects – tools and people – to clarify how to make workflow better.

Mapping is the first thing I do with a client.

Before you choose which tools (technology) to invest in (and it is an investment – whether it’s fee or free), map your workflow and define / refine your process. Evaluate your technology options carefully – and get input from your colleagues. And get to the bottom of personnel issues.

You will be introducing change and that involves transition. Transition is the process of change.

Get it? It’s all about process and not CYA.

I’ll leave you with a line from Kelly DeLay’s Clouds 365 Project:

“Process matters. Good work flow is satisfying in its own right apart from the success of the final product. Effective work flow allows me to maximize the outcome of my work while minimizing the costs. I want my process to be open and transparent.”

Rob Strasser Update – The Legend Unfolds

The past couple days I wrote about Rob Strasser and his legendary list. I sent an email off to adidas America corporate office to get some facts to back up the legend, thinking it would be a few days – or maybe never – that I heard anything.

Not so. A few hours later I received an email from Ina who provided more background and a photo she took of the list – which was on the wall at Rogue Pub.

​Image provided by Ina, adidas America. Thank you Ina!

Ina also put me in touch with Peter Moore who wrote back:

“Interesting this comes up every few years.

First the list is correct.

It was not written on a napkin, but it was written on a paper place mat, food stains and all, it hangs in my studio.

The list was not about adidas America's mission but more about the kind of company and the characteristics we wanted adidas America to have.

The idea was to be different, not to be so influenced by numbers and financials but to create something people would want to embrace and work for.......we asked them to work way harder for far less than they were used to, at least in the beginning.”

What I find so telling here is that the list: Unique, Simple, Interesting, Unexpected, Understandable, Meaningful is relevant and practiced.

In a time where we get bombarded with requests – daily / hourly – I found it to be a pleasant surprise that a couple people took the time out of their day to not only answer my question, but provide more background.

It's important to keep this kind of vision alive in how we work – every day – and not just one of legend.​