All Ryze

Monday, April 26, 2004 – I’ve always been smitten with the power of online communications, so when I read an article recently about the latest Web craze, social and business networking, I couldn’t resist the urge. I became a member of Ryze. Of course, I perfectly understand if you’re pleading ignorance right now. I didn’t know anything about Ryze, either, until about a month ago. But today I have my own home page there, which serves (quite conveniently, might I add) as a portal through which I can hook up with industry brethren, kindred spirits and like-minded souls. It’s all about viral marketing, really, e.g., Ryze makes it easy for users to connect with their own list of contacts, then extend that reach outward — exponentially — to their contacts’ contacts, and so on and so forth. Everybody wins. On my page, I simply list what I (on behalf of Yellowfin) have — integrated direct marketing solutions — and what I want — nonprofit and for-profit clients as well as strategic partners and allies. I also include separate hyperlinks to the Yellowfin Web site and A Fine Kettle of Fish (yes, this very blog — speaking of online communications). But this is no destination site. It’s only as effective as the time I put into it. So every once in a while, I’ll invite a few people to visit my page, hoping they’ll dispense with any skepticism, add their names to my official list of Ryze friends and, ultimately, open up their own Ryze account. It’s up to me, not Ryze, to create the buzz. And the more I’m evangelizing for me, the more I’m evangelizing for them. (Like I said, think viral — all around.) The bottom line? I see it as a way of not just organizing my network online, but also as a way of introducing my list of contacts to each other (can you say matchmaker?), creating one big, continuous loop of mutually-beneficial relationships.

The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 – A few months ago, David gave me a copy of The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni, and I’ve been talking up this leadership fable ever since. Published in 2000 as the follow-up to The Five Temptations of a CEO, the author’s business fiction debut, The Four Obsessions is a timeless classic, an incredibly relevant blueprint for any organization, large or small. Which is why David first shared it with me, and more recently asked our entire staff to read it. He recognizes the value of a healthy (read: no politics or confusion) work environment. It’s what he — and this book — espouses. For starters: If everything is important, then nothing is. That’s Lencioni’s opening proposition — that sustained well-being is dependent on identifying “a reasonable number of issues that will have the greatest possible impact on the success of your organization.” And then spending “most of your time thinking about, talking about, and working on those issues.” That’s David’s vision for Yellowfin — that all of us here are the embodiment of not just a smart organization, but also a healthy organization (which, Lencioni alludes, makes us far less susceptible to ordinary problems and far more likely to become even smarter down the road). By now (if you haven’t already read the book), you’re probably wondering if I’m ever going to get to the actual four obsessions. So without further ado, I’ll spell them out for you — verbatim (with, of course, all due credit to Patrick Lencioni):

I – Build and Maintain a Cohesive Leadership Team
Cohesive teams build trust, eliminate politics and increase efficiency by…

• Knowing one another’s unique strengths and weaknesses
• Openly engaging in constructive ideological conflict
• Holding one another accountable for behaviors and actions
• Committing to group decisions

II – Create Organizational Clarity
A healthy organization minimizes the potential for confusion by clarifying…

• Why the organization exists
• Which behavioral values are fundamental
• What specific business it is in
• Who its competitors are
• How it is unique
• What it plans to achieve
• Who is responsible for what

III – Over-Communicate Organizational Clarity
Healthy organizations align their employees around organizational clarity by communicating key messages through…

• Repetition: Don’t be afraid to repeat the same message, again and again.
• Simplicity: The more complicated the message, the more potential for confusion and inconsistency.
• Multiple Mediums: People react to information in many ways; use a variety of mediums.
• Cascading Messages: Leaders communicate key messages to direct reports; the cycle repeats itself until the message is heard by all.

IV – Reinforce Organizational Clarity Through Human Systems
Organizations sustain their health by ensuring consistency in…

• Hiring
• Managing performance
• Rewards and recognition
• Employee dismissal

Between the Moon and the Violent Thunder Storms

Tuesday, April 13, 2004 - You got unceremoniously grounded today at the airport in Cincinnati. Only for a couple of hours, though. The good news is that you had a very successful meeting yesterday with the development team at Florida State University in Tallahassee. In addition to a direct mail fundraising campaign, F.S.U. asked the Yellowfin crew to help them promote alumni participation during the football season this fall. They will be entertaining their constituency in and around the stadium at each home game (along the lines of, say, a series of exclusive, upscale tailgating parties), and they’d like Yellowfin to develop an overarching marketing strategy and act on it accordingly. You’re already loving this assignment! After all, it means you and your colleagues will be able to extend your creative reach and make a deep, lasting impression on a very wide target audience at every point of contact. You are grateful for the opportunity. And champing at the bit — at 30,000 feet. (Yes, you still haven’t come back down to earth.) It appears as though we will be encountering an area of significant turbulence. Please fasten your seat belts. The loud, foreboding announcement you are now listening to is the captain just doing his job, preparing you and your fellow passengers for the roller coaster of a ride ahead. It’s 5:37 PM and you’re caught between the moon and the violent thunder storms and somewhere just east of Pittsburgh. This is your connecting flight, which was already late getting out of the gate. This is a travel day not going quite as planned. But before you know it, the storm system is behind you (thank God). And you find yourself touching down at Logan Airport. You are now free to move about your own soil. You are now free to go home.

Drop Us a Line

Friday, April 9, 2004 – Keeping a blog is a remarkably simple, inexpensive way to build a community of friends and colleagues. In our case, not only is A Fine Kettle of Fish a surprisingly valuable communication channel, but it also allows us to put a personality on the agency, giving us a forum to share our knowledge, exhibit our creativity and hold forth on matters of — ideally — mutual general interest. Word has it that there are more than several million blogs in existence worldwide, but I’ve only been able to find a handful that are being published by marketing communications agencies. H-m-m-m…Part of me realizes the jury’s still out on their viability as a business application, and that many folks are playing the game of wait-and-see. Okay. I can appreciate their sense of prudence. But on the other hand, I’m thinking these guys could be missing the boat. After all, isn’t true direct marketing all about initiating a one-to-one dialogue with a mass audience (oxymoronic concept aside)? “Listen to the murmur of your market.” That’s what Don Jackson writes on page 116 of “2,239 Tested Secrets for Direct Marketing Success,” the book he put together with Denny Hatch in 1998. He tells readers: “Create feedback loops in your database environment so that you can record what your customers and prospects are saying about your products, your service, your company and your competition. There is no more valuable source of information.” Exactly. This blog is one such “feedback loop.” It’s one way of interlocking the circle of good people who visit us through our Web site — and establishing mutually beneficial relationships with each and every one of them. It’s, well, A Fine Kettle of Fish. So please, don’t hesitate to drop us a line.

Worry’s Not Even a Word

Monday, April 5, 2004 – First thing this morning, David and I met to prioritize our deliverables and coordinate our schedules for the busy week ahead. I’m telling you, we’re both straight out — but that’s not going to stop us from capitalizing on all the momentum we have going for us. Working this hard is not unlike being on the proverbial high wire without a safety net below. The pressure can creep up on you. And before you know it, you can find yourself teetering. But that’s not going to happen to us. To mitigate the demands on our time, we’ve already agreed to put some of the agency’s self-promotional efforts on the back burner, including a series of new case studies we’ve been meaning to add to our portfolio as well as a press release that we want to put out there about our big plans for the future. We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. Besides, clients come first. Over the course of the next three days, we’re taking a very close look at our work with The Public Broadcasting Co-op, in preparation for a big meeting with these folks in June. We need to develop at least several new packages to put in front of this group at that time, and even though this can only be characterized as a speculative assignment, I can’t begin to tell you how important it is to us. Let’s just say we’re hoping to knock their socks off with our creative. So right now I’m working with David, Sarah and Denny on a presentation we’re scheduled to give tomorrow. And then there will be another one due Wednesday. Yikes! Of course, we also have the NEDMA Awards Show to attend this Thursday, which will give us an opportunity to come up for air (phew) — and me an opportunity to see my former colleagues at Robbins. Then, finally, there’s the capabilities presentation we have to put together for the trip Mike and I are taking to meet with the development team at Florida State University next week. So yes, no question about it, we’re walking a thin line. But failure’s not an option, and worry’s not even a word. Cool heads will prevail.

Tchotchkes

Friday, April 2, 2004 – I came home from the New England Meetings Industry Conference and Exposition (NEMICE) last night with 18 business cards in my pocket and almost that many different tchotchkes in my bags, including two chocolate lobster lollipops, a Michael McDonald CD (courtesy of the Detroit Convention and Visitors Bureau), a battery-powered bubble clock (please, don’t ask), cotton candy for the boys and even a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers for my wife. No, all these trinkets weren’t my booty for speaking at the conference. They were (you guessed it) what I managed to amass for myself in the exhibit hall. I must say, I’ve always enjoyed the trade show experience, but the fun I had at this one surpassed all expectations. From my presentation in the morning to the networking party at The Blackfin Chop House and Raw Bar in the evening, it was all very good. Good people. Good food. Good times.