Seth Godin's Blog, page 128

Self awareness in the face of marketing

"I know that this expensive herbal tincture homeopathic remedy is merely an expensive placebo. But I'll take it anyway, because placebos work."

A friend used to wear a fur coat in the winter, telling me that it was the only thing that kept her warm. Of course, if the goal was warmth, she'd probably be better off wearing it inside out.

We buy luxury goods, take placebos and engage in all sorts of actions that aren't going to hold up under the rational analysis of a double-blind study. But they work because we want them to. And often, we want them to because of marketing.

We end up conflating the things we believe with the powerful marketing that got us to believe those things. We feel like questioning the role of marketing is somehow questioning who we are and what we hold dear.

Mostly, marketing is what we call it when someone else is influenced by a marketer. When we're influenced, though, it's not marketing, it's a smart choice.

Do you use that toothpaste because they ran ads that resonated with you, or because you think it actually makes your teeth whiter?

It doesn't have to be this way... The thing is, placebos work even if you're smart enough to know that they're placebos.

Are there primary voters who say, "I know that he craves attention, hustling and manipulating to sell emotional promises, not realistic action, but I'm going to vote for him anyway, because it makes me feel powerful to do so..."?

As soon as that self-awareness kicks in, it's possible to be more discerning about what you believe and why.

Or are there mindful people who say, "there's no clear right answer in this conflict, but my people, my folks, we have always supported this side, so I'm going to keep doing that, because breaking with them is too painful..."?

As soon as you ask that question, it's a lot easier to have a civil, productive conversation, because instead of wearing yourself out arguing tropes, you can talk about the actual issue, which is belonging to a tribe. We can talk about how we work through the cultural change to get to a new place, not have an argument about history.

Marketing works. It's powerful. We're able to acknowledge that and see it for what it is without giving up what we choose to believe. 

We can create better decisions and more amity by being clear with ourselves and others about how marketing is changing what we believe (and vice versa).

It's a lot harder to be manipulated if you accept that there's a manipulator, and it's a lot easier to see a path forward if you acknowledge that you weren't looking for one before.

            

Galvanized

When George Martin first met the Beatles and became their producer, he liked their sound and their energy, but he didn't think they could write songs. So he licensed a song, handed it to them and had them record it. John and Paul hated doing this, so they asked if they could write one. That became their first hit. Faced with opposition and competition, they became better songwriters.

Sir George didn't think much of Pete Best, their drummer, and he said so. He wanted to hire session musicians as drummers. Faced with a loss of cohesion and control, John, Paul and George took action, fired Pete, found and hired Ringo.

George didn't think there was a chance this Ringo guy was any good, so he had a session musician sit in for the first recording. Ringo brought his A game on the next track and that was the end of session musicians sitting in.

Often, our best work happens when we're in a situation we wouldn't have chosen for ourselves. The hard part is choosing to be in that sort of situation in the first place, the uncomfortable one where we have no choice but to do better work.

Find a galvanizer if you can. If you care.

            

Give up and go up goals

You will benefit when you tell lots of people your give up goals. Tell your friends when you want to give up overeating or binging or being a boor. Your friends will make it ever more difficult for you to feel good about backsliding.

On the other hand, the traditional wisdom is that you should tell very few people about your go up goals. Don't tell them you intend to get a promotion, win the race or be elected prom king. That's because even your friends get jealous, or insecure on your behalf, or afraid of the change your change will bring.

Here's the thing: If that's the case, you need better friends.

A common trait among successful people is that they have friends who expect them to move on up.

            

Are they ready for you yet?

Most of the time, we don’t go first. There are good reasons for this (the iWatch comes to mind). With the exception of sushi and fresh powder, there’s little cultural or economic advantage to always trying the new thing first.

Change happens because some people, some of the time, have neophilia. We are dissatisfied enough or passionate enough that we seek out the new thing, mostly because it's new. This is the chowhound who seeks out the latest restaurant, or the idealist who supports the newest policy proposal.

But a surprisingly small percentage of the population has neophilia. So movie studios work to share almost the entire movie in the TV ads before opening weekend, because they know most people don't actually want to be surprised and take a risk, even at the movies. And so Kickstarter makes it easy to jump in at just the right moment, after an idea is sure to work, not when it's merely an idea. (This is now working for some charities as well).

Project creators have to wrestle with this chasm. First, there's the thrill of the launch, and then the gratifying response from the early adopters. (Note that they are not called adapters, for a good reason). But then, then there's a trough, the period between the excitement of the new and the satisfaction of the proven.

It can take days or years to get to proven. To get to the moment when you can honestly say, "it's ready for you now." Nothing new is for everyone. By definition, the new is for a few, those that see a benefit in going first.

This week, applications are open for altMBA5. There's only a week left before our first deadline. Over the last year, hundreds of people like you have enrolled in this four-week intensive workshop, and have come away changed, working at a higher level, seeing things differently, contributing in ways that truly matter.

Please take just a moment to read these testimonials from our students.

We're ready for you now.

We used to be new, now we're proven. That's something that every project that crosses the chasm has to be able to demonstrate.

The altMBA is the most effective transformation tool I've ever created. More than books or blog posts, this extraordinary group sprint is the agent of change I've been seeking, and I think, so have you.

I hope to see you there. We're ready. Are you?

            

Freedom and responsibility

Which do you want?

Freedom is the ability to set your schedule, to decide on the work you do, to make decisions.

Responsibility is being held accountable for your actions. It might involve figuring out how to get paid for your work, owning your mistakes or having others count on you.

Freedom without responsibility is certainly tempting, but there are few people who will give you that gig and take care of you and take responsibility for your work as well. 

Responsibility without freedom is stressful. There are plenty of jobs in this line of work, just as there are countless jobs where you have neither freedom nor responsibility. These are good jobs to walk away from.

When in doubt, when you're stuck, when you're seeking more freedom, the surest long-term route is to take more responsibility.

Freedom and responsibility aren't given, they're taken.

            

The dominant narrative

Life is filled with nuance.

Our ability to perceive things, not so much.

We come up with a story (about an organization, a person, a situation) and all the data that supports it, we notice, and the nuance we discount or ignore.

So, if you believe that Whole Foods is expensive, you won't notice the items that are a little cheaper, but the overpriced things that confirm your narrative will be obvious.

If you believe that your boss is cold-hearted, you'll gloss over the helpful moments and remind yourself of the other times.

We engage in this narrative and people do it to us as well, and to our brands and our institutions, all the time. Insisting that they see the whole truth isn't going to be a productive strategy.

It's easy to pretend that the dominant narrative is insightful, based in reality and in sync with what we wish it was. Denying it doesn't make it go away, though.

We can't easily change the dominant narrative that people have about us, we certainly can't do it by insisting that our customers or colleagues bring more nuance to the table.

Instead, we can do it through action. Vivid, memorable interactions are what people remember. Surprises and vivid action matter far more than we imagine, and we regularly underinvest in them.

            

Listening to smart vs. I'm with stupid

In what areas have you found that you benefit from listening to someone who's really smart about the decision you need to make?

Not a self-appointed expert, but someone with experience, patience and maturity, someone who's been educated in the field, practiced in it, someone who understands the history and the mechanics of what's on offer...

Certainly, most of us would agree that in areas like removing a tumor, investing a nest egg or even baking a loaf of bread, listening to these folks is the way to go. Ignoring all of them is foolhardy.

Sometimes, in our search for the new thing, we mistakenly grab the foolish thing instead. "I'm with stupid."

Challenging the status quo and going against all the the traditional rules of thumb is a great way to take a leap. But that sort of leap needs to be a portfolio play, part of a larger arc, not a matter of life and death, not the last spin of the wheel you're going to get if you're wrong.

[Worth noting that plenty of smart people shunned Semmelweis, Lovelace and Alan Kay. But not all of the smart people.]

By all means, take these intellectual risks. But not when you're skydiving. Being uninformed doesn't make you a renegade. It merely makes you uninformed.

            

On saying "no"

If you're not proud of it, don't serve it.

If you can't do a good job, don't take it on.

If it's going to distract you from the work that truly matters, pass.

If you don't know why they want you to do this, ask.

If you need to hide it from your mom, reconsider.

If it benefits you but not the people you care about, decline.

If you're going along with the crowd, that's not enough.

If it creates a habit that costs you in the long run, don't start.

If it doesn't move you forward, hesitate then walk away.

The short run always seems urgent, and a moment where compromise feels appropriate. But in the long run, it's the good 'no's that we remember.

On the other hand, there's an imperative to say "yes." Say yes and build something that matters.

            

Special orders don't upset us

You ask the waiter to bring you the mackerel, but without the teriyaki glaze. He says, "the menu says no substitutions, I'm sorry."

There's absolutely nothing wrong with running an establishment around the idea that it is what it is, here it is, you can have it if you want to buy it.

You ask the waiter to bring you the mackerel, but without the teriyaki glaze. He says, "Certainly. Is there anything else I can offer to make it even more to your liking?"

Again, that's a fine strategy. It recognizes that eating out is a choice, and that this establishment is in the business of treating different people differently.

Do you know what's not okay? "Well, we don't like to do this, but just this one time, I'll ask the chef, but I hope it's the only thing you want changed."

            

The front row culture

The group files into the theater, buzzing. People hustle to get to the front row, sitting side by side, no empty seats. The event starts on time, the excitement is palpable.

The other group wanders in. The front row is empty and stays that way. There are two or even three empty seats between each individual. The room is sort of dead.

In both cases, the CEO or the guest speaker is going to address the group for an hour. But the two groups couldn't be more different.

The first organization sees possibility, the second sees risk and threat. The first group is eager to explore a new future, the second group misses the distant past. 

The truth is this: it's possible to hire for, train for and lead a front-row organization. And if you merely let entropy take over, you're going to end up with the second, lesser, failing organization instead.

Worth saying this as clearly as possible: The culture, the choice of front row or back row, is a choice. It's the result of investment and effort.

Where would you rather work?