Branding fame, the ability to provoke, and degrees of follow-up

Branding fame and the ability to provoke.

That’s what marketing guru Seth Godin has now.

His recent blog offering is called, Is good enough enough, and it is similar to many speeches I have heard from great bosses who have encouraged their staff to stretch toward excellence, and to banish mediocrity.

However, in their speeches to staff, they go further than Seth goes: Because they give the speech in the context of their own company, they follow-up to the motivational stuff by clearly stating they want and expect great and NOT good enough, and they pledge to not squelch the efforts of anyone daring to be braver in getting the company there.

Between Seth and great bosses, who gets more results?

This is what Seth wrote:

Most marketing efforts are projects in response to problems. "We need a box for the product launch." "We need a press release for the tour the boss is doing." "We need an ad campaign for the Super Bowl."

In response to projects, many organizations figure out the resources they've got and then work hard to do something good enough. On time, within budget. Meeting spec, after all, is your job.

You end up, if you're talented, with something good enough.

Is that enough? Is good enough enough to win? To change the game? To reinvent your organization and your career? In a crowded market, when all the competition is good enough, not much happens.

Good enough is beyond reproach. It's safe at the same time it represents quality. Good enough demonstrates effort and insight and ability. People rarely get fired for good enough, which is a shame.

If you redefined the objective to be, "makes some people uncomfortable, changes the entire competitive landscape and is truly remarkable in that many of the key people we reach feel compelled to talk about it," what would happen?

First, it would require significant risk-taking. Which would include the risk of failure and the risk of getting fired (omg!). Can you and your team handle that? If not, might as well admit it and settle for good enough. But if you're settling, don't sit around wishing for results beyond what you've been getting.

Second, it would mean that every single time you set out to be remarkable, you'd have to raise the bar and start over. It's exhausting.

Third, it means that the boss and the boss's boss are unlikely to give you much cover. Are you okay with that?

I hope so. It's worth it.

Have fun!

And with that last glib statement, he leaves you to clean up the mess he has pointed to.

Godin achieves his goal: He provokes; he gets people talking about it. Last I looked, the trackbacks are coming in, and he has started the conversations he intended to start. (In fact, you could call this a Jim Collins variety Good to Great conversation that Seth has chosen to continue.)

Does the boss get their goal? Will the company get greater and not settle for good enough?

Depends on the follow-up, and every boss everywhere has more follow-up to reckon with than Seth does.

Seth has a considerable amount too: He needs to maintain his branding fame and the ability to provoke. He has to accept the trackbacks that will help his messages go viral, and respond to the 20 emails that get him the proverbial 80. He has to consult well when he chooses to do so. He has to coach when he sees his message has somehow been misconstrued. He has to be sure that every subsequent word he says and writes will add to his credibility and not detract from it.

Seth has to be true to Seth Godin, the man of the brand.

The boss however, has to be true to himself, to the brand of the company, the brand of a great manager, and the brand of a great leadership-inspiring vision and mission. There are several more degrees of follow-up needed, and just “pledging” not to squelch efforts to deliver on expectations is not good enough either.

It all comes back to values (that will deliver great) and the consistent work of value alignment (the walk for the talk) doesn’t it. Day in and day out; say what you believe in, and act that way.

What are the values of your company, and what ability do they give you to provoke masterful follow-up?

What brand fame are you working on?

I hope it is the best brand fame of all —living, working, managing, and leading with the integrity of your values. I also hope you have decided to let me help you with the value alignment of Managing with Aloha and Managing with Aloha Coaching.

Links to references I have made above:

1. Seth Godin’s article, Is good enough enough, and more about him on his About Page.
2. Jim Collins book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
3. Laurence Haughton has written a terrific book on follow-up, called It's Not What You Say...It's What You Do: How Following Through At Every Level Can Make Or Break Your Company. I had reviewed his book on Talking Story and done an interview with Laurence in February of 2006.
4. Buy Managing with Aloha from Amazon.com, and subscribe to join us here!

Comments

[April Groves]

Reading this, I couldn't help but think of something someone (maybe Dennis Miller) said about political campaigning. The effect was that it was easy to answer a question about the war, then the environment, then health care, then the economy, then whatever.

What isn't so easy is to ask the same questions but replace all the "then"s with ANDS...it becomes a different challenge when the cause of action in one has intertwining effects on others.

I think we would all like to take it one thing at a time, but it is typically not possible.

[Rosa Say]

April I think what we CAN take one thing at a time, is our own actions, accepting full responsibility for them, and I like the "and" intention you have added here. Blame and pointing fingers at others doesn't do much for us save add to our frustrations, whereas our own "and" behavior empowers us - it strips away any feelings of helplessness we may have.

Mahalo nui for the thoughts you've layered on this for me!