I have been speaking to leaders of creative businesses about what it will take to strengthen the morale and motivation of their creative staff.
I have seen some businesses that quantitatively poll their people, asking them to rank such things as their work-life balance on a scale, and also to rank their satisfaction with their salaries. Hmm. I wonder what sort of answers they are getting. Actually the answers they get are not that helpful and it is tough to know what to do with the information – which appears on a scale of 1-10. It is good that the attempt is made to discover the issues, but the combination of the questions asked and the numerical scales and the general resistance of creative types to filling out forms, makes it less useful than one might wish.
I suggest instead that they consider doing some qualitative research that would allow us to learn in more detail about the aspirations of the staff members and their drivers for success. It should be conducted in the spirit of a “positive enquiry” that will emphasize discovery of the strengths and the opportunities. Tailored of course to the organization, questions might include: “What do you look forward to every day when you come into the office?” ”What project that you did at the firm was most professionally satisfying and why?” “What opportunities do you see for yourself at the company?”
I recommend that these kinds of questions are posed by an outside investigator rather than someone from management or HR. The independent researcher usually gets franker responses than does someone from inside. When the findings have been carefully analyzed and the right insights obtained, this is likely to be a more productive survey than the quant – and in the right hands lead to constructive action steps.
And it can be a refreshing change from the familiar list of general gripes with no constructive way forward indicated.
In days of olde the king had a court jester. This was the only person who was permitted to ask the difficult questions. Jesters were free to challenge the monarch and provide a balance for the sycophants who surrounded them.
The court jester could speak frankly on controversial issues and monarchs knew why; they understood the value of having such a person at their side.
Where are the court jesters of today? It is tough to find this character in any modern corporation. Who is asking the CEO if they really know what they are doing?
According to the Royal Shakespeare Company the jester served not just for entertainment, but to criticize their master or mistress and their guests. Queen Elizabeth I apparently rebuked one of her fools for not being hard enough on her.
In literature, the jester symbolizes common sense and honesty. In King Lear, the King uses his jester for insight and advice. He lets him take advantage of his license to mock and speak freely, to dish out frank observations and point out folly.
Lear’s fool is one of only three people in the play who consistently tell him what’s what; the other two, Cordelia and the Earl of Kent – employees as it were – are punished severely.
As a management consultant who comes in from outside – I can play that role. I can ask why something is being done a particular way. Or why this person still has their job. And so on. My clients seem to find that valuable. I have no axe to grind other than to see smart decisions being made. I am not a shareholder or an employee with other vested interests. So that could be a key part of the value I bring. To be the court jester.
Any communication – or at least any persuasive communication – has to be about the needs of the person you are trying to persuade. Not about your needs. Here is something that a recent client told me about our work together:
“The first really cool thing that I was enabled to understand is how to think of it (whatever “it” may be – an interview, a phone call, a party) from “their” point of view. Always asking and trying to figure out what “their” process is? Where are they coming from? What do they want and how can I fit into answering that for them?
That’s always a cool, interesting exercise and I loved to hear MP go through that drill time and again .. it was awesome and Insightful”
“Whatever happened to client loyalty?” is a cry I hear over and over again from clients in the advertising field: especially from the creative shops that sell to ad agencies: film, music, editing, design and so on.
Well, sorry guys, loyalty is not even a relevant concept here. If you give them better than they expected and they keep wanting the same thing – then they might just come back. But that is not about loyalty, it’s about their own self-interest. For these ad guys who are buying your services, novelty rules. Your typical creative client is always in search of new sensations and lives in hope that the next company will excite them in some new way. And there are no metrics to hold them back.
Of course since the marketing directors keep changing and the economy is tough – the ad agencies are constantly pressured to find a new magic bullet to move the needle – no client is satisfied with the status quo.
So none of this has anything to do with loyalty. Don’t even think about it. Sorry.
Our Research Director, Laurie Pollock, brings us this insight into how we really see ourselves. It sure works for astrologers – marketers please note.
In 1948, psychologist Bertram R. Forer gave a personality test to his students, and then gave them an analysis supposedly based on the test’s results. He invited each of them to rate the accuracy of the analysis on a scale of 0 (very poor) to 5 (excellent) as it applied to themselves: the average was 4.26.
He then revealed that each student had been given the same analysis:
“You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself as an independent thinker; and do not accept others’ statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.”
Forer had assembled this text from horoscopes.
Later studies have found that subjects give higher accuracy ratings if the following are true:
* the subject believes that the analysis applies only to them
* the subject believes in the authority of the evaluator
* the analysis lists mainly positive traits
Source: Wikipedia
…For a successful 22 yr old animation company.
Under new ownership, this company wanted to know where it stood in the marketplace, how it was perceived by its advertising agency clients and what it needed to do to reach new levels of success.
Pollock Spark was able to reach out to the company’s former clients and potential clients. These senior ad agency creatives told this independent interviewer things they would never tell the company or its reps. We learned some things that “surprised” our client and were invaluable in formulating a new strategy. The learning and the analysis, inspired by Pollock Spark’s insights, led to a retooled strategy for the company and a new marketing plan.
“I am excited about moving forward” said the owner after spending a day absorbing the results.
The Pollock|Spark consultant team has created a Main Message for NFTE (working through The Cyrano Project.) The same team can bring the same level of insights and help to your creative business. Here’s what David Nelson, COO of NFTE said about our strategic work for them:
“(They) worked with the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) on defining and honing our main message for communications. In the process of learning about NFTE and its work, the consultants demonstrated real understanding of our organization’s mission and came up with strategic insights which had impact beyond the message itself.
(They) helped our organization understand itself better and helped us resolve fundamental questions which are leading us to clarify our basic value proposition, as well as how we express it through messaging. This will lead us to more powerful promotion of our programs and enable us to attract more volunteers and donors over time.
I would recommend (them) to any organization seeking thoughtful analysis and stronger communications. (They) did a superb job.”
Please get in touch if we can help your business clarify its value proposition and get more powerful promotion of your services.
Pollock Spark finds the answers to those questions that so many companies want answered: “What do our clients really think of us? Where do we fit in the marketplace? What about prospective clients – have they even heard of us?”
A leading NY film production company (identity withheld here, but call us if you want to know) wanted to discover where their brand stood in the minds of ad agency folks and who was their real competition. They were deciding whether to extend the current brand for a new venture, or to create a new one.
Pollock Spark talked to Creative Directors and Senior Producers, to writers and art directors. They also dug for fresh thinking within the client company: finding out how things looked from the point of view of individual members of senior management. Pollock Spark did the research, analyzed the responses, had the insights and made recommendations.
This client said of the experience:
“I said good things about you to your face and I’ll say them behind your back as well. I thought you navigated a potentially difficult internal political situation at our company very well (difficult because of the self-perception differences between the partners), advertised your services accurately and delivered an analysis that is relevant, clear and integral to creating forward movement.”
