The thing is...

5 Ways my iPad has changed my life...in one week

Having spent the last several months working out of my home office---and driving my family crazy--I needed to buy a computer. I was using my iMac, which I love, but it's pretty stationary.  

 

So I was faced with a choice:  Laptop or iPad?

I did some research, spoke to a bunch of friends and boiled the choice down to the following premise:  

"A laptop does laptop things but no iPad things.  An iPad does iPad things and a whole mess of laptop things."  

 No contest.  The iPad wins.  

 Less than a week ago, my iPad2 (32GB, refurb, WiFi, from the Apple Store) arrived from China.  Then I rigged it up with a wireless keyboard and a great case from Targus.

The thing is...Since then, this device has changed my life.  Read how.

To drive change, define the problem FIRST

 

Recently a friend of mine completed a pretty good-sized renovation of his basement. 

It wasn’t a voluntary project; rather it was driven by some water issues he had down there.  For months he had various contractors visit and offer their solutions, each of which had a very expensive price tag, and none of which would have solved the water issues. 

And that’s because none of these well meaning contractors identified the source of the water.   They tried—“It’s ground water leaking in through the slab,” “It’s a leak in the heating system,” “You have an underground spring”—but they never got it.

In the end, the homeowner found the source (a minor plumbing issue) and was able to remediate the problem once and for all, more quickly and cheaply. 

The thing is… the water in the basement wasn’t the problem. 

It was a SYMPTOM of the problem.  The problem was the plumbing.  Fix the plumbing, the water goes away.

 

You see this in organizations all the time.  People identify something that presents as a problem, but it’s really just a symptom of it.  For instance, a client of mine came to me and said he a had problem with his website.  It was difficult to maintain, it didn’t reflect the company’s values and no one was using it.

Fixing a website these days is pretty easy, and I could have done it.  But the website wasn’t the problem.  It was only a symptom—albeit a very public and visual symptom.

 The problem, as it turned out, was a total lack of process and ownership over all communications channels.  

• No editorial work-flow
• Wrong people in the wrong jobs
• Lack of expertise
• No shared mission/vision/goals
• No oversight

 And the list goes on.

Guess what?  Not only were there problems with the website, there were problems with direct mail pieces, email distribution, list management and print advertising.   The staff was bickering because no one understood their role in the process.  You get the idea.

Once we exposed the problem, and got everyone to agree that we had identified it—measured by significant and persistent head-nodding—we began a process to fix it.   We will wind up addressing everything, rather than just the website.

Most problems have a solution, but you have to define the problem first.  Don’t mistake a symptom for the disease.

 

Make LinkedIn about your work, not about YOU

There is a tool for every job, and every job has a tool. 

You want to bang in a nail?  Grab a hammer.
You want to twist in a screw?   Grab the Phillips head screwdriver. 

But don’t ask the hammer to do a screwdriver’s job.  It won’t work.   It’s not good at it.  A hammer is great at hammer’s a job.  Ask it to do that, and it will deliver every time.

Same thing goes for marketing channels.  TV is good at certain jobs.  Search is good at certain jobs.  Display advertising is good at certain jobs.   Assign them the right jobs, and they will deliver every time.  Ask TV to do search’s job, however, and it will fail.

 Recently I didn’t listen to my own advice.  I asked a hammer to do a screwdriver’s job.  A very smart woman, Janice Waterman, who focuses on c-level career coaching in the areas of strategy, marketing, communications, and execution, helped me see the error of my ways.

You see, my so-called “killer app” has always been…me.  Whether it’s searching for my next consulting project, negotiating the price of a new car or helping a non-profit with organizational design, I know I can be most effective in person.  Get me in front of a group of people and I knock it out of the park (most of the time).

Knowing that, I used my LinkedIn profile to, in a sense, re-create ME.  It was written  in a conversational tone and conveyed information about my personality that I thought would help whomever viewed my profile get a feel for who I was, as though we were already in a face-to-face situation.

 

 

The thing is…that’s NOT LinkedIn’s job.  LinkedIn’s job is to display your WORK.

• The things you’ve done in your career. 
• The job’s you’ve had. 
• The companies you’ve worked for. 

 

It’s great at those jobs.  It’s not great at other jobs. So, I changed the profile.  Lesson (re) learned.  Thanks Janice.

 

If your client doesn't "get it" look in the mirror

In a recent interview on Techcrunch, Buddy Media co-founder Mike Lazerow (@lazerow) spoke about how insular the world of digital marketing and media is.  He's right, and that insularity is expressed everyday in the phrase:  They don't "get it."   The world of digital is divided into the "us" who get it and the "them" who don't.  Usually the agency is the "us" and the client is the "them" as in "Sigh, my client doesn't get it!"  Say the previous sentence with dramatic frustration.  It also applies to your boss who doesn't get it.

The thing is...If your client or your boss doesn't get it, look in the mirror.  It means you have failed.  Most likely you client doesn't get it for one of three reasons:

• You have not asked the right questions
• You have failed to explain it clearly
• You have not demonstrated it

So next time, instead of complaining to your colleagues, ask better questions, and then answer them clearly.  And then show them how to do it, whatever the "it" is.

Tackle the medium sized projects to be productive

Here's something I've come to realize.  There are three kinds of projects: small, medium and large.  The small ones are the ones that clearly you can do by yourself.  Such a project might be organizing the piles of paper on your desk.  The large projects are the ones that clearly you need a large team to complete.  Such a project might be launching a new product for your company.

The thing is...it's the medium projects...those are the hard ones to figure out.  You're not sure if you should tackle them yourself, or get others involved.  

• Sometimes you take on a project yourself and find out that, "Uh oh!  This project is bigger than I thought."  That wastes a ton of your time.
• Other times you get a team of folks involved and find out that, "Uh oh!  Too many chefs in the kitchen." That wastes a ton of everyone's time.

But when you take on that medium sized project that is just-a-little-too-big-for-you and get it done, you will have been truly productive.  And you will feel great about yourself.  

Likewise, when you get a small team of folks together to tackle that medium sized project that is just-a-little-too-small-to-get-the-whole-company-involved and get it done, you will have shown leadership. And others will feel great about you.