the struggle with transparency

About a year ago I went on a rampage about the importance of transparency in the "new marketplace". I talked about it's relevance, it's value and the absolute need for it; IF you plan to be in business for the next 100 years, and if you care about legacy... IF not, what I am about to say, will not resonate, it won't matter... However; if legacy matters, leaving something of value, than this will matter... REALLY matter.

Last year, when I talked about transparency, I was speaking as a person, who up until that point, had made all the right decisons. I had always stood up for what I believed and I inspired others to do the same... It was the RIGHT thing to do. Well... As the year played out, I was challenged with a series of events that altered my natural course of progression and catapulted me in a direction that felt more like a reversal than it did a forward momentum. Intellectually I was growing, however; as it pertained to "shipping" ... Business had flatlined. I produced Pretty Things for WFXL FOX 31, yeah... BUT there was more I was supposed to be doing.

Here is the deal... The struggle for most businesses in today's marketplace, OR let me say "some", as it pertains to transparency is, they are struggling with evolving from a marketplace where there was NO transparency to a marketplace where transparency is king.

As I said earlier... From 1998-2007 my decisions in biz were dead on, in 2008-2009 I got off track and made some decisions that stripped some brand equity and, now in the Summer of 2010, my message is slightly (just enough) diluted. And my practice is suffering... NOT because I don't know what I am doing, but because I have been all over the place emotionally and professionally... AND I'm not communicating well at all... I lost transparency along the way. From 1998 - 2007 my message was clear, from 2008 - 2009 I made some bad decisions and rather than communicate, correct, and progress, I decided to bury my errors, not teach from them and keep marching... THIS diluted my message and took brand equity.

Big companies do this all the time. They disolve brand equity in their message. They make big mistakes, cover em up and march on, they allow the virus of error to fester internally and they lose touch with their fans. Tiger Woods did it, Kolbe did it, Jesse, should I go on? Some error is moral, some political, and some financial... In the end, it's all stuff brands hate to talk about. Period. Bye bye transparency.

So there it is... Talking about and resolving the hard stuff. If brands get a grip on this, we can get a grip on the emotional equity of our brands and NOT lose ground.

NOW I am not saying that brands should spill ALL of the beans that are cooking back at the lab, BUT I am saying that the stuff that effects the fans needs to be on the table.

seth godin: factory work...

"Having a factory job is not a natural state. It wasn't at the heart of being human until recently. We've been culturally brainwashed to believe that accepting the hierarchy and lack of responsibility that come with a factory job is the one way, the only way, and the best way..." Seth Godin, Linchpin

business strategy: hunger

One of the most agressive and innovative business strategies I know is hunger.

Staying hungry in your business evokes creativity and innovation. It's when we are hungry, when our back are against the wall, that we growl, and get fired up when someone says... "Innovate or die..."

Stay hungry. Period.

talent rich, innovation poor...

A couple of days ago I started this post, and due to my relocation and getting all settled in, I had far too many distractions, good ones no doubt, to really dig into this... AND THIS is important.

There are a LOT of companies out there that are talent rich, and innovation poor. A few days ago, I made this same statement on Facebook ( http://facebook.com/vincenthunt ) and I got quite a few "amens" and "high fives" to this simple observation... Here is the deal, in my opinion, maybe I am wrong... MAYBE not...

Most companies, young and old, are optimized for "doing" and not "thinking". Most businesses have an iron clad approach, system, PLAN to churn out widgets, but very few have a iron clad plan for making NEW WIDGETS... Once the original game plan has been put in place, and that plan starts generating revenue, it's seldom revisited for optimization - UNLESS of course the plan stops making money...

"Many companies are revenue centered, not many are possibility, and game changing centered..."

Every business, I don't care how big, or how small, needs not only a business plan but it also needs a innovation plan. Period. In fact, I would challenge to say that the smart business would have a clear and focused innovation plan BEFORE a business plan is drafted. A plan for adding NEW value to the marketplace, a plan for invention and ingenuity, a solid contribution to the arts. Each company should have a lust for the "next", the "change"....

These ideas are bought about by building clever organizations, ones that are thinking just as much as they are doing, and the level of urgency is placed in both dimensions of the business, equally.