Mike Walker Creative

I read this on Seth Godins blog. Great article!

I often visit with a client and they want to know what type of speaker they should buy, what console to use, what lights they should be purchasing, etc… The first things you need, no matter what type of organization you are, are passion and architecture. The tools always take care of themselves.

This looms huge during times of a slow economy. I can’t tell you how many people I have seen spend bad money after bad all because they are looking at tools first instead of passion and architecture.

I came across this article on apples website. I thought it was a really good read for audio folks and musicians alike. Greg Price has been on the road with some huge names from Ozzy, to Bob Dylan, to Van Halen. It’s definitely worth the read. 

We have all heard the latest buzz in marketing…branding. It’s not your tag line. It’s not your logo. Simply put your brand is your promise. As an organization you are making promises to your customers every day. Most of the time organizations are unaware of this. The tricky part is that your brand is not what YOU say it is…it’s what THEY say it is. If enough people believe a certain thing about an organization then it likely becomes part of your brand. Many companies try to control their brand, but to have the most success you should seek to influence your brand. Make sure that the things you are going to promise as an organization are going to be delivered. Another way to think of it is this, brand management is less about marketing and more about relationship management. Imagine telling an individual how important your relationship with them is, but then you never call and you never spend any time together. What the other person would feel is that it’s not really important to them. In essence the promise is broken. What Starbucks, they tell us every day that their brand essence is all about a great coffee experience. If they spent the next year investing in sandwiches and cold drinks or got rid of all the things that we have all come to know as a great coffee experience, the music, the atmosphere, the baristas who know our name, etc…..what would we begin believing about Starbucks? Sure they are open to new ideas and products, but at the end of the day they are ALL about a great coffee experience. As an organization what are you all about? Are you keeping your promise?

Matt Card, of Clark Pro Media, is a good friend of mine from Atlanta. He is also one of the more brilliant business strategists I know. He told me once that organizations will succeed by being strategic or being accidental. In times of of recession you find out real quick who is strategic and who is accidental.

One thing that stands out about strategic organizations is that they usually have a strong sense of who they are and what is important to them. Knowing who you are and what’s important is huge…it’s a great filter to run things through when things are tough.

Starbucks is ALL about a great coffee experience. If you have been keeping up with them in recent months you know that they are being very purposeful in their decision making about what to add and what to take away. Some of the things they are taking away such as some of their menu items might be good things and communicate a good coffee experience, but not quite a great coffee experience.

Another couple friends of mine work for a creative agency. They were telling me about a client who has paid for a certain amount of hours of work, but because the client doesn’t have a true sense of who they are they are spending the agency’s time and their own money having the agency chase different objectives every couple of weeks. At the end of the day they have the funds to allow this, but what happens when things get tighter for them. A true sense of mission, purpose, and intentionality will go a long way to helping make best use of resources.

Know who you are, why things are important to you, and be intentional about implementing the right things to separate you from the good and put you in line with the great otherwise you are waiting for an accident to happen…which could be good or bad, but why chance it?

Yes, you are reading correctly! A pastor living in Alabama listed himself on Ebay. I came across this article on the website of a local Alabama CBS affiliate and had to put it on here. I have no idea how this will work out for him, but you have to give him style and creativity points!

Here is the link to his Ebay listing. If you have read “The Purple Cow” by Seth Godin then you know it’s all about setting yourself apart. Gotta give the guy credit….he did do that! It should be interesting to see how this plays out

I was working on a project recently that had me researching the fastest growing churches in the country. I am actually a member of one of he fastest growing churches at Gateway Church in Southlake, TX. I was aware of the usual names on the list as I try to keep up with what’s going on, but here is one to keep  your eye on.

I was on site with a new church in Lubbock, TX, called Experience Life Now. Pastor Chris Galanas and his team are only 9 months old. They planted with 300 people and in just 9 months have grown to 700…AND they are growing through the summer. 

They will be a church to keep your eye on in the months and years ahead.

Through out my career while working for other companies, ever time I would walk in for my first week on the job I would be issued my laptop (usually a Dell) which was loaded up with outlook, word, excel, etc… I am unaware of the costs these days, but I know at the time one company was spending on average of $200 per computer for licenses. I believe we had somewhere around 250 computers. You can see how that adds up.

In todays IT environment there are more options. While there are some things that are “must haves” there are also some ways to get creative. Each situation is a bit different so you will have to evaluate the needs of your organization. For example, instead of using Microsoft Outlook maybe look at using Gmail for everyone in your company. It works….and it’s free. Google also offers calendars that can be shared and are free. Do you currently have large server space dedicated to email and calendars? Since Google is web based there is no longer a need for email servers for your company. 

Can you re-think what your tech needs are on a daily basis? I know most companies are pretty anti MAC…sometimes with good reason, but sometimes not. I know IT guys who spend most of their day running around to fix PC problems. I know very few IT guys who have MACs deployed that spend much time having to fix them. If there are areas where MAC’s can be deployed take a look at it. You might find your IT folks have less to do which would allow you to move them or rethink that department.

There are a ton of options in this area. In todays economy it’s good to rethink some things. It could end up saving you a lot of money and time.

A friend of mine used to tell me that adversity will always reveal all flaws. What I have learned to be true is that this applies to people, construction, teams, business models, and the list goes on….

One thing that is certain is that tough times will reveal insecure leaders which will lead to instability within your organization and anyone they lead. When squeezed and forced to come up with answers and solutions most often they will turn inward which will, in turn, run off your “star players”. When insecure people can’t come up with answers they are afraid of being exposed as weak when there are others around who CAN provide answers and solutions, so, to protect themselves they run off people who could really help an organization.

I talked to a friend of mine earlier today who has a situation within their organization that has exposed a lot of insecure leaders and consequently they are losing their best talent to other organizations. The people who lose here are the starting organization and it’s customers.

Really inspect your staff. Figure out who your players are and who needs to either be removed or at least moved. Strong, secure, creative leaders can really help you thrive while insecure leaders will cause you to dive. It’s all about taking it one measure more.

Most people think of creativity mainly in the artistic realm, but creativity can lend a hand in so many areas. Especially during times of economic recession creative and innovative solutions can really lend a hand at not only surviving, but also thriving.

I have been reading up on different companies and their solutions through out the economic tough times and I thought I would start sharing some of them on here.

Tip 1:

RETHINK THE WORK WEEK

I read an article recently about a college in Florida that decided to move its summer classes to Monday-Thursday last summer and shut the majority of the campus down on Friday except for basic operations. In the course of 2 1/2 months they saved over $268,000 in energy costs alone. 

They have implemented it this summer as well and are looking to make it a regular process during the main school year. In addition to the savings in energy they have also noticed higher retention rates among their staff and sick leave has reduced by 50%.

Creativity doesn’t have to limit itself to art.

Look around your organization and see what and how you can do things differently and not only are you more likely to survive this economic crunch but you have a better shot at thriving!

I saw a great quote from Terry Storch.

“Recessions, or economic downturns expose poor leadership, weak management and bad business models.”

That should certainly make you want to take a closer look at things within an organization. Success and a good economy covers up a lot. Tough times, recession, and a slow economy are quick to expose what/who is working and not working within an organization.