In defense of buzzwords

Adrian Savage track-backed to my last post on Processes to People. He remarks in his commentary:

Great stuff. But one thing is still missing. We need a return to plain, honest, human language; to be rid forever of management-speak and buzzcrud.

Take these terms Jennifer uses in her article: customer focus and customer-centricity. See? It's there even in an article asking for real customer connections, not a personalized direct mail piece. Cockroaches have nothing on management-speak when it comes to fouling anything they touch.

it's a mistake to call the people who use your product or your service "customers." Still worse to describe a business as "customer-centered," and think you're saying anything useful about it.

Customer, as a word, is meaningless to a business. It merely designates people as those who buy from you, never mind what or why.

Ok... I'm all for plain, honest language... but can someone give  me a better option than  'customer'?  Adrian says that we should call people who buy cooking products "chefs"... but I'm no chef. Yes, buyers of books are usually 'readers' but often they're just buying gifts for someone else. Yes, people who buy fishing equipment are usually fishermen (or fisherwomen).

But if you're writing about all people who buy stuff in general, what are you going to call them? Buyers? That's cold. And am I supposed to say: "companies should focus their attention on the desires of the people who buy products and services from them."? Or just say "customer-centric?"

Buzzwords exist for a reason. They are phrases that communicate meaning. Buzzwords are short-hand for an idea.

My favorite of Adrian's comments is when he busts me for saying "societal depersonalization."

No warm-blooded, caring, thinking human being uses words like these. They're only fit for cold, alien creatures like PR hacks, shifty lawyers and management consultants.

Wow. Thanks, Adrian. You're right, I'm a cold-hearted, uncaring, thoughtless woman. Oh, and let's not forget shifty, cold and alien. Thanks so much for bringing that to my attention. Since I clearly don't know what I'm talking about, perhaps Adrian can enlighten us all with a good substitute for the word 'customer.' I can't wait for this new unused word to filter its way into business schools, business books, business magazines, executive team meetings and all business blogs everywhere.

I suppose I"m being a bit catty.  But just as I clearly hit one of Adrian's hot buttons, he hit one of mine: don't criticize unless you've got something better to offer. And a laundry list of "chefs, readers, fishermen" etc. is not an option.

Now, in Adrian's defense, I believe he's onto something. But the problem is not the buzzwords themselves... it is the intent behind the words. If a business person is using "customer" as a substitute for "the great unwashed masses who pay our salaries"... then yes, Adrian has a point. But words are simply words. If we substitute "customer" for "Our Great Patrons" but the intent behind the phrase is still the same, then we haven't solved anything. The issue is not the words we use; it's the top-down, centralized management mentality that presumes that the business knows everything and the 'customer' knows nothing. And this is why many businesses are having a tough time adapting to the social technology & grassroots revolution.

So what's the verdict, dear reader? I think perhaps some lively discussion can be had on this topic.

Brand Humanity: From Processes to People

Both the blogosphere and traditional media are buzzing about “customer focus.” You can’t go a day without reading about word of mouth, the power of blogs, the shifting balance of power to customers, importance of customer service, and so on. Trendwatching identified "Customer Made" as the next big thing.  Andy Sernovitz, President of the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), rightly declared, “The weight of consumer opinion is greater than our advertising power.” And yet it doesn’t seem like anything’s really changing. The most lively discussion board about Comcast is the comments section of my “I hate Comcast” post. Last week Jake posted a complaint letter that he'd sent to American Airlines.

Do we think if we talk about “customer focus” enough, something miraculous will happen? Are we trying to convince the laggards? I don’t believe they’ll be convinced until they start going out of business. One would think that every smart business executive would be working furiously to improve customer service and product quality. There are enough examples, case studies, books and articles making a pretty compelling case that this stuff works.

So why aren’t all businesses noticeably moving towards customer-centricity? They’re either holding on because the old way of business is the only thing they know… or the current organizational structure doesn’t support the new way of doing business… or there’s something else that needs to happen first.

Here’s what I think is going on: contrary to popular belief, there’s no such thing as a product company, a telecom company, a consulting company or a retail company. All companies are people companies. People make products for people. People serve people. People work with people and for people. I’d venture a guess that the root cause of business problems is not financial, not product-related, and not structure-related. Businesses live and die by its executives' and employees’ talents, levels of empathy and ability to play well with others… and by their willingness to listen and acknowledge that customers just may have some valuable input. If a business is rife with internal politics, fiefdoms and one-upmanship, I doubt that it will be successful in this new customer-relationship era. If a company’s employees aren’t successful in their personal relationships at home, it can’t become a successful people company.

The current sea-change is problematic because the necessary solution is not a new business practice; it’s a new people practice. We don’t need a new ad campaign or a new org chart. There are no quick fixes. The skill sets needed in today’s times are not management consultants or word-of-mouth marketing specialists. If we’re all really honest with ourselves, what we really need are psychologists and coaches and relationship experts. We’re talking about real customer connections, not a personalized direct mail piece. And this is why blogging and other social technologies have exploded onto the scene. Evelyn Rodriguez writes,

With everything you might have heard you’d think the blogosphere is anti-business. And it’s scary for businesses. That’s not exactly true. But, yes, it is a response to the depersonalization - the dehumanization - of commerce."

Over the past few decades, we’ve lost the humanity in business. With the advent of mass produced cars and org charts and relocation and nuclear families, we’ve forgotten our ability to relate and connect. How do we expect a company to build relationships with customers when most Americans have difficulty making genuine connections with anyone? In Bowling Alone: The Collapse & Revival of American Community, Robert Putnam notes that social and family ties are loosening and we're increasingly withdrawing into ourselves:

• In the past 3 decades, participation in government, local clubs and organizations dropped by up to 50%.
• Job instability, churn and the increasing numbers of independent contractors have resulted in a measurable decline of social connectedness in the workplace.
• Americans are entertaining friends at home 45% less frequently now than in the mid-70s; the number of picnics declined by 60% in the same time period.
• The fraction of married Americans who say that their family 'usually dines together' has dropped from 50% to 34%
• The number of families who vacation together dropped from 53% to 38%; watch TV together from 54% to 41%; sitting and talking, from 53% to 43%
• Reported charitable giving dropped by almost 20% from 1980 to 1995.
• The percentage of those who feel that "people in general today lead as good lives -- honest and moral -- as they used to" dropped from 50% in 1952 to 27% in 1998.

So we can keep talking about the importance of customer focus, authenticity and co-creation. But we’ll never get there until we recognize that it’s not that easy to overturn decades of societal depersonalization. We may have to make some difficult choices: letting go of talented employees who are more focused on being right than being empathetic; moving to a new job at a company that fosters a relationship culture; taking a risk and going out on your own. I’m sure that part of the free-agent trend stems from a rebellion against the dehumanization of business. Evelyn continues in her post:

"Blogs harken back to an era before…

Megaphones. Before Super Bowl ads. Before celebrity-studded concert-format megachurches. Before Ryze, Friendster and LinkedIn.

To a time of community marketplaces, bazaars, neighborhood shops and pubs where everyone knew your name, and town squares. And going back further still to trading posts and tribal campfires.

We know this stuff. Perhaps conversing is nearly a lost art. But it’s fundamentally human too. Basic building blocks of humanity."

So yes, let’s keep talking about customer focus. But let’s also focus on what we can do in our own sphere of influence. Let’s start where we are.

Quest for #1

Recent post on Fast Company talks about Google rankings for individual names.

On his journal, Neil Gaiman spoke about being Neil Number One. I went to Google and put in my name Kevin. I wasn't in the first hundred. But, when I put my last name I was surprised to find that I was Ohannessian Number One.

So of course I wanted to see how I ranked. When I just typed in "Jennifer" I was clearly outranked by Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Anniston, Jennifer Garner, Jennifer Donnelly... oh, and Jennifer Furniture. But hey, I was pleased to find my blog listed at #46. Not too bad. I'm the first "Jennifer Rice" which is also pretty cool.

I think I was partly prompted to write this post because now I have 7 mentions of "Jennifer." We'll see if this helps my Google rank. :-)

things we don't like to think about...

It's rather disturbing to channel-surf these days. Death and destruction in New Orleans - (click) - cheering crowds at the US Open - (click) - 750 missing children - (click) - Comedy Central - (click) - homeless, starving pets trapped up in trees - (click) - mindless reality TV show...

I wasn't planning to blog about Katrina as so many other people are talking about it, but writing about marketing feels a bit disrespectful. I'll get around to it soon, but it's odd to notice how life goes on. I guiltily confess to a sigh of relief when I can change the channel to see people running, laughing, cheering. I’m horrified by the images of Louisiana and Mississippi, yet I can simply push a button and tune into a different reality that’s not so disturbing. I’m relieved by the illusions that life goes on,  my comfort zone still appears intact, and I'm in control of my life.

When we humans connect with the harsh reality of disaster, hints of our own mortality and frailty slosh over the carefully constructed levees of our souls. Talk about discomfort! So we do our duty and write a check to Red Cross, or donate some clothing, then quickly get back to our daily responsibilities, passions and irritations… back to “life as usual.” It was distressing to me to realize that I'd completely forgotten about the tsunami on the other side of the world. Their lives are surely still in utter turmoil and uncertainty, yet it's no longer news.

I've been reading a book called Wake Up to Your Life by Ken McLeod. It's an instruction manual for developing mindful attention according to Buddhist principles. The chapter I finished last night was about death meditation.

"We will die one day. That much is certain. When and how, no one can tell. If we are vividly aware that death can come at any time, however, our attention goes into the actual experience of life, not into the effort to achieve fame or fortune....

Living in the knowledge that every relationship we have is going to end, we take nothing or granted and savor every moment with our spouse, parents, or children. Meditating on death and impermanence frees us from the conditioning of culture, society and upbringing and brings us closer to life, closer to the mystery of being."

Katrina, the tsunami, terrorism in New York, a friend diagnosed with cancer, an abused child... these are the sloppy realities of life and death. They intrude upon notions of "the way things should be." They rudely contradict notions of fairness and invincibility. And they happen all the time. We can choose how we're going to react, and whether we'll allow these events to soften us, make us more pliable, more accepting of the fact that shit happens whether we like it or not. And then we begin to see that it's not shit, it's just life. It is what it is. Buddhists meditate on death and impermanence in order to embrace life in all its manifestations, and thus be fully alive.

One of my favorite quotes is from Buddha: "Suffering is wishing things are other than they are." And even though I remind myself of this quote all the time, I still get so hung up on “what’s right” and “what should be” and how people “should act.”  We’re so indignant about what the government “should have done” to alleviate the suffering. But what happened, happened. People are short-sighted. People let us down. People fail our expectations. It’s all part of this reality that flows onwards whether we think it “should” or not. We may try to do things better next time, but others won’t even make an attempt. That’s just the way it is. I don’t mean to sound callous about what’s happened; it’s just that I suddenly saw things very clearly this past week... that humans aren’t all that logical, despite all our illusions and wishful thinking, and it’s rather pointless to insist that they be. 

I suppose our challenge in Katrina's aftermath -- aside from doing something to help those who now have nothing -- is to choose whether we'll wake up to life as it really is, or simply continue business as usual while secretly refusing to acknowledge that our own lives are just as fragile, that we make mistakes, that we’ll have the rug pulled out from under us again and again, that we’ll get our indignant sense of rightness and righteousness threatened even as we hurt others in our own way.

These are the things we don’t like to think about. Although we know better, we keep secretly hoping that they’re the exception rather than the rule. 

Fact is, if we don’t take our next breath, we’ll die. If we don't get hit by a car tomorrow, or contract a fatal disease, or fall in the shower and crack our head open, then we'll experience the slow decay of our health and mental capacity through aging. Eventually we, and everyone we love, will die. And all the best-built levees in your soul can’t prevent any of these things from happening.

So we might as well think about them. We might as well acknowledge that they are a non-negotiable part of life, and no one is exempt. Many of you reading this have had major tragedies in your life, and you know what I'm talking about. You're already too-well connected with "life as it is." I think you're light-years ahead of everyone else, including myself. I admit to living a rather sheltered life, partly on purpose. So although I use the word "we" throughout this post, I really mean "me" ... and perhaps a few others who may read this and realize that they too are sheltering themselves from what is.

I’m starting to realize that it’s only when we open ourselves up to the good, the bad and the ugly -- acknowledging that it’s all the stuff of life -- that we can experience real freedom. Instead of reinforcing our walls and levees in a losing battle to keep the flood waters out, we can build a boat instead. It’s better to float with the current rather than drown in our disappointment and betrayed expectations. It’s better to be flexible in the wind rather than be snapped into pieces due to our rigidity and insistence on control. It’s better to open our heart and risk the inevitable hurt… for when we close ourselves off to selected parts of life, we really close ourselves off to all of it.

Reinvention

After 18 months of writing about branding and marketing, I hit the point of burn-out. So I'm making some changes that I hope will keep me interested and engaged in the blogosphere. I was inspired by a couple posts:

Jack/Zen: The Zen aesthetic has always been known for its simplicity - Zen gardens, poetry, and the like. It's communicating the essence, no more or less.

The question about creating simplicity in our life spaces, life styles, relationships, and work is the question: What is the essence of my life?

And therefore, what, if I took it away, would also take away a part of this essence? And what, if I kept it or added it to my life, would be unnecessary for this essence?

And from Evelyn Rodriguez:

...blogs are like places for me. Places for people. What is the place like? What types of people would hang out there? (Nope, not demographics, perhaps ethnographics work here.) For instance, I picture this blog as a salon, or an artist's colony...

As I ponder my withdrawal from blogging, I arrive at two conclusions:
1. Blogging hasn't been simple. Keeping up with all the information and ideas, getting inspiration to write the 'mandatory' 3x per week posts, rejecting people who asked to be included on my blogroll and feeling badly about it.... It became overwhelming.

2. If my blog is my salon, it should represent me... and it hasn't. Although I've tossed in my token "non-business" posts, my blog has felt decidedly one-dimensional. I don't know if I'd hang out in my own salon!

So I'm going to break some rules.

First, I'm not going to have a blogroll. I'll maintain a list of <10 links to blogs that I feel represent what's important to me, mainly on the business front (since this is mainly a business blog, of course). The people on my list have passion, occasionally challenge my thinking, and inspire me to see things differently. Or their philosophies agree with mine, so I feel smart. :-) Almost all of them I've met in person, and there's a depth to them that I appreciate. It was incredibly difficult to cut 40 links down to 8. Many of the blogs I cut I'll still read. Many of them I count as my friends. But in the name of simplicity and my sanity, I just have to take this step. Please accept my apologies if you're one of the blogs that I cut. I will continue to read blogs and link to/comment on interesting posts; IMO, that's more valuable than being buried in a list of links.

Second, I'm breaking my own rule and removing the stuffy business photo from my blog. It's been replaced (and will continue to change) to reflect more of my personality. I like to laugh and have fun! And if we're not having fun in our business, we should all take our marbles and go home.

Third, I'm probably not going to post every day... or even 3x per week. The beauty of RSS  is that I don't have to make a "sticky" site. When I'm inspired to write, it will show up in your reader.

Fourth, I'm going to expand my writing to reflect my diverse interests. I will stick to branding as the core of my writing, because my blog continues to be my best new-business tool. Yet I've been too focused on other's brands at the expense of my own. Every good brand is consistent yet multidimensional. My company brand is myself. So I'm going to risk being politically incorrect and say some things that may cause potential clients to wrinkle their foreheads... but I'm not going to worry about it. I think that's the beauty of Hugh McLeod's blog; he's quite unapologetically himself. And it certainly hasn't hurt him.

Last thought: I really like Jack/Zen's quote, What is the essence of my life? I make it a point to reinvent myself every couple years... when I feel that small nudge in my soul that hints, "hey, sluggard... it's time to move. Explore. Grow. Reinvent. There's an uncharted vastness yet to be tasted." I'm in one of those transitional phases now where I'm asking myself, "Who am I? What is the essence of my life? And where do I go from here?" Evelyn's blog inspires me because she doesn't hesitate to document her soul growth. I've always kept it to myself, and yet it's such a gift to witness another's willful blossoming. So perhaps I'll begin charting my own new direction on these very public pages. And hopefully, I'll renew my engagement with this community called the blogosphere.

Giving and accepting

This morning I'm finally getting back into reading other blogs. It's been a while; I had to take a break from information overload!  One thing that jumped out at me so far was  Ton's concern over how the US government is handling the Katrina disaster. He notes that

US Government has not requested, and in some instances refused, international offers of help, although offers abound. (Meanwhile the press harrasses UN officials why the international community isn't doing more, to which everytime the answer is that the US Government must ask and allow itself to be helped.)

And this is why I like reading news from outside the US; I certainly haven't heard this disturbing information. Are we "too good" to accept help from others? Or do we just need to feel like we're in control, and that to accept help is an acknowledgment of weakness? Why are we Americans the ones who always nose around in everyone else's business, unasked, and refuse to accept help when offered?

On a related note, there's been a huge rallying of support here in Dallas where many refugees are coming for shelter. I've met many people who are inquiring how we can help those who are now living in our convention center. I met one woman who'd gone to the site with bags of clothing and personal items, only to be turned away by Red Cross workers who said, "we don't need clothes here; we just need money." What??? These people have nothing. We, an incredibly rich society, have so much extra stuff we don't need, and we're willing to give it to those who do need it. And the Red Cross says, no thanks. I'd like to ask some families sitting in the convention center whether, right this moment, they'd like money to go to Red Cross instead of a change of clothes and a toothbrush. This isn't rocket science, folks.

My friends and I are having a "hurricane party" tonight where we'll all bring donated items for the refugees. The goods will go to a local hotel that's holding a free garage sale for the 35+ refugee families staying there, and we feel good knowing that we can directly help a few families in need. It's disappointing that our government and charities have put artificial barriers between the givers and the needy -- on both local and international levels -- functioning more as a bottleneck than a way to evenly distribute aid. It's a perfect example of the old "top/down" hierarchical structure versus the past (and newly emerging) grassroots, community-centric model.

Anyway, I'll stop there. I think we're all terribly disturbed by the recent events. I'm hopeful that this catastrophe, and the way it's been handled, will fuel some necessary changes in our system.