Can money buy meaningful work?

Source: ImagesOver the past few weeks, there have been a few stories surrounding Google’s recent ‘brain drain’ to Facebook. These stories were given a certain level of credence last week when Business Insider reported that Google was giving all its employees a $1000 bonus and a 10% raise. Furthermore, BI also reported that Google is giving its top execs a 30% salary Source: Google Imagesincrease. Thought leaders in the tech arena seem to believe that these new incentives are Google’s way of persuading its employees to stay there, rather than defect to the rapidly growing Facebook. One of the rumored reasons why Facebook seems to be the employer of choice these days because of its potential to go public, which could make many people very rich ... very quickly.

Here is my question though, can money buy meaningful work? In what I believe to be a legendary blog post, Seth Godin wrote about the future of labor. According to Godin, the future of labor belongs to passionate people who want to do work that matters. Although this post talked about people in manufacturing industries, I think it can be just as easily related to other industries, including the tech world. So if the future belongs to people who want to do work that matters (meaningful work), then I think firstly we must ask... what on earth is meaningful work?

I do not think there is one set definition for meaningful work; however, I believe the closest answer was given to us by the brilliant author Dan Pink. In his book Drive (which I have not read yet, but will review as Source: Google Imagessoon as I do) and this fantastic TED talk, Dan talks about 3 factors that surround intrinsic motivation: Autonomy, mastery and purpose. I believe that any kind of work that allows someone to experience one or more of these traits can be considered to be meaningful work.

Going back to my original question then, can money buy meaningful work? Well, based on what I just defined as meaningful work, no money cannot buy it. However, just because money cannot buy it, does not mean organizations cannot enable it. In fact, in Dan Pink’s TED talk, he mentions Google’s famous 20% time. I think if Google focused more on policies like that, which allow employees to develop a sense of intrinsic motivation toward their jobs, the Company may have less to worry about.

Final thoughts: Money isn’t everything. To me, it’s a table stake. There will always be a certain part of us that is extrinsically motivated and money is one of the strongest extrinsic motivators; however, as Godin says... the future belongs to people who want to do work that matters, in other words, work they love. I think the Beatles got it right:
“Cause I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love.”

If you can't beat 'em, partner with 'em

Source: Google ImagesThis past week, Facebook made a couple of 'mobile' announcements, which I think reveal a significant amount about competition in the mobile space. One of the announcements was a new service called 'Deals,' which is essentially a location-based rewards service that awards users with discounts when they check-in to various locations. The other major announcement involved Facebook partnering with companies like Loopt, Zynga, Groupon and Yelp, to offer mobile users a "single-sign on." Essentially what this would allow users to do is login once (using their Facebook login) to have access to all these other services (as well as Facebook) via their mobile phones. 

These announcements led me to draw a couple of insights about the nature of competition in this space:

Loopt Logo (Source: Google Images)1. If you're out numbered, it may benefit you to join forces - Facebook has over 500 million users. Simple math dictates that a user base of this size would lead to a much larger amount of social information for anyone who interacts with the Facebook network. Based on this idea, it made complete sense for companies like Groupon and Loopt to partner with Facebook because it would help grow their own user base. For instance, Loopt users can now see where their Facebook friends are and interact with them easily; whereas before, they were only limited to their Loopt friends. Essentially what Facebook has done is created a massive network effect for all the companies that have chosen to partner with it. From the point of view of the customer, this is a huge benefit because of newly created ease of social connection (which is ultimately what all these services are driving to increase).

2. (Forgive me for being slightly misleading but this second insight is really more of a question) If you're a new start-up service that is looking to build a user base quickly... do you have any choice other than to partner with Facebook? Or to put it a slightly different way... is Facebook the all-mighty social power? I think this question cannot yet have a definitive answer. Though I have to acknowledge that Source: Google Imagesbased on recent announcements and acquisitions by the Company, it seems as though Facebook is quickly becoming the all-in-one solution for everybody's social needs. There were some rumours a few months ago about the possibility that Google may launch their own social networking platform called Google 'Me' ... however it seems as though they remained as rumours. I think it would be very interesting if a company with another large user base managed to develop a platform that would rival Facebook, but for right now it seems as though Mark Zuckerberg and his team are running away with the social glory.

Final Thoughts: Think about the consumer first, then look at your competition. What if you joined them rather than fought them? Would it ultimately benefit the consumer? Would it ultimately benefit you? If so, the choice is simple: If you can't beat 'em, partner with 'em.

Book Review: Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh

Source: Google ImagesTo put it simply, this was one of the most inspirational books I've ever read. I don't quite know how I would categorize the book; however, I don't really believe the author (Tony Hsieh CEO of Zappos) knew how he would categorize it either. To me it's really a story. A story about Tony's life and the lessons he has learned by living it. Additionally it is the story of a tribe and how Tony and his friends helped build it. I guess you could call it a quasi autobiography, although a good portion of this book is not about Tony at all.

Tony discusses many things in this book, including: a small history of how he got to where he is, the pursuit of happiness, how money isn't everything, building a tribe, the importance of culture and the core values of Zappos. For the purposes of this review I would like to discuss these last three points in a little more detail:

1. Build a tribe - In the book, Tony talks about different times in his life where he felt very connected to a Source: dhbook.comcertain ‘tribe’ of people. He mentioned how in awe he was at the power of a tribe. There have been a few books written on tribal leadership (one in particular by David Logan, you can also see a related TED talk here); however, I found many parallels between Tony’s story and Seth Godin’s concept of a tribe. The book illustrates the benefits and power of building a strong tribe (both internally with employees and externally with customers and partners). I think it should be part of every leader’s duty to build, grow, nurture and understand everything about their tribe. This concept can apply just as easily to brand managers as it can to CEOs.

2. "Your Culture Is Your Brand" - This is the title of one of Tony’s blog posts which he also re-wrote in the book. It is a truly insightful post and reveals the underlying principle behind what makes Zappos such a great brand … its culture. In the post (and the book) Tony outlines a fundamental problem facing companies today: you can never know exactly when a consumer is going to develop a perception about your brand. In order to combat Source: Google Imagesthis, Tony’s solution was to help create a culture that permeated the entire organization, such that every employee was a living, breathing representation of the brand. I think the question any manager/marketer needs to ask themselves here is: how much of an effect is the current organizational culture having on the company’s brand? What makes Zappos so successful is the synergy between brand and culture (in fact, Tony would say they are one in the same). Do you feel the same way about your brand?

3. Value no. 10: Be Humble - In my opinion, humility is one of the most admirable characteristics of a good leader. Although Tony talks about many successes in this book, he does so in a very humble way and that shows in his writing style. The combination of humility and brutal honesty certainly gave this book a lot more resonance and authenticity, and I think it can do the same for any leader.

Final Thoughts: This is one of those books that anyone can glean something from. It is a real life story of the pursuit of happiness and it is also a how-to guide for companies to deliver happiness. To say this book is a must-read would be an understatement. Here is one of my favourite quotes from the book, which I think encapsulates the entire book’s essence: “Envision, create and believe in your own universe, and the universe will form around you.” (Page 85).

What can marketers learn from an Apple press event?

Source: Google ImagesOn Wednesday of last week, Apple hosted an event at their headquarters called, "Back to the Mac." In a few ways this was a 'smaller' event, only open to a few PR folk and tech journalists; however, as usual it was broadcasted over the virtual airwaves of the Internet. To give you an idea of how much power Apple has on the Internet, take a look at this Google Insights chart. It compares the news trends for Apple and Microsoft over the past month (keep in mind, in this past month Microsoft has had a Windows Mobile 7 launch event and an Office launch event and has even announced the first series of games for the Kinect - which is its new gaming platform also launching this month). 

I have been following Apple's launch events for a while and I think there are a few key lessons that marketers can learn from them. Here are three: 

1. Build a tribe (As Seth Godin said) and deliver them relevant messages - Apple did not broadcast the announcement of this event to everyone in the world. Instead, the Company knew who to target and more importantly, what message to send. There are a few well-known tech blogs/journalists who follow Apple's movements religiously (Apple's tribe) and so Apple simply told them (here is the first sighting that I saw) about the event. Due to the inherent simplicity of the message and the reaching power of the tribe, the news of Apple's PR event went viral fairly quickly. There is a simple lesson here for marketers - form a tribe and send them relevant messages. In turn, they will send your messages to the world. 

2. A little suspense never hurt anybody - In the tech world (and perhaps in other worlds), suspense leads to rumours and rumours lead to buzz and buzz leads to a whole lot of people paying attention. Take another look at the invitation Apple sent out. It is so deceptively simple, just four words and a modified logo. The other brilliant thing Apple did here was release this invitation one week prior to the event. As most of you know, oneSource: Google Images week one the Internet is enough to get a Company to change its logo... cause chaos... and change its logo back (Sorry GAP). The lesson for marketers here is: the creation of anticipation and excitement before launching a product, could very well lead to tremendous success after launching a product. There is a fine line though because people may be disappointed (after expecting too much).. so use suspense wisely. 

3. Never forget.. the element.. of .. SURPRISE! To all of you who are seasoned Apple fans... you will be familiar with the three famous words, "One more thing." Steve Jobs usually utters these words at the very end of his keynote to throw out something surprising or unexpected to the audience. I am not sure exactly when he started doing it; however, ever since he did, it's one of the most highly anticipated moments in his one of his keynotes. Once again the lesson here for marketers is a simple one - surprising your customer with valuable can easily lead to a delighted customer. I believe this applies just as strongly to product marketers as it does to service marketers. 

Final thoughts: Advertising Age Magazine recently awarded Apple with the title of "Marketer of the Decade" (It was the first award of its kind). Whether its about creating products that market themselves or building an insane about of anticipation for a new announcement, I think any marketer can learn something from Apple. 

What if Gap changed its logo a few years ago?

Source: Google ImagesFiasco and catastrophe just about sum up what happened to one of Gap Inc's iconic brands Gap recently. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, long time marketing reporter Bob Garfield does a great job of explaining it in this ad age article. In this article Bob explains the nature behind an iconic brand and why it extremely risky to try and change any aspect of one. In addition to Bob, Umair Haque (a brilliant blogger for the Harvard Business Review) wrote a blog post that I think truly sums up what Gap should have done.

The aspect of this entire Gap story that amazed me the most was the fact that a social media outcry, caused a complete reversal in a massive company decision... in one week. What if Gap changed its logo a few years ago? I highly doubt the company would have had to take back its decision and even if it did, there is a no way it would have happened so quickly. I think there a couple of key points about social media that any digital marketer can at take away from this story (they are more so fundamental truths about the state of marketing today really)

1. If you're willing to engage in social media, then prepare to be hit by the truth.. good or bad - The one aspect about social media that I find truly wonderful is transparency. If a customer is truly disappointed with something a brand has done, that customer will not hold back his or her inner most thoughts. Similarly, a customer will likely do the same thing if he or she is delighted by the action of a brand.

2. When social media speaks, listen up - The one thing I think Gap did right in this whole fiasco was that it listened. The Company was open about the fact that consumers did not like their new logo and that it was in fact going to change the logo back. This shows Gap was listening but more importantly that it cared about what it was hearing.

3. No matter how hard you try, not everyone is going to like you - The quicker a brand comes to terms with this, the easier dealing with it becomes. It is important for brands to focus on the catering to consumers that do like what the brand stands for; however, it is equally as important for brands to learn about where they are falling short. Social media is a fantastic ground for the latter.

Final thoughts: engaging in social media requires constant attention and quick action. Customers are choosing to follow your brand so the very least you can do is listen when they speak out to you. The truly great companies will act and act fast. I think that in a few months or so, Gap won't be remembered for its catastrophic logo experiment, but rather for its ability to listen and act, when social media spoke up.