The Culture of New Ideas - Parts 1 & 2

To create a culture  bending artistic and commercial statement that enlightens lives through viewing (listening), and generates personal success for the believers who make it go. Below are a few realities learned

Part one:

Just because big companies do it doesn’t mean it’s right.

TRUTH: If your company is truly all about evolution and change,  following the guys you are going to beat,  or emulating a “hot” company isn’t always the best path . Learn from them but Follow YOUR plan with great passion, urgency and precision.  Learn and understand the leaders but make your own magical noise 

The meaning of local is ever expanding

TRUTH:  in media, Local continues to expand outward.  Once it was your neighborhood…then your town.  In fact we are rapidly entering a global age where “local” is national is global.  Communities can scale differently 

Most people are relative Luddites

TRUTH:  Go ahead,  go to a diner or someplace that the mainstream hangs out at.  Ask them what cloud computing or algorithms are-no clue.  Keep it VERY simple.  Back at XM there were those who thought words like “terrestrial ”  and ‘repeaters’ were language of the streets.  Tech speak is worse than J-speak and Biz speak when dealing with the new mainstream.  Speak English when talking to the street — in today’s digital world that can be a challenge

Younger doesn’t mean hipper

TRUTH:  The James Dean era is over.  Often younger can mean dumber. Less worldly. The world,  even young people, respect no BS authenticity which transcends “youth.” It’s about mental age —- how you think and act rather than the time zone you’re rooted in

Denial is a powerful competitive tool

TRUTH:  Let competitors bash you.  I found it far more valuable to understand the competitor rather than bash or go bravado. In today’s terms—Politician bashers can be especially blind to reality.  Like or despise ——it’s better to understand the appeal to best put it in pro or con reality context.  It’s a matter of understanding issues so you can deal with them with authority rather than raw emotion

AFDI

TRUTH: SO CRITICAL.  DOING instead of talking about it.  We don’t need no “mission statement”—its simply AFDI.  Lots of big talkers,  meeting addicts  and haters,  not a lot of doers

Track records are irrelevant

TRUTH:  Unless you WANT to hire thinkers often tied to their pasts rather than what is next.  I doubt if Kurzweil blindly thought–“WOW, theres a guy from Casio!  Better hire him/her.”  In our case, its all about three things:  High IQ, Low BS and Aptitude.  This is probably more relevant than ever in the digital era:  http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/find-digital-rock-stars/298191/

“Its all about balance”

Part two:

REALITY IS THE SCRIPT.  NO NEED TO MAKE ANYTHING UP…IT’S ALL THERE:  The essence of Modern storytelling is that we are street  Reality,  not scripted  Network reality.  The world is an amazing place…the world is the script. Plus you can’t make up the craziness we’re seeing these days.

EYE EAR BRAIN ELEVATES THE MUNDANE TO MAGICAL.  The big three— EYE EAR BRAIN

Adding extreme creative to mainstream topics engages on a whole new level.

THE BUREAUCRACY OF WESTERN MEDIA IS WONDERFUL….FOR US. You have to operate at the speed of 2020 Smart…agile…urgent,  but never at the expense of brilliant.  While they’re debating,   we can be doing.  Even if we do something wrong,  we act fast enough to fix….while they’re still debating.

EVERY REVOLUTION IS AN EVOLUTION OF THE PREVIOUS REVOLUTION…IN OTHER WORDS YOU CANT TWEAK TO REVOLUTION,  YOU NEED TO ARM IT WITH NEW IDEAS AND METHODS…AND BELIEVE IN YOUR MISSION.    Its the balance of science and emotion tied to a clear modern game plan that wins media wars

VANILLA IS THE GREAT ENEMY,  RIGHT NEXT TO  PC  — YOU MUST DISTURB TO CHANGE

CLICHES ABOUT DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS ARE DEADLY …. THE WORLD IS FRAGMENTING NOT UNIFYING. Let the hacks debate “Millennial” and Generation____ which is, well, ridiculous in a world of so many different viewpoints

THE GLOBAL BS RADAR IS ON HIGH ALERT  YOU CANNOT TRICK PEOPLE AND GENERATE FANS FROM THAT.  First!  Best!   Bullshit.

AVERAGE SUCKS.  TAKE RESTAURANTS—GREAT IS A HIGH END BRILLIANT CHEF OR AN AMAZING DIVE—THE MIDDLE GROUND IS THE PROBLEM. Cant be both that funky Ribs joint on the South Side AND the amazing place that’s impossible to book.   And much old media works hard to filter everything to be average,  acceptable and status quo.

NOT EVERYONE WILL LIKE THE NEW IDEAS Thats cool,  because a lot will.  Trying to reach EVERYbody is a recipe for disaster. Have a plan…execute it and we win.  Trying to pander to traditional thinking or this week’s new digital hot button  and it’s  just another yawn.

ITS THE PEOPLE.  The #1 advantage is recruiting an Army of amazing people with the aptitude to grasp and elevate! Balancing street cred with a sense of history and a playbook geared to…win.