Passion, People and Principles
A friend let me know that he wanted to find out how well one of his seminars went, but after the work was done, he couldn’t get the client to return his phone calls. That happens to me, too, and it got me to wondering about people’s sense of business manners.
I think the best way to test what good manners are would be to identify what think we should do, not just what we want others to do to us.
So, think about this: In which of these circumstances do you return the phone call?
a) You have used someone’s services, and it was OK — not great, not disastrous, OK. They want to telephone you to discuss their performance. Do you take (or make) the call?
b) You have used someone’s services and you were disappointed. They want to telephone you to discuss their performance. Do you take (or make) the call?
c) You have asked someone for some detail about their services, with a view to considering hiring them. You decide that they are not someone you want to proceed with. Do you call them to tell them why, or just not respond to emails, letters and telephone calls?
d) You receive an enquiry by email about your services from someone who doesn’t fall within your “strategic screen.†(ie, they’re too small a company, too low level, the wrong type of topic.) They want you to call them to discuss hiring you. Do you place the call and tell them why you don’t want to work for them, or do you just not bother?
e) Someone wants to work for/with you as an employee and places a call. Do you return the call to explain why you don’t want to consider hiring them? Do you send a brush-off email? Do you just not reply?
f) Someone is interested in exploring a joint venture or alliance with you, something you have never wanted to do. Do you return the call either on the grounds of being open to new ideas, or on the grounds of being polite?
What are your policies?
post # 278 — January 9, 2007 — a Strategy post
I’m very interested in the evolution of professional businesses over time, and how they either evolve or transmute. Sometimes, it can be very confusing to identify what the core identity of the firm is. I have previously written about “one-firm firms†that tend to grow all their own people (ie promote from within) and achieve an ideological consistency. For better or for worse, you know what the firm is, what it stands for, and why it is different from others.
But many firms, in many professions, bring in lateral partners who “grew up†in other firms, and they can often predominate. I sometimes find myself facilitating strategic planning sessions about what shall “we†do when the sense of “we†is very unclear. It’s hard to build on a firm’s heritage and reputation, for example, if most of the people are “immigrants.â€
If a firm has been built (as many are) through mergers, acquisition of foreign outposts, diversification through absorption of neighboring states. It can end up having little trace evidence of what it was or where it was when it started. After numerous transitions of personnel, services, locations, leadership and ownership, (often in a short period of time) it can be hard to figure out whether there is ANY meaningful way in which the firm can be referred to as the same entity as it was thirty years previously. If that’s so, what does it mean to say there is a firm?
On the other hand, you could look at it like a cooking recipe. A unique blend of immigrants CAN (eventually) define the firm. If you trace the history of the British Isles, you find that you get English people by mixing in a specific recipe of Celts, Angles, Saxons, Danes, Vikings, and Normans. (With a few other spices thrown in over the years.)
In the US, you forge Americans through what? A huge mixture of backgrounds, held together by what? (Some trivia for you: who was the first US president who grew up speaking, as his first language, a language other than English? Answer, Martin Van Buren who grew up speaking Dutch.)
You could argue that the evolution (and success) of the US is based on (a) the fixed points of the constitution melding with (b) waves upon waves of constant immigration, which kept the country entrepreneurial and vibrant.
Could the same be true for a business? Is it or can it be a good thing to bring in significant numbers of people trained and developed elsewhere, and if it is, how do you “meld†them into one organization rather than have them pull in the different directions that reflect their different heritages?
post # 277 — January 8, 2007 — a General post
When you develop your friendship skills, it can help your business life as much as it helps your personal life. Clients go with providers who can:
- make them feel at ease;
- make them feel comfortable sharing their fears and concerns;
- can be trusted to look after them as well as their transaction; and
- are dependably on their side.
In other words, the social skills that earn you the position of “trusted friend or advisor†are the same in a business situation as they are in a personal context.
My latest podcast episode, entitled Cultivate the Habits of Friendship, explores how you can develop your friendship skills. It is never too early (or too late!) to learn how to earn and deserve trust.
Timeline
02:37 – Exercise your friendship skills
03:49 – How to develop a talent for friendship
08:33 – A “client-centric” approach to friendship
10:24 – 4 attitudes you can cultivate for better relationships
15:41 – How to make deposits in your “trusting relationship bank”
18:26 – The key lesson: friendship skills are learnable
You can download Cultivate the Habits of Friendship or sign up to receive new Business Masterclass seminars automatically with iTunes or other podcast players. (Click here for step-by-step instructions on how to subscribe.) My seminars are always available for download at no cost.
post # 276 — January 5, 2007 — a Careers post
Here’s a question I received by email that I bet many of you could help with.
David – I think I’m in a mid-career crisis. I love what I do and I’ve found a great organization in which to do it. Coworkers and clients are great and I’m asked to be more creative and given more autonomy (and more money, incidentally) than ever before. My problem is that I’m having trouble motivating myself to do my best work.I don’t understand it – I’ve worked so hard to get here, and I’ve enjoyed that hard work. I don’t know if this is burnout or not. I’m early 30’s, finished a master’s while working full time, worked in high-profile roles in a couple of Fortune 200 companies and have always been labeled a high-achiever.
How do I motivate myself, so that I can motivate those around me? I’m experiencing some pretty severe cognitive dissonance over this – my behavior just doesn’t match my idea/expectations of myself, but no one else seems to notice. Thanks in advance, L.
Well, L., the main thing I want to say is: “welcome to the club!†I don’t want to minimize the distress you must be feeling, merely point out that your experience is not at all uncommon. Certainly I have been through what you describe on a number of occasions, and I would be amazed if most high achievers had not.
Sometimes, you just reach a point where you need to lie fallow and let the mental “soil†regain its nutrients. I’m not qualified to comment on the science of this, and not licensed to be a therapist, but my own experience and my observation of others is that it’s a necessary part of all creative activity.
It’s only scary if you start believing the falsehood that “you’ll never get back†to your former dynamism, and those are normal fears to have. (Again, I know.) But the truth is that the odds that you will be stuck forever in a “I don’t feel motivated to do anything†mode is very small. Unless you’ve got a clinical problem, my advice is to forget about it and just enjoy your down time.
I know that sounds easier to say than do, but like many emotional and mental things, the key is not to try too hard. To take just one analogy: it’s kind of like having jet lag after some intercontinental travel, and you’re in some hotel room wide awake at 3am. There’s no point “trying†to fall asleep if it’s not gonna happen, and there’s no point adding worry to the problem of sleep loss. You’d be better advised to call room service for a snack or some breakfast, read a book, and go with the flow.
I wrote about the elusive phenomenon of motivation in MANAGING THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICE FIRM.
Here’s what I had to say there:
“Everybody must have had the following experience: You are responsible for a piece of work about which you just cannot seem to get excited. It is not that the task is too difficult, too easy, or even inherently uninteresting: just that the spark is not there. Nevertheless, being dutiful, you sit at your desk and try to work at it, being neither productive nor doing your best work. Then the next morning, for some obscure reason, you begin to see the work in a new light. You approach the work in a new way, and begin to delve into the problem. Gradually, what had appeared as mundane now has an element of interest, which grows into curiosity, into fascination and ultimately into involvement, effort and productive, creative work. No amount of procedural work plans, tight supervision or incentive schemes could ever substitute for the inner motivation described in this anecdote as a means to achieve productivity, quality and, not coincidentally, professional satisfaction in a job well done.
This link between motivation and performance in professional work results in an interesting and important phenomenon: the motivation spiral. The elements of this spiral are as follows: high motivation leads to high productivity and quality, which leads to marketplace success. In turn, this results in economic success for the firm, allowing the firm to be generous with its rewards, including high compensation, good promotion opportunities and challenging work. This atmosphere of ample reward breeds good morale, which results in high motivation: and the cycle begins anew.
Of course, the spiral effect also works, all too effectively, in reverse. Poor marketplace success means poor economic success which means fewer rewards available to be shared. With lesser rewards, morale, and hence motivation, is low. This, inevitably and inexorably, leads to poor productivity and less than top quality, which reinforces the lack of marketplace success. In professional work environments, success breeds success, and failure sets the scene for more failure. The spiral can begin, up or down, at any point. But once launched, its forces are hard to resist. In consequence, the motivation crisis is a very serious problem for any firm that allows it to take hold.â€
L., you may be in a spiral right now, but, as it says above, one morning, you’re going to wake up and you’ll see an element of interest in something, which will grow into curiosity, which will become engagement, then fascination, then true involvement. And you may never know what started the spiral upwards for you. Your main task right now is to NOT beat yourself up, and stay open to the possibility that something soon is gonna catch your interest.
Oh, and while you’re not fully engaged, try and fill the time with something interesting, so that your down time has SOME benefits. Read a book, go for a walk, play at a hobby.
By the way, a book that you might enjoy is “Exuberance: A Passion for Life†by Kay Redfield Jamison.
She’s a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and her book is a (well-researched but non-scholarly) description of people in history who have or had an extra dose of passion for life. It’s a GREAT read, and you’ll see that “recharging the batteries†was part of the life of all these people. You can’t be a dynamo 24/7/365 every year of your life, and you shouldn’t try to be.
OK everybody, please help L. Join in!
post # 275 — January 4, 2007 — a Strategy post
Rich Saletan (who built a very successful consulting firm and then sold it to a mega-firm), posed the following question:
How does a personal services company/consulting company of small to medium size continue after its founders and key management people “retire.” Sustainability of the “Brand” is what I am talking about. It seems to me that only larger entities have been able to make this transition. Your thoughts?
Rich, I’m not sure it has anything to do with size. My hypotheses are that if the founders / key managers want the institution (and it’s “brandâ€) to survive their departure then they must start doing some things many years before their planned departure. In particular, the founders must:
- Make sure that the brand of the firm is built on the reality that there are shared ways of behaving,values and consistent principles that underlie decision-making. The founders need to have ensured that they have enforced these through the years, thereby ensuring that only those who share (and live) the values are allowed to remain in the firm. A brand is what people consistently do, and it takes a decade or more to build that reputation for consistency. If the goal is to have the brand survive the founders, people must have been living the brand for so long, they cannot conceive of an alternative way of running the firm’s affairs.
- Start grooming their leadership successor(s), choosing them on the basis of their ability to be “high priests of the brand religion,†not for their business or rainmaking skills. The force of entropy is very high, especially when the founder departs — leaders must be left behind who have been carefully groomed and battle-tested as stewards of the cause, not self-interested individuals who will run the firm as personal fiefs. Choosing the next CEO is critical.
- Share power, decision-making authority and ownership very early in the life of the emerging firm, so that the up and coming next generation have a sense that it’s “our firm†very early on. It’s hard to make an overnight revolution from the dictatorship of the founder. Founders can often act like kings — their people will accept it. But few of their successors can get away with acting that way.
- Leave money on the table. I often say that the founders can either extract the maximum sales price or leave behind a vibrant institution, but they can’t do both. They must decide what they want.
Anyone else have an opinion on this?
post # 274 — January 3, 2007 — a Client Relations post
Previously, I asked what sales tactics had worked on you. As a follow up, I draw your attention to today’s WSJ (January 3, 2007, page D1) which has an article by Jonathan Clements on how so-called “advisers†manipulate you.
He notes that effective financial salespeople feign friendship, asking you all about yourself, pretending you have things in common.
He observes that “Popularity is a pretty good guide when picking things like movies and restaurants, so it’s comforting to hear that an investment is popular.†And hence we get suckered in to going with inappropriate things.
He makes reference to another ancient sales tactics: Giving a free lunch or offering supposedly inside information to create the sense of obligation that makes people more susceptible to buying.
He reports that one can obtain a free AARP book “Weapons of Fraud’ which outlines the tactics used by unscrupulous salespeople by emailing your name and address to weaponsoffraud@aarp.org.
Presumably, the theory behind the book is that, by being aware of the manipulative techniques that salespeople use, we will have better defenses.
I’m not so sure.
Note that these “tactics†are incredibly similar, if not completely identical, to how someone would behave if they really were trying to be helpful to you. Here’s someone showing an interest in me, giving ideas away first to earn my trust, from an institution that I’ve heard of (the popularity or brand effect). That’s what a REAL trusted advisor would do isn’t it?
I recently (skim-) read a book by Kevin Hogan called “The Psychology of Persuasion: How to Persuade Others to Your Way of Thinking.â€
Aimed primarily at salespeople, it is one of the most effective and terrifying books I have ever read. It summarizes and communicates clearly all the manipulation techniques most likely to work when selling a product or service.
What’s so terrifying about it all is, that as today’s WSJ article points out, these tactics WORK. And yes, they work on you and me.
The difference, presumably, is that the salesperson is using all the techniques as “tricks†but without real sincerity behind them. The Trusted Advisor that my coauthors and I wrote about is likely to be doing all the same things but with a true desire to help.
So, the effectiveness of my defenses turn on the following question: if someone is doing and saying all the right (manipulative) things, how well do I think I can discriminate between those who are doing it to be truly helpful, and those who are doing the same things just to get my business? How good am I at spotting insincerity?
I’d like to think I’m terrific at it, but I have my doubts.
What do you think? How susceptible are we to the person with high skills and low motives?
post # 273 — January 2, 2007 — a General post
We all want to know how to change the thinking of our boss, our colleagues, our subordinates, our clients. But it’s very hard to do. After all,
“He who’s convinced against his will,
Is of the same opinion still.â€
(I remember this couplet from college days, but I don’t remember who wrote it.)
My experience has been that those who seem to like my work most tend to be people who already share my underlying assumptions (about professionalism, people and passion, to name only three things.) Those who do NOT share my assumptions do not seem to appreciate my work, and neither read my work nor hire me for consulting or seminars. I tend not to have the chance to engage in debates with those I would most like to reach – those who do not share my world view and might benefit from considering it. And, of course, vice versa.
The same “talking to ourselves” pheneomenon tends to be true in many fields. It’s not the left-wingers listening to right-wing radio broadcasts, and if they do, I doubt their views are changed by it. And Congressional and parliamentary debates are all posturing and rhetoric, rather than exercises in reasoning. The opposing parties don’t REALLY listen to the arguments of the other side, do they?Even trials often (mostly?) turn on the predispositions of the jury members – hence the thriving business of selling jury selection advice.
If we’re not REALLY engeged in discourse, what difference does ANY writer, speaker or consultant achieve? Do we all just preach to the already converted?
Ian Welsh, a prominent political blogger (he’s managing director of www.agonist.org) points out that even if you write for those who fundamentally agree with you, one serves a useful purpose by helping people clarify their reasoning and giving them the ammunition to debate and prevail in the discussions THEY need to have.
Is that what we writers, speakers and consultants do? Is that ALL we can do? Or can we truly convert people to different ways of seeing and understanding things than they started off with? If so, how?
post # 272 — January 1, 2007 — a General post
In the UK, it’s traditional for the Queen to announce so-called New Year’s honours, including knighthoods, dameships, OBEs membership in the ‘Order of the British Empire’ (yes, it’s still called that for the honor, but nowhere else). This year, as you may have seen, Bono (of U2) received a knighthood.
Without trying to be regal about it, here’s MY honors list for 2007, acknowledging the contributions of everyone who participated on this blog during the year.
Commentors 2006
A
Adnan, Lora Adrianse, Roma Ahuja, Jason Alba, Alberen, Grant Aldrich, David Alev, Scott Allen, Stephanie West Allen, Hugh Alley, Tyler Allison, Andreas, Angel, Recruiting Animal, Annette, Antoine Henry De Frahan, Steve Arpano
B
David B, Mark Baker, Ron Baker, Deepa Balaji, Martin Bamford, Lora Banks, Ann Bares, Chris Barrow, Uri Baruchin, John Beck, Jim Belshaw, Debra H. Bender, Jim Bennett, Ben, Rich Berger, Mel Bergstein, Phil Bernstein, Bud Bilanich, Bill, Friedrich Blase, Barend Blondé, Kent M. Blumberg, Wally Bock, Larry Bodine, Jerry Bogart, Sue Boggs, Bonnie, Eric Bostrom, Leo Bottary, Ed Boulton, Gary Bourgeault, David Bourgeois, Thomas M. Box, Mark Brady/fouro, Anne Braudy, Breakingranks, Ed Brenegar, Kevin Brennan, Bren, Lou Brothers, Bob Brown, Eric Brown, Paul Brown, Rob Brown, Bruce, Jean-Claude Brunner, Duncan Bucknell, James Bullock, Nigel Burke, Tim Burrows, Paul Buseyne
C
Shawn Callahan, Martin Calle, Anita Campbell, David Campbell, Jimmy Campbell, Sean Campbell, Johnny Canada, CarSinger, Sebastian Carey, Travis Carnahan, John Carroll, Allan Carton, Robert Edward Cenek, Prem Chandavarkar, Tom Chandler, James Cherkoff, Clarke Ching, Sunil Choudhary, Chris, Eric Christiansen, Todor Christov, John Clough, Elizabeth Cockle, Colin, Tom Collins, Geoff Considine, Niall Cook, Robert Crampton, Dan Crites, Ctd, Curt
D
DUST!N, Petri Darby, Peter Darling, Bob Daugherty, David, James Davidson, Andrew Davis, Jennifer Davis, Krishna De, Dean, Debbie, Dee, Todd Defren, Dennis, John Dillard, Ed Dodds, Ahmet Dogramaci, Bill Dotson, Stephen Downes, Norman Dragt, Lance Dunkin, Scott Dunn, Joanne Dustin
E
Francis Egenias, Heidi Ehlers, Carolyn Elefant, Emmanuel, Judy Erickson, Eric, Raissa Evans, Ron Evans
F
Steve Farber, Anna Farmery, Brad Farris, Adam J. Fein, Douglas Ferguson, David Ferrabee, Lindsay Fikowski, 1styearassociate, Kathy Fish, Doug Fletcher, John Flood, Dr. Leonhard Fopp, Donis W. Ford, Tristan Forrester, David Foster, Fouro, Linda Freedman(TherapyDoc), Allan Freeman, David Frey, Peter Friedes, Dean Fuhrman, Jordan Furlong
G
David G, Edward Gabrielse, Ganesh, Barbara Garabedian, Charlie Garrard, Gareth Garvey, Gautam, Alexei Ghertescu, David Giacalone, Mike Gilronan, Matt Ginn, Paul Gladen, Dave Glynn, Michelle Golden, Marcel Goldstein, GordonG, Phil Gott, Brooks Gould, Mark Gould, Mark Graban, Gordon Gray, Charles H. Green, Tim Griffin, Clive Griffiths, Dan Griffiths, Lisa Guinn, Peter Gwizdalla
H
Isabelle Hakala, David Harmon, Andy Havens, Jim Hayward, Ken Hedberg, Beverly Hedrick, Hejustlaughs, Lori Herz, Markus Herzog, Joseph Heyison, Tom Hoff, GL Hoffman, Marc Hoppers, Amanda Horne, Chris Horne, Dennis Howlett, Robert Hruzek, Huda, Hunter, Jol Hunter, Laura Hunter, Jon Husband, Kami Husye
I
S. Anthony Iannarino, Paul Illes, Carl Isenburg, Lee Iwan, Lori Iwan
J
David Jacobson, Patrick Jacques, Eric C Jaffe, Jaylpea, Ron K Jeffries, Jennifer, Jld, Joan, John, Stuart Jones, Jon, Joscelyn, Jose, Josh, Juliet
K
Cem Kaner, Steve Kaplan, Danielle Keister, Rita Keller, Tim King, David Kirk, Alexander Kjerulf, Edward J Kless, John Koetsier, Kok Van Der Weijden, David Koopmans, John Kottcamp, Mark Kraemer, Howard Krais, Greg Krauska, Peter Kua
L
Patrick J. Lamb, Ron Lamb, Norma Laming, Van Lanier, David Law, Miriam Lawrence, Greatest American Lawyer, Steven Ledgerwood, Dave Lee, Ed Lee, Mark Lee, Wendy Leibowitz, Moe Levine, Bruce Lewin, Stuart Liroff, Dave Livingston, Dave Lorenzo, Howard Lovatt, Karen Love, Suzanne Lowe, Tom Lowe, Toby Lucich, Ludwig, Andrew Lumsden, Simon Luscombe
M
Brett M, Tim MMF, MOHAN KRISHNAN, Bruce MacEwen, Macz, Greg Magnus, Manny, Mark Maraia, Marco Antonio P. Gonçalves, Markkleeberg, Stephen Marshall, Susan Marshall, Arnoud Martens, Mason, James Mason, Matt Mason, A F Massari, Lisa Mather, Hugo Matislaw, Steve Matthews, Matt, Ed Mays, Erik Mazzone, Alex McCafferty, Lex McCafferty, Moray McConnachie, Erin McCune, Patrick McEvoy, Sharon McGann, Jim McGee, Pat McGee, Bob McIlree, Francine McKenna, Patrick J. McKenna, Michael McKinney, Alexander McLaren, Chris McLaughlin, Malcolm McLelland, Mel, Jeff Merrifield, Carol Metzker, Ann Michael, Mike O’Horo (“The Coach”), Mike, Milan, Warren Miller, MillionDollarCountDown, Maggie Milne, Cristian Mitreanu, Johnnie Moore, Matt Moore, Stephanie Fox Muller, Dan Murray, Mike Myatt
N
Arvind Nadkarni, Rob Nance, Nancy, Nancy Roggen, Liz Nash, Mark Needham, Ludwig Ng, Nicole, Miika Niemelä, Nneka
O
Paul O’Byrne, Eileen O’Hara, Old Secretary, Orikinla Osinachi, Erek Ostrowski
P
Jan Pabellon, Justin Patten, Paughnee, Yiannis Pavlou, Steven Pearce, Bill Peper, Tim Percival, Bill Perry, Florin Petean, Peter, Erich Peters, David Phillips, Lars Plougmann, Jerry Van Polen, John Eric Pollabauer, Steve Portigal, Barbara Walters Price, Gregory Price
Q
Deborah Crawley Quinn
R
RJON, Manoj Ranaweera, Prem Rao, Lyman Reed, Joe Reevy, Russell Rensburg, Ric, Rightwingprof, Jeff Risley, James Robertson, Rob, Steve Roesler, Rolf, Rolf Van Der Meer, Suzanne Rose, Steve Rucinski, Roman Rytov
S
Kosol S., Nick Saban, Jon Sacker, Jeff Sansone, Mike Sansone, Mark Schenk, Brent Schlenker, Spencer Schmerling, Frank Schophuizen, Bryan I. Schwartz, Scott, Tim Scout, Rusty Scupper, Stephen Seckler, Abram Serotta, Rajesh Setty, Roland Shankles, Peter Shaw, Gavin Sheehan, Paul Shillam, Steve Shu, Shuchetana, Coach Shweta, Tom Siebert, Linas Simonis, Carl A. Singer, Carl Singer, Brijinder Singh, Johan Sleegers, Andrew Smith, David A. Smith, Michal Sobczyk, Brian Sommer, Sonnie, Dustin Staiger, Terry Starbucker, Starbucker, Constantinos Stavropoulos, Mark Stevens, Brit Stickney, Prashant Subhedar, Bob Sutton, Nut Suwapiromchot
T
Dan T., Zale Tabakman, David Tebbutt, Ted, Tojo Thatchenkery, Kathleen O’Brien Thompson, Stephen Thomson, Ava C. Thorin, Mister Thorne, Joseph Thornley, Richard Thornton, Charles Tippett, Tired Secretary, Eric Tong, Stefan Topfer, Fiona Torrance, Rick Turoczy, Stefan Töpfer
V
Peter Vajda, Tom “Bald Dog” Varjan, Coert Visser, Von Von
W
Dan W, Michael Wagner, Liam Wall, Bo Warburton, Warren Miller, ASA, CPA, Neha Wattas, Michael Webb, Ellen Weber, Michael Webster, Alan Weiss, Ian Welsh, Ed Wesemann, Fred Wiersma, Mott Williamson, Clyde Willis, Susan Wittenoom, Darren Woolley, Bob Worley, Vicky Wright, Jay Wynn
Z
John Zapolski, David Zatz, Hyokon Zhiang, Zorak163
Trackbacks 2006
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View From a Height
Votelaw
Wealth Building World
What About Clients?
What’s on Mike’s Mind
Why I FAILED
Widows Quest
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Work Matters
Worker Bees Blog
Working at Home on the Internet
Working Solo
WUCL Career Services News
wWw SirLook Network
www.votala.com
Zale Tabakman
Zen and the art of Nonprofit Technology
Zmetro.com
Podcast Trackbacks 2006
Bryan C. Fleming
Cool Podcasts
Corporate eLearning Development
Forward Blog
Infamy or Praise
Jibber Jobber Blog
Kishore Balakrishnan’s Blog
Law.com Inside Opinions: Legal Blogs
LAWYERSCHILE EL MUNDO INTERNACIONAL DEL ABOGADO
Lunatic Wisdom: Life Beyond the Matrix
MANGROVE ROOT GANG.com
Michael’s Thoughts
Pro PR
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Show Me the Money
Spooky Action
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third life
TrackKnacks: Aptitude Wizard Watch
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Quite a list, isn’t it? If you’d like a title to go with the hono(u)r, how about we call ourselves “Members of the Passion, People, Principles and Professionalism Party†(MPPPPP)?
(To pronounce it, sing it along to the tune of “Papa-Ooo-Mama-Mow.â€)
post # 271 — December 31, 2006 — a General post
Go have a look at Charlie Green’s A Better New Year’s Resolution. You’ll be glad you did.
post # 270 — December 26, 2006 — a Managing post
I received the following email from Matthew Moore:
David:
I have been mulling the life & work of the late, great James Brown and given your love of pop music, I thought I’d share this with you.
JB’s gift was as much collaborative as it was individual – he took musicians such as Maceo Parker and Bootsy Collins and then created environments where they did their best work. He was tough – he was legendary for fining musicians for insufficiently shiny shoes and bum notes. And most of his collaborators ended up leaving him eventually.
He was definitely a great leader. Was he a great manager? I dunno, but here are some things I learnt from JB:
- Give people the opportunity to shine. Everyone is his band gets an opportunity to showcase their particular talents. And results can be something like Funky Drummer or Superbad.
- Work with what you got. When JB remade his band (usually after the previous one had stormed out or been fired), he had to work with the talents of his musicians. Not every bass player is Bootsy Collins. But that doesn’t mean that the bass can’t be a compelling part of the track.
- High standards are not popular but very important.
- Less is more. Cold Sweat has virtually no chord changes but is mesmerising.
- How the parts fit together is key. Funk works not just because you have great individual musicians but because the basic elements (polyrhythmic drumming, synchopated bass lines, horn stabs) play off each other in a rhythmically compelling way.
I don’t live up to these lessons but I think there will be a picture of JB next to my laptop for a few weeks.
There are also some negative lessons from the life of JB (beating up your wife, smoking PCP, alienating your most talented colleagues) but I don’t want to dwell on those now.
Seasons greeting, Matt Moore
