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Politics and the Engine of Business

January 28, 2009

I know that an engine is a series of highly integrated and interconnected parts that have very small tolerances. And I know that oil is the main ingredient that buffers each surface and allows these parts to move very rapidly. And without this oil, the parts will be reduced to hitting each other. This creates heats and damage; eventually there will be a catastrophic failure and the entire engine will blow. Then you are left with a car that looks like a car on the outside but has zero functionality, save for the radio!

I get it, the oil is like politics; it’s the grease that ensures the proper movement of the smaller parts to produce the much desired resultant.  However, I never cared much for the political side of the business.  But, let’s take a closer look at this, because I fear we get confused. When I rethink the above metaphor, what I really see are the following components:

  •        An engine – well, this can be a company or organization or team of any sort
  •        Smaller parts – I suppose this represents the individuals or groups or departments of folks. The bottom line is that the small parts ultimately consists of people.
  •        Oil – In our example above, the oil is often referred to as ‘politics’. Let’s go with this for now.
  •        The resultant – Here the engine has a purpose or outcome. This is the reason the engine exists; for a series of purposes. In real life, the engine delivers power that sparks momentum (pun intended!) and with this inertia we receive a change in location (we were here and now we are there). This change in location could be a sales goal or business strategy and so forth along the analogy vector.

However, is it really safe to say that the oil is politics? I’m not feeling that one, sorry to bust your nice metaphor. But, what really serves as the layer of protection between people? After all, this is what we talked about when we were praising the magic of the oil. How do people work together at a high rate of speed with very low tolerances between integrated points?  The answer is found in leadership. This is the true oil. Leadership creates the necessary layer of ‘protection’,  if that’s the best word to describe it and I’m convinced that it is not, that protects people.

Leadership must create a safe space where people can trust. A place where people can have the right conversations. It’s a mechanism that produces highly invested people who share the resultant at the highest level. It’s a bunch of folks that actually care and are stimulated to action by their passions of doing what’s right and not afraid to share this information by being vulnerable and accountable to each other. Its understanding that you will elevate yourself only after elevating the engine by achieving the resultant!

Now that that is on the table, we are still left with that term ‘politics’ or ‘acting political’. Don’t sell yourself short by just assuming some level of magic happens that covers off leadership and label it ‘politics’. Don’t say, well it’s political so we’ll have to wait and see. Don’t think that anything is too political. Call it how you see it… acting political is really done by people who are very short sighted. These folks think that they need to elevate themselves by elevating themselves. They don’t see the power that the shared engine can bring. So, acting political is really the process of adjusting what you say to fit your immediate audience.  Doesn’t that really resound with you after watching ‘politics’ on TV?

Bottom line is: “Let your yes be yes and your no be no!” In other words, do what you say and say what you do. Be a straight shooter. Be honest and accurate. Follow through – make your words powerful by embracing them with action.  Sometimes, this crazy world makes sense when one person makes a stand by seeing the issue and being genuine about it.

~   Scott Felten

Written by Scott Felten · Filed Under Business & Leadership | 2 Comments 

LUCRUM Radio – Episode 15, Kevin Dugan

January 28, 2009

Kevin Dugan is one of the leading voices in the world of social media, and fortunately for us, he happens to be from Cincinnati.  He is currently the Director of Marketing Communications for FRCH Design Worldwide, and he is one of the people behind the wildly successful and rapidly growing Cincinnati Social Media Breakfast series.

In this episode of LUCRUM Radio, Kevin I discuss, among other things, snow emergencies, the rubber chicken lunch, the history of the Social Media Breakfast, the upcoming breakfast featuring Pandora’s Tim Westergren, the importance of social media, the ways in which social media is changing the dynamic of the workplace, and tips for people wondering how to join in the conversation.

Thanks to Kevin for taking time away from shoveling his driveway, sledding, being a social media guru, and getting actual work done on this snowy Ohio day to share some of his unique insights.  I hope that you enjoy this episode of LUCRUM radio as much as I enjoyed

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SMB Cincinnati

Written by davidebowman · Filed Under Podcast | 1 Comment 

Pandora – brought to you by LUCRUM

January 20, 2009

One of the hardest tickets in town to get is to the Social Media Breakfast.   Every couple months, this event brings together some of the best and brightest people from all across the community – all of whom have an interest in social media.   I managed to score tickets to the the 2nd event they held, which was back in August.  Since then I have not been able to get my schedule to jive with events or have just not been quick enough on the draw to score one of the very limited seats.  However, the next Social Media Breakfast is one that I just can not miss.  In fact, we are so interested in being there that LUCRUM is sponsoring it.

The speaker for the next SMB is none other than Tim Westergren – founder of one of the most amazing sites I have ever visited on the internet, Pandora.com.  For those who are not familiar with Pandora, it is a site that is dedicated to playing music you’ll love – and nothing else.   You visit Pandora, enter in some of your favorite songs or artists, and it begins to reward you with a continuous stream of music you love.  When something exceptional plays, you have the option of giving it the “thumbs up.”  This lets Pandora know more about your preferences and tastes.  Occasionally, it will play something you do not love so much, at which time you apply the “thumbs down.”  By doing so, the site begins to learn what it is you enjoy about music at its very core, and continuously improves its ability to find music you love – old, new, popular, and obscure.  Every time I have ever told someone about the site, they have been quickly enthralled by its ability to instantly mesh with their musical inclinations.

How do they accomplish this mission? Data.  The good people at Pandora devised something known as the music genome project – a sort of DNA for musical compositions.  The project looks at the essential building blocks of music.  Each and every song contains these building block, and there are some you probably enjoy more than others.   Pandora maps these building blocks to your preferences.  It is frighteningly intuitive.  Even better you can share your “radio stations” with other Pandora users – allowing them to check out your musical tastes.  Additionally, you can buy music through the site, explore biographical information pertaining to your favorite artists, and connect with other music fans from around the world.

So why would LUCRUM be interested in sponsoring a meeting about a site that delivers great music to users?  Simple, because what Pandora does is precisely what we hope to do for our Clients every day – use technology to solve a problem they have.  Pandora solves my problem of not having enough time to search for new music to listen to.  It listens to the information I provide, understands what I am looking for, and then seemlessly delivers great results.  Pandora is an amazing example of the power represented by data.

At LUCRUM we specialize in helping our Clients make better business decisions by transforming their data into useful business information and aligning the capabilities of technology with their vision of future success.  What Pandora does for individual lovers of music, we do for businesses.  I am delighted that LUCRUM can be involved with bringing Mr. Westergren to town to share his story, and I hope you will join us at the Social Media Breakfast.

The event will be held on Monday, February 2nd from 7:30 am until 9:30 am at LPK’s Brand Innovation Center at 22 Garfield Place.  Visit the Social Media Breakfast website for more information.

The Power of Innovation During a Recession

Written by davidebowman · Filed Under Featured, LUCRUM News | 3 Comments