It’s graduation season and college students everywhere are obsessing over their next moves. I have just one piece of advice:
Go find a really bad job.
Before you break out in a cold sweat, hang with me. Here’s what you get in return:
A paycheck. A couple years ago a young man graduating from the college group at our church showed me his list of requirements for his first job. I was floored. From salary to location to the type of office, his requirements were way out of line. This is an extreme example of an all too common problem. Don’t expect to “have arrived” at your first job. Think of this as a starting point – a way to pay your dues and build a resume – and a way to stay out of your parents’ extra bedroom.
An opportunity to learn. There is so much to be learned as you enter the workforce. A “bad” job means fast track learning. When I look over my professional experience, the difficult and challenging opportunities were the ones that taught me the most.
Perspective. We’ve hired many students straight from school and there is often a common problem of lack of perspective. You don’t know a good opportunity until you’ve seen the flip side. Once you have a boss that requires you to work sixty hour weeks, you realize that forty hours isn’t all that bad. When you have a truly unreasonable employer, you’ll realize that someone with high standards is actually fair and challenging. Every student needs to see the real – and sometimes ugly – side of the professional world. You’ll be a much happier person throughout your career when you gain that perspective.
So happy career searching! Find a job. Learn from that job. Learn what you like, what you don’t like, and what motivates you. You’ll never find a “perfect” job, but you’ll come much closer when you have a full perspective.
What bad jobs have you had? And what did they teach you?
Even with the many template options, there are many times that the best option for a blog is a custom design. And while the term “blog” used to refer to an online journal, blogs have now become a portal to your full site. Your “blog” site may include a store, media, events calendars and galleries.
Whether you’re running a dog grooming business or giving parenting advice, one size does not fit all. Custom blog development should start with the strategic question, “What do we ultimately want visitors to do?” and then create an online experience that uniquely expresses the individual’s or organization’s personality and drives conversions.
Evaluating your organization in today’s rapidly-changing world can be overwhelming. But having a clear picture of what should change and what should stay the same helps you focus your strategy and keeps you from making changes just for the sake of change.
There are two essentials critical to developing a business idea or organization:
“What you do” – the marketplace need that you answer
“How you do it” – the methods that you use to meet the need
The “what” will often remain the same. As long as the need exists in the marketplace, you’re in business. When the “what” is too often changed, organizations and businesses become diluted and unfocused.
The “how” is what we must relentlessly evaluate and change. The way we meet the need today may not be the most effective or profitable way to meet the need tomorrow. An ongoing analysis of the marketplace and methods is necessary to make sure that the “how” is on the mark.
When we started The A Group nearly ten years ago, we set about to offer effective communication solutions to ministry and non-profit entities. Though we’ve seen a dramatic change in our business, that “what” is still the same.
What has changed is the “how.” In the early days, we used direct mail, brochures, billboard and advertising. Our “how” was often a print piece. As the market changed, we shifted our skill set and strategies to take advantage of a new online world. Today we develop interactive campaigns and online communities that engage today’s consumer.
Organizations that are not flexible with the “how” will die – some slowly and some quickly, but all painfully. Only those that are constantly looking for a better way to meet a need will grow with the changes in their market.
What will The A Group look like in another ten years? I have no idea. I can tell you one thing – we’ll be creating effective communication solutions. The “how” probably doesn’t even exist yet.
“If we do what they want, we always get what we want.” – S. Truett Cathy
I’ve always loved Chick-fil-A. But this week, my fan status rose to a whole new level as I spent the day at their corporate headquarters in Atlanta. I was part of a “think tank” – a brainstorming session to create CFA experiences where adults and kids can connect and learn leadership lessons. As CFA marketing staff laid out the objectives for the day, it became clear why the food chain is so unique – and successful.
1. Respect for leadership. I can’t tell you how many times during the day I heard “Truett says…” or “Dan says…” referring to quotes from the Chairman and the President. There is a profound respect for the leadership of their organization, most likely because they feel that respect in return.
2. Respect for the team. Chick-fil-A is unashamedly a family-owned organization. But rather than letting that be a point of contention, it has been woven positively into the culture. CFA treats every team member like part of the family, right down to the family lunch that employees share at headquarters (at no charge) each day. And I’m not talking about a sandwich and a Coke, but rather a full buffet, with salad bar, specials of the day, dessert options, and of course, lots of chicken.
3. Clear direction. As an organization, CFA has done a great job of defining their corporate values, getting the full buy in from their team and seeing the values through from the corporate office to the end consumer. These values include a) Organizational Excellence b) Second-mile service and c) Emotional Connection. It’s one thing to post your values on the wall at headquarters. It’s another to live them out in 1,600 locations. As I look at those values, I see a clear picture of the local restaurant that I know so well.
Without a doubt, Chick-fil-A employees have bought in and are fans themselves. I think I’m starting to understand how they develop fans as “raving” as this:
Do you see this difference when you walk in a Chick-fil-A store?
Recently Google estimated that the same amount of content that was created from the beginning of time until 2003 is now created every 2 days. Hard to comprehend. Maybe just as difficult to understand is the dramatic impact on the process of delivering content in such a fast-paced, crowded space. Yet for those with established platforms and a great message, a new opportunity is emerging.
Dr. Tim Elmore (President, Growing Leaders) recognized that opportunity. A published author with 25 books, speaking engagements in prestigious universities and organizations across the country, and a large following of those dedicated to student leadership, Dr. Elmore had two requirements: 1) Publish a new book with a time-sensitive message in 6 months. 2) Retain ownership of his intellectual property – in this case, the book copy, the graphics, the charts and the message as a whole. For Tim, the ability to get an urgent message to his audience in a short time was paramount. And owning IP would allow him to alter that content as necessary to provide additional resources in multiple formats, to quickly respond to reader feedback.
When we began working with Tim in February, it was obvious that traditional publishing would not meet his needs. It was time to charter a new course. We set to work forming a dream team – publicists, marketers, creatives, techies. With this team, we:
defined the brand
reviewed the content and selected delivery networks
refined the message – graphics, editorial, titling, video promo (above)
and released the book – from concept to release – in 6 months. Unheard of by traditional standards.
This week, Generation iY released and officially marked a milestone. The sprint to release this book is done. The evolution of delivering content in a new world – with new rules – has just begun.
Who else do you know that has recognized the opportunity to write their own rules?
There’s only one thing worse than a bad plan….a good plan with bad implementation.
I’m a planner. I value not only the plan, but the process of defining strategy and setting expectations. Unfortunately, too many good plans get a bad rap. No matter how good the plan is, without adequate support – time, priority and financial – it will fail. If you’re able to sweep the failure aside and move on, good for you, but in most cases the consequences of losing extend well beyond the obvious failure, including:
1. Risk Aversion – For every failed plan, you’re less likely to take the risk necessary to achieve success in the future.
2. Misdirected Blame – Once a plan fails, we’re most likely to blame the plan, not the execution. I’ve sat with many clients who say, “We tried that. It didn’t work.” Many times I’m certain that it wasn’t the idea that was wrong. But most of these good plans will never get another chance.
3. Loser Syndrome – Teams or individuals that lose start to experience a loser mentality. In my first years in marketing, I was part of a brilliant team. Strangely, this team of successful people was collectively a failure. Looking back, I realize that the team had experienced too many losses to ever win. We had loser syndrome.
Unfortunately, these consequences follow losses in all areas of life…from major boardroom initiatives to the simple parenting strategies that lack follow through.
Don’t give up on planning and trying new things. But before implementing the next plan, evaluate the investment you’re prepared to make. When a plan isn’t successful but you know you gave it all you’ve got, there’s much to be learned. When it fails due to poor execution, there is much more to be lost than you may realize.
Have you experienced any of these (or other) consequences of a failed plan?
Shannon Litton is Partner in The A Group, Brand Development. She works as a
publishing agent, brand manager and marketing consultant. Her most important
titles are “wife” to Joel and “mom” to
four children – ages 7, 4, 2 and 1 (the two youngest adopted in 2011
from Ethiopia). In her spare time, she sleeps. Read more…
