Problematic and inspired

It's been a while...the Problematic Shard remains problematic, and yet finds inspiration in the oddest of places. This time, a video from HCL Technologies, that's about...well, all of us.

Let's go to work.

Watch "The Employees First Effect" on YouTube

"...but there's one more thing..."

I find myself, a day after learning that Steve Jobs has left the world short one genius, thinking that there has to be more. That he can't have made such a quiet exit. That he might be waiting, just out of the range of the spotlights, to make that last appearance to surprise and delight us all, waltzing back onto the stage in his jeans and his black turtleneck to say those words with a knowing smile.

"But there's one more thing..."

The truth, as Stephen King said so well, is that the world rarely finishes its conversations. There's always one more thing...but eventually, most of those things go unsaid, and we're lucky to have heard and learned as much as we did.

But still. That feeling lingers.

Here's to the crazy ones.
The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.
The ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.

Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,
Are the ones who do.

The Laughing Heart

A little Friday inspiration...

your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.

The Laughing Heart, by Charles Bukowski

Recruiting is Storytelling

"If a story is not about the hearer he will not listen. A great and interesting story is about everyone or it will not last." - John Steinbeck - East of Eden

I found this quote while working on a presentation for a panel I'm speaking on tomorrow. Along with Sophia Bianchi and Cassie Denny, I'll be speaking at the Northwest Recruiters Association August luncheon about creative recruiting techniques and partnering with leadership.

Why yes, I'm a bit out of my league, thanks for asking. It's all Todd's fault anyway. He got me into this.

So in my usual fashion, I let my subject matter find me. This on the heels of sending out our first email to the talent community - over 340,000 emails sent at the stroke of a key. It's been quite a week.

I started out discussing how I approach recruiting when I haven't done it myself. I've never done a phone screen or argued with a hiring manager. I ended up working on the idea that recruiting is really storytelling. Tell a compelling story about your company, whether you're talking to one candidate or thousands, and they're going to want to find out more. This is where the quote comes in.

I liked the last slide in my deck particularly, as it drives home the point for any who missed it as I talk about videos and social media. "Tell the stories about your company that nobody else knows. Only you know what they are. If it moves you, it will move others. When a story affects someone, they want to share it and be a part of it. A great and interesting story is great recruiting."

Typically dramatic for me, but leading up to this I've got some fun stuff that lets me shut up for a minute or two - Rick Crelia's video and Raul Villar's video and maybe one more surprise up my sleeve, if I have time. I'll either entertain the lunch crowd or tank. I'm feeling like I can pull it off though. Either way, I'm hoping I give them something to think about when they head back to their phones and their reqs.

And if not...like I said. Todd's fault.

In a Name

"What is it?"

"Can we move it?"

"What if we made it a different color?"

"Oh, let's just get rid of it."

If you're in marketing or design or usability, you've been there. You create something, put thought into it, do piles of research, refine and sharpen, and finally present your idea to the Powers That Be. And after two minutes they're making you question all of it.

It's frustrating. It's not that they hate it. They just want...changes.

If you're wondering what the "Problematic Shard" is, it's one of those things. It's a piece of a company logo that is a pain in everyone's ass. It's a concept that nobody seems to get. It's a name that nobody likes but you. It's hard to work with, it's misunderstood, it doesn't look right...and on and on.

There's a real shard, of course. Fought for long and hard. And there are metaphorical shards...like the name I was asked to defend only last week. It wasn't even my project, but I was asked to help with a name and I came up with something good - unique and fitting. Not everyone saw it that way though.

I've been there. I'll be there again. Sometimes I think I ask for it. And as in the case of the shard, I fight for it.

Why do we do it? Why do we invite this criticism, this tearing-apart of what we do, when there's usually a safe road, an accepted answer?

Because the problematic shard makes exciting things happen. It gets people talking, and thinking, and considering things from different angles. The shard pushes boundaries, drives it into the red line, overclocks the brain and gets juices flowing.

In other words, the shard is where it's at.

Because here's the thing. However wonderful the idea, however perfect it seems, usually it still needs work. Usually it needs that extra something that can only come from someone else. That extra nudge or the right words that make the "perfect" idea...even better.

Because it makes me think too. Challenging a concept makes me consider it from another's eyes. Often, if the mind is open, that means listening...and changing. Improving. And if nothing else, it gives us a chance to defend an idea that really is that good.

That name that had issues? After a little discussion, it stuck. That problematic shard in the logo? Still there, and still debated every year or so. But in the end, it always stays. Because it works.

This is why I took the shard for a name. When it works, it's worth it. Worth all of it.

Photo by Amanda Jane

Inspiration

Last Sunday I went and saw one of my favorite writers, one of my inspirations: Neil Gaiman. He's kind of a rock star of the writing world. It was my third time seeing him "live" and for Savannah, my 16-year-old daughter, it was her first.

We didn't get to meet him in person, sadly, but we did get to experience the energy he pumps into a room as he reads from his work or speaks. He was reading from an expanded re-issue of American Gods and talking about where his inspiration came from.

Unsurprisingly, it wasn't any one place. American Gods came from a disconnected dialogue in Neil's head, a sleepless night in Reykjavik, a fascination with just how weird America is...and that's just the start of it.

Inspiration is the spark that lights the flame. Inspiration, by its definition, is unexpected, surprising, unplanned, revolutionary. It's sometimes called "divine influence" or "sacred revelation." It rarely comes from a single place, but as Neil pointed out, from a collection of thoughts, memories, events, and people.

Of course, people. Neil talked about often getting inspired by reading fantastically bad fiction, with the thought "I may be writing crap today, but at least I'm better than this."

Writers inspire me. Music inspires me. They inspire me to write, to draw, to design, to create. Here's a few that consistently light the spark in me.

Neil Gaiman inspires me with his imagination and his ability to share it in so many different media.

Rachael Yamagata inspires me with her voice, her insights into the human heart, and her willingness to "go there"...wherever there may be.

Stephen King inspires me with his natural writing style and his way with characters.

Trespassers William inspire me with unearthly, soulful, haunting music.

And John Green - John's the kind of writer I'd like to be, someone who's connected to his audience and who clearly loves what he does. It shines through when he talks about it and it beams out of his books. The man just loves to write. And he inspires others.

Just yesterday, John announced the title of his newest book, due out in 2012: The Fault In Our Stars. The title is a take on a Shakespeare quote from Julius Caesar, and as the book doesn't have a cover yet, John gave his readers a chance to try their hand at making covers for him.

I couldn't resist. Mine is below. And here's everyone else's. Inspiration comes in many forms. Thank goodness for that!

Passage

It's probably strange to start a blog about branding, marketing, recruiting, and social media with something like this - but you've got to start somewhere.

My eldest daughter, Maia, graduated high school tonight. I scared the living daylights out of the people during in front of me when I yelled for her, but I didn't care. I watched her, and a couple hundred of her classmates, walk the big walk and take their diploma. On their way off the stage, each had a look in their eyes. They might give the thumbs up or stick out their tongue or just try not to trip over their own feet, but the look was the same: hope.

This is what rites of passage do. They close a door and open up a universe. They're scary and exciting and usually chaotic. Graduations, falling in love, weddings, births, moving, breaking up, divorce, quitting, changing jobs...all times of endings and beginnings.

I've had a few of those myself, and I've learned from all of them. I'm happy to say I'm still learning. I've recently been through a rite of passage our two of my own. I didn't expect them or ask for them...but they came anyway, and they opened up more possibilities than they closed. This is where I'll write about what happens next.

So I watched Maia and the others as they crossed the stage into their new lives. They have so much ahead of them. And a lot behind them. I may be at a point where I have more to look back on than forward to. I'm probably a little jaded, so I may not always have something good to say. I'm picky, so I may be critical.

But I have hope. And that's a start.