Getting Back To Normal (Sort Of)

I’ve been out of commission for the past few weeks. Well, actually, my husband has. We’ve been in New York for almost a month for his major surgery. 

I had all kinds of plans to get a lot of work done while he convalesced.

Here's a little John Lennon for you.

It’s amazing how life gets in the way. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."

Funny thing, my husband shares a birthday with Mr. Lennon.

So during the long hours in ICU, I watched. Everything. I couldn’t concentrate on anything else.

When someone you love is so incapacitated – with the full intention to be healthier than before – you begin to reassess everything.

You also begin to realize how important the support system that forms around you is. How ready they are to help out. Friends, family, nurses and doctors. The pharmacist. The server at the café close by. They all seem to get it and just pitch in. They’re there.

Set-backs – there were several. Tubes, IVs, scars – slowly, each were removed. Then we got to go to our home-away-from-home in The City. An hour and a half ride, just over two miles during the New York Marathon. The irony of the situation.

Thankful for access to the best doctors and hospitals in the country, this makes me re-think the whole health care thing.

Providing care for my husband that is simple, basic. Who knew putting on a shirt was so much work?

It is getting better, though.

One week out of the hospital, there are still more doctor appointments, procedures and hopefully soon, the OK to fly home to Vegas. But all that’s perfectly fine. He is improving.

This will soon be behind us, and has only solidified our relationship. My husband is a wonderful man. 

It will be better than normal. Soon.

I Am The Greatest

That is true for Muhammad Ali.

It is not true for software.

That goes for claiming that a specific software solution is the only one that does X.

I guarantee there is something out there that is similar.

Therefore, when you’re looking for a software solution for your agency, (yeah, definitely not as cool as Ali) forget the hype and look at functionality. How it will fit in with your agency workflow (you have that mapped, right?).

And for crying out loud, you do not need it to look like facebook®.

It does need to be user-friendly, integrated, and provide the reports you need to manage your work, your staff and your agency (aka get stuff done and make money).

It takes some research – and do interrogate your sales rep. They may say anything to make a sale, and they’ll give you a super-shiny demo. Give them specifics and have them demonstrate how their software will solve your problem. 

(I know you are looking at (perhaps new) software because you have a problem.)

And once you sign on the dotted line, be sure to set up the software to suit your agency’s specific needs; get someone who will shepherd the implementation process; train everyone who will be using it; and get everyone on board.

Including management. They can’t just push this stuff down and expect compliance without being part of the solution.

Ali trained his talent

#pleasedontuseanymorehashtags

Remember “air quotes”? Still in use and when you see it, still pretty dumb.

So, to my dismay (as it should be to everyone’s dismay), air quotes (finger quotes, ersatz quotes) has been replaced by the pervasive #hashtag.

In the quest to be super hip, hashtags have become the new communication tool. Tool it is. (It makes sense on Twitter, I get that.)

I’m receiving emails, regular business emails mind you, laced with hashtags. #WTF? Did everyone forget how to communicate? Are we all reduced to acronyms, abbreviations and other nefarious degradation of the English language?

#yep

I leave you with Chris Farley. He puts air quotes into perspective. Soon, everyone using hashtags regularly will look as #amazing.

Stray Cat and The Ability To Adapt

I am a cat lover. So when I first met this cat I was heartbroken. Then I learned more about her special abilities, and more so, about her special family.

My friend Stray after a tasty meal. She uses her hind feet to wash her face. 

I was in North Carolina on business this past week and stayed in a corporate condo.

As I was making my way into the condo, a grey cat hopped on the porch and proceeded to walk inside like she owned the place. I got my luggage inside, and after receiving some serious head-butting, and rubbing on everything she could reach, I shooed her outside.

I went out later to get dinner, and a neighbor stopped and said, “You’ll probably see a black cat that’s very friendly. She has a broken back. She belongs to us.” I said I had just been visited, but the cat looked fine. He said I’d meet the black cat.

When I awoke the next morning, I heard a cat meowing, I looked out and there was the black cat – sitting in the middle of the back patio. She sounded like she hadn’t eaten in days.

I went outside, and was horrified. This lovely little cat made her way over to me, scooting, using only her front legs. Her hind legs curled up front – kind of like a shrimp.

My heart was broken. All I could think was, how could they let this cat fend for herself? She was starving, and she was stuck in the back yard of the condo. How long had she been there?

I didn’t have any food suitable for a cat. And I had to get to work.

So I mentioned the cat to my colleagues. Yes, they knew about the cat. Another person who stayed in the condo felt sorry for the cat and fed her. And they thought about calling the humane society to pick her up. The assumption was that she was injured and dumped.

I told them she lived next door. Oh. That changes everything.

So, that evening I bought cat food. I went outside, but didn’t see the cat. Then in a flash, she emerged from the bushes, clamoring to be fed. I put the food down for her – and her grey friend. They gobbled it up.

Like every cat that just got a tasty meal, she does some rolling around. Her hind legs are permanently en pointe. 

So we sat and chatted, and as they rubbed (pretty hefty head-butts) and I petted, I could tell that these were two very well-tended cats.

But I was worried the black cat was stuck in the yard. I didn’t know how long she’d been there, how she got in, I continued to worry.

So I stuck a note on the neighbor’s door. Are you the owner of the black cat? I’m concerned she can’t get out of the yard, and I’m afraid to pick her up because of her back. I’ll be back after 6pm tonight.

I got a knock on the door at 6:15. I met the owner, Tony, who said, yes it’s his family cat, and yes, she can come and go as she pleases. Then I got her backstory.

Tony used to live near a busy street, she was a stray that showed up one day and hung around. Then she was hit by a car. He took her to the vet who said there was nothing that could be done to help her – she’ll either make it or not. Tony took her home to convalesce and let nature take its course.

Now as an animal lover, and specifically as a cat lover, I would consider the pain she was in and wonder what kind of life she would have. How could she survive?

Meeting this cat made me think differently.

Tony told me that she likes to hang out at the corporate condo because she knows the residents, who come and go each week, will feed her. Quite well, indeed.

He also said that she can climb stairs, and has climbed a tree, comes and goes under the fence between the condos as she pleases – and she’s not in pain.

And her name is Stray.

Sitting on the step those four nights with Stray and her grey friend made me realize how we often give up before we give a chance. I’m not into letting an animal suffer, but more than that, after being a cat owner for my entire life (or do they own us?), I do believe they know how to adapt – and when to let go – better than any of us higher-thinking individuals.

There are a lot of lessons here.

By the way, a special thank you to the family who decided to take care of this amazing cat, that is also an amazing little teacher.

I also have a video of this amazing cat here.

Failure to Launch Because It Doesn’t Look Like Facebook

If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it a dozen times. (Well, actually, more.)

An agency buys awesome management software. It will do everything they want, and more importantly, everything they need.

Your employees train, prepare and then you go live!

Then. Everyone. Hates. It.

• It’s too different.
• There are too many clicks.
• I don’t like the color.
• Why are you making us do all this work?
• Can it look more like facebook?

Let the whining commence.

Well, there are a few (very common) reasons why this happens.

• No one was forewarned.
• You didn’t take the time to get input from the folks who will be using the software. (Accounting or IT set it up)
• Your software provider doesn’t offer assistance with implementation, training and support. (Quick, run the other way!)
• You didn’t customize the program to work specifically for your workflow.
• You didn’t plan on how you would actually transition to the new software.

Your agency has made an investment in software, employee time and good will. So planning ahead, utilizing the support, training and guidance offered by your software provider is huge when it comes to successfully launching new software. 

Your software provider doesn't offer support? There’s yet another huge consideration you may have overlooked.

(Also, hiring someone who knows their way around the software, and understands agency life and all its inhabitants' quirky ways doesn't hurt either.) 

Wait! Before you throw in the towel, or worse, look for yet another software solution, consider the implementation process, involve representatives from each department to review options and . . . address the whiners. If they have valid complaints, fix the issues. If they’re just unwilling to adapt (or adopt), it’s time to address the people issues. They just need to buck up and do their job.

Because the success of an agency is directly related to the willingness of employees to adapt, adopt, and do their jobs – which include using software that makes an agency run well.

And, no, good agency management software doesn’t have to look like facebook. Get over it.

And by the way, call me. I have been there, done that. More than once.

Office Noise, Or Jammin' To The Beat

I have a beef with the idea of “open space”.

More collaborative is what the creative geniuses say.

But can anyone tell me why everyone who is trying to get something done is wearing headphones?

So much for collaboration . . .

And can you tell me why my colleagues thinks it’s okay to take ALL OF THEIR PHONECALLS ON SPEAKER?

Even voicemail.

Then there’s the guy, and I love him to death, who’s jammin’ to the beat, all the while his chair is squeaking . . . to the beat. And he doesn’t know it because, yes, he’s wearing headphones so he can concentrate.

So now we’re all in our own little worlds wearing headphones.

And don’t get me started on the temperature. Why all the blankets?

Now, let me find an available conference room . . .

Change Isn’t Insurmountable

I’ve worked with a lot of hard-working agency folks who are either burned-out, or worse, just not built for the job.

Like yesterday’s post about people in the ad business who have no business being in the business – because high-profile doesn’t make them awesome in everything – there are regular folks who would be much better suited to, well . . . something else.

And these people are honest, hard-working individuals who are smart, and (usually) highly-motivated to do a good job.

But it’s the daily push / pull, attitudes, challenges, ‘creative ego’, client demands – you name it – that drive many good people to helplessness and hopelessness.

It’s just business, and it’s taken way too personally.

So, with this in mind, I received an email today from James “Take This Job And Love It” Victore.

Truer words have never been spoken. No more excuses.

You can choose the outcome, or you can choose to have someone make it for you.

It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.