Time Changes Things

When we go through difficult situations, things change. Well, our outlook on things change.

We are heading home today after five weeks in New York, two of which spent at New York Presbyterian.

All those issues related to work, daily life, The Affordable Care Act – all that stuff – is just stuff - filler.

We come out on the other side with a better perspective, putting what’s important ahead of the insignificant.

Less reaction, and just letting certain things . . . go.

We have a long road ahead and couldn’t have done this without the massive support of family, friends, nurses, doctors, specialists, cabbies and the café down the street.

My husband will recover, I’ll keep on working, and eventually we’ll settle into our new routine.

I will continue to take care of my clients while remaining mindful of what’s really important. Because in the end, they too need to eliminate the daily ‘stuff’ that trips up their day.

Recovery just takes time. Allow it to happen.

Pass The Kool Aid®

How sad, the very first entry on Google. When a brand is linked to tragedy.

What a shame that something that (for us who were allowed to drink stuff with sugar and fake color a long time ago) was so iconic and happy, has such a sad legacy.

So it goes with your agency.

Drinking the Kool Aid®

I see it every day. I hear it all the time. If you’re in Advertising and you have a pulse, can hear or read, then you know that digital Is Where It’s At. 

Digital is exciting. And it’s given a wide berth, both in consumption of client dollars and in agency resources.

The Adcontrarian calls out the questionable data, and the folks who worship it like the latest markdown at Filene’s Basement.

I agree with the Adcontrarian, because I too hear it every day and find it remarkable that intelligent folks actually buy in - hook, line and click-through - that because what they do is so important that following rules isn't for them.

I see it on the operational side, and it makes me wince.

I believe in the power of digital, mobile, viral – but advertising, whatever form (channel) used – it still has to sell stuff (eyeballs aren't conversions). And agencies that produce it have to make money so they can keep their doors open.

Your clients have to make money so they can pay you. If your digital wizardry doesn't work for them, then they go on to the next bestest Rainmaker. Basic business.

But digital is different, you say.

Yeah, and so are the people who do digital.

They run faster and jump higher than your average (traditional) ad team.

They have metrics, optics, engagement, conversations, insights, Big Data, on and on. (Frankly I can’t keep up with the language of digital.)

But what I can keep up with is this: you still have to run your agency as a business.

Yes you can have great strategy, planning, creative, execution and whatever else. But you have to know where things are at any given time; how much that project you just finished cost your agency (and you’re only worried about metrics for the client); how much more work you can bring on – and why you can do that.

I don’t usually drink Kool Aid®, but when I do, I drink cherry.

Now go forth, and create a profitable legacy.

Opinions On Healthcare

In the process of sitting around watching my husband recover, I had a lot of time to be productive.

Time where I couldn’t really focus. Therefore I had plenty of time to watch a lot of TV.

So during the two week stay in the hospital, I watched the news as the Healthcare site launched – and then imploded.

Talking heads.

Whether it was cable – MSNBC, CNN, Fox; or network – who watches that?; The talking heads all had opinions.

Politicians decried / defended.

How many hours a day can you fill with talk of Healthcare.gov?

Twenty-four. Exactly.

But what are the facts?

Well, the federal site didn’t work well. States’ sites worked better. Some people are signed up. Some people lost their insurance.

What is my opinion on healthcare?

I just witnessed what awesome healthcare coverage can provide.

Hopefully, everyone will have access to healthcare.

I just have no idea when that will happen. And I can bet my guess is as good as anyone’s.

Leading The Horse To Water

It’s true, you can’t make them drink.

It takes magical thinking and a sparkly unicorn to assume that all the best efforts to help an agency make changes – will actually work without the head honchos on board.

Best efforts require the support – and participation – of management.

You, guys and gals, are not exempt.

I do this for a living. Go into an agency, determine what’s wrong, and deliver the (often) brutal reality.

I don’t assume anything, but I do have expectations.

I can deliver, but it’s up to you to make change successful.

You're already successful? OK, let's see of you can translate your creative success to truly managing your business successfully.

Making enough to pay the bills and your employees; or keep the CFO off your back until you figure a way to cut back (or worse hide) staggering out-sourcing costs, isn't being successful. It's just survival.

Having fun? (If you are, then you are clueless and doomed to fail - sorry.)

Everyone – from the kid who picks up food for the all-nighter, to the Awesome Creative Strategists who dream the impossible, to the workers who get it done – have a part in making the whole thing work.

They are all part of the solution – and that means understanding and adopting how process works, defined roles create clear responsibilities, and new systems make things easier.

Even culture will improve.

Agencies who hire me* are making an investment in working better: creating efficiencies, understanding where they’re making a buck, getting their people to whine less.

This isn’t rocket science, or brain surgery, or anything remotely complicated.

It’s simply the realization that things could be better, hiring someone who will review, assist and guide you through the icky stuff you don’t want to think about – and make it happen.

However, it doesn’t really happen unless you – Principal, Partner, Owner, VP, CEO (or your favorite trendy title) – support the changes needed so you have fewer headaches, make your department more functional, and actually make a little more money for you and your company.

Bottom line: If you want to do all that magnificent creative, get your house in order and be a part of keeping it tidy.

Imagine that. Sparkly.

*email me your greatest headache: charlotte@charlotteblauer.com

Frenzied Discussion

Read on, because I always tie these posts back to advertising . . .

When something goes wrong – or people think it should go better – there’s usually a frenzied discussion. Everyone gives their interpretation of events, their opinions, their recommendations – well actually their directives – you should do X.

Little time or consideration is given to the facts. What is going on now? What led to this? Are the interpretations generated really thought out?

It seems to be a race to see who can state their version of a plausible explanation, and a recommendation for an optimal outcome, first.

It is stressful.

It’s usually reaction.

Sometimes you just have to STOP.

I witnessed a lot of that recently. Well-meaning family (I love them dearly and they have been an awesome support system) didn’t particularly agree with how things were transpiring – and in rapid-fire sessions – gave their take on what should happen.

During my husband’s recent stay in ICU, when things didn’t go as planned (or hoped), family pitched-in with helpful suggestions. I took it in.

The nursing staff was amazing. They stopped, listened, answered questions, and most of all, paid attention to the patient.

Sometimes you have to stop talking and just assess. You can acquire a lot more meaningful information by not talking.

Once all alarms were quieted, IVs checked, and everything measureable was noted, the nurses just stopped and looked at the patient.

When you’ve done everything you can do, doing (or saying) more doesn’t create a solution.

Observation does.

I have witnessed this in the workplace. When a project starts going south, the first inclination is to do more. Say more. Have more meetings.

Sometimes – no actually every time, taking stock of the situation, without trying to explain it, will give you a much clearer interpretation of the situation – and how to move forward – than endless chatter.

Frenzied discussion is unproductive.

I remained (mostly) silent during those discussions; because I knew that it wasn’t up to us. We could ask questions, but we had to leave it up to the patient.

He could speak volumes without words.

When Things Become (More) Routine

Once out of ICU, the patient goes to what is called, “step-down care”.

Interruptions, adjustments and all the life-support attachments are reduced. Monitoring is still 24/7 in real time, though.

Staff, and the attitudes are different too. No more extreme urgency, although the patient can experience a serious episode of any given nature, at any given time. Staff is highly trained and ready for any situation.

We experienced such an episode. Everything seemed normal – then it wasn’t. Something was terribly wrong, and had I not been there, it would have gone unnoticed. It was only the fact that my husband was in mid-sentence that I noticed the difference. Monitors didn't pick it up.

I summoned the nurses, and a team was brought in to assess.

One nurse repeated, “everything is at therapeutic levels, it should be okay.”

However, evaluations were made quickly by the specialists, and the episode passed. Everything was okay.

We just didn’t know why it happened.

A protocol was put in place; certain steps had to be followed.

Testing was done and everything was normal. Everything was okay. Follow-up plans were carefully laid out.

I witnessed that there was a different level of expertise, urgency. ‘Should’ really have had no place in step-down, yet it was used - as an asnwer.

There are different levels of expertise in all workplaces. When it relates directly to quality of life, we rely on the experts. But, when something ‘should’ be a certain way, it doesn’t mean it is.

I don’t take should for an answer because things never go as they should.

Plan, document, follow-up and re-adjust as you move forward.

It isn’t life and death – or even quality of life when you’re turning out a project for a client. But when someone invokes ‘should’, ask them if they’d bet their life – or perhaps just their paycheck – on it.

Routine projects usually aren’t. Approach every project as if your paycheck depends on an optimal outcome. Because in reality, it does.

Lessons Learned From ICU

I spent eight days in ICU. I wasn’t the patient. I was watching the patient – recover slowly.

Frightening.

I watched the awesome nursing staff, whose duties and attention are extreme and focused at first, then as time passes – and the patient improves – become more routine. Or so it seemed to me.

Perhaps I became used to the ‘routine.’

With plenty of time to observe, I watched the shift change (they worked 12-hour shifts and I saw each change during my visits). It started with a flurry of hellos and turned quickly to sitting down, two to a computer, going over every patient – where progress was not only charted, but discussed in detail.

Progress downloads. Twice a day. Questions asked, answered, and clarification given.

The nurses done for the day left, and the new shift would make their rounds, reconfirming the details of the downloads.

They came in, introduced themselves (if I hadn’t met them previously), checked on the patient, and always explained what they were doing and why; what drug they were administering and what it did; so I could understand how all this fit into the recovery process.

They tracked every med, device and patient response, then they updated their charts.

Immediate.

Steps were explained, remedies detailed. Did I have any questions?

Something went wrong and everyone showed up at once. A minor adjustment, and everything was okay. Everyone went back to what they were doing.

* * *

Way back when, I worked in an agency where there was – what we called – urgency.

That urgency most often stemmed from something that someone forgot to do. Or a promise made without confirming it could happen within a given timeframe or budget.

I came to the conclusion that in advertising, everyone acted like it was life or death – your basic trauma center. We have to do this NOW! Or . . .

Advertising isn’t life or death – people just act that way.

What can we learn from ICU?

Downloads that are meaningful. Documentation that is accurate, shared and accessible to everyone gives continuity. Follow-up to ensure that what you heard and read is what you observe at this moment.

Accuracy. Diligence.

Keeping your head when things don’t go as planned, and giving careful evaluation when considering next steps.

It’s always about doing it right the first time.