Jeoan's blog

This is broken by Seth Godin

I keep coming back to this brilliant TED talk by Seth Godin. What really gets me isn’t just how he has brilliantly analyzed so many things and why they are this way, even though that’s really insightful and amusing. What really gets me is one thing he almost jokingly says in the beginning: “If I think it’s broken, it’s broken. You get to say the same thing: If you think it’s broken it’s broken.”

People complain all the time about things they are unhappy with, it’s probably one of the very first things we adressed with communication as humans beings. “Dude, this trap you built here to catch rabbits, it really sucks”. In many cases it’s rough and pretty destructive feedback, so companies almost seem to disregard them completely. The answer (if any) often is “it’s not broken and here’s why”. So is that the way to go? Does that mean that you are “right”? Is there even a “right” or “wrong” here?

Yes, it takes more time and effort to really try to understand what your customer, client or whoever actually mean and see if there might be good points to it. After all it’s all so clear to the one creating or working with it every day. Many claim that the future is built much more on a collaborative approach to problems isn’t that part what collaborative approach is about? You might see things one way but my perspective can give you an insight in how to improve what you do. It is in a sense a great gift in an often very shitty wrapper. After all as a customer I’m the one who really shouldn’t think what you do is broken, not you.

This has led me to think alot more when I encounter problems myself. “Why is this made this way, why do I think this is broken and how could it become better?” I try to go back to Godin’s point and see if I can relate them. What this triggers in my mind is not only what I see as a healthy and questioning approach to things I might percieve as “broken”. It also forces me to reflect on the mechanics, influences and human behaviour of my surroundings alot more and in a creative way. To understand and spark ideas. I hope you will feel the same after seeing it:

Ps. The site made for this purpose also evolved into an interesting blog at http://creativegood.com/blog/

Country music: Probably the most loved and most hated musical genre in the world.

No matter what your personal opinions are, it’s one of the most lucrative areas of the music business and has some of the most loyal and passionate fans.

Country artists are more profitable and a stronger brand than many large companies. Fans passionately say things like “they feel real, they talk to me and their music seems to be about my life, I know what they are singing about.” Like Brad Paisley sings in the song above, “This is real, this is your life in a song.”

So is it just rednecks and republicans listening to country? You might think so and it’s definately a big part of the target group but it’s much more than that. Country also has a huge spread in their fanbase from young to old, poor to rich, men and women all are more or less equally represented (especially in the US). Certainly some parts are bigger, no denying that but compared to many other genres is very wide. So why is that? I believe it comes down to one word:

Stories.

The music itself, from the very beginning is made to tell stories. It was born with a purpose. Some where happy, some where sad, some spoke of god, some of the devil but no matter what they where about they all had some things in common.

They where all emotional, they all forced the listener to see themselves in the story, to relate to their own narrative stories. Stories plays a fundamental role in human nature. It is who we are, the way we learn things, the interpersonal social connection and it is how the brain relates to everything around us. When we remember things, the brain tells us a story based on our own narrative. When we talk to other people, we relate to their personal stories and put ourselves in them. Even if country today is very different, great country still tells you a personal and emotional story.

Even if storytelling is key for almost all types of music, they all have their different styles and tell stories that can relate to specific people. What I think makes country music stories so powerful and makes them reach such a broad audience is that they touch your own personal narrative. They are simple, back to basics, they have a lead role or character, they build up tension and release and even if it seems like you have nothing in common with the character you build up a relationship.

You want to hear what happens in the same sense as you would a book or a film. Maybe you can’t relate to a cowboy but you can relate to his story, what he’s been through and you compare it to your own struggles. It is most often true both in the music and in the artist itself. It has hooks that makes you relate but still enough space to put your own story in there.

“Coming Home” from the motion picture “Country Strong”. A song about feeling safe and that place we all have called home. The film is in it’s essence a country song about peoples struggles with loving themselves.

In branding and advertising many focus on talking about themselves, what their values are and what they believe in. That’s great. It’s something you absolutely need but in todays world you need more to become really personal in order to be great. This of course doesn’t apply to all brands, just like it doesn’t apply to all music. But maybe, just maybe your brand has a “country music story” to tell.

A founder, employee or rolemodel. A Malboro man, a Jack Daniels or a Brad Paisley if you will. A simple, personal story. It doesn’t have to be true or even about you, (even if that’s of course better) but it does have to feel “real”, make people relate and put themselves in the narrative.

That’s part of what makes country music great, lucrative and most importantly: Personal.

What is it that humans fear more than anything? Ghosts, serial killers, public humilliation? It`s different for all of us but I’d probably say change.

Or at least it’s on the top list. Wait a minute, aren’t we all open minded people who want new and exciting things? No.

My moms loves to tell the story of how I used to hate every time she got a haircut when I was a kid. I would start to cry and yell ”you`re ugly mom, just keep your old haircut!”. I was terrified that she would change, even the smallest thing because I liked the way she was now. So why change?

”Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken”. I guess you’ve hear that line before. So how do we know when something is broken? Or to turn it around: Is anything perfect?

We are all creatures of habit and it’s not wierd that it is that way, in fact that’s what evolution has tought us. Our ancestors didn’t survive because they took chances and tried to change things around: ”Hey, we’ve never tried those weird red berries noone eats, let`s give them a go.” Those where the people who taught the rest of us a lesson. The examples we use to illustrate failure. Don’t change things, because then you might die.

Our brains have been trained through thousands of years to evaluate risks and to do it in an instant. Should I go towards this or run away? Is this a friend or an enemy? Do I really need to try those red berries in order to survive or can I keep eating those green ones that I know works (even if they taste like dogshit)?

This behaviour, to this day still prevents us to take risks and not just when it comes to berries. Be honest, how many things in your life do you sometimes change? It’s because you ”like them” I know…and why do you like them? Is it partly because they make you feel safe and give you comfort? Is it because you know what to expect from them?

I`m not  saying I`m different, I`m not.

Change is meant to be hurtful to protect us from making mistakes but it also becomes one of our biggest limitations. It’s the fear that keeps us in unhappy marriages, shitty jobs and stops us from achieving our dreams and eating those weird red berries. Today many choices translate to mundane things like wich brand of toothpaste we choose or what pizza we eat but still: It`s very hard when things change. Just look at the record industry, their unwillingness to change has cost them everything. Because the more you have right now the harder it is to change. The risk keeps growing with every asset and as long as we are making money don’t need to change. Or do we?

What happens if we are forced to change? We stand there unprepared. If it worked yesterday, it should work tomorrow…right? No need to think more about it. Sadly that’s often not the case. Especially with the growth of our world and technology.

So how do we prepare for that inevitable change? I believe we should embrace the fact that even if you know it’s best for you it IS still going to be hurtful. Don’t wait for something to go wrong to take a step back and evauluate what you do, in work and in life. You might think it’s a clichè but if you do then why haven’t you at least tried it?

”If it’s not a struggle, it’s not worth doing” a wise man once told me and I agree. So do change things, or else you might die. Or at least you won’t discover that after that moment of hurt, those weird red berries are actually awesome!

The topic of my thoughts in the last week has been mostly about the human mind. It never stops to amaze me in it`s complexity and diversity. Reading “Your brain at work” by David Rock has given me so many ideas to why creative thinking sometimes is really hard and sometimes so easy. Giving your brain the right circumstances to work is however maybe not something new to many people. I mean most know how they work best. Not too much information at once, keep your focus and take short breaks etc. and I share many of those. I know what to think about when I get unfocused, I know how to stimulate my brain when I get bored but I don`t really know why that works!

The amount of information the “thinking” brain, or the prefontal cortex can handle is surprisingly small, as well as for example the amount of tasks that you keep there. Rock calls it “the stage”, referring to actors on a small stage: There is a limited amount of actors that can fit on this stage that is your prefrontal cortex. Knowing it`s limitations and how to get “actors” on and of your “stage” is according to Rock crucial to be effective. It is also the place where alot of reflection and self insights take place, concious insights that is.

Being an aspiring strategist, lover of human behaviour and constant searcher of insights I find this especially fascinating. The part when the brain literally goes quiet for a moment and the explodes with a connection is a mental orgasm that is among the most rewarding things of creative work for me (well the orgasm is mostly mental too of course but you get where I`m going). I´m not going to spoil the book but Rock has some great tips on insights and preparing the mind for insights as well. I think they are great partly because I`ve been doing them for a long time without really knowing why or what I was doing and I so get to pat myself on the back a bit, but also because in order to understand how to be great and do meningful work we need to understand the tools we have and how to use them. Insights may sometimes seem to come from nowhere because they just “appear”. One morning in the shower your brain just goes “click”. That is not just a coincident, it`s not just random and it`s not just that click. It is a long process all the way from filling your brain with data and connections to priming it for insights and conclusions. It comes from combining, connecting and processing your data & knowledge, your experiences, your visual memories etc. etc. basicly what you have collected in your brain and making a new connection in a cognitive (“unthinking”) state that is then passed on up to your prefrontal cortex for a burst of “Aha!”.

You know that information pamplet you read about recycling, that documentary on discovery about how cans are made or that thing in school you learned and thought “I`ll never ever get to use this information”? Those things just might be the key to your future insights in literally any subject. That`s a great reason for being interested in ANYTHING.

I`ll end on a quote by Louis Pasteur, first shown to me by Strategist, planner and Hyper Island lecturer Saher Sidhom: “Chance favours only the prepared mind.”

I`ve always hated math, for as long as I can remember. It wasn`t just because I wasn`t very good at it but I never felt that it was interesting. It just “wasn`t for me”.

In the last months or so I`ve been getting really into strategy: in brand, marketing, social and even economics. It just fascinates the hell out of me.

To see behavioural patterns, draw conclusions and find creative insights is a pretty profound thing in human society. That`s all great great beacuse I love human behaviour, I love creative, I love things that can change our society and I love analyzing and calculating possible outcomes. Wait a minute now, WHAT? I love analyzing and calculating possible outcomes? Isn´t that math, because I know that I HATE math!

This has led me to think alot about math, because alot of strategy is in one sense or the other math. So how come I hate calculating numbers but I love calculating numbers? That makes no sense! The answer is for me actually very simpe. One word: “Why?”

The reason I love research and strategy is that it has a purpose to me, it tells me WHY people do things. The second most important thing in the before sentence is “people“. I can spend hours with numbers on web statistics, customer reports, target groups, competitors and not be bored because it gives me a sense of just that: Why people do stuff and why I do stuff too.

I can honestly say that I never thought of math like that before and no teacher has ever given me purpose in math class. Some have tried to convey their passion for math and the importance of me knowing it with things like: “it`s great for you to use in future job”, “You really need to know this” or my personal bad teacher favourite “You won`t pass the test and get a bad grade otherwise”.

That doesn`t give me anything. To me that`s not a reason. In my mind a number in itself is nothing: 259 204. 59. 10 124. The root of, plus, minus an so on.

That`s nothing. Or in my mind, it`s nothing yet. Because when you add a purpose to math that gives me knowledge about what the numbers actually are and how they relate to things I see everyday. They become “real”.

“259 204 people died in hamburger related car accidents last month”. Wow, that`s alot! So how many people eat hamburgers in their cars while driving as a total and how many procent of them died from it? What is the calculated risk of eating hamburgers while driving? Now it`s getting interesting. Why did they eat hamburgers while driving and would they have if they knew the risks?

Yeah, I know it`s the “if Pelle has 11 apples and Kalle has 4, how many apples do they…” thing you`re thinking, that most textbooks use and many teachers too. Not to me. To me the interesting part is not the apples but Pelle and Kalle and why they have said amounts of apples.

Wich decisions and actions has led Pelle to have more apples? Is it because he researched wich trees had the most apples to pick from? Is it because he went there more times and probabillity led him to have more apples? Because no matter how you see it, there`s maybe a underlying mathematical reason to why he has more apples. Amount of times going to pick apples, time spent there picking apples, amount of fruit on the tree etc. gives a calculatable probabillity to why he has a higher amount of apples for example.

I guess you see the pattern in “Why?” in my mind here and I`ll stop going on about the god damn apples already!

But case and point: If you find yourself hating math, maybe it is that you haven`t seen your purpose with it yet. Maybe you haven`t found how to really make it interesting for you.

Recently, I started to love math but mostly when it includes two things: People and (you guessed it) “Why?”.