#61: (Bday!) Calling out SXSW, baffled by talent that looks different, how creativity happens...
It's my birthday.
In this edition of the World's Best Newsletter (#61!)
1. Baffled by talent that looks different
2. The process of relentless creatives
3. Life advice from Hunter S. Thompson
4. Consuming newsletters
5. SXSW got called out for "the mom test" and I'm here for it
6. The Boys Are Not All Right
7. Quote of the week
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1. Baffled by talent that looks different
Among all CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, not one is an African-American woman.
"Too often we see business leaders struggle to advance members of underrepresented groups because they model their development strategies on their own paths to success.
They believe they’re good at spotting and supporting talent, but their support is informed by their own experience: “I looked like that five years ago, and this is what I needed to grow into the next level.”
Our research suggests that company leaders are best able to recognize talent and understand others’ development needs when those talents and needs present themselves as theirs did; they often overlook—or are baffled by how to develop—talent that looks different."
This HBR article sought to understand lessons for aspiring leaders from successful African-American women.
"Yet as is the case for all those who have managed to scale the heights of corporate America, it wasn’t simply personal strengths and talents that got them there. It was the willingness and ability of others to recognize, support, and develop those strengths and talents."
I especially liked this advice for anyone of any race, or gender, in business:
"Getting ahead requires ample helpings of authenticity, resilience, agility, and emotional intelligence."
2. The process of relentless creatives
Carla Johnson is one of the most engaging speakers in marketing - and a great proponent of concepts that get marketers out of their idea ruts. Creativity, storytelling, and innovation are all central themes to her talks, and this 18-minute piece is one great example.
Two elements of this talk that I loved were:
Brand Detachment Disorder - our tendency to dismiss great ideas from larger brands (think the Apples and Amazons of the world) because our brand/product is different. It's when you hear "this just won't work for us" or "that's not what we do."
The disorder causes a threat to creating a culture of innovation on your team, and is cured by seeking to understand the brilliance behind an idea and transplanting it into your own world.The process of relentless creatives:
Observe - finding inspiration in everything
Distill - understanding the greater meaning behind observations
Relate - connect the dots and relate to your own brand / idea
Generate - the idea brainstorm process, where most marketers start after a challenge is given
Pitch - getting support to make big ideas happen
Carla's talks always give you practical advice, relatable examples, and good direction combined with massive amounts of inspiration. Win win win. Go watch her talk.
3. Life advice from Hunter S. Thompson
A friend of Hunter S. Thompson once wrote him for life advice when Thompson was 20, in 1958.
I first loved the opening line "You ask advice: ah, what a very human and very dangerous thing to do!"
The rest, written with a mix of clarity and freneticism, is a reminder to craft our own paths through life, though they may seem set for us.
"...to put our faith in tangible goals would seem to be, at best, unwise. So we do not strive to be firemen, we do not strive to be bankers, nor policemen, nor doctors. WE STRIVE TO BE OURSELVES.
But don't misunderstand me. I don't mean that we can't BE firemen, bankers, or doctors—but that we must make the goal conform to the individual, rather than make the individual conform to the goal. In every man, heredity and environment have combined to produce a creature of certain abilities and desires—including a deeply ingrained need to function in such a way that his life will be MEANINGFUL. A man has to BE something; he has to matter."
Read the full response.
4. Consuming newsletters
This is pretty meta, but I stumbled across an NPR newsletter identity exercise this week shared by Mike Petroff, who references it when talking email newsletter strategy.
Mine falls between "read and click through" and "mostly click through" on this spectrum. Super helpful for anyone considering which kind of lemme-in-dat-inbox vehicle is right for you.
5. SXSW got called out for "the mom test" and I'm here for it
The name of the "Mom test" comes from a place of good intentions. Build products that people actually want to use.
People like your mom. With her teeny tiny brain incapable of understanding your complex tech.
Eye roll.
Guys, plenty of moms get this stuff at a very technical level.
I KNOW. Women who push people like you, brilliant tech product developer, out of their bodies can actually be developers and product managers themselves. Shocker. Really, truly, amazing revelation.
First, let's lose the name "mom test."
Then, let's stop using it on panels at SXSW. Read what happened this week when the general public saw this panel title "Don't Sweat The Tech: Mom Can Use Blockchain Too."
Boo. It's been changed. Go tell your mom.
6. The Boys Are Not All Right
"Last week, 17 people, most of them teenagers, were shot dead at a Florida school. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School now joins the ranks of Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, Columbine and too many other sites of American carnage. What do these shootings have in common? Guns, yes. But also, boys. Girls aren’t pulling the triggers. It’s boys. It’s almost always boys.
America’s boys are broken. And it’s killing us.
Too many boys are trapped in the same suffocating, outdated model of masculinity, where manhood is measured in strength, where there is no way to be vulnerable without being emasculated, where manliness is about having power over others. They are trapped, and they don’t even have the language to talk about how they feel about being trapped, because the language that exists to discuss the full range of human emotion is still viewed as sensitive and feminine."
Full op-ed by Michael Ian Black.
7. Quote of the week
"Creative outcomes aren't divined, they're refined." - from Carla's earlier talk.
Generating bigger ideas, faster, isn't about divine inspiration.
The process requires refining them over and over again.
We struggle to move ideas forwards in marketing because we don't know how to allow ourselves, or our teams, to think creatively. Then, to make things worse, we discount inspiring work because we don't think we can ever rise to that level.
We've got to get out of that rut to up our game - and to get it right.
Or, you know, stay mediocre.
At least you know now there's a choice.
:) Have a stellar weekend.
Best,
Katie Martell
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