Scott Monty | Timeless Wisdom

Universal Specific

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Presidents' Day in the U.S. is a weird holiday. It's supposed to be an official federal holiday, but some businesses were open, some were closed. 
 
It used to be that we celebrated Lincoln's birthday on February 12th and Washington's birthday on the 22nd. It grew out of simply celebrating the birthday of our first president. 
 
But now it's supposed to honor all of the presidents. 
 
This is akin to businesses that constantly advertise their items as "on sale" or urgently announce that they're having a "Going Out of Business Sale." I'm looking at you, <a href="https://www.quora.com/Why-are-Oriental-rug-stores-always-having-going-out-of-business-sales" target="_blank">Oriental rug stores</a>. 
 
Or more recently, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/15/business/payless-closing-stores-bankrupt/?utm_source=TheFullMonty" target="_blank">Payless</a>, who are liquidating all 2,100 of their stores. Their only differentiator is that they sold cheap shoes. Well, there's always going to be someone who can undercut you on price. And when you're celebrating your low prices every day, a 40% off sale isn't really that newsworthy. 
 
Or, to put it in another context: it's the participation trophy—when every kid on the team gets a trophy just for playing rather than for achieving something. 
 
How can you celebrate specific and unique things if you're always celebrating? 
 
If we apply this principle to content marketing, the advice would be to scale back on the the sheer volume of content and instead focus on putting out fewer, more memorable or emotionally-driven pieces. 
 
That's the crux of the issue with Presidents' Day. We're losing the reason we honored Washington (and Lincoln) in the first place. It just seems so generic now. 
 
Pardon me if I don't break out the cupcakes for James K. Polk or Millard Fillmore.

Universal Specific

Presidents' Day in the U.S. is a weird holiday. It's supposed to be an official federal holiday, but some businesses were open, s...

Culture, Character, Etiquette, and Reputation

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[Editor's note: you can <a href="https://soundcloud.com/fullmontyshow/episode-64-reputation-is">listen to this article here</a>]</div>
 
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There's nothing quite like the feeling of fitting in. 
 
And when you're from an upper class family, it's not only preferred, it's required. 
 
That's precisely the world that Emily Price knew. Born in Baltimore in 1872, Emily came from a family with roots in the United States going back as far as the Mayflower. Her mother was a product of a coal empire, and her father was a successful and ambitious architect who moved them to New York, where he designed skyscrapers in the city and the stone-gated Tuxedo Park, a country escape for the rich. 
 
Miss Price was the portrait of the Gilded Age: attractive, regal, and indulged. She knew only the world of cotillions, Astors, Morgans, and country "cottages" that were more mansions than quaint bungalows. As was proscribed for her type, she met Edwin, a prominent banker, at a ball at a mansion on Fifth Avenue. They married in 1892 and honeymooned in Europe for six weeks. 
 
The couple settled in Manhattan, had two boys, and life seemed to go according to plan. Except that Edwin had a secret: he was a serial philanderer and a stock speculator. Emily knew of the infidelities, but because of society at the time, chose to remain married rather than besmirch her reputation with the scandal of divorce. 
 
However, that scandal became a mere trifle next to the one that erupted in 1905: Edwin's "tawdry affairs with chorus girls had left the upper crust man susceptible to blackmail. The scandal broke when Edwin refused to pay off a blackmailer who then made good on his threat to expose Edwin's philandering ways to the world." Edwin didn't have the funds to pay the blackmailer because of his questionable stock deals that left him nearly broke.<a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2019/02/culture-character-etiquette-and.html#1" target="">1</a> 
 
Emily then divorced her husband, weathering the two week public trial that ensued. After that, Edwin was a distant memory, who never warranted a mention and never appeared in her household again. Although Emily always set an extra place at dinner for the rest of her life. According to Emily's  grandson Billy, 
 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"She never once mentioned Edwin in my hearing. Nor did she ever speak of remarrying. I have absolutely no idea whether my grandmother wanted to divorce Edwin or not. What I do know without a doubt is that she did not wish her personal problems to become public, ever."<a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2019/02/culture-character-etiquette-and.html#2" target="">2</a></blockquote>
 
Is it any wonder? For Emily Price, who had to take up some kind of work to keep herself and her two sons at the same level, wrote a series of novels from 1904 to 1910. But her publisher recognized her knowledge and understanding of polite society and suggested that she write about something else -- something that is now synonymous with her name: etiquette. 
 
For Mrs. Edwin Post — Emily — guarded her own reputation so seriously that she was the perfect person to educate us about Etiquette: In Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home. 
 
 
<h2>
The Importance of Reputation in Business</h2>
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"There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."</div>
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– Oscar Wilde</div>
 
One of the challenges of business is that you want to remain at the forefront of the customer's mind, but you want to be there for the right reasons. At any given moment, you're one crisis away from a tarnished reputation. Just look at Jeff Bezos and AMI right now. 
 
The key is to be consistent in all that you do and all that your brand stands for: online, in person, at retail locations, in print, and by every single employee. If there's any hint of insincerity or false promise in any one of those, all bets are off. 
 
In the very first chapter of Emily Post's Etiquette, she begins by discussing New York. In our case, we can substitute the customer for New York, to get an idea of what standards we need to live up to: 
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"New York, more than any city in the world… loves to be amused, thrilled and surprised all at the same time; and will accept with outstretched hand any one who can perform this astounding feat. Do not underestimate the ability that can achieve it: a scintillating wit, an arresting originality, a talent for entertaining that amounts to genius, and gold poured literally like rain, are the least requirements."</blockquote>
 
When she goes on to talk about etiquette, we can just as easily think about the responsibilities of a business or brand as well as an individual, as etiquette is the gateway to reputation: 
 
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 "Etiquette must, if it is to be of more than trifling use, include ethics as well as manners. Certainly what one is, is of far greater importance than what one appears to be. A knowledge of etiquette is of course essential to one’s decent behavior, just as clothing is essential to one’s decent appearance; and precisely as one wears the latter without being self-conscious of having on shoes and perhaps gloves, one who has good manners is equally unself-conscious in the observance of etiquette, the precepts of which must be so thoroughly absorbed as to make their observance a matter of instinct rather than of conscious obedience."</blockquote>
 
People can see through inauthentic behavior. Customers know when you're simply paying them lip service or sharing platitudes online. 
 
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"Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing." </div>
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– Abraham Lincoln (<a href="https://ctt.ac/xV9F6" target="_blank">click to tweet</a>)</div>
 
In business, your character is your corporate culture. It defines everything that you and your employees do, whether you realize it or not. Your customer experience and customer service speak volumes about your culture. And that in turn defines your reputation. 
 
In the end, if you build a culture of decency, integrity, honor, and kindness, it will determine the employees and customers you attract and retain. 
 
And that's not only good etiquette, it's good business. 
 
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/10586">The Valley of Wyoming</a> by Jasper Francis Cropsey, 1865 (The Met, public domain) 
 
Sources: 
<a href="https://draft.blogger.com/null" name="1"></a>1. "Emily Post: Society, Scandal, and Etiquette," <a href="https://owlcation.com/humanities/Emily-Post-Society-Scandal-and-Etiquette" target="_blank">Owlcation</a> 
<a href="https://draft.blogger.com/null" name="2"></a>2. Claridge, Laura. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=2CVfUnnbPE4C&pg=PA178&lpg=PA178&dq=edwin+post+newspaper&source=bl&ots=peT_kEF4tm&sig=ACfU3U3dSFJLjP3_Vxlt1yDZ19RHXKspTg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj539a0_7TgAhWrrIMKHdD5DXUQ6AEwD3oECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=edwin%20post%20newspaper&f=false">Emily Post: Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of American Manners</a>, Random House: New York, 2009, p. 178

Culture, Character, Etiquette, and Reputation

[ Editor's note: you can listen to this article here ] There's nothing quite like the feeling of fitting in. And whe...

How Much Is Your Reputation Worth?

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What does reputation mean to you? 
 
Not your reputation, but the concept of reputation. 
 
It's how you're judged by others, rightly or wrongly. It's the sum of all of your behaviors, as observed over time. 
 
If you enjoy a good reputation, you might be thought of as any of the following: 
 
Reliable. 
Trustworthy. 
Respectable. 
Decent. 
Honorable. 
Esteemed. 
Consistent. 
Predictable. 
Agreeable. 
 
If we wanted to approach reputation as a mathematical equation, it's the sum of your words and actions over time, multiplied by your reach. 
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Note that in the formula, actions are outside of the bracket, because a negative action can result in a damaged reputation. It takes decades to build a good reputation, but it can be destroyed in minutes. 
 
Just look at this quote from Othello, in which Iago talks about the loss of reputation as compared to monetary wealth. When the phrase is centered, the layout perfectly depicts a diminishing reputation, as each line shortens (at least when you're looking at it on a desktop): 
 
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"He who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;</div>
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'Twas mine; 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;</div>
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But he that filches from me my good name</div>
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Robs me of that which not enriches him,</div>
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And makes me poor indeed." </div>
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– William Shakespeare (Othello)</div>
 
 
How much is your reputation worth? Perhaps another way of asking the question is: how much would you give to get a lost reputation back? 
 
Do the math. Then build the culture around it. 
 
 
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Image credit: <a href="http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=20104" target="_blank">Court of Honor, World's Columbian Exposition</a> by John Twachtman, 1893 (The Athenaeum)

How Much Is Your Reputation Worth?

What does reputation mean to you? Not your reputation, but the concept of reputation. It's how you're judged by others, rig...

Embracing the Improbable

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Sherlock Holmes knew a thing or two about analytics. 
 
Sure, he was a master of logic and inductive reasoning. But he had a way of preparing his mind to take in facts, sort them out, and determine what happened. 
 
And so it is that we need to prepare our eyes, ears, and minds — that is, our monitoring tools and our analysis — to understand the true impact of our business efforts. 
 
In Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore, Buttercup is a dockside vendor who boards the ship to sell wares to sailors. She carries with her a long-held secret, and offers this prophesy by way of song: 
 
   Things are seldom what they seem, 
   Skim milk masquerades as cream; 
   Highlows pass as patent leathers; 
   Jackdaws strut in peacock's feathers. 
 — Wm. S. Gilbert, H.M.S. Pinafore 
 
It's a lesson in not trusting our eyes alone. Often times, when presented with something, we'll simply look at what's in front of us or miss it entirely, rather than probing for more information. 
 
In the very first Sherlock Holmes short story, he said, "You see but you do not observe. The distinction is clear." 
 
In that case, he was chiding Dr. Watson for not knowing how many steps led up to their rooms at 221B Baker Street. It's something Watson must have passed hundreds of times, but he never thought to pay attention to how many steps there were as he ascended the staircase to that fabled sitting room. 
 
How many times are we presented with anlaytics or data, but we don't appreciate what they're telling us? We miss the true impact because we're not focused on the right thing. Or perhaps because we're distracted by something else. 
 
In another adventure, Sherlock Holmes finds a wax vesta half burned, which was so coated with mud that it looked at first like a little chip of wood. 
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   “I cannot think how I came to overlook it,” said the Inspector, with an expression of annoyance. 
   “It was invisible, buried in the mud. I only saw it because I was looking for it.”</blockquote>
 
Whether you have an analytics team or you're responsible for looking at business metrics yourself, you need to first understand what it is that matters and what you're looking for to help determine your success. That is, you need to prepare for what's ahead in order to be able to discern the essential from the incidental. 
 
You've heard the phrase "a canary in a coal mine." This is a metaphor for advanced warning of some danger. It originated from the times when miners used to carry caged canaries while at work. If there was any methane or carbon monoxide in the mine, the canary, being smaller and more sensitive to minor changes in the atomosphere, would die before the levels of the gas reached those hazardous to humans. 
 
It's a leading indicator that can help determine a broader impact. Your industry probably has leading indicators as well, from which you can infer other impacts. 
 
For example, when I worked at Ford, we knew that sales of Ford's F-Series trucks were tied to the performance of the U.S. economy overall. The thinking is that since many small business owners and contractors buy the F-Series (the best selling-vehicle in the United States), they're tied to home construction, which in turn is a factor in the economy. 
 
At the same time, what you're not measuring can be more important than what you are measuring. 
 
In another story, Sherlock Holmes had looked over the crime scene, questioned the household staff, and prepared to leave. It was clear that Holmes was onto something, but the local inspector was still baffled. He asked, 
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   “Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?” 
   “To the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime.” 
   “The dog did nothing in the night-time.” 
   “That was the curious incident,” remarked Sherlock Holmes.</blockquote>
 
It's the same concept as a black hole. Scientists can't observe black holes directly. Telescopes that detect x-rays, light, or other forms of electromagnetic radiation can't pick up a black hole. Instead, scientists study the effect of black holes on other matter nearby. Certain movements or absence of something they were expecting can indicate the presence of a black hole. 
 
So, how can you accurately determine the impact of a new product design or customer experience? Certainly by surveying customers and documenting their level of satisfaction before and after the change. The problem that that metric is that it can be biased, as those who are willing to answer might be skewed one way or another. Or they might not disclose their true feelings. But how can you put a dollar value on that? 
 
Another way is to measure what doesn't happen: perhaps there are fewer calls to your customer service department, fewer returns at the store, or a shift of interactions with customers from phone to messenger bots. All of these indicate a change and can result in lower costs. 
 
Analytics aren't always obvious — the indicator of your success might not come directly from your own work, but from the impacts that your work makes elsewhere. 
 
You just need to know where to look. 
 
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Embracing the Improbable

Sherlock Holmes knew a thing or two about analytics. Sure, he was a master of logic and inductive reasoning. But he had a way of prepar...

A Little Transparency, Please

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We know we're experiencing a historic trust deficit. 
 
Why, in an era when personal and corporate secrets can be unraveled with a few lines of code or clicks of the mouse, do we see companies and individuals go out of their way to be misleading or dishonest? 
 
Many companies have committed to being more transparent in their operations and communications. Doing so is clearly in their best interest. It’s one thing for a brand to tell someone what its position is; it’s more convincing to use earned media tell the story on the brand’s behalf. 
 
But the most powerful impact is when a company is confident enough in its process or operations to bring viewers in to see exactly how things are done. It’s the ultimate in show and tell. 
 
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"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom." </div>
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– Thomas Jefferson [<a href="https://ctt.ac/NcfeY" target="_blank">tweet this</a>]</div>
<h2>
Authenticity ≠ Transparency</h2>
Now, a word or two about authenticity with respect to transparency. As we know, transparency the quality of making something easily accessible. But once you’re transparent, are you authentic? Authenticity is the quality of being genuine, and ultimately of being trusted. 
 
Transparency gets your brand attention; authenticity allows your message to be heard and believed. 
 
But being authentic requires a little extra effort. More than just ensuring that access and message are on point, that the video or image or story are crafted just so, brands must ask: who are our messengers? 
 
Fundamentally, brands have three major groups to think about: influencers, advocates and employees. 
 
Influencers, such as bloggers or journalists, have the largest audiences; advocates love the brand and are excited about developments; and employees are the closest to the brand and therefore are able to speak more authoritatively about it. 
 
Time and again, the <a href="https://www.edelman.com/trust-barometer" target="_blank">Edelman Trust Barometer</a> indicates that we trust people like ourselves or third party experts. The above groupings consist of just that. 
 
There are no absolutes. Complete transparency—of the government or of businesses—doesn’t serve anyone well. But done strategically and appropriately, particularly in response to customer concerns, can leave the public better informed and more trusting as a result. 
 
Consider this: sometimes, just the gesture of providing transparency, rather than the transparency itself, is enough to inspire confidence. 
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://www.wikiart.org/en/jean-baptiste-greuze/the-village-bride-1761" target="_blank">The Village Bride</a> by Jean-Baptiste Greuze, 1761 (public domain)

A Little Transparency, Please

We know we're experiencing a historic trust deficit. Why, in an era when personal and corporate secrets can be unraveled with a few...

The Kinds of Interactions That Grow Your Business

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You need a pickle barrel. 
 
Not because you need more fermented vegetables in your life. But because you need more intimate and personal conversations. 
 
I grew up in a small town in Connecticut — the kind with a town green and a white steepled church, population 10,000. And I remember going with my mom or dad to the bank and the post office, and the teller or clerk behind the counter would know them by name. They might even ask how I was doing in school or on my baseball team. 
 
It seems like a data-driven fantasy now, but those were the days when you didn't need three forms of ID to pick up your mail or make a withdrawal. It was simply the way business was done. 
 
Going back a few generations, the general store was a center of small town life, where citizens would go for supplies. But more than being simply a retail shop, it was a place to see fellow residents, swap stories and even hear some gossip over the pickle barrel — a large, wooden barrel where pickles floated in brine and you picked one out. Typically, there was someone seated nearby, just watching, or maybe playing checkers. 
 
They knew you; you knew them. Maybe they'd strike up a conversation with you. Or make a remark to the clerk behind the counter. But it felt like an extension of family. When you walked away from the general store, you felt like a person and not a number. 
 
Outside of interacting with a small business, when is the last time you had a brand experience like that? These days, we're left to felt like we're a statistic or a cog in a system. Two forms of ID, login, and an encrypted password later, we're left feeling dehumanized. 
 
We were told that the great promise of social media was that it had the potential to bring back the humanity in business. In its earliest days, we heralded the opportunity to have conversations with customers, to get feedback from them directly, and to create 1:1 (or at least 1:few) interactions. 
 
And yet…  Where do we stand with that progress? 
 
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bRHo_Kev63M/XFKOz9Ha3CI/AAAAAAABCug/P7wMTAAFcBgItpK3dVwYKnNkPUZIxHYdgCLcBGAs/s1600/15534152421_b09d075c3b_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Generally speaking" border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="640" height="428" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bRHo_Kev63M/XFKOz9Ha3CI/AAAAAAABCug/P7wMTAAFcBgItpK3dVwYKnNkPUZIxHYdgCLcBGAs/s640/15534152421_b09d075c3b_z.jpg" title="General Store" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Redcrest Grocery & General Store by Kirt Edblom (<a href="https://flic.kr/p/pEGAja" target="_blank">Flickr</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
 
Every time a new social platform opens up, it falls prey to marketers. Now, I don't begrudge a company from making money, and there are few options for social networks that don’t include some sort of advertising, but it somehow feels like Groundhog Day. The Internet has been around for two decades, and yet we're seeing the same kinds of advertising that were prevalent when television was introduced. There has to be a better way. 
 
Back when upstart <a href="https://ello.co/" target="_blank">Ello</a> cast themselves as a Facebook alternative, they proudly declared their distinct lack of advertising: 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Advertisers buy your data so they can show you more ads. You are the product that’s bought and sold. 
We believe there is a better way. We believe a social network can be a tool for empowerment. Not a tool to deceive, coerce, and manipulate — but a place to connect, create, and celebrate life."</blockquote>
 
While it didn't result in a huge influx of users from Facebook, it did create a industry-wide conversation about the relevance of advertising on social platforms. 
 
Aside from platforms, advertisers themselves are under pressure with a huge increase in the use of ad blocking technology. The interruptive and annoying user experience is angering consumers, and they're increasingly making the decision to install software to prevent advertising from taking over their browsing experience. This is especially true on mobile, where there's even less real estate and there are concerns with data usage by ad units. 
 
The point of all of this is that while advertising is still a necessary part of the content ecosystem online, we marketers need to find a better way to meet the expectations of consumers. The decades-old, twice-broken model of advertising is outdated — the interruptive model didn't work for television, and it made its way to the Internet, and eventually to social media. 
 
We need to wake up to the need for human interaction and stories. Simply advertising to them is lazy. Perhaps it means a more hands-on style with a focus on community rather than on advertising. There's value in creating connections and leveraging relationships, especially when we have products and services that people genuinely care about or want to tell others about. 
 
With the incredible amount of data that we have on consumers, we stand at a threshold of personalized content that can be better than it's ever been before. But we need to take the time and effort to create it. If we want to create an emotional connection with consumers and leave a lasting impact, mass marketing is no longer the way forward. We need to show the humanity behind the brand and demonstrate an interest in connecting with consumers the way they want to engage. 
 
Then maybe we'll be able to reclaim the pickle barrel conversations. 
 
<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/567281886&color=%230c69a5&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe> 
 
Image credit: Photograph of mural <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:General_store_and_post_office_24943v.jpg" target="_blank">General store and post office</a> by Doris Lee at the Ariel Rios Federal Building, Washington, D.C. (Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons)

The Kinds of Interactions That Grow Your Business

You need a pickle barrel. Not because you need more fermented vegetables in your life. But because you need more intimate and personal ...

Trust Me

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Trust is a strange thing. We work so hard for it, make it the center of how we define ourselves, and then, with one small misstep, we can lose it for years. We hope that 
 
There are some who pretend to care about trust, giving you the impression that it matters. But then their actions don't match their words. 
 
And then there are those who don't even pretend to care about gaining your trust. They just do whatever they want, reputation be damned. 
 
In these scenarios, it's #2 to be careful of. At least you know where you stand with those who valiantly try or admit that they don't. 
 
But those who deceive, lie, or simply mouth the words without doing the work—those are the real danger. 
 
The tech company that breaches trust while constantly assuring us that trust is their #1 priority. The coworker who assures you that you're in good standing while badmouthing you to your colleagues. The boss who encourages you, but is like a combination of Machiavelli and Svengali behind the scenes. 
 
All of these are examples of situations that seemingly give you reasons to be trusting, but are simply false flags. 
 
Don't wait to be <a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2018/10/why-we-fall-for-it-every-time.html" target="_blank">fooled more than once</a>. Learn from your mistake, then move on. 
 
You know how hard trust is to earn. Make sure you apply those same standards to the trust you seek. 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
“Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.” </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
― William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well [<a href="https://ctt.ac/_B9Md" target="_blank">tweet this</a>]</div>
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caravaggio_(Michelangelo_Merisi)_-_The_Cardsharps_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" target="_blank">Cardsharps</a> by Caravaggio (Michaelangelo Merisi), 1595 (Google Art Project - public domain)

Trust Me

Trust is a strange thing. We work so hard for it, make it the center of how we define ourselves, and then, with one small misstep, we can...

Resoluteness in the Face of Adversity

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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oAV722k-c4I/XEstD40hf4I/AAAAAAABCoY/iq6M3KxVXSI0y1eFSnl6u1h4l-oy675WwCLcBGAs/s1600/Churchill%2B-%2Bfailure.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Churchill on success" border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="1024" height="404" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oAV722k-c4I/XEstD40hf4I/AAAAAAABCoY/iq6M3KxVXSI0y1eFSnl6u1h4l-oy675WwCLcBGAs/s640/Churchill%2B-%2Bfailure.png" title="Winston Churchill - success failure resilience" width="640" /></a></div>
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With the Arctic cold bearing down on much of the Midwest and Northeast this weekend, it seems appropriate to remember the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott. 
 
In 1910, Scott famously set out to be the first to reach the South Pole. He had previously undertaken an expedition to Antarctica in 1901. Only 50 years before did Arctic exploration command the attention of the world's explorers: 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Imagined yet unseen, the Arctic functioned for the nineteenth century much as the moon and outer space did for the twentieth: a place where, against a backdrop of nameless coastlines and unfamiliar seas, the human drama was enacted in its most condensed and absolute form." </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
– Russell Potter (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Spectacles-Frozen-Culture-1818-1875/dp/0295986794" target="_blank">Arctic spectacles: the frozen north in visual culture, 1818-1875</a>) </div>
 
And the human drama played out in full with Captain Scott. His team of five, after enduring harsh conditions, reached the South Pole on January 17, 1912 — only to discover that Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his party reached it just five weeks prior. 
 
The 800-mile march back was monotonous and depressing for the group. They were without vehicles, horses, or dogs, and had to make much of the journey on foot. They battled frostbite, fatigue, and ultimately, a blizzard. 
 
The blizzard stopped them just 11 miles short of their destination. But throughout, Scott kept a diary. He made notes on their progress, charted their distance, and pondered the meaning of their efforts. 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale."</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"we shall stick it out to the end but we are getting weaker of course and the end cannot be far. It seems a pity but I do not think I can write more. —" 
 
"Last Entry 
For God's sake look after our people"</blockquote>
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It's easy to focus on victories, isn't it? The sweet taste of success lingers, and we make it part of our regular storytelling. 
 
But how we react when things don't go our way is more instructive. If we want to learn, that is. 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
– Winston Churchill [<a href="https://ctt.ac/4pld7" target="_blank">tweet this</a>]</div>
 
That sense of resolution — and remember I talked about <a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2019/01/if-youre-committed-to-transformation.html" target="_blank">truly committing to your resolutions recently</a> — is exactly what helped Scott keep his promise as an expedition leader right up until his dying day. 
 
It got me to thinking about the root word, "resolute," which in turn reminded me of the HMS Resolute, the a mid-19th-century ship in the British Royal Navy, specially outfitted for Arctic exploration. 
 
The Resolute became trapped in the ice and was abandoned in 1854. Recovered by an American whaler, the ship was returned to Queen Victoria in 1856. Timbers from the ship were later used to construct a desk which was presented to the President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880. 
 
You may have heard of the Resolute desk — the desk made famous by little "John John" Kennedy crawling out from under it — it has been used by many presidents in the Oval Office, and undoubtedly represents the connection with Great Britain, America's sense of exploration, and the determination of our leadership. 
 
If Captain Scott can keep writing in his diary with frostbite in his extremities and death looming, we can recover from a social gaffe, a campaign failure, or a bad job situation. 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
To suffer woes which Hope thinks infinite; 
To forgive wrongs darker than death or night; 
   To defy Power, which seems omnipotent; 
   Neither to change, nor falter, nor repent; 
This… is to be 
Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free; 
This is alone life, joy, empire, and victory.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
– Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound</div>
 
<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/564288444&color=%230c69a5&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe> 
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/librarycollections/2017/05/29/frozen-voices-from-the-past-captain-horatio-austins-log-of-the-hms-resolute-and-the-first-traces-of-the-lost-arctic-expedition-of-sir-john-franklin/" target="_blank">Situation of the HMS Resolute in Baffin Bay</a> (University of Melbourne) 
<div>
 </div>

Resoluteness in the Face of Adversity

With the Arctic cold bearing down on much of the Midwest and Northeast this weekend, it seems appropriate to remember the British explo...

Do You Want to Be Out in the Cold?

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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qhOBYQwGbqg/XEYNBiebgaI/AAAAAAABCkw/OKavyoX0w38rRERahlKfEXuFSogCRfp9ACLcBGAs/s1600/William%2BBradford%2B-%2BIce%2Bdwellers%2Bwatching%2Bthe%2Binvaders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Arctic exploration - William Bradford" border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="500" height="416" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qhOBYQwGbqg/XEYNBiebgaI/AAAAAAABCkw/OKavyoX0w38rRERahlKfEXuFSogCRfp9ACLcBGAs/s640/William%2BBradford%2B-%2BIce%2Bdwellers%2Bwatching%2Bthe%2Binvaders.jpg" title="William Bradford - Ice dwellers watching the invaders, 1875" width="640" /></a></div>
 
The temperatures have dropped in many parts of the United States in the last few days, sending an Arctic chill over the region. It's the kind of cold that just makes you want to stay indoors under a blanket and near a fire. 
 
How comfortable we are in familiar and friendly surroundings. It makes us content. Satisfied. Maybe even lazy. 
 
When you're not being challenged in your work, you'll see similar outcomes. You might not push yourself quite so hard, allowing your skills to soften because you're satisfied with the status quo. 
 
Or perhaps a competitor will swoop in and do the more difficult thing, resulting in a victory, while you're doing the same thing you've always done. 
 
Frigid temperatures can be uncomfortable, or even painful. But so can defeat. 
 
The question is: which has a more lasting effect? 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
"There is no substitute for hard work." </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
– Thomas A. Edison</div>
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Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ice-dwellerswatchingtheinvaders1875_William_Bradford.jpg" target="_blank">Ice Dwellers Watching the Invaders</a> by William Bradford, 1875 (Wikimedia Commons - public domain)

Do You Want to Be Out in the Cold?

The temperatures have dropped in many parts of the United States in the last few days, sending an Arctic chill over the region. It's ...

Go Play Outside

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How many times as children did we hear from our parents, or as parents ourselves say to our children, "Go play outside."? 
 
It's code for: you've spent enough time inside / in front of a screen / annoying your sibling / bugging me; go do something else. 
 
It's a good lesson. 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
 "Geniuses differ from ordinary men less in the character of their attention than in the nature of the objects upon which it is successively bestowed." </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
– William James [<a href="https://ctt.ac/ifgd7" target="_blank">tweet this</a>]</div>
 
Regardless of what vertical industry you ply your trade—manufacturing, retail, food and beverage, technology, financial services, etc.—or the department in which you sit (marketing, HR, communications, IT, etc.), it's important to get out of your bubble. 
 
It's easy and tempting to simply rely on the experience of what we know and of those around us. But when we open our eyes to things that aren't obvious, to instances that we might think don't apply to us or our area of business, it can be transformative. 
 
While I was on the communications team at Ford, we made it our business to study other industries and their approach to marketing and communications, rather than blithely following our competitors. Our aim was to be the best in all industry, not just the best in our industry. 
 
The human mind and spirit doesn't care whether you're trying to sell them a car, a burger, a phone, a pair of jeans, or a summer vacation. It cares about the overall experience, the information required to make a decision, and how they felt while the experience was happening. 
 
So go find some examples that resonate with people, that make you feel a certain way, and that stand out from the same-old, same-old of your industry. 
 
Go play outside. 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pied_Piper.jpg" target="_blank">The Pied Piper of Hamelin</a> by Kate Greenaway, 1888 (Wikimedia Commons)

Go Play Outside

How many times as children did we hear from our parents, or as parents ourselves say to our children, "Go play outside."? It&...

Emotionally Intelligent Leaders Do This One Thing

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We think we know Abraham Lincoln pretty well. The 16th president of the United States stands as one of the greatest leaders of all time -- one who guided us through the U.S. Civil War with wisdom and patience, while riddled with self-doubt. 
 
He is on the penny and the five dollar bill. The Lincoln Memorial stands in a prominent place in Washington, DC. John Wilkes Booth made him a martyr; the Gettysburg address made his words immortal. 
 
But after having served a single term in Congress, Lincoln returned to Illinois and considered himself a failure. He had hoped that his service to the cause would have resulted in a presidential appointment in an important office, but was disappointed when it didn't happen. 
 
During the next five years, he withdrew from public life and lost interest in politics. 
 
But far from being an unproductive time, Lincoln threw himself into his legal practice and more importantly, into a prolonged period of intense "personal, intellectual, moral, and professional growth," as recounted by Doris Kearns Goodwin in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Turbulent-Doris-Kearns-Goodwin/dp/1476795924" target="_blank">Leadership in Turbulent Times</a>. How did he do it? 
 
Through tireless and honest self-examination. He knew that if he wanted to make an impact on the world, this effort had to be relentless and sustained: he needed "a willingness to confront weakness and imperfection, reflect upon failure, and examine the kind of leader he wanted to be." 
 
The Abraham Lincoln we think we know is held to ideals of great wisdom, insight, and success. But becoming that Lincoln required a great deal of work. 
 
The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius said: 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
"Learning without reflection is a waste. Reflection without learning is dangerous."</div>
 
And he was right. What we contemplate helps us to determine a path forward. We all make mistakes -- in personal relationships, with co-workers, on projects -- it's part of being human. But if we fail to learn from those mistakes, we'll find ourselves making them over and over. 
 
You've probably come across senior leaders who think they know everything, or those who belittle others, or who are inexperienced. But those aren't the most difficult clients to coach. It's the ones who won't take the time to reflect on themselves who are problematic. 
 
<a href="https://www.scottmonty.com/2018/09/emotional-intelligence-and-power-of.html" target="_blank">Emotional intelligence</a> consists partly of self-awareness, and you can't have self-awareness without self-reflection. 
 
An <a href="https://hbr.org/2017/03/why-you-should-make-time-for-self-reflection-even-if-you-hate-doing-it" target="_blank">an article in the Harvard Business Review</a>, Jennifer Porter wrote: 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Reflection gives the brain an opportunity to pause amidst the chaos, untangle and sort through observations and experiences, consider multiple possible interpretations, and create meaning. This meaning becomes learning, which can then inform future mindsets and actions."</blockquote>
 
Abraham Lincoln's habit of self-reflection, taken up in 1849 following his defeat for a second term in Congress, formed the basis of what he needed during the Civil War. 
 
For without the intense self-discipline to scrutinize himself, he would not have developed the habit that allowed him to block out the chaos of the early 1860s and take the counsel of his team of rivals that fueled his decision making during the war. 
 
Even when we've failed—especially when we've failed—we need to be brutally honest with ourselves. For only then can we forge a path forward that shows us the gaps we need to fill and the strengths we need to play to. 
 
 
<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/556255980&color=%230c69a5&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe>

Emotionally Intelligent Leaders Do This One Thing

We think we know Abraham Lincoln pretty well. The 16th president of the United States stands as one of the greatest leaders of all time -...

If You're Committed to Transformation, You Need Start Small

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Resolutions are hard. It's probably why we only make them once a year. 
 
January is the natural time to do that, as we look to turn the page and make a change. But doing so requires a degree of self-awareness and an understanding of what we can realistically commit to. 
 
Whether we're planning new campaigns, a daily routine, or a way to engage with our direct reports, building in new habits requires a set of gradual, rather than drastic, changes. 
 
And waiting for the payoff requires patience. 
 
Which can be difficult when Wall Street wants quarterly results and your boss wants this month's numbers. 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
“First we make our habits, then our habits make us.” </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
– Charles C. Noble</div>
 
Changing behavior takes time. But it's the first step toward making broader changes that are essential for personal and business growth. 
 
It's what will make teams think about each other differently and commit to working together in different and better ways. 
 
It's what will pave the path for considering customer-centric approaches to experience design. 
 
It's what will lead toward improved technology purchases. 
 
But committing to that enterprise technology system out of the gate? That's a mistake. Because you haven't built the muscle memory through force of habit yet. 
 
After all, Rome wasn't built in a day.

If You're Committed to Transformation, You Need Start Small

Resolutions are hard. It's probably why we only make them once a year. January is the natural time to do that, as we look to turn t...

Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New

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The last day of the year seems the perfect time to share this classic poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Written in 1850, "Ring Out, Wild Bells" is part of In Memoriam. 
 
It looks backward and forward, and represents the kind of reflection that we naturally gravitate toward at the close of the calendar year. 
 
No matter what 2018 has brought you, it's a chance to wipe the slate clean and begin anew in the year ahead. 
 
<h2>
In Memoriam [Ring Out, Wild Bells]</h2>
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, 
   The flying cloud, the frosty light: 
   The year is dying in the night; 
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. 
 
Ring out the old, ring in the new, 
   Ring, happy bells, across the snow: 
   The year is going, let him go; 
Ring out the false, ring in the true. 
 
Ring out the grief that saps the mind 
   For those that here we see no more; 
   Ring out the feud of rich and poor, 
Ring in redress to all mankind. 
 
Ring out a slowly dying cause, 
   And ancient forms of party strife; 
   Ring in the nobler modes of life, 
With sweeter manners, purer laws. 
 
Ring out the want, the care, the sin, 
   The faithless coldness of the times; 
   Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes 
But ring the fuller minstrel in. 
 
Ring out false pride in place and blood, 
   The civic slander and the spite; 
   Ring in the love of truth and right, 
Ring in the common love of good. 
 
Ring out old shapes of foul disease; 
   Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; 
   Ring out the thousand wars of old, 
Ring in the thousand years of peace. 
 
Ring in the valiant man and free, 
   The larger heart, the kindlier hand; 
   Ring out the darkness of the land, 
Ring in the Christ that is to be. 
 
 
Wishing you all the best for a happy and prosperous 2019. 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/421658" target="_blank">Waltham Abbey, Essex</a> by Peter De Wint, c.1840 (The Met, public domain)

Ring Out the Old, Ring in the New

The last day of the year seems the perfect time to share this classic poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Written in 1850, "Ring Out, Wild...

Once More, With Feeling

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Vincent Price's name is synonymous with Gothic horror. He famously said, "It's as much fun to scare as it is to be scared." 
 
But Price's interests went beyond the sense of fear. He was an art collector and consultant who earned a degree in art history and opened his own gallery. He had roles that spanned the stage, radio, television, film and animation. He we even a gourmet cook with a cookbook to his name. 
 
But it was one of his cult classic films that really brought his sense of horror to life. 
 
In 1959, Vincent Price teamed up with the director William Castle to makes one of the most camp, carnivalesque horror masterpieces of that decade, The House on Haunted Hill. But the lesser-known follow-up <a href="http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/161103%7C0/The-Tingler.html" target="_blank">The Tingler</a> went even farther with a classic “mad scientist” role. 
 
The film follows Price’s pathologist Dr. Chapin and his research into how the spine “tingles” when experiencing fear. He discovers this is caused by a parasite that attaches itself to the spine which, if scared badly enough, will grow and eventually kill its host. 
 
The only antidote is screaming — the louder the better — to neutralize the terrifying effects of “the tingler.” 
 
The film begins with an onscreen appearance by the director, who warns his audience that the physical sensation of tingling so central to the movie may also be experienced by some people in the theater. 
 
In reality, this was caused by one of Castle’s most famous gimmicks — electrified buzzing gadgets that had been placed underneath random audience members’ seats. The Tingler's shadow was shown across the screen, as if it was loose in the projection booth. The audience was warned, and then…ZAP! 
 
Trashy, outrageous, and proudly silly, Castle was a true master of understanding the centrality of sensory affect to the horror experience. He knew that horror was as much — if not more — a physical experience as an intellectual or emotional one. 
 
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<h2>
The Sound of Travel</h2>
If you ever took an Amtrak train through a major station on the East coast, you may have heard the soft flipping of the split-flap schedule board that used to inhabit train stations in Boston, New York, Newark, and Baltimore, and is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annemariekelly/2012/01/17/scented-ads-not-just-for-perfume-anymore/?mod=djemCMOToday#7da351d845a6" target="_blank">preparing to be retired in Philadelphia</a>. 
 
It's visceral. And it was an important part of the rail travel experience. The same way a used bookstore provides a sensory experience that a Kindle cannot. 
 
Humans are sensory creatures, and we experience books by smell as well as by sight and touch; similarly, travel includes sounds as well as sights. The board updating was a reminder — in those days before the dings and buzzes of smartphone reminders — to look up and the board and check the status of your train. 
 
But more than an analog travel assistant, that soft flipping was a visceral component of the commuter's experience, just as the clickety-clack of the rails was. 
 
It made up part of the romanticized image of rail travel that brings us back to a more genteel, sophisticated time of travel (or at least that's what our imagination tells us). Grand temples of transportation. Well-dressed individuals. Gate attendants and stewards who weren't quite as surly. When travel was less of a rush and more of a joy. 
 
Whether or not that image is true, it occupies a place in our mind. And the removal of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-flap_display" target="_blank">Solari board</a> at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station takes us one step further away from it. 
 
Now we have to be satisfied with travel alerts that ding and buzz in our pockets on our smartphones. 
 
Perhaps one day, our children will romanticize that experience in turn. 
 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“But there can be no grave for Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson...Shall they not always live in Baker Street? Are they not there this moment, as one writes? Outside, the hansoms rattle through the rain, and Moriarty plans his latest devilry. Within, the sea-coal flames upon the hearth and Holmes and Watson take their well-won case...So they still live for all that love them well; in a romantic chamber of the heart, in a nostalgic country of the mind, where it is always 1895.”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
— Vincent Starrett, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes</div>
 
 
<h2>
I'm Sensing Something</h2>
The good news is there are a few brands who understand the power of many senses and are working to incorporate more into their marketing and promotions. 
 
McCain Foods, the frozen food manufacturer, is <a href="https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/mccain-cooks-potato-scented-bus-stop-campaign/1115738?mod=djemCMOToday" target="_blank">installing the smell of baked potatoes</a> to 10 bus stops around the U.K. as part of its £1.4 million push for Ready Made Jackets. 
 
At several movie theaters across the U.S., the ads really smell — like cinnamon rolls. Pillsbury is <a href="https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/pillsbury-pump-cinnamon-roll-smells-movie-theaters/315892/?mod=djemCMOToday" target="_blank">pumping the delicious scent into 25 theaters</a> as part of a campaign that attempts to spark sales for its refrigerated dough by linking cinnamon roll smells to holiday memories. 
 
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6DyZtox_jlA/XBH2pMMzyII/AAAAAAABB_8/12I28ymYqzk9ewm_GqgR7KBbOQwjG42XgCLcBGAs/s1600/Smellevision.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="953" height="271" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6DyZtox_jlA/XBH2pMMzyII/AAAAAAABB_8/12I28ymYqzk9ewm_GqgR7KBbOQwjG42XgCLcBGAs/s400/Smellevision.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hey, who would have thought that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_qvjwLmrHo" style="text-align: start;" target="_blank">Elmer Fudd would have predicted the advent of Smellevision</a> in 1940?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
 
Remember scratch and sniff books when you were a kid? Well, they're back, but this time in magazine ads for <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annemariekelly/2012/01/17/scented-ads-not-just-for-perfume-anymore/?mod=djemCMOToday#6b6cb00445a6" target="_blank">household items, cleaners, medicines and more</a>. 
 
 
If we can use more than one sense at a time, we stand a good chance to win not only hearts and minds, but memories. And a memories are linked to experiences, we'll be calling up on powerful emotions that can better engage our customers. 
 
 
<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/543760644&color=%230c69a5&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true" width="100%"></iframe> 
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Senses_(Rembrandt)#/media/File:The_Senses.jpg" target="_blank">The Senses</a> by Rembrandt, 1624 (Wikipedia - public domain)

Once More, With Feeling

Vincent Price's name is synonymous with Gothic horror. He famously said, "It's as much fun to scare as it is to be scared.&q...

Empathy as a Differentiator

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You're selling a commodity. 
 
It doesn't matter whether your company produces cars, provides consulting services, operates a retail establishment, or makes ice cream. 
 
Whatever it is that you do, you have a competitor that does the same thing, and there's one thing that keeps your customers from defecting. 
 
They may buy someone else's product because it's cheaper. Or more convenient. 
 
But what you you could make them feel a certain way? 
 
If you've ever been on hold for a customer service call — one where you're worked up over an issue — and you're only getting more angry because you have to wait to speak with someone, then you're not going to appreciate the unfeeling and disembodied: 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
"We regret any inconvenience you may have experienced."</div>
 
That sounds like something a lawyer might have written. 
 
But imagine if you could make your customer feel relieved, or entertained, or at the very least, listened to. 
 
The simple gesture of saying, "Oh, that's terrible," or "I'm really sorry to hear that," goes a long way. 
 
It puts more humanity into the situation and lets your customer know that there's someone like them at your company. 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
“Acquire the habit of attending carefully to what is being said by another, and of entering, so far as possible, into the mind of the speaker.”</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
– Marcus Aurelius [<a href="https://ctt.ac/e2dSR" target="_blank">tweet this</a>]</div>
 
A couple of hundred years before Marcus Aurelius ruled the Roman Empire, Cicero was impressing the Roman people in his turn in the Senate and as a well-known orator with a similar turn of phase: 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
"If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings, and speak my words."</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
– Cicero [<a href="https://ctt.ac/aU74I" target="_blank">tweet this</a>]</div>
 
It's not always easy to imagine a situation or the world view as someone else might. But if you can at least show them you're trying, it's a start. 
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gu%C3%A9rin_Andromaque_et_Pyrrhus.JPG" target="_blank">Andromache and Pyrrhus</a> by Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, 1810 (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

Empathy as a Differentiator

You're selling a commodity. It doesn't matter whether your company produces cars, provides consulting services, operates a reta...

Make Better Customer Experiences the New Normal

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On Wednesday, December 5, 2018, America had a national day of mourning to mark the passing of George H.W. Bush, 41st President of the United States. 
 
So much has been written about his life and legacy in the past few days, but one thing stood out to me, and I'd like to reflect on it here with you, if you'll allow it. 
 
You've likely seen the letter that President Bush left for President Clinton as Oval Office changed hands. Just in case, here's what he wrote: 
 
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dear Bill, 
 
When I walked into this office just now I felt the same sense of wonder and respect that I felt four years ago. I know you will feel that, too. 
 
I wish you great happiness here. I never felt the loneliness some Presidents have described. 
There will be very tough times, made even more difficult by criticism you may not think is fair. I’m not a very good one to give advice; but just don’t let the critics discourage you or push you off course. 
 
You will be our President when you read this note. I wish you well. I wish your family well. 
 
Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you. 
 
Good Luck — George</blockquote>
 
Just imagine leaving a kind and gracious note for someone who has handed you the worst defeat of your professional life. 
 
As Jay Baer might say, that's how you <a href="https://www.jaybaer.com/hug-your-haters/" target="_blank">Hug Your Haters</a>! 
 
Shock and awe. Surprise and delight. 
 
You've heard the phrases before: those that indicate we're astonishing someone with something unexpected. When we come out of left field and make someone feel special when they're least expecting it. 
 
If done well (assuming people like certain surprises), it can drive brand loyalty and create a fanbase. 
 
I was reminded of this when I witnessed all of the praise being heaped on George H.W. Bush following his death of Friday, referring to his decency and kindness. It's a little unnerving to think that decency and kindness are rare or out of the ordinary, but here we are. 
 
We've seen it happen in the world of digital and social media as well. 
 
 
<ul>
<li>When someone receives <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2018/11/human-emotions-win-every-time.html" target="_blank">a handwritten note</a> when they're used to reading tweets and texts, that's a stand-out moment.</li>
<li>When someone gets <a href="https://youtu.be/cgIQiLmhf3s?t=672" target="_blank">a phone call from the CEO</a> when they're considering a rival brand, that's remarkable.</li>
<li>When customer service makes someone feel like they're the only person in the world at the time, that's something that people will talk about.</li>
</ul>
 
 
But why make this the exception? Why not aim for making this a regular way of doing things? 
 
The question is: can you scale it and make it happen again and again? That's the crux of the book <a href="http://talktriggers.com/" target="_blank">Talk Triggers</a> by Jay Baer and Daniel Lemin. 
 
They identified four criteria that result in talk triggers, or built-in differentiators that create customer conversations: be remarkable, relevant, reasonable, and repeatable. 
 
Because you need customers and employees to appreciate you for the culture and experiences you create on a regular basis, not the exceptional stand-alone efforts that are just stunts. 
 
Once you get beyond the surprising, then you're just left with the delightful. 
 
And isn't that what everyone wants? 
 
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/540039813&color=0c69a5" width="100%"></iframe> 
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_the_Horatii" target="_blank">The Oath of the Horatii</a> by Jacques-Louis David, 1784 (Wikipedia - public domain)

Make Better Customer Experiences the New Normal

On Wednesday, December 5, 2018, America had a national day of mourning to mark the passing of George H.W. Bush, 41st President of the Uni...

How to Truly Surprise and Delight

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It's kind of sad when we celebrate what should be accepted as normal, isn't it? 
 
Like when people get excited about receiving praise or a handwritten note. 
 
Or talk wistfully about a leader who treated people with kindness and compassion. 
 
Why aren't we simply doing things that were once expected? That were once the price of existence? And doing them because they're the right thing to do – not because we want something. 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
– Mark Twain</div>
 
Early in my career at Ford, I was at a conference in Paris, and I remember meeting someone for the first time with whom I had corresponded with online for a few years. 
 
We chatted for about 10 minutes or so, and when we were done, I remember her remarking at how blown away she was that I put my phone away, gave her my undivided attention, and just listened to and talked with her. 
 
While I was glad that we met and spoke, I was left with this feeling of melancholy: wistful that attention, consideration, and kindness were now considered exceptional rather than the norm. 
 
 
The simple act of doing what's right is a powerful strategy. 
 
What's within your power to change such that your customers, employees, colleagues and friends see you as a kind and decent person or brand, leaving them more gratified than astonished? 
 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edouard_Hamman_-_Disillusion_-_WGA11202.jpg" target="_blank">Disillusionment</a> by Edouard Hamman, 1851 (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

How to Truly Surprise and Delight

It's kind of sad when we celebrate what should be accepted as normal, isn't it? Like when people get excited about receiving pr...

Your Path to Success Requires This Characteristic

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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-65HDwEIcEYQ/W_-Q5B4jWyI/AAAAAAABB14/3yh-4dpusCAHc0a2FFLDMAvQdbR_jpM5ACLcBGAs/s1600/Seneca%2B-%2BTriumph.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The special characteristic of a great person is to triumph over the disasters and panics of human life. - Seneca" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1106" height="520" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-65HDwEIcEYQ/W_-Q5B4jWyI/AAAAAAABB14/3yh-4dpusCAHc0a2FFLDMAvQdbR_jpM5ACLcBGAs/s640/Seneca%2B-%2BTriumph.png" title="Seneca on what triumph means" width="640" /></a></div>
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</div>
 
His father was a dress cutter who did not get much work after the Great Depression began. As a result, his family had to live in a one-bedroom apartment in New York, where they barely scraped by. 
 
As a boy, he read voraciously in that small apartment. His parents, Jack and Celia were Romanian-born immigrants, and were happy to indulge this passion and even bought him a bookstand that he could keep on the table so that he could read during dinner. He particularly enjoyed Sherlock Holmes stories. 
 
When he was able to go to the movies, he enjoyed the dashing and heroic Errol Flynn. 
 
The young boy knew what a sacrifice all of that was for his parents, and inspired by those books and the movies he watched, he vowed to grow up to write the Great American Novel. 
 
At 16, his Uncle Robbie helped him land his first job as an office assistant at a publishing house. There he'd fetch lunch, proofread, and refill artist's ink jars… Not exactly a glamorous path toward becoming a writer, but it was a start, and it was close to the action. 
 
But when he finally was given a job as a writer at that office, he did something strange: he refused to use his real name. 
 
You see, he aspired to something greater. And he felt that he would sully his real name if he used it in connection with a job that was not as serious as he'd like. 
 
But the boy — now a young man — was a natural storyteller. And his stories took off. At which point, he abandoned his dream of being a novelist and legally changed his name to his pen name: Stan Lee. And you probably know his catch phrase: "Excelsior!" It's the official motto of his home state of New York and it means "ever upward." 
 
Stan took the detecting skills of Sherlock Holmes and the swashbuckling acrobatics of Errol Flynn and merged them into his characters. By the tender age of 19, he was granted editorship of Timely Comics, which would evolve into Marvel Comics. 
 
Lee died in November 2018 at the age of 95, but when he died, not many people were aware that he suffered from a debilitating malady. 
 
He had created the super-strong Incredible Hulk. He invented the wisecracking, web-swinging Spider-Man. And the mystical, magical Doctor Strange. By the end of Lee's life, Marvel had a library of some 8,000 characters. 
 
And these characters were more human than its rivals in the D.C. Comics universe. They had teenage angst. They couldn't hold relationships. As many as 180 of them — including Daredevil —  were blind. 
 
Stan believed that making them more empathetic would bring readers closer to them. Stan Lee himself was closer to them than you might know. 
 
For you see, this master storyteller — the man who breathed life into these characters, who wove their stories with wonderful color, who made cameo appearances alongside each of them on the big screen — this man, Stan Lee, in the last few years of his life, couldn't see any of that. 
 
By the time he reached his early 90s, Stan suffered from macular degeneration. He was legally blind. 
 
But he kept taking interviews, going to screenings, and speaking at Comic Cons. 
 
Excelsior, indeed. 
 
 
<div style="text-align: center;">
"Success comes to the lowly and to the poorly talented, but the special characteristic of a great person is to triumph over the disasters and panics of human life."</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
– Seneca [<a href="https://ctt.ac/me9wY" target="_blank">tweet this</a>]</div>
 
It seems like the ultimate irony that a visual storyteller should be robbed of his sight. It's along the same lines of Beethoven gradually <a href="http://smonty.co/fullmonty29" target="_blank">losing the ability to hear</a>, yet producing some of the most glorious music the world has ever known. 
 
How many of us would survive, let alone thrive under such circumstances? 
 
It takes a certain kind of internal fortitude to handle that. Self-confidence. Even <a href="http://www.scottmonty.com/2018/11/on-gratitude.html" target="_blank">gratitude</a> for that which we still retain. 
 
When Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote his poem "Excelsior," he noted that it was inspired by the Latin phrase Scopus meus excelsior est ("my goal is higher"). 
 
<h2>
Excelsior</h2>
The shades of night were falling fast, 
As through an Alpine village passed 
A youth, who bore, 'mid snow and ice, 
A banner with the strange device, 
      Excelsior! 
 
His brow was sad; his eye beneath, 
Flashed like a falchion from its sheath, 
And like a silver clarion rung 
The accents of that unknown tongue, 
      Excelsior! 
 
In happy homes he saw the light 
Of household fires gleam warm and bright; 
Above, the spectral glaciers shone, 
And from his lips escaped a groan, 
      Excelsior! 
 
"Try not the Pass!" the old man said; 
"Dark lowers the tempest overhead, 
The roaring torrent is deep and wide!" 
And loud that clarion voice replied, 
      Excelsior! 
 
"Oh stay," the maiden said, "and rest 
Thy weary head upon this breast! " 
A tear stood in his bright blue eye, 
But still he answered, with a sigh, 
      Excelsior! 
 
"Beware the pine-tree's withered branch! 
Beware the awful avalanche!" 
This was the peasant's last Good-night, 
A voice replied, far up the height, 
      Excelsior! 
 
At break of day, as heavenward 
The pious monks of Saint Bernard 
Uttered the oft-repeated prayer, 
A voice cried through the startled air, 
      Excelsior! 
 
A traveller, by the faithful hound, 
Half-buried in the snow was found, 
Still grasping in his hand of ice 
That banner with the strange device, 
      Excelsior! 
 
There in the twilight cold and gray, 
Lifeless, but beautiful, he lay, 
And from the sky, serene and far, 
A voice fell like a falling star, 
      Excelsior! 
 
 
Pushing forward while others are quitting may seem like folly to some. But for those with a vision — a higher goal — seeking to make a difference in the world, there's something pushing us onward. 
 
If you cultivate a team to share that vision and to share the burden together, the journey becomes a joy, and completing it is within your grasp. 
 
Going it alone — well, you may end up like Longfellow's fateful traveler. 
 
 
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/536630199&color=0c69a5" width="100%"></iframe> 
 
Image credit: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scene_from_Shakespeare%27s_The_Tempest#/media/File:William_Hogarth_017.jpg" target="_blank">Scene from Shakespeare's The Tempest</a> by William Hogarth, 1735 (Wikipedia - public domain)

Your Path to Success Requires This Characteristic

His father was a dress cutter who did not get much work after the Great Depression began. As a result, his family had to live in a one-...

Scott Monty - Keynote Speaker, Timeless Wisdom

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Empathy as a Differentiator

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How to Truly Surprise and Delight

Your Path to Success Requires This Characteristic

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