Suresh Dinakaran's Blog

 

The culture would tempt us to be all of these. And culture is about people like us, doing things like this.

Take the path, most traveled. That is easy.

Follow the herd. Become one of the tribe. That is easy.

Swim in the SOS(Sea of Sameness). That is easy.

Not wanting be contrarian. That is easy.

Looking the other way, rather than get in and contribute. That is easy.

Thinking of the here and now, short-term. That is easy.

Hoping that things would change without intent or action. That is easy.

Defer, procrastinate, put aside. That is easy.

Shy away from responsibility. That is easy.

Being an ally of complacency. That is easy.

Not stand up for your cause or any other just cause. That is easy.

I, me, myself. That is easy.

Preserve the status quo, even though it clearly is not working. That is easy.

Remain lost rather than find a way. That is easy.

Saying it does not affect me. That is easy.

The outside world provokes, persists and insists on changing the story we tell ourselves. Our attitude doesn’t have to be driven by the outside world, but sometimes, they overlap.

 

With an attitude of possibility and resilience, we can care, lead, differ, impact.

 

The journey to the next and realising your best begins with wanting to do better.

 

And when you look back, you would realise, that is easier.

 

Look all around and you can see sameness emblazoned unabashedly. In the culture where “ people like us do things like this ” only.

 

Whether it is in social media posts and the status quoted, the perennial quest is to be like the next, the me too, the also ran, without of course the realisation that they are going down south rapidly down a rabbit hole. Being tribal might have something to do with it. The perceived security in sameness and conformity being the tyrants here.

 

When we were telling ourselves at ISD Global why people should even consider talking to us, let alone do business with us, the common refrain that emerged was ” The world certainly does not another advertising or branding agency “. Yet, it could do with an other agency. So, the effort at all times was how can we remain relevant while being distinct and compelling. We were prepared to put the right thing in the new place and discover what that leads to viz new thinking, new perspectives, new possibilities.

A simple pointer. We notice things because of contrast or contradiction not because of something blending into the background. In any case, the brain remembers what it least expects, so, the least you do is deliver the unexpected. If you do not wave the flag on your individuality, your sense of style, leaving your footprint, no (by design) anomaly, or your idiosyncracy, you get relegated to the background. The map is not the territory, neither is noise the signal. 

 

This malaise of sameness is everywhere: marketing campaigns, business pitches, or movie trailers, each trying to outdo one another while somehow sounding exactly the same. Some elementary reminder here: Consumers are statistics, customers are people. 

 

In our space, there is always talk about competitive advantage. The best route to enhance that into a competitive sustainable advantage is to understand that no one can out-you, you!

 

Let the rough edges show- let the power of vulnerability be a calling hard. In a frenetically commoditised world, USP is passe.

 

Go for UFP(Unique Feelings Proposition)!

 

Some of us may have the ability to see around corners. But, that still is a corner. On a long winding drive, you would be able to see only till your headlights allow you and you keep figuring out as you continue on the path and keep discovering milestones, places, opportunities. You just can’t wait for everything to be figured out before you embark.

 

If we were to compare that situation to a movie, once everything is figured out( the default Set-Up | Conflict | Resolution model that most movies follow), that is when the credits begin to roll. Post the resolution or climax in cinematic language. Life is like a movie- we figure out things as we go along, not having a drawing board that has sketched out our paths.

A few steps at a time. Some have even gone to the extent of fixing the parachute on the way down. Uncertainty is where it all kicks off. That is the conduit to continuous evolution and expansion. There is no bound script to refer to which tells us what comes next. All the world is a stage and you write the lines that you want to tell the world.

 

Starting before you are ready is the best time to start. Lets us remember that we human beings are rough drafts that continually mistake ourselves for the final story, then gasp as the plot changes on the page of living.

 

 

 

There is a sell-by date to most things in life. And, inspiration is no different.

 

We all have ideas. They seem immortal. They can last forever. Not perishable. Ideas are aplenty. But ideas without action are regrets.

That is not the case with inspiration. Inspiration is perishable. Like fresh milk. Or fruits. There is an expiration date.

 

The Power of Now( also a seminal book by Eckhart Tolle) cannot be overstated. There is never a better time than NOW.

 

If you want to do something, you have to do it now. You can’t put it on a shelf and wait for two months to get around to doing something about it. You just can’t say you will do it later. Later, you won’t be pumped about it anymore. Simple as that.

Inspiration does not come with any advance notice. So, if it happens to come to you on a Friday, kiss your weekend plans goodbye and get around to dive full depth into the project or idea. Inspiration is like a time machine. When high on inspiration, you can get the equivalent of three week’s work done in twenty four hours. Try it!

 

Inspiration is a magical thing, a productivity and creativity multiplier, an unabashed motivator. But, it won’t wait for you. Inspiration is a NOW thing. If it grabs you, grab it right back and put it to work. After all as Issac Newton told the world ” Every action has an equal and opposite reaction “.

 

 

 

My colleagues at ISD Global have always been irked by the fact( and justifiably so) that I remain very open to sharing our ideas and concepts to the world. Their apprehension (not out of sync in any way) is that it will get copied or stolen without our getting any attribution or benefit. My take on that always has been: so be it! Guarded in the fact that our sense of individuality, mindset, execution abilities etc are NOT commoditsable.

In a world that is rapidly getting commoditised, also-rans and me too fill the universe. As humans, right from the hunter-gatherer stages, we always found safety and recluse in being part of a tribe. Doing our best to fit in, comply, adhere, conform.. but we need to recognise is the fact that a society that once used to reward people for fitting in is now seeking and saluting people who stand out.

So, there’s a great way to protect yourself from the umpteeen number of copycats. By making you as an integral part of your offering or service or solution. Inject what is unique about the way you think into what you sell. Decommoditise your product. Make it something that no one else can offer.

 

Look no further than Zappos.com, the online shoe retailer. On the face of it, the brand is no different from a FootLocker or any other aggregator platform. That said, the big difference that Zappos brings in is CEO Tony Hsieh‘s obsession with customer service into everything he does.

 

At Zappos, there are NO scripts that call centre executives are expected to parrot like the rest of the customer service world. They can talk to customers for as long as they want. Not just that, Zappos HQ and their call centre are in the same premises(not oceans apart like most of the rest). And all of Zappos employees(even ones not in customer service or fulfillment) are expected to work in the warehouse and answer telephone calls from customers. It is this devotion to customer service that differentiates Zappos from other online shoe retailers.

 

Pour yourself into your product and everything around your product too: how you sell it, how you support it, how you explain it, and how you deliver it. Competitors can never copy the you in your product.

 

 

 

Busyness isn’t importance. And turmoil isn’t progress.

 

And contrary to what we are hardwired to believe, burnout is NOT a badge of honour.  We are willing(or unwilling) victims of the stories we have been told and the narrative that we have been storing in our heads. We all have stories we live by that aren’t fixed truths. They’re just old scripts we’ve been following without realizing it.

 

Getting off the hustle treadmill isn’t easy. The treadmill of alienated insecurity that tells you that the moment you stop running for even an instant, you will be flung flat on your face. Burnout is when you are all the time overstimulated. Our culture glorifies burnout as a measure of success and self worth and that does not help in any way. The implicit message is that if we are not perpetually exhausted, we are not doing enough. As if the great things are reserved for those who bleed. For those who almost break.

 

Introspect and ask your self ‘ how complicit or a willing ally are you in creating the conditions(and preserving that status quo) that are causing you stress and overwhelm’ ? Is your GPS calibrated right? Does it have to guide you only towards Destination Struggle?  You don’t have to Google to find better Wayz!

 

Does your To-Do task list for the day occupy all of the entire A4 page?  And To-Do as a term itself sounds so intimidating and an admonishment, clearly that you are not going to enjoy.

 

The continuous talk of self-optimisation. BS- humans are not search engines.

For all those who flaunt their workaholic badges of honor and condescendingly accept the various neurotic flavors that comes with it, let’s come to terms with the fact that we have been conditioned to think that work in the laissez faire zeitgeist is about hyper vigilance. It’s about what happens to people when they are trapped in abusive circumstances and cannot escape. Psychologist Judith Herman observed that “the ultimate effect of [psychological domination] is to convince the victim that the perpetrator is omnipotent, that resistance is futile, and that her life depends upon winning his indulgence through absolute compliance.” We haven’t been able to shrug off the mega legacy of the Industrial Age: Compliance. Phew!

 

And since we are all birds of the same feather, we fall for the narrative that romanticizes struggle and that assumes only grueling work can produce worthy results.

 

The good thing is that you have a choice. Like nature, fly with the wind. Go with the flow, like water. Take the path of least resistance.

 

Because, clearly Working is NOT Productivity. RIP Productivity!

 

A couple of years back I was visiting England with family. And since renting a car was the best option to go around the south central, west Midlands, we did the obvious. The booking was done 25 days prior to our dates of travel and the car rental brand is perceived to be the best and the largest in the world. But, what we experienced was shoddy, sub-standard and far from even remotely enterprising. You get the drift by now.

 

There was an appointment made over a call(after holding on for a good 20 minutes listening to mindless, tasteless music on the IVR, dodging the robots to eventually get a human on the line) and me and family reached the car rental office at the appointed time. There were several customers waiting in that small office and all seeming more restless than the next. The wait was getting to them clearly.

 

What I notice about these car rental brands is that there is never enough to go around. Even though what they ALWAYS claim is their intent to go the ‘ extra mile ‘ (never mind the spiralling fuel costs)- I mean if the staff required to handle traffic at a certain time(where appointments have been given) is 3 or 4, there is barely one. And that individual is supposed to be, being honest and fair Hercules and Machiavelli combined. Checking the booking, handling telephone calls, collecting payment, driving the car to the delivery area, taking pictures of the vehicle before handing over the keys and briefing( in a well-trained cut and dry hard to understand manner) the customer on the do’s and don’ts. Not to mention looking askance at you based on the colour of your skin.

 

Since it didn’t seem like that I would be getting my car anytime soon, I decided to look around the dingy office (armed with dirty carpet, poor lighting, an unwelcome vibe) and what caught my attention was a well framed poster on the wall which screamed ‘ Mission Statement ‘. Without exaggerating any bit, here it is verbatim:

 

” Our mission is to fulfill the automotive and commercial truck rental, leasing, car rental and related needs of our customers and, in doing so, exceed their expectations for service, quality and value.

We will strive to earn our customers’ long-term loyalty by working to deliver more than promised, being honest and fair and ” going the extra mile ” to provide exceptional personalized service that creates a pleasing business experience.

We must motivate our employees to provide exceptional service to our customers by supporting their development, providing opportunities for their personal growth and fairly compensating them for their success and achievements..”

 

And it drones on..and you are there in full protein form and reading all this crap and wondering, ” what kind of idiot do they take me for?” The words on the paper are clearly disconnected from the reality of the experience. And this coming from one of the top global car rental brands in the world, at least perceivably. So much for mission statements!

 

After almost an hour of waiting the counter customer disservice executive comes up to me and barks ” sir the SUV that you booked is not available- you will have to make do with a scaled down version as that is the only one available “. With no hint of an apology or anything even resembling that remotely. And since the demand was more than supply, there was no discount or any other entitlement offered.

There was nothing that we could do at that stage since the motivation of getting to Oxford and also to see Shakespeare’s home in Stratford-upon-Avon was far more over-powering, we took the compromise choice.

 

Sum summarum, for all those brands who continue to behave like this, here’s a simple message: standing for something isn’t just about writing something down. It is about believing and living it. Unless the mission is to con and massively under-deliver.

 

 

Our zeitgeist will not have it any other way. Complete.

 

That is far from the reality and we remain tricked by the ‘ tyranny of completion ‘.

 

The reality though is vastly different. Human beings are rough drafts that continually mistake themselves for the final story, then gasp as the plot changes on the page of living. @Maria Popova!

 

Far from complete.

 

It is our ego, a benchmark that we have of ourselves, the stories that we tell ourselves and the world at large, a passive succumbing to facades of coherence and continuity, that leaves us moored to what is a static idealized self.

 

Without much effort we are willing captives of comfort in our thoughts or feelings ; victims of certainty- a supreme narrowing of the mind. But, “When nothing is sure, everything is possible “– Margaret Drabble

The assertion here, however, is that there really is no creativity without uncertainty. Put another way: dubito ergo creo. This is Latin for, I doubt therefore I create.

 

More here on Creativity & The Certainty of Uncertainty !

 

 

 

As a tribe, we are obsessed with the concept of more. More stuff, more food, more of this, more of that..even as we write, the default is how do we add more words to create impact and impression.

 

‘ Thank you so much’ is easily replaceable with ‘Thank you’. ‘ It is very good ‘ can find comfortable solace in ‘ It is good ‘. ‘ It is extremely hot ‘ can sound as cool when you say ‘ It is hot ‘.

 

By design and habit, we over index to more in the belief that it will drive home the point and enable engagement. In a culture obsessed with adding, less but better seems out of sync.

We, as people, ​systematically overlook subtractive changes, instead following ​our​ instincts to add. There is nothing inherently wrong with adding. In the culture of the day, people like us, do things like this. But if it becomes a default path to improvement, that may be failing to consider a whole class of other opportunities​. So, more is NOT equal to better, more often than not.

 

Don’t mind the contradiction- in a world where we are oversold the value of more and undersold the value of less, its time to stop missing the wood for the trees and soak in the abundance of less.

 

A syndrome fanned by our reluctance to look up from our ledger of lack as we seek perennial validation in this Republic of Not Enough.

 

 

 

“ Emotional choice theory posits that individual-level decision-making is shaped in significant ways by the interplay between people’s norms, emotions, and identities. While norms and identities are important long-term factors in the decision process, emotions function as short-term, essential motivators for change “.

 

The common perception is that we think that our decisions are guided purely by logic and rationality, but our emotions always play a role in our good decision making process. So, cherish your own emotions and never undervalue them.

 

You can access this link if you are keen to understand more about The Power of Emotions

 

This link offers a short clip on how to inject emotions into your marketing