Engaging in the Process
For a few days last week I worked with Jim Oswald* (see more on him below) on a graphic illustration project about what vibrant community means. The idea was to gather the words and thoughts of passersby at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference and interpret them into a graffiti wall of color, images and flow. Together, Jim and I teased out these bigger picture concepts from busy men and women whose main goal before encountering the two of us had been to quickly get to the exhibit hall or the next workshop. The experience was a powerful lesson in how process, including each quick conversation, is so crucial to the end product.
We could have put our own ideas up and made our own wall - leaving anyone else out of it. We could have made assumptions, not even bothered with the wall and decided that a few words, like - “connectedness,” “natural environment,” “accountability,” and “family-centered,” for instance - were all that mattered. But, by engaging in the process and subtly “encouraging” perfect strangers to join in, with brainstorming and graphic ideas galore, the results were much richer than we could have hoped (and will guide further conversations at The Vine Conference in October - ask me if you would like to know more).
On to my marketing point: The significance of engaging in the whole process and not just this piece or that (so often the end is where we really put our attention), is that the moments of human interaction along the way are small but crucial for effective decision-making and innovation. The time-consuming, brain-stretching aspects of the graffiti wall project last week created the energy, passion and buzz of the conversation toward more (our end goal). Your engagement with the time-consuming, brain-stretching human interaction moments of your marketing process mean you can better see yourself in your customer’s shoes, feel a stronger connection to what comes next, and take on the responsibility for doing it well.
On the way home from that conference in San Francisco, I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, a book Barbara Kingsolver wrote with her husband and daughter about their efforts to eat only food that was grown within 100 miles of their home. This whole process versus end product orientation came up with regard to a sort of core human desire to control an “entire process of manufacture.” Kingsolver wrote that “modern business psychologists generally agree, noting that workers will build a better car when they participate in the whole assembly rather than just slapping on one bolt, over and over, all the tedious live-long day. Her point is that it helps people engage when they understand their food as processes not just products.
If we take on our marketing efforts in this same way - as a whole process - this full vision of all the separate pieces and people that make up the brand, its products and its customers will help us understand the what, why and how of our individual contributions that much better. We will be able to more easily connect the dots of how each of many marketing and customer-related parts fits together to give our brands the best perspective of and methods for reaching customers.
One more story: A reproduction lighting company I worked for long ago very cleverly managed their employees from this idea of “all involved in the whole,” and they have seen huge successes. Rejuvenation Inc. likely still does keep its manufacturing, office and store employees all connected with what the others are doing along the way. All I remember from those mid-1990s days is that each of us had a real stake in each light that shipped out from the Portland, Oregon factory. The pride in what we did, together, bound us tightly and kept us moving forward to achieve greater and greater goals.
The process makes or breaks the end product. An obvious statement, perhaps, but worth really thinking about.
Anyway - while we may not all have the opportunity to graphically map our idea and thought processes (though I highly recommend it) as Jim and I did last week, we can remember what those drawings represent - engagement and interaction along the way that make our lives and work that much more moving and productive. The end is icing on the cake.
*Jim Oswald is an organizational strategist who designs and facilitates retreats and workshops, often incorporating graphic illustration, for Fortune 100-500 firms. He can be reached at 310.261.8415 and jasoswald@aol.com .
July 1st, 2008 at 7:51 am
Beautiful post. Am a PR professional working as an integrated team helping one of my biggest clients (who markets to women, btw) navigate its way to a new cause platform. We’ve built deep consumer qualitative research into the process and sitting across a table from women NOT from NYC or LA talking about what causes and charities touched their hearts was one of the most eye-openings — and time-intensive! — things I’ve ever done. How easy it is to leave human interaction out of the development process…at our own peril.