Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Confidence, Context, Cunning, Empathy, Health, Insight, Otis
When I was a kid, a visit to the dentist was a thing to be scared of.
To be honest, it shouldn’t have because I had great teeth … but there was always that chance something might happen and that scared the hell out of me.
If further evidence of my dental naivety/good teeth was needed, when I finally did have to have some treatment – a wisdom tooth removal, when I was 14 – I was in utter shock that they were literally pulling the tooth out of my gob as I assumed they’d give my gums an injection and it would fall out.
The weirdest bit of all is that when you left the dentist, they gave you a sweet.
A SWEET!
Though now I think of it, it probably was their way of guaranteeing further business from you down the line.
And given how bad my teeth are these days, it seems that was a brilliant strategy.
Evil. Geniuses.
Now I appreciate when I was a kid, the World was a very different – and younger – place, but having just taken Otis to the dentist, I’m jealous how ace his experience is.
For a start the interior has been decked out in different animal themes.
From Giraffe’s to Panda’s … each room has a different theme to help kids feel they’re somewhere special and different.
Then there’s the video games for them to play in reception or – if they’re too young – a huge aquarium for them to look at.
But it’s when they are having treatment the real difference happens.
Not because there’s a video screen showing cartoons.
Or wireless headphones so you can hear the movie not the drill.
Or even the sunglasses so you don’t let the brightness of the dentist light affect you.
Or even the balloon [not sweets] they give you as you leave the building.
It’s the way they make sure they spend time explaining what each instrument is and what it does. Letting the kid hold it, hear it … get an understanding of what it does so it stops being a fearsome object of pain and simply a instrument of health.
Whatever stress they have is reduced.
They feel they’re in a safe environment.
A special environment.
With people who you won’t fuck you over but actually want you to have an exciting experience with a great result.
It turns a visit to the dentist from a scary experience to a positive one.
Even an awaited one.
All because they give the time and space for patients emotions and fears to be calmed, which gives them – and their parents – the confidence to let the dentist do their thing. That doesn’t just result in more efficient treatment but makes the parent feel OK about being charged an arm and a leg because their precious child had an experience that is the absolute opposite of what they feared they’d have.
Now I know creativity needs a place where chaos and curiosity is allowed to explore and wander – something we don’t get enough of at the best of times – but in terms of getting clients into the right frame of mind to allow agencies to do their thing without skeptical, questioning and damning eyes, adland could learn a lot from American Dentists.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Confidence, Creativity, Culture, Education, Honesty, Insight, Management
One of the things I find amazing about adland is their inability to review what they just did … whether that was a pitch, a big meeting or just a campaign.
Basically, it things have gone well, they act like they are invincible.
And if things have gone less well, they either ignore it or blame it all on the client.
Look, I get that we have too many meetings.
I get no one wants to be the person who brings the energy of positivity down or make a bad situation worse, but reviews are super useful.
Not just for what you did wrong, but what you did right.
And yet so few agencies seem to do it …
Maybe part of it is that it can quickly turn into a blame game.
Maybe part of it is because people feel they can’t be honest, either for fear or reprisal or fear of hurting egos.
Or maybe it’s just because ‘reviews’ are so closely associated the ‘annual review’, people feel they can’t do it without masses of paperwork and 360 degree feedback.
But in my experience, an honest, objective review can make a huge difference – not just in personal performance but in terms of giving confidence to the team moving forward.
For me, there are a few key rules to do it well.
1. It can not be more than 30 minutes in length.
2. It has to happen within 48 hours of the event that justifies the review.
3. It has to involve all the people involved, not just the key players.
4. No comment can be personal, you win as a team and you fail as a team.
5. Everyone gets to say 1 thing they liked [about the process/pitch/work] 1 thing they’d change [about their approach to the process/pitch/work] and 1 thing they’ve learned [about how to improve the process/pitch/work]
That’s it.
Now I am not denying that a key element to it’s success is the tone of the meeting.
Too serious and it makes people nervous to say anything valuable.
Too light and no one takes it seriously.
But if you ensure there is an air of inclusion, positivity and the sense it’s being done to help everyone become even better, I find it is 30 minutes that people find genuinely valuable.
Of course it’s not just something for show.
All comments must be noted, distributed and then reviewed prior to the next situation where a post-review is likely … but once you get in the habit of it, those 30 minutes can have a lifetime of positive effect.
I wish more people did it … if not for the agencies benefit, but their own.
I promise I won’t write any more serious posts like this in the future. Sorry.
… mainly so I will be reminded that occasionally, karma is an utter sweetheart.
As my Dad once said, “it’s not who you know, it’s what you know about who you know”.
He was right.
The only question is whether it’s better to know something a particular person doesn’t know I know, or to let them know I know something they wish I didn’t know? Decisions, decisions …
Cue: Evil Laugh.
Happy Monday!
A while back I wrote about how someone had betrayed my trust.
Well someone sent me a video about an experiment that took place in Amsterdam in 1980 to explore what trust means.
It’s a very simple test and yet – thanks to the lapel microphones – you can hear how the participants breathing reveals their nervousness.
At the end of the day, trust is only demonstrated when it’s tested and that’s why, when you find someone you can rely on, you hold on to them life your life depends on it.
Because one day, it just might.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Comment, Confidence, Creativity
So Jill’s parents are visiting from Sydney and because of that, I’m having a long weekend starting from errrrrrm, now.
Just to clarify, I’m having a long weekend with them, not because of them.
As you may have guessed/hoped, this means this is the last post of the week … but wait, there’s more.
You see while I’m off to enjoy 4 days of family time, I thought I’d give you an additional gift on top of blog quietness.
Well, I say ‘I’, but it’s really Hiromi Uehara.
“And who is Hiromi Uehara?”, I hear you ask.
Well she is someone who – in 6 minutes – is going to inject you with a sense of pure joy.
Someone you’ll be in utter awe of for their talent, dexterity, showmanship and audacious, musical cheekiness.
Someone you’ll watch with liberal doses of wonder, amazement, fascination and smiles.
I know that sounds like overkill, but Hiromi Uehara pulls off some of the most amazing and emotional musicianship I’ve witnessed in my – and judging by the mile-wide-smiles of the musicians watching her – life.
It’s breathtaking.
Please watch it.
You won’t regret it.
In fact I’ll say it will make your weekend. Even if yours doesn’t start for 2 more days.