• Today we are surrounded by bureaucrats, note takers, literalists, TGIF employees, map followers, and people afraid to speak up.

• We are often led by managers who do what is best for themselves, not what is best for your customers or your brand.

• Processes are too often aligned around what is best for the company, not your customers. We spend way too much time in meetings, and doing and re-doing Power Point presentations.

• We try too hard to be liked by business colleagues because we are often graded on how well we “get along” with others.  So how can someone like you make a difference ?

What companies desperately need now are indispensable employees who are original thinkers, provocateurs, and people who care about what they do and how it impacts customers but with this huge responsibility comes a lot of baggage.  People who ask why at meetings are often singled out for not being team players even though they may have the customers and organizations best interests at heart.   That, however, should not be a reason to retreat back into the shell of being a task master.  You need to have courage to speak up and ask “why?” and more importantly point out how things could be done better in an era where consumers don’t trust advertising and brands.

A lot of you who read this may say “sure, it’s easy to have courage when you don’t work for a big company in a cube city” but I did and both times I chose to leave on my own and blaze new trails rather than “just fit in” and become someone who was a cog in a machine.   We spend too much damn time at the office to  become just task masters and there are too many really smart people out there who think outside the box and understand that we have to work smarter not by doing the same things over or by jumping on things like social media because everyone else is doing it.

Here are my 10 principles to becoming an innovator:

(1) Never assume that the processes you have in place are what’s best for your customers and your company.  Many are in place to protect the status quo.

(2) Always ask “why?” and challenge people to think rather just do.

(3) Be willing to loose the love.  At some point in time you’re going to come head to head with someone who wants to do something even though they have not completely thought out what they want to do.  Stand your position and be willing to say “this is a waste of money” or “this is wrong”.

(4) Rather than just toss out new ideas collect information like a detective building a case.  Ask “what if…” or “why does..”

(5) View case studies and best of class for what it is.  Just because they worked for one brand does not mean it will work for your brand or company. Each organization is different with different dynamics and management.

(6) Read and learn and then read some more.  The learning never ever stops.

(7) Understand the people who are the barriers to innovation within your company and work with them to overcome their fears.

(8) If you feel that your job, organization is not worth the time or effort than you’re in the wrong job.  Get out while you still have the drive and determination to make a difference.

(9) Never settle for a mediocrity.  Always ask “what could we have done better and how?”

(10) Beware of people who are afraid of change and innovation.  If they think you are smarter than they are they are going to try to undermine you at every turn.  These people just want to fit in.

The rest is up to you.  Courage is not something you have all the time but when the time is right you’ll know when the time is right to stand up and say “no”.

Related articles

• Linchpins: Just a book or a principle to live by(richsmanagementblog.com)

  ---

• If Steve Jobs were a middle level manager he would have been fired(richsmanagementblog.com)

  ---

• The absurdity of 360 degree review(richsmanagementblog.com)

  ---

• How to be a Linchpin in a matrix organization(richsmanagementblog.com)

  ---

• If You’re Not Pissing Someone Off, You’re Probably Not Innovating(blogs.hbr.org)

  ---

The workplace for most people today has become very stressful.  Employers are cutting back on hours and laying off people to make numbers which leaves a lot of work that still has to be done.  Middle managers who reside in cube farms are often stressed trying to meet deadlines and make things happen and as thus they become task managers not thinkers.

Seth goes into this in the first chapter of his book but to be honest there aren’t that many people who can really embrace Linchpin principles without the real danger of losing their jobs.  Today we are often reviewed with input from other and if are willing to “give up the love” as Seth says to embrace being a Linchpin then there is a good chance that our managers are going to ding us as “not being a team player” or some other acronym for doing what we believe to be best.

Then there are the people who are content where they are.  They are earning a good paycheck and they have lost their passion because it has been drained through corporate processes, endless meetings and politics.  There are days when they may feel good about what they are doing but those days are coming less and less.  In this economic climate they can’t afford to rock the boat too much so they’ll just sit back and do what they need to do and become one of the collective.

Like I have said before there comes a time when we all have to make a choice the direction our careers will take.  The problem seems to be that  choice is often a matter of paying the mortgage or not paying the mortgage.

When my boss told me to stop sending emails and have meeting to get people to do what they were supposed to do I decided I had enough and left a six figure corporate job.  I started my consulting company and love writing and helping people with my passion, digital marketing, but I would love to join one company where I can both act as a teacher and help them embrace empowered consumers.

Today if you send out a resume you’re lucky if you even get a response.  Most companies don’t want Linchpins they want COGS who will fit in the machine very nicely.  I won’t give up hope though.  I know I am damn good at what I do just as I know that out there is someone who is thinking “I need a linchpin”.

I keep hearing about “change” within the workplace but the reality is that most people who try and change things are met with a lot of resistance as in Seth Godin’s book on Linchpins.  There are those of us who can quickly look at a situation, think outside the box at a possible solution but then we meet those people who are afraid of change and who give you reasons why you can’t do it rather than why we should do it.

Now I’m not saying that todays middle managers need to come in like a steamroller and change things; what I am saying is that the biggest frustration for a lot of talented business people is that it takes so damn long to get things done and the tons of meeting you need to generate buy-in.  I man God forbid that we should go to our manager and present an idea and have them say “go with it”.  Today it’s more like “let’s schedule a meeting and present a Power Point”.

Most companies expect you to be in meetings. Calendars need to be decorated with sufficient colourful blocks, to signal over-activity and that you collaborating with other employees but  dig a bit deeper and you’ll realize that meetings are a way to diffuse and evade responsibility for decisions.   Yes – let’s spend weeks on weeks “reviewing with stakeholders.” It’s so much safer that taking swift decisions ourselves. Companies place no trust on the individual to make the right decision on their own.

Peter Drucker said “meetings are a symptom of a bad organization” and I believe that 100%.   So does anyone think that someone like Steve Jobs would have been able to managed by someone who made him schedule lots of meetings and develop endless Power Points ?

If you manage someone like Steve Jobs you need to help them bring innovation to your organization.  This means that you need to channel their drive without having them become integrated into the Borg bureaucracy.  This is especially true of younger employees who have no need for processes and procedures.

My other advice is that if you every loose someone who is a Linchpin you need to do whatever you can do to get that person back even if it means swallowing your pride and extending that first hand.  If you’re willing to let them go than you have started down a path towards mediocrity from which your company could become like thousands of other brands that check off boxes.

I maintain four BLOG’s and look to stay on top of new and changing marketing trends all the time.  Consumers today are fickle and branding has changed for a lot of products.  The only way to stay on top of all this is to read and absorb everything I can on and off line.  I subscribe to Business Book Summaries so I can read the key points of new books, have RSS feeds in my Rockmelt browser (highly recommend) and only follow people on Twitter who add value to what I want to know or need to know (you don’t have to follow someone just because they are following you).

So what I am really saying is that for a lot of us the work goes on even when we’re home.  It may not be directly related to your current projects but it is directly related to you becoming a smarter and better employee who can stay abreast of new opportunities for your company and your brand.  Of course the problem is that you’re not going to get compensated for continuing to learn and get smarter.  You should do this because you both want to advance and really understand the challenges, issues and opportunities of becoming a better business person.  Even when I eat lunch, usually at my desk, I go online to some of my favorite websites to see what’s new and what’s being talked about.  Because I use Rockmelt I can stay on top of my Twitter feed to hear about breaking news in marketing and branding and I also use my smartphone to stay on top of news.

While I love learning new things and reading about social media marketing and the Internet I also know that there comes a time to take time for myself.  I leave the smartphone alone and go for a bike ride or watch some good entertainment on HBO or just go outside and take in some sun because without a balance of work and time for myself I probably would burn out.  I’ve seen that happen with a lot of people and it’s not pretty.

Continue to learn and become a better person and stronger marketer and understand that no matter what we know there is always room to know more.

The first thing to do is to realize that change is evolutionary, not revolutionary.  This is kind of hard to accept because the marketing environment is changing so dramatically that a lot of brands could be left behind but people adapt to slow change rather than revolutionary change.

The other key aspect of implementing a Linchpin mentality to remember is that you can’t do it alone.  At a recent day of meetings with a client and his people I started off each meeting by asking “what is the objective of this meeting and how does it add value to our brand/customer ?  There were times when some people could not answer those questions and thus the meetings were short ones.

I have found that the best way to be a Linchpin is to:

1. Have one on one meeting with key influencers within the company to communicate what I am trying to do. These are the people that can quickly sink anything you want to be because they are resistance.

2. Share with people key insights into the changing consumer/business environment but also include “what this means to us” and “recommendations” to leverage changes.

3. Review processes and ask everyone “is this really adding value to our shareholder and more importantly our customers ?  You’d be surprised how many processes revolve around what’s best for the company not what’s best for your customers.

4. Try and reduce the number of meetings. Too many meetings can lead to analysis paralysis and decision making that is so spread out that there is no accountability. Why have a meeting when you can meet with someone in their office for a few minutes and get their buy-in.  Also only invite key influencers and decision makers don’t invite people who have hidden agendas such as “this is going to create more work for me”.

5. Finally, before you decide to pitch any new ideas make sure that your presentation does not come as a surprise. As you develop you presentation solicit input from people above and below you.  Listen to what is really being said when they give you suggestions.

It can be really frustrating to implement change so slowly but in most companies you are dealing with a complex management structure and individuals who may not have the best interests of the company or its brand at heart.

1. Raise your hand and take responsibility – Don’t try and hide from your mistake because the truth is going to come out.  It’s best to raise your hand and admit that you made a mistake.  If the mistake is a big one it’s best to schedule a one on one meeting with your boss as soon as possible to brief her/him on what happened and why.

2. Make sure you learn from your mistake and share the key learning with others - We all make mistakes but making the same mistake over and over is unacceptable.  Share with your team what the mistake was and how it happened.  Recommend corrective actions or processes and implement them so you can turn a negative into a positive.

3. Don’t let your mistake change your attitude at work - The worst thing that can happen when you make a mistake is to go back into your shell because your selfconfidence just took a big hit.  Mistakes happen and when they do happen you will become a better manager.

4. Watch out for political opportunists – There are people out there just waiting for you to mess up so they can use it as leverage against you.  Sure you made a mistake but at least you were trying to do something that needed to be done.

5. Evaluate your companies response - I know one person who made a mistake with a code in an FSI ad.   She was able to reach the promotional company on a Saturday morning and change the codes within the system so they could be tracked but it requires some extra programming time and the agency charged them an extra $5k.   She informed her boss who thanked her for her work to get it corrected but was surprised a week later when her boss called into a meeting with HR and gave her a verbal warning even though she has just been promoted and had stellar reviews.   If this kind of garbage goes on at your company do you really want to work there ?  Good companies and managers know that mistakes happen because we are after all human.

More and more people are coming the realization that we spend too much time at work to be stressed out.  In recent surveys employees have said that a better work environment is more important than compensation and benefit packages.  Isn’t it better to have a career you love rather than a job you hate ?

How many times have you countless hours preparing a Power Point deck only to have to go back and redo after your boss made changes and word smithed your deck ?  My guess is that a lot of you are shaking your heads right now because that statement hits home.   While a good Power Point deck can enlighten and inform it has become a way to educate people who too often don’t need an education because they are not stakeholders in your project.

Then there are the meeting requests that always pop-up within Outlook.  There are some people out there who go from back to back to back meetings all day and then wonder why they can’t be more productive.  This is especially true in matrix organizations where you have to even tell the janitor what you want to do and how you plan to do it.  Believe it or not there is an option within Power Point that allows you to decline meetings just ask yourself a simple question “does this meeting add value to my customers or my marketing ?”

With all the communication tools available to us now why can’t we just stop by someones office, excuse me I meant cube, and have a quick chat and then go off and be productive ?   Why do we have to have weekly one on one meetings with our bosses to update them on what we are doing when they should be in the loop anyway ?  Welcome to corporate America.

At one company I was with the President of the company tried to institute a policy of no meetings on Fridays.  It lasted for about a month and then we were back to cluttered Outlook schedules.  The reality is that people have meetings because they are afraid of being Linchpins.  By having more meetings you lessen the risk that your idea, if it fails, could be blamed on you but with each compromise you make your idea becomes less yours and more others who have their own vested interest in seeing their workloads stay the same.

When you want to get something done then do it.  Have meeting to inform only those that need to be informed and don’t schedule meetings to show and tell because time is just too damn valuable.   Try not to schedule a meeting if a short conversation in the hallway or in someones cube can suffice.

When it comes to Power Point less slides are better and stop trying to be the King or Queen of Power Point because it’s going to set expectations for pretty presentations all the time.

Remember there are those that get it done and those that excel at the processes to get it done but don’t get it done.  The choice is yours.