The Faster Lane / Tyler Brûlé
Ideas on the house
Allow me to pick up where Andrew left off in yesterday’s edition. If you want to hear more war stories and what happened with that mountain of cash in the lobby of an Inter-Conti in a West African capital, you’ll need to come to The Chiefs conference in Jakarta, open a generous bar tab and Mr Tuck and I will tickle you with stories from the golden years of journalism circa the early 1990s.
But let’s rewind the Betacam tape to Midori House and that Midori Mingler on Wednesday evening. And just in case you’re only joining the story now, the Mingler is an after-work gathering of staff (and occasionally surprise guests) and an opportunity to share work, tales from the road, deliver business updates and open a few bottles of wine. Before our geopolitics and hospitality panel (a rather curious combo that went down a treat), there were a few minutes devoted to framing the year ahead, a weather report on the state of our businesses and then a word game to focus minds, inspire and stay on mission. Management consultants like to work in threes, believing that people can’t remember more than low single-digit marching orders. I have considerably more faith in my colleagues and also feel that it’s better not to limit people to a fixed menu. Instead, serve them a focused, well-rounded à la carte offer of tasty, easy to digest concepts – hence the Midori Mingler menu was a varied selection of nine morsels to savour.
As you might find yourself in a similar situation over the coming weeks when you need to stand up in front of the company and give a little Q1 direction, feel free to borrow a few of the concepts that we feel are healthy tips for commerce and brand building – no matter where you’re placed on the globe.
Sun
January is tough in much of the northern hemisphere, so you need to engineer a bit of sunshine from time to time to keep spirits up and get colleagues and partners feeling optimistic when the wind is whipping through the streets of West London and the avenues of Minneapolis. Aside from a good supply of wine and nibbles, sunny staffers are also key. If they’re not already on the payroll, rent a few Aussies, Kiwis and Saffers to keep things frothy and perky.
Personalities
We need more of these in the workplace and not the digital variety who have beautiful lives and are chatty on screen but deadly as a travel companion on the TGV to Paris. Too many companies search for academic excellence and end up with legions of people who are brilliant technocrats but no client wants to interact with them. Business needs to get back to a place where relationships and fresh wins are fostered over dinners and tennis matches and not tedious video calls.
Phone
I suggested this first: it’s a good idea to pick up the phone when it rings. Second, it’s even more useful as an essential diplomatic tool for defusing email escalation and dialling your colleague or client if things aren’t progressing politely. Third, meeting in person is even better for advancing conversations.
’Hood
Companies like to focus on brand and talk up community engagement in abstract terms while failing to address the essentials on their doorsteps. Monocle napkins and chocolate wrappers blowing down the street are, ultimately, our problem and even if we weren’t the ones who missed the bin, we owe it to our neighbours to keep things looking sharp and tidy. Leading by example usually prompts similar action by at least a few others on the street.
Thank you
Are you one of those people who feel a duty to hold open the door for sweet old ladies or men with too many bags because they don’t know how to pack properly? Are you also the type of person who feels like tackling the old dear when she doesn’t give you so much as a nod or a smile, let alone a thank you? The art of a well-placed thank you (on paper or screen) works wonders. We’ll save the topic of learning how to say sorry for another Sunday.
Thank you, merci, danke, obrigado.