How Being Less Corporate Can Lead to More Money

Published on September 21, 2008 in being corporate defined. Closed Tags: , , .

The stuff that I aim to celebrate in this blog, things like simplicity, honesty, and authentic community, are abstract concepts that are harder to measure than things like profit and productivity.  Maybe you think those words are nice but irrelevant to what you do.  My goal is to convince you otherwise, because being less corporate doesn’t just make the world a better place;  It can also be good for business.

But then I’m just a kid so how much can I really know about business, right?  Fair enough.  I don’t know a lot of things, and I’m not afraid to admit that, but I do know what gets me excited as a consumer, and I suspect I’m not the only one who thinks like I do.  So with that said, here are three examples of companies who earned my money and my loyalty by being less corporate:

1.   Seagate
I bought the Seagate FreeAgent Pro 500 GB hard drive shortly after reading an article about Seagate’s renewed commitment to their community.  (I wish I could remember where I found the article.)  The executive used straightforward and honest language, and that made an impression.

When I needed a hard drive, I researched the leading brands out there and discovered that Western Digital and Seagate were both well regarded.   In the stores I visited, the Western Digital drive was slightly cheaper, but the box design and the technical information on Seagate’s box was much less corporate.  The Western Digital box had language that sounded forced and weary,  the kind of industry-specific wording that lawyers and engineers force onto unsuspecting souls.    The language on the Seagate box sounded more like a friend telling me about a product he really liked and found useful.   That closed the deal.

Today, I’m still a Seagate fan, even though my Seagate hard drive crashed and I had to pay to get the data recovered.  (That’s what I get for thinking that I can edit anywhere with my laptop, even in places where fate is easily tempted to send the drive plummeting to its doom.)  The inviting style of the box and the playful nature of the technical documents that came with the drive sold me on the idea that Seagate isn’t run by a bunch of corporate guys who want to screw me out of my hard-earned money. Their presentation makes me think that they are earnest technology guys who want me to be happy with my hard drive.

2.  lynda.com
Since I’m trying to make a living doing stuff like motion graphics, computer animation, and photography, I spend a good bit of time going through tutorials in the hope of learning something useful.  (It doesn’t always happen.)  By far, the best tutorial site that I’ve seen is www.lynda.com.

On lynda.com you’ll find a vast range of tutorials on almost every high-end computer program out there.  Experts in their fields get you up to speed on programs like Maya, Final Cut Pro, After Effects, Dreamweaver, and Photoshop.  These tutorials vary by complexity and can be searched for by program, subject, or keyword, making it very easy to find the most relevant tutorial in a matter of seconds.

But the thing that makes lynda.com truly special in my mind is the sense of humor and playfulness found in their tutorials.   If you’re up for the challenge, go ahead and sample a few tutorials from one of their teachers at random.  I’m willing to bet that eventually something the instructor says in his instructional set will make you smile, even as you’re learning relevant technical information.  When you’re dealing with very technical information, sometimes an amusing moment is all it takes to keep you plowing forward, and there are plenty of amusing moments in the lynda.com tutorials.

Why don’t more training companies do this more often?  Is it because they believe their customers prefer a just-the-boring-facts corporate style of presentation?  Or is it just that they’ve sat through too many awful corporate meetings and lectures and, in the process, lost their sense of humor?  Some training companies are better than others at keeping their presentation style informative and fun.  From what I’ve seen, Lynda.com does this best, and that’s one reason why I go to them first for information.

3.  Pixar
Pixar would rather halt production on a movie and restart their efforts than pump out a mediocre product for the sake of meeting a deadline and maximizing profit.  That’s what they did with Toy Story 2.   The Pixar guys have been very vocal about their opposition to cranking out inferior-quality sequels just to squeeze more money from a brand they own.  (Yes, I’m talking to you, Disney! )

Sure, in the short-term that’s less money, but it buys Pixar long-term credibility, and that translates into more sales.  Right now, Pixar is the only studio out there who can get me to see a movie just because the company name is on it.  Not only that, but every book I’ve read from and about Pixar has been exceptional, and I feel the same way about every Pixar speaker I’ve ever heard.   Because Pixar has consistently demonstrated such a strong commitment to excellence and to admirable values with everything they do, they have earned my trust. As long as they do nothing to jeopardize that trust, I will see whatever movie they make for the rest of my life.    I can’t say that about Sony or about Disney or about a lot of other companies.   Might that kind of loyalty to a company affect its overall profit, from me and people like me, over time?  Yes, I think so.

Being less corporate for the sake of making more money is not what I’m getting at.  That kind of thinking is corporate thinking; you can’t put a price tag on everything good in this world.  But, being less corporate doesn’t have to mean being less successful.

What Corporateness Means and Why it’s Bad

Published on September 13, 2008 in being corporate defined. Closed Tags: .

If I’m going to write a blog about how to not be corporate, I should probably explain what I mean, right? For the record, I’m not talking about the business structures that allow people to organize themselves in complex ways and that reward personal achievement. Corporations, not Marxist collectives, have given us cars that most Americans can afford, computers and internet connections that empower individuals, and convenient access to a stable and abundant food supply. I, for one, am grateful for that.

Rather, what I wish to address in this blog is the social plague that turns interesting people with unique perspectives, ideas, and feelings into robot-like placeholders within the collective glob. That, I suspect, is what people really mean when they say, “that guy Cornelius Copymuffin is so corporate.” You know that guy. You hate that guy. Together let’s work on not being that guy whenever possible.

(picture from www.flickr.com/jonnelson)

(picture from www.flickr.com/jonnelson)

I don’t know all of the reasons why people become or act corporate. There are moments when I too act corporate, and especially in the moment when it happens, I can’t always explain why. One of the goals for this blog is to get a better understanding of that and, in so doing, avoid future corporate moments.

With that said, I suspect corporateness happens when we care too much about other people’s opinions and don’t trust our own instincts more. Does anyone really enjoy listening to the discussions with nasty phrases like “maximizing resources” and “utilizing communication mediums?” There’s nothing wrong with making the best of what you’ve been given or using different tools to share ideas. The problems occur when people use words and phrase or do other life-stiffling things just to get others to think more highly of them.

What’s wrong with throwing in a few “utilize” curveballs into the presentation, you ask? It does make everything else sound more official, and that’s good for business right? Well, what if I asked to utilize your stapler or if I wanted to utilize your assistance in moving? Would you be more or less likely to help with each “utilize” I throw at you? Why then would that be different in a business context?

I can understand the impulse to rely on repeated business phrases in certain contexts. It helps to minimize the risk of personal rejection, for one thing, but that doesn’t mean depending on corporate language and behavior will produce the best business results.

But corporateness doesn’t just happen in the office. It shows it’s ugly head every time someone muffles their own inner clarity in deference to what others may think or expect. For example, everyone knows that if you’re a creative type then you have to support a certain political party or you’re not really a true artist. Whether or not you agree with everything the party supports is inconsequential. After all, being an artist just means doing everything possible to resemble one. Isn’t that so? And speaking of politics, one must never question any position that one’s own party advocates or other party members may question one’s loyalty. That’s corporateness at its worst ladies and gentlemen.

Corporateness makes the world worse by decorating it with blandness, buracratic speak, and dishonesty. It creates an environment that helps evil spread. Soon, I’ll explain why in more detail. But for now, this post has grown long enough.