I had an interesting conversation this weekend with my cousin about education.  It was really a bit of a debate.  (This is where the people who really know me laugh, because I seem to enjoy debating…)  For brevity, I’ll just say that he argued for experience over formal education and little ms. mba argued the opposite.

The truth is that there are so many ways to learn – formal school programs, community college, trade schools, independent learning, mentors, work experience, and the list goes on and on.  Learning demands a kind of openness that defies ones ego.  I know quite a few popular quotes on education that say learning is also about unlearning things you thought were correct.  To learn, a person has to admit that they don’t know everything – and that openness gets harder and harder as we age because we need to believe that we know what we’re doing.

I have a bit of a learning routine now that I’d like to share with you, my friends, family, and oddly enough my colleagues who actually subscribe to my blog.  I’ve been watching my stats and… weird, but growing. 

• Take a class – I find certificate programs exciting.  I try to take at least one formal class every year.  Georgetown has some great programs for professionals.  I’m thinking about Project Management now…  Already did certificate in web design.  The structure forces accountability.  If you don’t learn anything in a class, it’s your own fault.
• Read smart mags – I have a subscription to The Economist and Harvard Business Review.  I make it a point to read through those every month.  Sometimes I fall short because though I love The Economist, the content can be kinda dense and difficult to get through quickly.  Since my HBR subscription is digital, I print those and keep them with me at work.  While I’m waiting for people to arrive at meetings, I can sneak a page in here and there – and lunch time too.
• Watch Podcasts - There are so many and you can not only learn but listen to things that inspire you to dig deeper into your craft, and even discover new passions.  I have all sorts of podcasts from language lessons to Ted.com which I believe is one of the most inspirational sites I’ve ever seen.
• Watch Documentaries - Though movies can be biased by the director/producer’s position, they can be very informative.  I watch documentaries on everything from birth to business.  (Not that I have any interest in birth…)
• Talk to Smart People - I think very carefully about the people in my circle.  I want them to be thoughtful, smart, and intellectually curious.  Surrounding yourself with thinkers is one of the smartest ways to get better, faster.  I’ve found my friends’ intellectual pursuits to be a source of motivation for me to keep sharpening the saw, and finding my way.

I may seem like I think I have all the answers, but the truth is though I don’t have all the answers, I am constantly  looking.

I have long desired to work with other people who believe in the power of digital marketing as much as I do. Many of my posts have been geared towards selling people. I’ve been selling people on the idea that they have to accept digital marketing and create strategies to understand and take advantage of this new way to communicate the values of their brand. I’ve been selling colleagues and clients at work, on Twitter, on my personal blog, on my consulting blog, on blogs that I write for others.

And I’m not doing that anymore.

If the last five years haven’t proven to you that digital marketing (communications, media, etc…) is important, well I’m just not sure that reading my blog is going to be that convincing push you need.

Today, Feb. 23, 2010 I am shifting my focus. I am putting my energy into seeking out other people and organizations who believe to create an impact. I want to work with businesses who have a brand worth believing in to get them an audience of customers that share their values.

If that’s you… reach out. me@madialogan.com.

When you ask a company about their digital strategy, and the response you get is “We’re going to start blogging and twittering and a FB fan page…” – it’s still surprising to me. If you fast forward to the leadership meeting, you’ll hear some undertones of charts and numbers (with nothing to really compare it to) but the real energy in reporting out is that we did it. We started the blog. We started the conversation. Now we’re dealing with how to engage important audiences and answer questions — but we didn’t really have an idea of how to do this before-hand because well this new digital media stuff is craaaazy.

The excuse that digital media is new doesn’t work anymore. There are books, case studies, agency experts, and other things that help people understand what it is, and how to interact with it. The lack of planning is lazy and it reminds me of a quote from a book I’m reading now called Start with Why. “They never have time or money to do it right, but they always have the time and money to do it again.” and it’s true. When a large part of the rework required on these types of projects could have been avoided with planning – well there’s some missing accountability there. Why didn’t you anticipate this?

Just because you can make mistakes at a cheaper financial cost doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t get the very best first product as close to right as you can. There are real risks to your brand perception and those risks should make you want to get as close to right the first time as you can.

To borrow from another brand… Walmart, you’ve come a long way baby.

Remember when everyone hated Walmart? It started out as a family run business and then as it grew, it became the evil empire.  There was even talk of a curse when the Waltons tragically lost two family members in one year.  A documentary that detailed the sins of Walmart was very popular and this is when I think the brand people realized there was a real problem here.

So what happened? My theory is that some corporate soul searching went on. Now whether or not soul searching can happen in for-profit corporations may be debatable, but it appears as though the company has made some significant changes to compete and work to improve the quality and perception of the Walmart brand.  Aside from branding, the corporation also faced real business hurdles because of how their brand was perceived.  I found an article from Emory’s Gozuieta School of Business that does a good job of summarizing:

According to several accounts, Wal-Mart is struggling to establish stores in the West and Northeast and in urban areas like Chicago because these areas are more unionized and particularly concerned about the company’s social policies. Wal-Mart has flourished in the Republican red states, but the company is virtually blocked out of expanding into Democratic blue states.

In 2009 the low cost retailer was ranked in the top two Fortune 500 companies and number 5 for profitability. With numbers like that most companies would have strong corporate giving programs. Philanthropy is a duty to most but always a plus in my book. Most recently, Walmart has contributed over 1 million dollars of aid to Haiti.  Big companies have great potential for good -or- maybe to whom much is given, much is expected…

Walmart is now the largest retailer of organic products.  It’s a volume game and they’ve got great distribution and expertise in supply chain management.  The move to organics is consumer-driven but the brand also benefits.  In addition to their big move into organics, the store is working with suppliers to help them adopt more sustainable business practices and more organic products.  In July of 2009, Walmart announced that they would create a worldwide sustainable product index which would provide consumers with a rating about the sustainability of products the store carries.

I vaguely remember issues about Walmart not paying a living wage, union busting, and discriminating against female employees.  But all of that seems to be like a distant bad dream.  Now, shoppers walk in with their reusable Walmart bags and load up on organic fruit and sustainable products.

Brand strategy or just good business? It’s great when you can do both with the same strategies.

With everything going on with Toyota, I’m wondering will this help American car makers win some market share back from foreign carmakers.  It does get a little grey since foreign cars are manufactured in the U.S.  I’m not speaking from a protectionist stand point.  I just wonder if American car makers are not capitalizing on the opportunities presented them.

Before, American car makers didn’t seem ‘incentivised’ to improve the quality of their product.  It was common knowledge that other cars had higher resale value, less mechanical issues, and overall longer running time.  In the past 3-5 years though it seems that those same car makers have to innovate or risk becoming non-existent brands in the future.

From a strategy perspective I would see an advantage in American car makers doing something to capitalize on the opportunity. Thoughts?

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