Best thing about writing a blog? Reader feedback and add-ons. If I could, I would make this thing a wiki and have the readers write the posts. But readers would eventually catch on to that strategy.
That's why you're the readers. You are the smart ones.
Case in point - my recent post on the 9 things every manager should learn from American Idol. The comments were GOLD BABY, as evidenced by the additional thoughts on what managers could learn from the stylings of the oft-hated, but always heavily watched, show.
Other things managers can learn from "Idol", from the readers of the Capitalist:
From Steve - One of the things I noticed this year was that everyone was pretty talented and
there were no Sanjayas to keep the buzz going on the fringe. The result: Viewers said this year was boring. The lesson:"Don't get rid of the weird guy too quickly." His very presence may generate enough energy to keep the meetings interesting for the duration of a project.
From Paul - One thing is that even though Simon's criticism is hard and cold - everyone waits for his review. There seems to be more value in the criticism when there is no "fluff" involved. Not saying we should be mean - but it's interesting that a thumbs up from Simon means more than a thumbs up from Paula. Praise can be devalued if given too often and too easily. With all the discussion around Gen Y/Millennials being praise hounds it's important to know that scarcity of praise can have a benefit as well.
From Art - David Cook realized early on that it wasn't the judges he needed to impress, but the TV audience. After what he felt was unjustified criticism in one episode, he told Simon as much. Simon was offended, but David was right. In the final episode Simon said Cook had been knocked out by Archuleta, but the audience thought otherwise and voted Cook the winner. The lesson? The customers are your real boss.
Great stuff. Thanks for pitching in with the cool perspectives!
Hey Kris,
Great post, I talked about some of the things we could learn and some of the downsides of an American Idol style interview:
http://www.yourhrguy.com/2007/01/16/american-idol-interviewing/
Lance
Posted by: Lance | June 10, 2008 at 10:21 AM