TASE ME FOR ART: More On Sheeple In Your Organization....
August 27, 2014
Sheeple (rhymes with and used as a replacement for "people") - People unable to think for themselves. Followers. Lemmings. Those with no cognitive abilities of their own.
We've talked about Sheeple here before. You know them well. Something bad happens in your organization and there's a collective panic, mainly because Sheeple run in packs, love to think the sky is falling and have an inability to think for themselves.
You? You're just a PR hack with an HR title when it comes down to it. You spin. You must spin to control the mental flow of Sheeple.
Here's your daily dose of "damn sheeple"... An artist found 100 people to volunteer to be shot with a stun gun, filling themselves with 300,000 volts of electricity. All in the name of art. The "Taser Photoshoot" was conceptualized by Patrick Hall, who cut not only video, but of course, still photography as a part of the project. Video below (email subscribers click through for video), analysis follows.
The obvious reaction to this is that:
1) sheeple are stupid and the lowest common denominator works,
2) shock value is always something you should keep in mind, and
3) the best way to engage spouses of employees may be to allow them to cause pain and humiliation to their significant others, who just happen to be your employees.
When you really start thinking about this, I think the clear point is that a smart HR pro - who is also a marketer - will never miss a chance to use the willingness of sheeple to be herded.
What's that mean? It means you may have to start thinking big to draw people into the tent. Your training may have to have shock value. We've seen this for a awhile with the audacity of diversity training to actually use ethic slurs in exercises (shocking? Maybe. Maybe not). You're going to have to use the lowest common denominator, TMZ-ish type of content to get people interested.
Think about your next big initiative. What's in your marketing bag to use the collective herding power of Sheeple for your own benefit?
Tasers always make a nice addition to open enrollment. Think "first department to get to 100% completion gets a taser party"...
I'm all for finding creative ways to get people to engage, but appealing to the lowest common denominator to draw people in is a little like putting a BAND-AID on a wart. The real problem still lurks beneath.
People, even sheeple, are far more likely to engage when they can connect the dots between what they are asked to do and some greater purpose (think company goals, vision, mission, and values). So, while shock value may help bring them into the tent, leaders have to do a better job of connecting the dots for their employees. According to a recent study 95% of employees don't understand their company's strategic plan and engagement dwindles dramatically with each organizational level away from the CEO. By the time you reach the 6th organizational level engagement is typically around 4%. That's really scary!
So, whatever you do to bring your employees into the tent, before they get there, spend a little time playing connect the dots. Make sure you know how your initiative relates to your company's mission and values, and make sure to explain it. Otherwise, you'll end up with a bunch of people in a tent and not much else.
Posted by: T0ddJ0hnson | August 27, 2014 at 01:30 PM
Who knew when I smashed my thumb with the hammer it was art? Should've YouTube'd that mess.
Posted by: Brian | August 27, 2014 at 02:23 PM