Like so many people these days, NBC’s TV show from the early 2000s The Office has been an ongoing source of entertainment, comedic reference and a nearly constant companion for me. Following the exploits of Michael, Pam, Jim, Dwight and friends has become a regular part of our weekly routine.
An extension of that has been the addition of listening weekly to the accompanying Office Ladies podcast, hosted by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. They are doing a weekly podcast, rewatching the breakthrough comedy that is more popular now than when it was on TV nearly 20 years ago. Certainly this is not richly educational or highly important to so many other podcasts out there, but their’s is a refreshingly entertaining and a fun 60 - 90 minutes each week.
Recently, Fischer and Kinsey interviewed one of the key creators for The Office, Michael Schur. Schur was the show-runner along with Greg Daniels, whom brought the English version of the show to the states, are the main architects of the sitcom. In an interview (January 26, 2022 edition of the podcast), Schur talked about his role in pushing the creativity of the show, its writers and performers. His appearance was a part of him pushing his new book, How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question
Finding perfection, or at least getting as close to it as he did with The Office and several other amazing TV shows over the years came from fostering a culture of competition with the group. The best idea wins, pure and simple. There are several examples of this coming true as you watch the show. Many of the stand up scenes where a character offers commentary on The Office had multiple lines that the actor would deliver, including several that would be improvised or written on the spot. What made it on the show? — the best line, delivered in the best way.
Schur tells the story of how his boss, Greg Daniels would hold class of sorts to challenge and teach his team. The challenge was direct - learn and improve for the betterment of your career as well as personally, and for the show to push the limits of creativity as high as they could reach.
It sounds cruel, maybe even a toxic environment. But challenging team members to constantly raising their game benefits not only the team, but for that individual as well. One of the best moments in my young career stemmed from a challenge from my boss to take a basic presentation I created to a higher level. Sure, it didn’t taste especially nice getting the criticism delivered to me by boss Mark. But it was what I needed to hear, and I came back with a more comprehensive plan that better suited the business objectives. Bonus for me - it made me better, helped me realize my potential and stayed with me to this day as a reminder to reach high.
No matter the size of the business, this approach can be a winner. A good example of how to implement me this is with your marketing. Small businesses and not-for-profits should take this approach with local media outlets. Chances are, those small businesses and not-for-profits don’t have large marketing departments or the research resources to develop plans, let alone the time to get that all done. I believe that is something that business should be able to get from their local media reps. And it starts by developing a good partnership.
Over the years, I have served on a number of not-for-profit boards. Most of them don’t have a full marketing department full of resources to devote to marketing research. In fact, they generally don’t have large marketing budgets at all.
In one case on a board I served, a local media outlet had been taking sizable sum annually, and providing a traditional and digital marketing plan. The local board was seeing some value from the schedule, but it was apparent to me that the biggest beneficiary of the plan was the local rep and media outlet. I’m sure it helped the company hit their digital goals, but the plan was doing very little to hit the organizations goals.
The solution was not to add more resources, including budget. The solution was to be smarter with the budget and adjust the planning approach. There are resources available to small businesses and not-for-profits to help that are not going to bust your budget.
Small organizations and small businesses can articulate the goals that they want to achieve with their budget, not matter the size. Expand the customer base, launch a new product line or a new market, or whatever is on your mind — all things that can be quickly expressed to a group of marketing experts.
Layout your goals, timeline and budget for the year, six months or even for the quarter and as for an RFP (request for proposal). In a world of the best ideas win, here is the way to get those ideas generated on your behalf, backed with market research to back up the logic for the spend.
The really good marketing people at your local media outlets will bring their best game to you. There were several times that an RFP was brought to me, and I loved working on those plans. I’m competitive, plus I think I’m creative and believe in my product. And I want your business (and don’t want my competition to get it instead!).
You will quickly realize who the good partners are, who has the best ideas and has your business or organization’s goals at heart.
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