Horrible group members

Painful (but necessary) working sessions this week with various groups have shown me how I behave in group settings where power is shared and there's no single leader.

My group is strong. We're all strong students. But one thing I've noticed is that we all occupy different roles that change from meeting to meeting. Some days I'm facilitating a discussion. Other days I'm introspective and could even be perceived as apathetic. Some times I'm angry and enforce the rules, other times I have a relaxed attitude to deadlines or protocol.

It's like a sociological petri dish. Everyone has shifting patterns of behavior. A really funny dynamic I've noticed is that we can side with another group member's ideas one day, then disagree with them the next. Overall, I feel we have to listen more, but this whole experience has provided me with an insight into the different archetypes that I become from one day to the next depending on the tone of the meeting.

So this is not a reflection on my group, it's a reflection on me.

Here are the horrible group members who I have been:

THE DEFENDER


None of my ideas ever seem wrong when I'm the Defender. Nothing I say can be refuted and if you try, well then you're just being a dick. Speak to me only when you have to say you're sorry for disagreeing with me or when you finally understand the superior point I'm trying to prove. I come into the meeting with guns blazing, eyes closed, and ears shut. I make my point as aggressively and loudly as possible, interrupting anyone who wants to contradict me.

I hate being this role. When I'm the Defender, I should chill out and appreciate the fact that other people have perspectives and insights that may be stronger than my own because of their own unique knowledge.

THE WEEKENDER


When I choose to meet with the group, I do so grudgingly. It's a pain in the ass for me to be dividing my time between school, work, homelife, and 601. My attitude to working is that it's best accomplished on one's own time rather than wasted for hours trying to press through a group document together. I cooperate, smile, and cheer people's ideas - but I'm dying inside! I can't wait until I get to leave the meeting room and go to do my own things.

I strongly identify with this archetype because I take a very rational approach to group work and don't see the benefit in wasted time. I work efficiently on my own. The problem I face in this role is that no one takes my ideas seriously and I never end up contributing as much as I'd like to in meetings. The group is worse of as a result of my not 'bringing the thunder'.

THE CHEERLEADER


Things are great when I'm the cheerleader! Nothing is ever a problem that can't be expediently buried and forgotten about! I help the team out my succinctly rephrasing something that someone else has said and I passing it off as my own! At the beginning of our meetings, I am animated, upbeat and motivated to do work, but by the end I quickly lose interest and go off to doing my own things! Nevertheless, the team loves me and I can never do anything wrong!

I'm rarely a cheerleader, but when I am, I find that the things I have to share with the group are unsubstantiated and lacking in any deep insight. I use happiness and stoking the group's energy as a cover for my own lack of knowledge about the subject matter. Recognizing this, I think I could do a much better job sometimes of coming prepared to meetings.

THE DEPUTY


We agreed on rules and dammit, we're going to stick to them. Conveniently, we've forgotten rules that no longer make sense, but have yet to establish new rules that can prevent subversive group behavior. I rally the troops, set plans, and oversee action. My foresight is perfect but ability to guide the team through difficult times needs some improving. When I lose control over the group, it's like a lone soldier taking a stand against an army of zombies. I just wish they all thought as clearly as me.

My needs for stimulation and chaos in life often mean that I dislike rules - or at least I dislike the rules that I have to play by. As the Deputy, I have limited authority to enforce the rules, so it might make sense for me to develop more constructive ways of facilitating a chaotic group dynamic which obviously doesn't work well with structure. When I become this archetype, I need to find ways of innovatively applying my natural goal-setting abilities to create an appropriate framework for the meeting.

THE DEFEATIST
Life is pain, and pain is life. We're put here on this Earth to suffer, especially during group meetings. I work hard because I see it as penance for my sins and misguided belief that someone will notice me. I act out and make scenes to draw attention to myself but spend a lot of time reflecting on how things got so messed up. The problem is that I've gotten so down that it's hard to see the way out again.

Recently I've noticed that I take on this role too easily. At one meeting I snapped and sarcastically commented that "my opinion obviously doesn't mean anything" - something I really shouldn't have said in retrospect because it only deepened the animosity among the group at the moment. I need to do more to lift my spirits so that the group can benefit from my insights without feeling like they have to begrudgingly accept them.

THE ASSHOLE


I stir shit up.

My comments are jagged and rapid-fire, without a lot of sympathy for the audience. My brain works really fast and I can see your next move ten moves before you. I speak to hear my own voice and demand that I be heard, even if I say something that was discussed earlier and neatly resolved. I am 100% focused on the group and my mental energies are absolutely committed to the task at hand. It's not like I'm a bad group member, I just have a lot of power which is sometimes negatively used.

This is an easy archetype for me to slip into. It's full of qualities which I despise in myself and a mindset that prohibits me from actively learning from others in my group. I also am limited in how much I can synthesize from previous group meetings when I'm wearing this role because I'm so caught up in the moment. Stepping back, taking a breath, and closing my mouth are techniques I should try when I find myself becoming the Asshole.

Fun-dergrads!

Welcome back, BBAs! I'm glad that you're back in school. It was nice for the MBAs to have the school to ourselves, but I missed the energy and fun that you all brought.

I've often thought that Schulich BBAs exemplify the best and worst of Gen Y culture:

• Paradoxical individualism and self-expression but intense needs for social affiliation
  
• Creative and critical thinking but irrationality when emotions become involved in the decision making process
• Curiosity and a thirst for knowledge but a crass arrogance that their worldview is unflappable

As one of the younger MBAs (and a Gen Y myself), I unquestionably exhibit a lot of these qualities. Self-confidence (arrogance) and poor attention span spring to mind!

But the BBAs are complicated creatures. Let's begin to understand them with some archetypes. The lovely Robyn, B!G's VP, has graciously offered to let me use some of her Facebook pictures for illustrative purposes:

THE SOCIALISTA AND SOCIALISMO


Team building and group facilitation exercises are huge parts of the undergraduate experience at Schulich. They tried to do a lot of this kind of stuff for the MBAs in first year, but it didn't exactly catch on. Socialistas and Socialismos are identifiable by their energetic approach to life, the constant need to be surrounded by close and distant friends, and their voices, often approaching an amp'ed up level of heightened emotion and enthusiasm. Barf.

THE LECTURE-PHOBE


The fact that B!G is so popular among BBAs leads me to believe that there's a hunger among Schulich's lowerclassmen for learning outside the classroom. By their nature, Gen Ys do not learn well in a single platform environment - by textbooks or lectures alone. On-the-job skills training and real-world experiences are vital to give context to the theory being learned in class. That, or they just cannot stand to spend one minute in dull classrooms being lectured AT by an apathetic professor.

THE KIDULT


Robyn describes these students are doing kid things at night. Pillow fights, tobogganing, and games of capture the flag played at 3am suggest that growing up might never happen. I agree. Growing up won't happen - but that's ok. Kidults are recognized for their use of abbreviations and verbal slang, need for adventure and constant stimulation, love for challenges and physical/mental stimulation, and no sense of when bedtime occurs.

THE KNOWLEDGE SPONGE


Related to the Lecture-Phobe, the Knowledge Sponge participates in every possible school event, signs up to multiple clubs, and is super-engaged in class. They actually read every word of the textbook and take copious notes. I was this archetype in my undergrad until I found ways of getting high grades and doing limited reading! I really do feel bad for this undergrad because professors tacitly promote their destructive OCD behavior. Rote memorization of the textbook facts is a really dumb way of testing learning. Also, holding a textbook in a picture and smiling is really lame, sorry Robyn!

THE IBBA/EXCHANGE STUDENT


I'm really not sure what goes on when the BBAs go on exchange. Olga is in Norway right now and it fills me with great fear. Fear for the Norweigians. The exchange student is filled with amazing memories of their semester away and fantastic stories that you could believe actually happened. It's hilarious that none of the stories involve school.

So these are just a few of the students who you'll meet in the BBA program. Each is a pretty good facsimille for any previous generation's archetypes, but they are powered the Gen Y fuel of optimism.

Thanks Robyn for being a sport and letting me do this!

How to be a keener: for clients and classrooms

Nice vacation huh? It’s been eight days since last publishing to the blog and I feel recharged. The TAs at York are on strike so in the spirit of everyone else who’s taking a vacation – enjoy Cuba, Sid and Olga! – I took one too and finished up on a bunch of work. We’ve been active with new clients too in the last week, doing a lot of pitches and signing clients for Winter projects. I’m really enthusiastic about the opportunities we have and the potential to get active on projects that loop in more Associates within B!G. We'll have more full-service accounts this next semester and will get back to our roots with an e-marketing strategy/Web 2.0 project.

(Clients, I know you’re reading this!)

Which brings me to tonight’s topic: how to be a keener but not a sycophant. Why is this important? Well, number one, the world loves keeners.

Number two, our grades in school are highly influenced by participation marks, beyond the percentage (usually 10%) that’s listed on the course outline. Don’t you think that the assignments of good class contributors are read extra thoroughly and receive relatively more mindshare?

Being a sycophant is a really sleazy situation. You’re reviled by the class and hated by the teacher. Your contributions are banal and brainless and typically involve nothing more than saying how brilliant you though the professor’s point was and how much it personally resonated with you. It’s the equivalent of a company being overly thankful for your business but not really knowing who you are or what makes you unique. I hate direct marketing that’s not relevant! So in other words, your words don’t stick and you’re wasting precious oxygen that better minds could have fed on.

But being a keener? Well, that’s a joy!

You’re not called on in class because you contribute more than the average student. You’re able to make the points you want that are most meaningful to you and your research interests. And you’re able to demonstrate to your slovenly peers what an amazing student you are – your rabid participation pays off when peers look to you as a person they want to group with. Group projects depend on being able to get your pick of the best students in the class, and like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, ‘like’ gravitates to ‘like’.

So how can you elevate your participation from mediocre to keener-tastic?


ONE
Preface your comments by emphasizing things that other people in the class have said. Never attack the person, attack the message. Duh.


TWO
Do the readings, or at least read the first and last paragraphs fully and the first sentences of all the paragraphs in between. This way you can get the gist of what the readings were about without really actually doing them.


THREE
Listen more. Don’t make a comment that you really want to say if it has nothing to do with the current topic or string of other comments.


FOUR
Bring in aspects of theory in everything you say. Package your comment like this: 1) Issue, 2) Theory, 3) Explanation. It’s like a observation sandwich.


FIVE
Never ever say how insightful you found something or how amazing you think something is. Why? Because everyone has things that they also think are interesting, so why is your take on it any more valuable than theirs? Like seriously, what new knowledge or relevant thought have you contributed by saying that you “thought that the Porter’s Five Forces model is amazing”…huh?

Now, client interactions are not meant to be superficial, they’re meant to be substantive. Applying a keener model to pitches and presentations means having a deep and thorough knowledge of the client and what matters to them. Say it honestly. Don’t try and schmaltz your words or qualify their business with superlatives. You’ll regret it in the end when you can’t get leverage or wiggle-room in the account (when the project turns to shit!) because you weren’t honest in the first place.

And to my professors, I highly recommend you read this article on how to deal with me. I like the suggestions to use hugs as reinforcement and to perform a criminal background check.

Value chain analysis stumps all

I’m addicted to this song right now since hearing the techno remix of it on the indie radio station in my car. Enjoy while reading about how to strategically evaluate a business value chain, I don’t know, perhaps it’s fitting!



I was caught in a funk today in one of my meetings. I was doing some primary research and asked the question ‘how does your company add value in the services it performs’ to two middle managers and the conversation kinda stalled. It wasn’t a particularly difficult question (and perhaps I should have phrased it as above in far fewer words than I did!), but still we stumbled through the conversation. Is business strategy really that difficult to conceptualize? Best practice would suggest that business strategy is well-understood by all employees in the organization but in reality it seems that only executives understand how the business functions and what processes contribute the most value. Even then it might be an idealized view of how the business should operate and can lack real cohesion and rigor about how business strategy gets implemented.

But today’s snafu made me reflect on business strategy. Understanding holistic value in business is a really tricky task. It requires enough perspective to see the end to end process yet still parse operations into discrete components and see the individual operational workings. And furthermore, how do we identify which process is critical to the business before we even undertake reverse engineering to see where the most value is added? Significant value will inevitably derive from the synergy of all processes at once or in sequence. Cost efficiencies, knowledge spinoffs, internal organizational development result from the greater operational process which can, in its own, be considered as a piece of the value chain.

Let’s take B!G’s projects:

Dollar for dollar, we derive the greatest return from our in-house advertising and design competencies. These are our highest margin services. If we break these down it’s difficult to determine where we are strongest at adding value to the client. It could originate from customized brand design services or it could arise from on-campus advertising campaign execution. Looking at the more consulting-oriented aspects of our business, these are our lowest margin services and in some instances loss-leaders to establish credentials and recognition for the business (to say nothing of the tremendous personal soft skills development we get from the consulting work). If we break down our marketing consulting services into its constituent parts, value chain analysis is even more challenging. How can you accurately measure whether the greatest shot of analytical nitrous comes from the primary client research we can perform or the composition of all learnings into a single deliverable.

If I can’t really answer these questions, then no wonder I stumped the middle managers I spoke with today with what I perceived to be a simple question about the most valuable part of their process. They’re a massive agency with a global client roster.

It’s difficult to manufacture the necessary competing perspectives – top-down and bottom-up – necessary for an effective analysis of a firm’s operational value chain. As marketing consultants we strive to approach each project with fresh eyes and objectively determine weak links from crucial points. However, this is a valuable, if headache-inducing, exercise to perform. Value chain analysis gets everyone thinking about what the organization does well and where its core strengths lie.

But a question unanswered is a problem unsolved. An evaluation of business strategy must carefully determine the point of greatest operational impact. You find this process by asking ‘if the business can only perform one action before it dies, what is it?

So what’s the heart?

Terrible questions and the terrible interviewers who ask them

B!G, like many clubs at Schulich, just finished interviewing and recruiting new associates. Well B!G got associates, everyone else got members who forked over $20. Not that it makes them any less cool – or less wealthy. We got a pile of applications, sifted through them and, yes even I took a break from my daily activities of the outermost importance – like lolcatz – and conducted some great interviews.

Alright, so I was only allowed in on one interview but I am delighted at the associates we got on our team. They have already proven their hard work and dedication.

I was always impressed with the level of talent on B!G. And I can attribute a lot of this to our recruiting processes. Without argument, the most important part of any recruitment process is the interview. You can’t control the candidate’s answers, but you’ve got a good handle on things from your side. It’s almost amusing how easy it is to screw up such a vital part of growing your enterprise. So easy, in fact, Bristol Palin could do it if the only thing she learned was “Just don’t!” The issue of only saying "No." Maybe we should institute some sort of secondary method?

Mistake #1: The Power Trip

I really wanted this to be structured as the worst questions to ask at an interview but this specific aspect of an interview cannot be conveyed with just one question mark. I remember my first year in university, there was one club (we won’t mention which because it is under “new management” and everyone deserves a fresh beginning) that took itself a tad too seriously. They warned that their executive interviews were really tough and they really wanted to make people cry.

First thought that comes to mind: WTF!???? (note the need for several question marks)

Making candidates cry doesn’t say anything about the candidates. To be frank, it only illustrates what a huge douche you are. The interview is not about you. It’s about your team and its future. I understand the importance of bringing on sturdy folk but at a certain point you are sacrificing quality and creativity for sturdiness. Really, how sturdy do they have to be at a university club?

Ikea furniture is not the sturdiest, but it provides comfortable seating and it's pretty.

And how low is your self esteem to make others cry?

I think B!G had a great solution this past few semesters to examine the quality of our candidates and their ability to integrate into our team. You see, B!G isn’t about busting others’ balls (pardon my language.) We don’t need to. You wouldn’t either if your’s were the size of watermelons. (I know, eew.) We like to welcome people (with a slice of watermelon, perhaps), have them relax and really reach out to the person, their hopes and aspirations, where they’ve been and where they want to go, what they know and what they want to learn. After all, we’re all going to be working together so for me to crush your individuality even for a few minutes is not the way to make progress. I can just give you a case study and leave the room for half an hour, maybe get some cheezburger.

We can review your answers, discuss your logic and ultimately see if we’re the right fit for one another in terms of skills and opportunities. It’s about fit, not ego.

Mistake #2: Reaching deep into the past. Elbow deep.

The question: When you were 5 years old, what did you want to be?

The answer: If your candidate is honest, it will not be Investment Banker, Corporate Tax Attorney, Marketing Analyst or Chartered Accountant. This same honest candidate will say something like farmer, candy maker, veterinarian, chef, painter and dancer. I write this one off because it’s a dead end question. Like what would the follow up discussion sound like? “Why did you want to be a candy maker?” Because I liked candy. Still do.

Every five-year-old's dream job.

Some may think that all these little details are part of shaping the behavioural profile and will provide some grand insight into the subconscious of the candidate. But do you really think that you’re trained to accurately interpret such tiny insights to really enrich the selection process?

Mistake #3: Navigating the Negatives

Question: What is your greatest weakness?

Answer: There are only few answers deemed appropriate by candidates. One is that the candidate is a perfectionist and has trouble letting go of a task. The others are its variations, essentially being too hard working, too perfect and taking all of the responsibility on your own shoulders. Bottom line is that no one is going to badmouth themselves too harshly in an interview. They will, however, provide you with areas where they want to grow. No, not improve. Grow. Branch out. “How would you like to expand your skills?” For example, they may want to gain more technology skills or international experience or broaden their marketing skills to several industries. You kill two birds with one stone: expansion and, ever so subtly, improvement.

Mistake #4: Ask no question and you will be told no lies. Especially these kinds of questions.

Question: What would your friends say about you?

Answer: Really, what do you expect? "I’m a drunk, I give great lap dances to strangers, I never call the girl back the next morning, I steal from the library. But I'm really good about it and it has helped me develop some overlooked skills. Like subtlety." Such questions will get you absolutely nowhere. I can see what kind of insights you might be seeking in this, to become intimate with your candidate. Does the candidate really want to become intimate with you or do they want the position? Probably the latter. To get such personal insight, a great number of questions are necessary and some quick on-the-spot thinking. "What do you do in your spare time?" A likely answer would be "read or watch movies." Alright, so go with that. "What are some of the latest books you've read?" Now you get to judge here and it really depends on what your company culture is: Shopaholic vs. Black Swan vs. War and Peace. You're getting a clearer picture and it's a harder answer to prepare for because you could very well respond "I never read War and Peace. What's it about?" A candidate can't bullshit that one and you can always check your facts later on sparknotes.com .

"Let's discuss the books you recently stole.. err... read"

Mistake #5: We all know why we're here.

Question: Why do you want to join XYZ?

Answer: To have a paying job or an extra paragraph on the ol' resume. But no one is going to say that. I get it, it's really a "why us, and not them" question. I think Robyn got the same point across really well in a slightly different question. "How do you want to benefit from B!G?" Candidates say that they want to learn more about marketing strategy and get the practical experience, something very few student organizations offer. These are perfectly acceptable answers; we pride ourselves on these qualities. And by asking straight forward questions about which of these wonderful qualities attracted the candidates to us, we open the door to the most honest answer.

Mistake #6: The feeble attempts to incorporate the "Interesting Factor"

Question: If you were an electrical appliance, what would you be?

Answer: Who cares!? Unless your organization is experiencing a high rate of members turning into electrical appliances, this question is not relevant. Anything would be better: what voltage would you be or would you turn back into yourself after midnight? At least this helps you plan for the future.

Could these be your future employees?

This is usually the last question at an interview and it's really an attempt to bring about the "Interesting Factor." But leading someone to compare themselves to a George Forman grill is not interesting or original. Why not leave the "creativity" behind and just say "What is the one thing you want me to know about you?" Maybe they have this great stamp collection, run a soup kitchen or participate in Medieval jousting competitions on Saturday nights. Now that's interesting and insightful! No matter how much lean mean you slap on it, won't make a good employee.

The goal of a great interview is to pave the way to the most honest answers and get to know the real person, because that's who's going to show up every morning and plop themselves in the seat next to you. The only way to do this is to make the candidate feel fairly comfortable with the interviewers, just enough to show off their skills and provide a view into how they operate. Put thought into the questions and test them out on yourself - what answer would you give? It's about fit and synergy and leaving your egos at the door and making progress. Make sure there is structure to your interview and make the best showing of your organization. And making people cry, just doesn't do it.

What we learned at Club Week

B!G had the privilege of meeting Schulich’s undergraduates last week at the student club fair.

Ye Olde Student Club Faire.

It was a lot more fun than anyone thought it would be, despite our bitch-like position at the back of the basement squashed in beside rows of lockers and despite the fact that we really don’t need to do any recruitment. The club week did provide an interesting opportunity for me and the other B!G execs to practice our sales pitch. By the end of the week we were spilling lines like “we’re a student marketing agency and we deliver real solutions to real clients” like nobody’s business. Here are a few of my favorite pitch lines:

“Unlike a lot of the other organizations here, our members actually stay active”
“Networking and info sessions can only get you so far. In marketing, it doesn’t matter who know you, it matters what you know”
“Read the blog! Today’s post is about pubic hair marketing!”

The last line was perhaps the most effective and generated some of the highest blog traffic we’ve ever seen. I guess fiffi trimming is a big selling point for the undergraduate students here at Schulich.

In addition to refining our pitch, the club fair had a few lasting impressions on us. Here’s what we learned:

1. FEAR!

There’s a lot of trepidation and uncertainty among the undergrad population, especially the first years. However, this anxiety seems to mutate into an untested, ballsy arrogance in second, third, and fourth years!

2. Self-assuredness should never be confused with rudeness

Walking up to the B!G table and demanding that we “tell [you] about our club” will is not a good tactic to win us over with your confidence and drive. It will be met with a cocked eyebrow from me and a suggestion that you go apply to another student organization that can deal with your sickening ego.

3. Experience should not be confused with skills

We really liked a lot of the people who came and talked to us who had no substantial work experience but effectively demonstrated that they had the relevant team and analysis skills necessary for a position in B!G. Similarly, plenty of students gave windy pitches and droned on about irrelevant experience without really showcasing their unique skills. Let’s make no mistake here: in B!G, we want your skills. Your experience matters, but it’s not the only attribute you can sell yourself on.

4. The other clubs have no clue how to market themselves

Awful logos, awful sales pitches, awful collateral being handed out. To you student organizations which are feeling ‘not so fresh’ or perhaps are not effectively leveraging your unique value proposition, we’d like to talk to you!

5. Schulich has some seriously clever students

It’s obvious to me now that Schulich is an undergrad school with a stronger focus on the BBA students than the MBAs. The undergrad students here are unlike any other breed I’ve seen before and they’re hard to describe objectively without inferring value-laden descriptions. The BBAs are smart and very knowledgeable, but lacking in important work-with, team skills. There is a strong culture of ‘me first’ and I cannot easily remember an example a BBA has provided to me about when they motivated others and put other people’s best interests first. They can vociferously defend an idea and integrate all their classroom theory, but they fall down on important social skills, especially when they join the workforce and realize that not everyone is as smart or fast as them.

Remember in grade three when the teacher brought in chicken’s eggs and, as a class, we incubated them under a high-intensity lightbulb and in a nest of newspaper shredding? Those eggs hatched and all the students got to see the chicks grow and become fluffy, chirping, adorable poop machines.

That’s how I imagine the experience is at Schulich for BBAs. It’s an incubator for their ideas, preparing them for their careers but not providing a lot of social context to mute or soften their uncooperative Gen Y attitude.

You know you're a BBA student when...

I've been back in classes for three weeks now and am starting to realize that four years is a long time to spend in business school (MBAs, just imagine doubling the length of your degree). Here's some of the signs that show you've been learning about Porter's Diamond Model for far too long.

1) Your carefully chosen back-to-school outfit is...your black suit.
Perhaps a Don Cherry-esque suit at your next infosession would help you stand out:


2) Everything you say is an acronym.
WACC, GAAP, DCF, IS, LM, GDP, CPI, LCM, LIFO, FIFO, CAPM...I could go on.

3) There are at least five cups of coffee in your classroom. 45 cups if it's an accounting or finance-related class.
They're probably fair-trade certified and overpriced as well.


4) You don't make friends. You "network."
And you've made an art form of how you hand over your business card.



5) You laugh at jokes like "Yo, that balance sheet is WACC."
Admit it, you've even made that joke.

6) You've waited 20 minutes in line at the coffee stand during your 15 minute break pondering what bottlenecks are creating inefficiencies.
Maybe that operations class is kind of handy...



7) You see your group members more than your own family.
And they're all on your My5.8) "It depends," is your favourite answer.
Followed by five minutes of double speak to make sure you get all of your participation marks.

9) You see a bunch of zombies in your classroom and figure that it must be accounting recruiting season again.
This would be a good time of year to invest in some Red Bull stock.

10) You know what time the Schulich building closes.
And you know this because you've been kicked out at 2am so many times.

If you could respond "yes, that's me" to more than 7 of these questions, congratulations, you've gotten your $20,000 worth. Good luck with the rest of the school year!

Fresh insights from Max's brain

Some days I get reflective about my own consumer behavior. Deep from my cortex, here are some certified 'Max Billings Thoughts on Marketing'.

Thought #1:

In one of my recent classes we were asked to consider our mental schemas in relation to a certain brand and form associations between that brand and certain concepts, things, or people. The great thing about free-market capitalism is that social values or individual perceptions have no bearing in the decision making process unless those values have a direct influence on profit. So if I believe that Starbucks is a brand known for environmental stewardship, terrible service, and high comfort in-store, who’s to say that I’m wrong? If I’ve forged those associations in my head, I own that unique mental schema and it’s the responsibility of Starbucks to make sure that it meets my expectations.

Thought #2:

Another strange thing occurred to me, spurred by a comment in class. By its nature, marketing excludes people. It’s about understanding who has the greatest likelihood of responding and opting-in to a certain message and then appealing to that fractioned audience with a communication that resonates. If the marketer is lucky, then the communication will be well-received and a mutual dialogue is created. So then a whole bunch of people are excluded because marketers have deemed them tot not be valuable for the strategic objectives. If the client’s business is stagnating and it’s obvious that younger customers need to be attracted, then does it make sense to craft a marcom campaign that appeals to old men? Targeted marketing ignores people. It’s not about being fair or politically-correct. There are some people (suspects, not prospects) who were never meant to receive the message because they’re not a valuable potential audience to the brand.

Thought #3:

Consumers in general have a very poor understanding of their purchasing patterns and susceptibility to marketing messages. Germane to this is a limited awareness of how incredibly personalized and relevant most forms of marketing are made for them. It’s mass-media that gets a lot of the attention because it’s superficial and so painfully shilling unwanted/unnecessary product, but what about the targeted ads you receive online? What about the DM inserts that come into magazines you subscribe to? Plenty of campaigns happen that we don’t even realize. Don Draper, my fictitious hero from Mad Men, said that effective advertising is that which we’re not even aware of but still does its job.

Thought #4:

I’m scared by how willingly my peers in class accept that a viable strategy to marketing communications is to shout louder at consumers. Consumers are willing to listen but only to brands which speak to them with words that are relevant. Consumers tune out and become disaffected and unresponsive with marketing strategies meant on drilling some message deep into your brain. Enough already with the Rogers Wireless commercials with the texting teenagers – it misses the mark! Marketers must never make the mistake that the objective of doing marketing is “to be heard”. Rather, the objective of doing marketing must always be “to be relevant”. Increasingly it’s experiences that supersede messages as the primary mechanism to drive relevance to consumer.

Thought #5:

This is unrelated to marketing, but it just popped into my brain. Be the change you want to see in others. Leadership by example is a great strategy and one I’m trying in all aspects of the agency here. It’s challenging, but rewarding when you see substantive positive growth in employees.

Thought #6:

If I’m serious about being an agency head, then I’ve got to continue to do everything I can to cut my teeth on creative development, brand building, and copy-writing. These are the central facets of agency operations. If I can’t excel at these functions, than what use am I in a marketing capacity…?

Since returning to school, I feel like I’ve been paved into the ground with a bulldozer piling work on me. Thank God for four-day weekends.

Top ten new MBA signs

Yesterday I had the good fortune to meet with Schulich’s entering MBA class of 2010. These are first year MBAs entering in Fall 2008. Nice bunch, lots of smiles and uncertainty.

But don’t fret MBAs, they’re no longer teaching MGMT 5150! Unfortunately, you might still have to endure reframing techniques and endless head-scratching about your personal 15% solution (just wait and see…)

So as someone who’s gone through the wash, been rung out and hung out to dry, here are the top ten signs that you are an incoming Schulich MBA:

For added effect, I’ve included professional looking stock photos from a Google image search for “business school students”. Impressive!

10. You gesture a lot with your hands to explain things. Talking with hands is great. It makes your points so much more impactful when there’s physical action associated to the points you’re making. It also helps to make you appear like an action-oriented professional business person!


9. Overwhelming anxiety (for some) masked by a pretty see-through smile. Get over it, everyone is nervous and doesn’t know anyone else.


8. Suit and tie. Yikes…suit and tie? See if you’re still wearing it two weeks later. See if the compulsion to wear boardshorts and hoodies doesn’t overwhelm you by the end of Frosh Week.


7. No swear words, slang, idioms, or casual conversation. Conversation must be business-like, adult, and meaningful. Talking about one’s weekend, hobbies, or drinking habits are perceived to be verboten.


6. You’ve practiced and prepped way too much and instinctively answer the question “why did you choose Schulich” whenever someone asks about you. Note, they didn’t ask about Schulich, they asked about you. The answer to this question will invariably slide to a vague description/supposition about the ethnic diversity of the class and the valuable perspectives that international students bring to the program. While this is not in dispute, you don’t need to make it sound so canned! I even used this one in an early interview with the school.


5. Your professional experience matters only to you. Everyone else is concerned with their own professional experience. Again, this has been well-practiced and diligently rehearsed. Chill out a little, open up about yourself. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, it matters who you are.


4. You believe that networking begins immediately and that “this is the most valuable network [you’ll] ever form”. WRONG. You’ll soon realize that more than half of the students you know are pretty irrelevant to where you might want to go in the future. You’ll also soon gravitate to the ones you know are smart or influential and those people will come to form your real network out of school.


3. You can’t wait to meet your professors and develop meaningful business relationships with them. Are they interested in you? Maybe. Have you proven yourself worth of their attention? Not yet.


2. You have your resume and elevator pitch down cold in your head, ready to spiel out at a moment’s notice. Yes, the verisimilitude of what you say you’ve worked on to your actual resume says you’ve worked on is critically important. Also important is your 60 second pitch. Too bad it might still come across as canned and cheesy and offer no insight into your personality.


1. You have rationalized paying at least $42,000 in tuition, $2,000 in textbooks, $10,000 in accommodation and living expenses, $2,000 in transit or related expenses, and the opportunity cost of making at least $100,000 for the next two years because, in your opinion, it’s worth it.

Good luck!

Picking courses

So let’s play a fun game. I’m choosing my courses now for the Fall semester and quite frankly I’m stuck. Like that great Fleetwood Mac song, Schulich allows students to go their own way when choosing courses and pick each elective that they want, regardless of program of study or specialization.

Well, that’s a relief, but how does one decide between ‘Direct and Database Marketing’ and ‘Relationship Marketing Strategies’? Don’t they seem really similar because developing a relationship with one’s customers is usually based on direct marketing communications supported by sophisticated database analysis and segmentation?

So I’m throwing my hands up and thinking that I should start fresh. What if I could design my own course like a madlibs game?

1. Choose a word in column 1
2. Choose a word in column 2
3. Choose a word in column 3
4. Enroll!

Word #1	Word #2	Word #3
Online	Youth	Strategy
Guerrilla	Ethnic	Advertising
Modern	Consumer	Branding
Mass	Service	Marketing
Targeted	Niche	Communications

I’ve decided to enroll in the following courses:

MKTG 6125: Targeted Ethnic Communications

This course teaches the principles of direct marketing optimized for Canada’s diverse multiethnic population. Focus is given to applied project learning as well as each student’s demonstrated proficiency with cultural idiosyncrasies. Grading is determined by the receptivity and responsiveness of hard to convert ethnic communities to student marketing projects.

MKTG 6030: Guerrilla Service Branding

As B2B marketing becomes a more important component in a marketer’s toolbox, this course will share effective strategies to convey brand relevance and uniqueness in highly unorthodox MarCom campaigns. Each student develops their own guerrilla campaign which is executed on the streets of downtown Toronto. Grading is determined by how many days the campaign remains in place before city officials remove it.

MKTG 6240: Mass Youth Marketing

Though all youth marketing was being segmented? Not so fast. This course instructs students to analyze youth trends to a deeper level and see larger paradigms affecting broad swaths of youth culture. Pedagogy is a combination of youth market research and independent study projects conducted by each student to reshape youth behavior. Grading is determined by the level of apathy with which youth prospects view your marketing campaign.

Unfortunately these courses aren’t taught at Schulich, so I’m thinking ‘Consumer Behavior’, ‘Strategic Market Planning’, and ‘Brand Management’. Top that off with a little ‘Art and Science of Leadership’ and some ‘Strategy Management’ and I think I have my complete schedule. Thank God it’s only three days a week!