The Electric Waffle

How many times have we heard the phrase product A is going to kill X? We hear it all the time. And what’s the typical outcome? Product A gets a little hype, it eventually dies down and X lives on—with or without it’s alleged killer.

What is our fascination on killing things? What does the success of one product have to result in the death of another? Henry Ford wasn’t focused on killing the horse and buggy. Charles Lindbergh wasn’t trying to kill other forms of transportation. Mobile phones weren’t created to kill the landline phone.

Focus on disruption, focus on improvement, focus on innovation. But, please, quit trying to create a product or service that kills something. You won’t succeed.

 

I don’t hate many things in life. Hate is a strong word. I have a strong dislike for certain things and people, but hate…not so much. As of yesterday, I have added to my “hate list.”

I hate automatic soap dispensers in public restrooms.

Allow me to let that sink in for a moment. Automatic soap dispensers. In a restroom. Hate.

You see, at work — and this is where most of the hate stems from, we have automatic soap dispensers in our restrooms. While this is nothing out of the ordinary, and one may argue it makes complete sense — efficiency, save the environment, cost-reduction…whatever. But quite frankly, I don’t care about any of those reasons. I hate automatic soap dispensers in public restrooms. Especially the ones at my work.

Let me share a little bit about where this hatred comes from and why it has ultimately resulted in me hating the damn things. For those of you who are unfamiliar with automatic soap dispenses…get out in public. It’s 2011 already. Seriously, if you haven’t used/seen an automatic soap dispenser, you really do need to get out a bit. Anyhow, I hate germs. I like clean hands. I judge people who don’t wash their hands after using the restroom. I judge those who simply run water over their hands and don’t use any soap even more. Honestly, what’s the point of that?

Back to the story…

So, me being a guy who hates germs, and being a guy who prefers to be clean, I wash my hands after using the restroom. I then use soap, rinse, rinse some more and then use three paper towels. Or I hit the lever thing three times. I’m OCD like that. I’m not talking rocket science. Someone who’s three could handle my routine. But then you throw in automatic soap dispensers and it screws everything up. Either I’m waving my hand under the damn sensor trying to get the thing to dispense soap, or worse, simply wetting my hands, and the automatic soap dispenser spits soap at me. And where does this soap land? On my shirt sleeve. And I really don’t like soap getting dispensed on my shirt sleeve.

Look, as I mentioned above, washing your hands is something you teach children at a young age. It baffles my mind how automatic soap dispensers — especially those in my work’s restroom, can mess my process up. When the stupid thing does work correctly, does it dispense the right amount of soap? Nope. So there I go again, waving my hand like an idiot trying to get additional soap. It frustrates the hell out of me. This is why I hate automatic soap dispensers. Is it fair to lump all automatic soap dispensers into one category? Probably not. But this is my blog, and my story, so I am going to lump all automatic soap dispensers into the category of hate.

So what does this have to do with business?

You may think your product offers convenience and value to your customers, but even the simplest, no-brainer product/service will have someone who doesn’t like it. Regardless of what you are offering, you can not please everyone. And business is not about pleasing everyone. It’s not about providing value and convenience to everyone. That’s alright. You’ll go broke, and insane, trying to please everyone. Instead, focus on the core group that you are providing value to, try and build on those who haven’t completely ruled you out and acknowledge and be aware of those who completely hate your product and write blog posts about it.

Note: Next time we chat, ask me about my position on troughs in public restrooms. It’s brilliant logic.

During Tuesday’s #pr20chat, one of the questions asked was about transparency and tact. The conversation turned to how people “should be filtering” themselves online. Fellow PR pro Justin Goldsborough wrote “The growing need for a tact counselor” that touched on how one should act online. Quite frankly, and probably to no one’s surprise, I think this topic of filtering and tact is fucking ridiculous.

As you’re well aware, I have a pretty vocal personality. Granted, I probably could have gone without dropping the f-bomb in the last paragraph — typically I don’t use that word simply for the shock factor, but are we seriously this wrapped up in censoring ourselves? Do we all really need to act like we’re living in a 1960s family sitcom? While a lot of Justin’s tips may seem like common sense, the sad thing is, most people don’t use common sense. If people used their brain, we wouldn’t be talking about this issue. Or at least not in the way we are right now. But here’s my question: has the Internet killed our personality?

Look, I swear. I swear to my friends, I swear in public. I swear online. I don’t do it in a rude and obnoxious way. I don’t do it in an attempt to sound cool or, as mentioned above, for the shock factor. I’m not a dirty sailor, but I use vulgarity in my conversations. It’s who I am. But I also know when to use it and when not to. I’m not walking up to my boss cursing. I have common sense. But I also don’t hide it online. I understand that my online profile is public. I understand that customers, friends, family, co-workers and colleagues can read it. I’m OK with it. If someone is turned off by a tweet where I used harsh language or vulgarity, so be it. If that’s the deciding factor in whether to follow me or hire me, then it’s probably better that you don’t follow me. And I’m fine not working for you. I’m the same person offline and online. And you better believe I’m not changing who I am offline.

But let’s get back to the topic at hand -  has the Internet killed personality? Are people so worried about their online image that they are sacrificing who they really are? I’m not asking everyone to start cursing up a storm or act like an idiot online. This goes beyond a specific action and addresses the issue at large. Are we afraid to voice our opinion; are we stifling creativity in an attempt not to offend someone? And does this turn into the bigger question of how transparent and authentic is the web?

Unfortunately, we’ve already seen a lot of the web turn into a glorified circle jerk where we all sit around patting each other on the back. We’re afraid of the word “no” and we’re scared to question each other or constructively speak out. We’ve turned to a society that accepts mediocrity and classifies average as a success.

I’m not asking people to be rude and obnoxious. There are consequences to everything we do — including me writing this post. But I don’t welcome a bland world where we can’t be ourselves. We’ve always been self-conscious and worried about what others think. But I think it’s time to truly be open and authentic. It’s time we let our personalities shine.

Another day, another “deals” model enters the marketplace. AT&T announced yesterday that they are going to launch a daily deals site, aimed at competing with the hundreds of other coupon/group-buying businesses. I’ve discussed why I think discount thinking is bad business and why Groupon won’t exist in 2-3 years, and AT&T’s launch furthers that assumption.

At what point is the “deals” market too saturated? How many sites do we need to email us irrelevant “specials” from spas and resorts? AT&T entering this space is a clear indication that this market is a bubble and not sustainable. We have Groupon, LivingSocial, Google, Facebook and now AT&T, amongst others. With an non-existent barrier of entry, this space is already too crowded and only hurting those companies who already have some skin in the game. This will prove to play a big role in the space’s demise.

Though they won’t publicly admit it, and there are those who will disagree with me, but I’m willing to bet Groupon is kicking itself for not taking Google’s $10 billion offer. Groupon can claim to be the early leader, but as more companies develop their platforms, consumers will ultimately become confused and tired of all the congestion. Furthermore, as more companies pop up with their own Groupon-like spin, brands will finally wise up and realize the true power of “deals” lies in their hands.

I’m very bearish on the longevity of Groupon and said competitor’s business models. Long term, I think Facebook finishes as the “winner,” but the concept of a third-party site for deals I think eventually disappears and is replaced by brands maximizing the true concept of value.

What are your thoughts?

Over the past year, I’ve heard countless speakers preach not being afraid to fail.That’s hogwash. Failure should never be an option. You should never accept failure. Failure admits defeat. It admits incompetence. Failure is a sign of weakness.

You see, there’s a difference between failure and acknowledging the need to adjust. Life, in general, is about adapting and adjusting. It’s about finding areas of improvement and acting. Despite what others may claim, life is one continuous adventure. You don’t start over or start from scratch. Starting fresh is foolish — it requires forgetting what got you where you are and failing to adjust. If you fail once in life, you’ll fail again.

In business, those who accept failure never succeed. Successful business, like life, is the result of continued adjustment. You find what works and build upon it. You find what doesn’t, and improve.

I don’t have a lot of takeaways I remember from high school, but the one thing I will always remember is a quote my high school football coach (I can’t recall who the quote came from) used. To this day, it remains my favorite quote: I could give a hoot in hell for someone who gets knocked on his ass and doesn’t get up fighting.

Those who accept failure don’t get up fighting. If failure was truly an option, we’d be living in a world of mediocrity. Those who make a difference in this world are afraid to failure. They fight every day not to fail. That’s what makes greatness.

Never accept failure.