Carman Pirie's Blog

The man ain’t got no culture.

Another bit of a project I have on the go is a business called Cook. Without getting into too much detail, we have developed a methodology and supporting processes that facilitate human connection around the joint preparation and consumption of food. It’s worth noting that, at $3K per evening, this initiative is wildly under-priced. Within my work in Cook, and with the help of a partner in the initiative (Tracy), we’ve identified the 3 broad elements to tackling organizational transformation. In order… connectedness, community, change.

In terms of connectedness, the basic premise is that organizations cannot and will not move forward until the people inside it connect as human beings. Seems simple enough I suppose, but I continue to be surprised at the number of people who just don’t get this.

Community essentially references how these individuals come together in community around a shared purpose and understanding of where they are going together and what passions they share for the work.

Once connectedness and community have been established, only then can change really begin to take root in a way that is internally driven and sustainable over the long haul.

Naturally, all of this can seem somewhat airy-fairy I must admit. Don’t let your own biases get in the way of progress. Getting something done for the sake of getting something done isn’t sustainable. It doesn’t work. Your organization needs wise action rooted in the collective wisdom of those who make it tick.

As we explore community further, it isn’t difficult to see the linkage to brand. When your brand is at its most authentic, it serves to house your organization as a community. Organizational change, and brand, are intimately interconnected.

Brand mystery.

My latest post inspired a discussion with a mate of mine around brand mystery. Specifically, his suggestion is that the brands we don’t understand are the ones we really like. My guess is that this speaks to an element of brand mystery, where successful brands are compelling stories that are never fully told.

The challenge of course is how to do this without introducing too much brand confusion in the process. There is a fine line between the confusion people will tolerate in favor of an appealing level of mystery versus confusion that simply sends a target audience scurrying in the opposite direction. Further, different audiences will undoubtedly display varying levels of confusion tolerance.

There’s the rub.

Does mystery somehow make a brand more authentic? Does it make a brand more human?

The brand that wasn’t.

I had the opportunity on Thursday to participate in a group discussion that was essentially an exercise in blue-sky thinking. Something was brought up that I’ve been hearing a lot of lately – the group almost en masse began bitching about brands. While maintaining a very dated view of what branding actually is, they expressed disgust at what they see as today’s ‘branded culture’.

What they seek are non-brands – they want to feel a part of something very authentic and, frankly, not widely known or accepted. They want to buy their groceries at the local community farmers’ market, not at the supermarket chain. They want fair trade coffee from the local coffeehouse, not latte’s from the latest Seattle-based coffee snobbery turned global business powerhouse.

i.e. They want brands. They just don’t know it.

At their best, brands are authentic. Brands are real. Brands communicate a reason to believe that extends well beyond the actual product or service being delivered. Having a small logo (or no logo at all) does not mean you don’t have a brand. Similarly, a logo and a tag line does not a brand make.

What today’s super-brands do in their quest to standardize the consumer experience and provide purchase predictability is de-humanize their business. They take cookie-cutter brands and attempt to perpetuate cookie-cutter organizational cultures where people do not matter except to communicate an overly crafted organizational personality that lacks authenticity.

This is exactly what a growing number of people – people with real cash to spend – are responding to. They crave humanness in their life. Make your business – be it an internal service organization in a large corporation or a small accounting firm – human.

Bit of background.

It would be a fine idea at this point to speak a little of what it is I do. I’m currently employed as a Principal with Colour – an advertising agency in Halifax, NS. As a Principal, I engage in marketing and brand consulting for the most part – along with some public relations and government relations work. Fun stuff that.

Additionally, for the past six years or so, I’ve maintained an almost obsessive interest in organizational cultures and how they can be developed to foster creativity and innovation. Of late, that interest has also extended into a variety of hosting techniques designed to tap into the collective wisdom of groups to improve connectedness and, consequently, performance.

More on all of this later I suppose.

For now, this post will at least serve to provide a bit of framing for those that follow.

And we're off.

First things first. I'll eventually fill this blog with all sorts of information and with any luck at all some of it may well be considered useful to someone at some point. Having said that, I think it is important to state a couple of things upfront...

You should know that making money is important (if not, you're likely reading the wrong blog). So regardless of how much thinking is freely cast about, know this: If you find something of interest and consequently feel I may be able to be of service to you or your organization, that's easily enough done. Here are the particulars:

1. I'm currently available for 5 one-week sessions each year. $10,000 per week in North America. That includes expenses for the time being. If you live in the US, then US Dollars it is. In Canada? Then 10,000 Canadian loonies will do. Simple. Everything is fully refundable net of hard costs incurred if you don't like whatcha get. No questions asked. Again, simple. Other, more global engagements are also of interest. Drop me an email and we can chat further about pricing and such.

2. The work has to have the capacity to make a real, positive difference in the life of your organization and the people who call it home. If you're looking for some guy to come in and sell to your staff, under the guise of consultation, something you've already set in stone, then I ain't your guy. You can easily find someone less expensive than I to do that and, frankly, I couldn't be bothered.

3. Seems logical enough, but, the schedule has to work for both of us.

4. If one week leaves you wanting more, we'll work that out. No worries. Quite honestly, I'd rather do the entire 5 weeks at one destination. Keeps the billing simple.

There you are and there you have it.

Enjoy.