“If you don’t know where you’re going you might wind up somewhere else.” – Yogi Berra

I was cruising along the freeway on one of those amazing “sun break” Friday’s in Seattle when I saw a freeway exit that didn’t go anywhere.  It was just a blocked off dead-end exit ramp.  There was a lot of poor government planning and financial problems involved, but being a fan of metaphors I couldn’t help think about radio’s future.

I’ve been involved in a major project since January looking at Millennials, and it’s very sobering.  There are a lot of stories in the trades about the reach radio has with that generation, but you don’t see a lot of them talking about their shrinking TSL.  You don’t see any articles about their use of radio in context with their use of other media.  It’s as if we boomers don’t know any Millennials or see their actual media use.

These people are digital natives, and are in almost continual use of media, averaging around 11 hours a day.  But they are multi-media consumers, not single media consumers.  Considering radio’s financial model, that’s disconcerting.

There are plenty of off ramps on the media highway, but we’re not using them for what they are.  All of our social media, community building, video and such, is built around reinforcing radio, not complimenting it.  The answers are there, but someone needs to act on them.

The cool part about the coming convergence between digital and media is that those startup costs are much less than buying a major market signal.  Again, the answers are there, but someone needs to act on them.

“Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.”  Rick Cook, The Wizardry Compiled

Yes, it’s a different “programming,” but the message is the same.

Everyone wants bigger.  It’s part of radio and part of our culture.  We seem obsessed with having the biggest city, the tallest building, the busiest airport or the largest house.  Of course that’s why the universe is winning.

But the term “bigger is better” isn’t true very often.  First we have to look at the words themselves. “Bigger” is a quantitative word, while “better” is an ambiguous qualitative word.  But most of the time people don’t realize they’re playing that bigger vs. better game.

So what do you want, quantitative or qualitative?

P.S.  You CAN have both, but you need to start with the qualitative.

“Where do you put the fear when you choose to innovate? The fear is there, but you have to find a place to put it.” –  Seth Godin

I remember sitting on the floor in the house in Portland with a bunch of friends watching TV, absolutely mesmerized. Disney’s Fantasia was playing, and no one was talking. Usually we were talking with each other, making fun of what was in, or telling dumb grade school kid jokes. You didn’t have money for a lot of movies in a military family, so TV, even a black and white one, was where you went.

Fantasia made a huge impact on me, and later I realized why. It was beyond the usual creativity you’d find in Cinderella, it was innovative!

People tend to put innovation and creativity in the same box, but they shouldn’t. Innovation is when you come up with something new – like Fantasia. Creativity is when you put a new spin on something existing. So, while all true innovations are creative, all creativity isn’t innovative.

I hear a lot of radio people talking about how innovative their station is when it’s either creative, or in that third, unmentionable category, unremarkable.

We’re afraid to take a chance any more. Radio doesn’t seem to be looking for the crazy people, those outliers who are different from everyone else. In fact those people frighten some of the “modern” breed of broadcasters looking for the normal people who are compliant and submissive… in other words, unremarkable.

Content will win in the end, but only if it’s innovative, creative, or at least remarkable.

“However you make your living is where your talent lies.” – Ernest Hemingway

I used to worry about whether I could “hit the post” or not.  Or if I could come up with something worth hearing.   If it was a really good break, sometimes the GM would poke his head in the door and say something.  I really loved being on the air.

Now, in a world of continual partial attention, and diminishing interest from the higher ups, I can’t imagine being on-air.

That’s why I admire the people I meet who are dedicated to being the best they can be.  They’re just as enthusiastic and having the time of their lives.  They care about what they’re doing.

So I just wanted to say thanks, you’re keeping radio alive when ownership and other media have given up on you.  I know you feel strongly about creativity in radio.  I wish people had a better understanding of the value of talent relative to the music but I’m not sure they do.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “It’s all about the music.”  Or met on-air people who seem to just be “doing their time.”

But many of you defy that.  You’re doing what you know will relate and be relevant, and I admire you more than any media mogul I know of.

“You get what you expect. If your expectation is great then you’ll receive of its greatness but if you are expecting something small you’ll receive of its smallness. It’s not about how much you’ll receive but how big or small is your vessel.” – Unknown

How do you see the people you’re working with?

You’ll see in them whatever you’re looking for. If you’re expecting them to do something wrong, you’ll find it. If you’re expecting something good, you’ll find it. There’s even a name for it – the Pygmalion effect. The more positive expectations you put on people, the higher they perform.

The Rosenthal–Jacobson study divided school children into equal groups, and then told the teacher who the high achievers were. Of course,the children that were expected to do better, actually did better.

On the other side is the Golem effect. If you have low expectations you’ll find what you’re looking for. The effect is named after the golem, a clay creature  in Jewish mythology.  The effect was named after the golem legend because it represents  the concerns of social scientists and educators, which are focused on the negative effects of self-fulfilling prophecies.

That’s right, it’s named for a monster. It’s been in several movies, too. Never has it been the kind of creature you’d want to have a beer with.  That’s what you’ll get with low expectations and an attitude of looking for something wrong – a monster.

I’m familiar with this one.  I see people who expect another to say or do something wrong, and they always manage to find it.  The idea of expecting the best of people is mostly reserved for “how people see me.”

Whether it’s positive growth or negative wrong-doings, you’ll get what you’re looking for.  So who do you want walking your halls, a Pygmalion or a monster?

Or better yet, are you that monster?

“The time is now for marketers and businesses to go beyond the product conversation to understanding, sparking and sustaining the passion conversation for why your business is in business.” From The Passion Conversation

One of my favorite ideas is from the book “The Passion Conversation“, coauthored by John Moore. It suggests you Google “I love (your station),” and then “I hate (your station).”

Now you can begin to see what the real conversations about your station are. So I did it for a station I know, and I found a suggestion someone listed because they were having a hard time in life, and another person who hated all the Christmas music on the station.

But my biggest surprise was that there was far more of the station talking about itself than any listener conversation. They’re doing a good job of letting people know about the station, but there didn’t seem to be a lot of response from listeners.

I’m not sure what that imbalance means, except that there’s a lot more self-talk than Passion Conversations. There’s a lot more product conversation than passion conversation.