Genius+Power+Magic

Second City; the original interactive company

Unless you have been under a rock, you have been impacted by The Second City.  Tina Fey, John Belushi, Dan Akroyd and list just goes on and on.

This video is from The 2008 Chicago Convergence and features Tom Yorton, President of Second City Inc. 

The Second City is the original interactive company: creating memorable characters and biting sociopolitical satire based on audience input for nearly fifty years. Second City Communications, the corporate services arm of the legendary theater, has leveraged SC's core comedic beliefs, philosophies and methodologies to create insightful, hilarious and effective video, animation and web design for its many corporate clients - porting the laughs from the stage to the web page.

Second City Communications is the marketing services division of the famous comedy theater, The Second City — a company thats been interactive before interactive was hot. They help hundreds of Fortune 500 clients win audiences and marketshare — as well as improve individual & team performance — through the basic teachings of improv and a talented stable of writers, directors, producers, and production staff.

John Patterson

Influence Ecology - Membership

Influence Ecology - Membership

The health of the fish is given by the water
Healthy water, healthy fish; dirty water, dead fish
Human beings do best when tending to their water
(and most only tend to themselves)
'Water' for human beings takes many forms
This series is about tending to those many forms of water

Tending to the 'water' rather than simply tending to you requires an awareness of forces that shape and impact the you that you are.

That you were born in a specific place, time, country, race, culture, religion has obvious implications. The additional forces, or 'water' that shape your fish is a long list. 

     2.  Membership

Membership has it's privileges indeed.  You are part of a 'network of help'.  The cost of a meal is low because the hundreds of other people involved (from farming to packaging).  Without this 'help' you and I would spend the majority of our days gathering and preparing food.

Similarly, you are a member of a family, community, church, neighborhood or city, etc. Your identity and performance (network of help) is based on the groups with which you member. 

If someone asked you 'who are you?' and your answer was 'I am my network', that would start to get at the real truth about who you are in the marketplace - and the impact of your network and the available help within it for you to perform.

Being the leader of a network positions you in an even greater position of power as the ability to shape and impact the network is greater with you than with its common members.

The accumulation of this power increases the value of your offers in the marketplace.

Lead a 'network of help'. Start today by inventing a proposal or idea where you lead the way.

John Patterson

Apparent risk and actual risk

From Seth Godin.  I'm reposting as it illustrates something about uncommon offers.

There are people who I will never encounter in a restaurant.

That's because when these people go out for dinner, they go to chain restaurants. These are the tourists in New York who seek out the familiar Olive Garden instead of walking down the street to Pure.

That's fine. It's a personal choice.

But it got me thinking about the difference between apparent and actual risk, and how that choice affects just about everything we do.

The concierge at a fancy hotel spends her time helping tourists and business travelers avoid apparent risk. She'll book the boring, defensible, consistent tour, not the crazy guy who's actually a trained architect and a dissident. She'll recommend the restaurant from Zagats, not from Chowhound.

Apparent risk is what keeps someone working at a big company, even if it's doing layoffs. It feels safer to stay there than to do the (apparently) insanely risky thing and start a new venture.

Apparent risk is what gets someone who is afraid of plane crashes to drive, even though driving is more dangerous.

Apparent risk is avoiding the chance that people will laugh at you and instead backing yourself into the very real possibility that you're going to become obsolete or irrelevant.

When things get interesting is when the apparently risky is demonstrably safer than the actually risky. That's when we sometimes become uncomfortable enough with our reliance on the apparent to focus on the actual. Think about that the next time they make you take off your shoes at the airport.

Seth Godin

Influence Ecology - 'Moral Landscape'

Influence Ecology - Part 2

The health of the fish is given by the water
Healthy water, healthy fish; dirty water, dead fish
Human beings do best when tending to their water
(and most only tend to themselves)
'Water' for human beings takes many forms
This series is about tending to those many forms of water

1.  City/Town/Village - Moral Landscape

As social beings, you and I live by moral codes; a set of fabricated (yet very real) rules that dictate what is good or bad, right or wrong.

The power of the 'moral landscape' is powerfully illustrated by John Truby in his education on screen writing. 

In his classes he uses the movie "Its a Wonderful Life" to illustrate.  George Bailey, from the TownScape gives up his dreams to save the Baily Savings & Loan, make sure his brother succeeds and argues that he has no life and no riches.  In the end, he discovers his riches in his relationships.

This is classic TownScape morality.  It is a maternal order. A system of that thrives on guilt (Bailey always chooses to give up his dreams for the guilt of being selfish). A system that states that true happiness is about relationships.

Mr. Potter is classic CityScape morality. All for yourself. "Immoral". A system that states that true happiness is about getting as much of the pie for yourself as you can.

We get to see these two scapes played out as characters - and it is obvious which scape is 'better' in the eyes of the Film Makers.  In truth, neither are better or worse, good or bad.  Both have flaws and benefits and neither is 'The Truth'.  You could equally make a film about the poverty and isolation of a townscape vs the excitement and wonder of the city.

The point is that you are not separate from a city, town or village scape and these systems or contexts are forces that shape yours and others actions regardless of your awareness of that fact.  Knowing these background moral landscapes are shaping you - vs - you shaping them, is powerful and allows you a choice.

I was brought up Catholic in the townscape of Richardson, TX in a family of eight and spent a good twenty years working on behalf of the benefit of others at a cost to myself. Guilt is my middle name.

John Guilt Patterson

Influence Ecology - a Primer

Influence Ecology - a Primer

The health of the fish is given by the water
Healthy water, healthy fish; dirty water, dead fish
Human beings do best when tending to their water
(and most only tend to themselves)
'Water' for human beings takes many forms
This series is about tending to those many forms of water

Tending to the 'water' rather than simply tending to you requires an awareness of forces that shape and impact the you that you are.

That you were born in a specific place, time, country, race, culture, religion has obvious implications. The additional forces, or 'water' that shape your fish is a long list.  Below are a few I'll be discussing in this series.

1. City/Town/Village scape
2. Membership
   
3. Architecture
4. Dwelling
5. Situation
6. THE environment
7. The human dialog
8. Society
   

The point of these discussions will be this: when you are aware of something, you can now be responsible for it, shape it and tend to it.  When you are not aware of it, you can't impact it (purposefully).

As an example that illustrates the potency of this; I'm in my home office typing on a Mac. My unscreened opened windows allow the cool Pacific breeze to share the scents of the earthy garden just outside and the tropical flowers that inhabit it. A not too distant church bell welcomes the hustle of cars and their journey down Hollywood Blvd.

That is my morning 'water' and all the ways my senses and ambitions are 'activated'.  Accidental? Hardly. Lucky? Nope.  A purposeful well-tended to experience that connects me with the city, the ocean, nature, my work and my community.

Why purposeful? To fulfill all my ambitions (and I have more than one) I have crafted an environment that perfectly nurtures it. 

Your environment (water) and you are inseparable. Given this is the case, what water should you construct?

John Patterson

A Potent Observation

This is a blog post by Seth Godin and is a potent observation about the long tail

Less than zero

The long tail is real, but sometimes the longest parts reach underwater. When there's enough choices, it means that some things will never get picked.

Charles Blow reports in the NY Times that:

"A study last year conducted by members of PRS for Music, a nonprofit royalty collection agency, found that of the 13 million songs for sale online last year, 10 million never got a single buyer and 80 percent of all revenue came from about 52,000 songs. That’s less than one percent of the songs."

The internet has allowed ease of entry into the market. You can advertise anything, any service, any good, any piece of junk in your garage--essentially for zero. You can go into business effortlessly, telling yourself you'll just hang out on the long tail and do just fine. Understand that zero is a very real probability, perhaps even a likelihood. Derek reminds us that 0% of a really big number is still zero.

What direct marketers have always understood is that you must make something work in the small before you bet the farm and market it to the masses. If you can't sell to 1 in 1000, why market to a million?

Influence Ecology - Part 1

Influence Ecology - Part 1

The health of the fish is given by the water
Healthy water, healthy fish; dirty water, dead fish
Human beings do best when tending to their water
'Water' for human beings takes many forms
This series is about tending to those many forms of water

Sit-u-a-tion (noun) a set of circumstances one finds oneself in; synonyms: state, condition, environment.

Everyday I walk an hour or more in Runyon Canyon with my greyhound Jake.

I notice that some people I make eye contact with, some I avert my eyes to and some I diss by purposefully not looking at them. There may be other variations, but for simplicity, I'll use these three.

This varies with the variety of interpretations I have of the other person.

Eye Contact = I like them or see them as friendly
Eyes Averted = I interpret a threat of some kind
Purposeful Diss = To communicate 'I am not interested' or 'I disapprove'

All three are correlate to an interpretation that is reactive in nature.  I see them, have a biological response, find a previous interpretation to assign to them and let auto-pilot do the rest. They are now in an unexamined category, assessed as such and are now in a dance with Automaton John.

When I make it my job to make them smile or make contact as if to say "Hello, I acknowledge you over there - I see you - I appreciate you", something remarkable happens.

My walks when I am on auto-pilot are mostly spent in my head; a noisy dramatic chatter.  My walks where I make it my job to impact the mood of others are glorious, satisfying and fulfilling.  Which walk I prefer is obvious, but not easy.  I have to remember to experience life outside my own head. I have to remember to tend to the community I experience my own life in.

The water, in this case, is the situation I cause to be present for myself by causing it first to be present for another.

John Patterson

Hollywood & Mine

As of Sept 15th, I am no longer employed at Pixel Brothers and am an independent producer working in Los Angeles. 

Pixel Brothers stated in a recent article in ReelChicago.com “We have not closed our doors,” says Andrew Ryan, who acknowledged the relocation of the Jerry Springer and Steve Wilkos daily syndicated shows to Hartford, Conn., which impacted virtually all of the company departments.

While the company was dealt a blow, it does continue to grow (business is actually very good) and as I had recently moved to the west coast the company opted to some layoffs which included me.

I thought it time to announce my new relationship with the company and to let you know what is happening with my life.  I have had enough questions about this, and thought it time to write one of those letters you get around the holidays - a "state of the union".

I live on Hollywood Blvd (5 blocks from Grahmans Chinese Theater) in a duplex with eight bedrooms, six baths and eight people. We all work in television & film and one works in Fashion as a stylist to celebrities.

I am doing a variety of things.

I develop reality and scripted television shows and sell them to production companies & networks.

I also work with my friend of 25 years, Kirkland Tibbels, an independent producer, who has been involved as an investor, advisor, and producer on 25 motion picture and other entertainment projects for the past 9 years. I met Kirkland in Austin, Texas.

Kirkland founded the independent motion picture production company Funny Boy Films in 2004 and has financed, produced and co-distributed more than 10 film projects under the banner to date. Funny Boy Films boast more than 120 best picture festival awards and has been recognized throughout the industry for their seminal films including LATTER DAYS and ADAM & STEVE, both currently seen on The LOGO Channel.

He and writer Justin Ware founded a new production company, Hollywood Farms, a comedy production company.  I am working with Hollywood Farms as an Executive Producer to develop and finance motion pictures.

Justin Ware is a recognized and highly sought after comedy screenwriter. His script AMERICAN SUMMER for producer Warren Zide (AMERICAN PIE) is currently in postproduction. Ware was hired to rewrite Nickelodeon’s centerpiece musical comedy SPECTACULAR that aired in 2008 and is penning the movie BEST PLAYER for the network, which just began production this September.

Ware and Tibbels collaborated on entertainment projects including live stage productions, improv comedy shows, new media, television and motion pictures for over twelve years before launching Hollywood Farms in 2008. The pair began working together after meeting at the famed Second City in Chicago in the mid-90’s before moving to Los Angeles in 2000. 

Ware and Tibbels collaborated on their original pitch WAKE UP CALL that they developed with Production Company Millar/Gough and sold to FOX studio in 2008. Ware penned the script, which is in development at the studio.

Gersh, one of Hollywood’s oldest and most successful talent agencies announced the formation of their packaging and finance division with the pair’s original comedy ADRENALINE. Actor/Producer Matthew Lillard (SCREAM, SCOOBY DOO) will produce with Tibbels.

Producer Ian Bryce (SPIDERMAN, HANCOCK, TRANSFORMERS I & II) optioned the pair’s superhero romantic comedy AMAZING GIRL in 2008. Bryce and Tibbels will produce the Ware written script and are in negotiations with lead cast and directors. Bryce is also attached to Exec Produce the Ware penned comedy AMSTERDAM that Tibbels will produce and I will Executive Produce.

With a variety of projects in varying states of development, Hollywood Farms is working to harvest a dozen comedy writers and has their eye on being a predominant comedy production company.

Lastly, I am the Founder and President of The Chicago Convergence, an annual conference and movement "to ignite the collective genius of Chicago's digital minds. The Chicago Convergence celebrates digital ideas in every form, in every place and in every person. Its' where the energy between your ears is cultivated and grown, and then let loose into the world".

The Convergence Board is meeting in October to define the strategy and plans for 2010.  Cramer-Krasselt is doing a brand make-over that will launch this month and plans for the future will be shared.

John Patterson

Celebrity Pitch for USA being selected for 2016 Summer Olympics

Please take a minute to forward & share this list of Celebrity messages to your contacts so all feel our enthusiasm & support!  In such a tight race, who knows, it could positively get to someone voting for the 2016 Olympic Host City this Friday, helping the United States of America to win!

“Friends” David Schwimmer www.achicagothing-davidschwimmer.tk
“Entourage” Jeremy Piven www.achicagothing-jeremypiven.tk
“Oscar Winner” Jamie Foxx www.achicagothing-jamiefoxx.tk
“Saturday Night Live” Dan Aykroyd www.achicagothing-danaykroyd.tk
“The Rachael Ray Show” Rachael Ray www.achicagothing-rachaelray.tk
“Lopez Tonight” George Lopez www.achicagothing-georgelopez.tk
“Grammy Winner” Common www.achicagothing-common.tk
“CSI” William Petersen www.achicagothing-williampetersen.tk
“Private Practice” Kate Walsh www.achicagothing-katewalsh.tk
 “America’s Got Talent” Nick Cannon www.achicagothing-nickcannon.tk
“Scrubs” Zach Braff www.achicagothing-zachbraff.tk
“American Idol” David Cook  www.achicagothing-davidcook.tk
“Destiny’s Child” Michelle Williams www.achicagothing-michellewilliams.tk
“The Late Show” Jimmy Fallon www.achicagothing-jimmyfallon.tk
“Green Mile” Michael Clarke Duncan www.achicagothing-michaelclarkeduncan.tk
“The Hills” Brody Jenner  www.achicagothing-brodyjenner.tk
“One Tree Hill” Sophia Bush www.achicagothing-sophiabush.tk
“Grammy Winner” John Legend www.achicagothing-johnlegend.tk
“Will & Grace” Sean Hayes  www.achicagothing-seanhayes.tk
“The Roots” Questlove www.achicagothing-questlove.tk
“Bizarre Foods” Andrew Zimmern  www.achicagothing-andrewzimmern.tk
“Cheers” George Wendt  www.achicagothing-georgewendt.tk
“Law & Order” S. Epatha Merkerson www.achicagothing-sepathamerkerson.tk
 “Grammy Nominated” Plain White Ts www.achicagothing-plainwhitets.tk
“NBA Star”  Dwayne Wade www.achicagothing-dwaynewade.tk
“Rescue Me” Daniel Sunjata  www.achicagothing-danielsunjata.tk
“Chicago Bear” Tom Thayer www.achicagothing-tomthayer.tk
“Nip/Tuck”  Joey Slotnick www.achicagothing-joeyslotnick.tk
“Chicago Bull” Luol Deng www.achicagothing-luoldeng.tk
“House” Peter Jacobson www.achicagothing-peterjacobson.tk
“Chicago Bears” Brian Urlacher www.achicagothing-brianurlacher.tk
“My Name is Earl” Nadine Velazquez www.achicagothing-nadinevelazquez.tk
“Sports Writer” Jay Mariotti  www.achicagothing-jaymariotti.tk
“Musicians” Josh Kelley/Ryan Cabrera www.achicagothing-joshkelley-ryancabrera.tk
“My Girl” Anna Chlumsky www.achicagothing-annachlumsky.tk
“White Sox/World Series MVP” Jermaine Dye www.achicagothing-jermainedye.tk
“Good Charlotte” Joel Madden www.achicagothing-joelmadden.tk
“Chicago Cub” Randy Wells www.achicagothing-randywells.tk
“Late Night With Conan O’Brien” Andy Richter  www.achicagothing-andyrichter.tk
“Greek” Spencer Grammer www.achicagothing-spencergrammer.tk
“Superbowler” Simeon Rice www.achicagothing-simeonrice.tk
 “90210” Christina Moore  www.achicagothing-christinamoore.tk
“Rescue Me” Larenz Tate www.achicagothing-larenztate.tk
“Roller Derby” The Chicago Outift www.achicagothing-chicagooutfit.tk
“At The Movies” At The Movies www.achicagothing-athemovies.tk
“Actor and Comedian” Bill Bellamy www.achicagothing-billbellamy.tk
 “Greek” Scott Michael Foster www.achicagothing-scottmichaelfoster.tk
“NBA Cheerleaders” The Luvabulls www.achicagothing-luvabulls.tk
“Malcolm in The Middle” Frankie Muniz www.achicagothing-frankiemuniz.tk
“My Boys” Reid Scott  www.achicagothing-reidscott.tk
“Melrose Place” Katie Cassidy www.achicagothing-katiecassidy.tk
“Criminal Minds”  Joe Mantegna www.achicagothing-joemantegna.tk
“Grammy Winner” Busta Rhymes www.achicagothing-bustarhymes.tk
“Keeping Up With The Kardashians” The Kardashians www.achicagothing.kardashians.tk
“Grammy Winner” Jermaine Dupri www.achicagothing-jermainedupri.tk
“WNBA Star” Sylvia Fowles www.achicagothing-sylviafowles.tk
“Access Hollywood” Billy Bush www.achicagothing-billybush.tk
“Community/ The Soup” Joel McHale www.achicagothing-joelmchale.tk
“Bones” David Boreanaz www.achicagothing-davidboreanaz.tk
“The Office”  John Krazinski www.achicagothing-johnkrazinski.tk

The Perspiration Principles

FLASHPOINT ACADEMY PRESIDENT/CEO HOWARD A. TULLMAN - SUMMARY OF KEYNOTE AT EPIC CONFERENCE

HOWARD A.TULLMAN
Flashpoint Academy

In this talk I spoke from my long experience in starting and building entrepreneurial businesses and, more importantly, about my more recent work in turning around several failing institutions and the many challenges of effectively implementing and managing change in established businesses even in the face of existential threats to their continued well-being. Change is easy – overcoming the resistance to change takes a little more work and a great deal of patience and preparation. 

In applying the lessons from my various adventures to our industry’s present concerns and issues, I started with a simple suggestion. In today’s aggressively “dollar and sense” economy, where it is crucial to demonstrate and justify virtually every activity (and especially research and analysis) to senior management, it’s important to have a strategy and approach which makes the value and relevance of your activities apparent to the entire organization. 

My suggestion was that we turn the “tools of our trade” inward and we use our skills and strengths to support and help better inform and educate the teams trying to “sell” and manage the ongoing (and often radical) changes occurring within our own organizations. This transition is actually an easier and more doable task than it might first appear because the references and methodologies we employ are precisely the techniques needed today to allay organizational fears and to ease the path to progress (thru change) for our peers and ourselves.

My shorthand for the entire idea was: “I Have Seen this Movie Before”. The basic idea (discussed in more detail below) is that there are problems and issues that consistently occur at various times in every business and there are also discoverable, concrete, recurring and reusable methods and solutions for each of these problems. Our “new” job within our organizations is to find what has worked and what is working now and to identify and generalize these solutions and then to share and distribute these effective approaches throughout the rest of the business. Easy to say – hard, but important, to accomplish. 

The Perspiration Principles

In terms of some ground rules and concepts for implementing change within any organization, I presented what I call “The Perspiration Principles”:

1. Tell a Simple Story – Who are We? Where are We Headed? Why?

2. Solve an Important Problem – Increase Productivity or Save Time or Money – Pain Points

3. Keep Moving and Raise the Bar – Aim High - Feasibility Will Compromise You Soon Enough

4. Start with What You Have – Don’t Wait for Perfect – Successive Approximation

5. Make “Cheap” Mistakes and Make It O.K. to Make Mistakes

6. Make Room for People

7. Don’t Be a Slave to Your Model – The First Rule of Holes – If You’re in One, Stop Digging

8. You Can’t Add Value Unless You Have Values

9. Face the Facts and Expect the Worst

10. Work from the Inside Out

The Basic Methodology - Pattern Recognition

We live in an increasingly complicated world where simple is always better. In terms of the communication and the “sale” of changes, the basic objective is to demonstrate that what appears to be abrupt or radical change is actually and simply an extension from and the evolution of things we’ve done comfortably and successfully in the past. Gathering the references, assembling the examples and documenting the success stories of prior cases where things worked is a critical part of the process and one that relies heavily on the skills which our industry’s professionals regularly employ. Essentially, the pitch is that the more things change, the more they remain the same. 

The key here is to understand the old Hollywood idea of “high concept” presentations or pitches. Where metaphors and analogies are everything. “It’s Top Gun Underwater”. “It’s West Side Story in Outer Space”. Elevator pitches and shorthand stories all function in the same way – they are succinct ways of telling people what they want to hear. 

In times of anxiety and change, familiarity doesn’t breed contempt; it can mean comfort, company and confidence. Company is especially pivotal because most people don’t mind moving forward, they just don’t want to do it by themselves or be alone when they get there. The fact is that sometimes you just can’t see something right in front of you until it is put in the proper framework and context so that you can process and understand it in terms that you are already familiar and comfortable with. Analogies and references are the tools that provide the necessary context in business. A compelling analogy is worth hours of argument and pounds of proof.

The questions that drive this approach are simple: What Has Worked for Us Before? How Did We Solve a Similar Problem in the Past? Can We Adapt, Reuse or Copy a Prior Approach? Or better yet, Can We Steal Someone Else’s Really Good Idea/Solution? When you go with what has worked in the past and tweak it for the present, it’s easier to explain, it’s a proven answer in many cases, and it’s a cheaper, faster and more productive path forward. 

But be careful not to “mash the metaphor” since if you push things too far or stretch the connection too much, the reaction will be prompt and negative. Familiarity breeds comfort until it suddenly breeds contempt. Yesterday’s hero, etc.

The Implementation Process

As a set of basic guidelines, I offer the following suggestions for starting the process once you have identified the objectives and the solutions you will be implementing:

1. Gather Internal Support Before Making Major Changes (Unless There’s a Crisis)

2. Make All the Procedural Changes ASAP to Get Them Out of the Way

3. Rely Upon and Employ the Existing Management and Governance Channels – Not New Ones

4. Consult, Collaborate and Communicate – Slowly, but Continually & Aggressively, if Necessary

5. Incorporate and Absorb the Culture - Recruit and Listen Carefully to Internal Opinion Leaders

6. Develop a Vision of the Future that Everyone in the Organization Shares and Aspires to

7. Once You Have Done the Necessary Preparation, Don’t Wait. Act Immediately.