“Companies are entangled in their own internally generated problems, and additional afield by reams of imperceptible red tape in employees’ headsthat they lose sight of their core purpose — and necessarily pay the purchase price. ” — Martin Lindstrom, The Ministry of Common Sense
Common Sense Has Left The Building
Martin Lindstrom has been having dinner together with his publishing team. He’d spent the afternoon preparing a list of novel ideas that, honestly, dropped flat. That’s one team member asked him what was closest to his enthusiasm. And his response was “shared sense” — and also the shortage of common sense that he faced with businesses that made purchasing and using their products a hellish customer experience.
In his most recent publication, The Ministry of Common Sense: How to Eliminate Bureaucratic Red Tape, Bad Excuses, and Corporate BS, Lindstrom shares dozens of those examples along with a procedure to overcome this particular corporate insanity.
Lindstrom Gets to What’s Underneath a Great Brand
For years, Martin Lindstrom was helping brands like Microsoft, Pepsi and Lego create memorable brands. He’s written eight novels that shared with his research and opinions about why individuals purchase , how to exploit information , the special way our senses influence our purchasing decisions, and even the tricks advertisers use to affect our purchasing choices .
By some measure, he’s had a prosperous career. But after a few self-reflection, he realized that, although his job was transformative and important, it felt like a hit. He also didn’t even enjoy the idea that he would show up, provide suggestions and approaches, and leave it up to the enterprise to implement.
During the past few decades, he’s dedicated himself toward transforming businesses and cultures from the inside out. Plus it’s from this viewpoint that The Ministry of Common Sense gets its juice.
Who is the Audience for The Ministry of Common Sense?
One of the very first questions I ask myself is “who is this book written for? ” The Ministry of Common Sense produced that a bit of a challenge to answer.
The most obvious market for this publication is that the C-level executive in a large international business. The point is that he reads this novel, reflects his company, and wonders if his firm was one of them “Corporate Darwin Awards” illustrations. As you don’t even want to be “That Guy”.
Small business owners would also benefit from studying this novel. Sure, your business isn’t as big as these instances, however it’s a cautionary tale for all those entrepreneurs That Are scaling their business. If that’s youpersonally ’ll find a digital playbook for what NOT to do.
Finally, I feel another man this publication was written for has been — Martin Lindstrom. It took me about 2 rounds of reading and rereading to see that.
From the introduction, Marshall Goldsmith known as the publication “funny, enjoyable and informative”. This threw me for a loop because it seemed somewhat different from Lindstrom’s past novels. Then I read exactly what inspired the novel from the acknowledgments (which are in the conclusion in my review copy). That’s when I made the link.
I Believe this novel was therapeutic for him. It’s like that he simply couldn’t even deal with all the “mad ” s just had to let it like it is.
The Ministry of Common Sense was like the inescapable fact about the day in the life span of a international branding pro. As a marketer , I didn’t even know if I was likely to envy him or feel sorry for him.
Empathy is in the Core of The Ministry of Common Sense
Let’s reach the nitty-gritty of the publication. As I said beforeit’s Somewhat different from the average Martin Lindstrom publication. There isn’t even a lot of research or data in this particular one. The tales and “case research ” are basically a multitude of experiences from his life as a consultant through recent years.
If the vital question is “What happened to common sense? ” Then the answer is “Putting rules, technology and legal compliance before empathy. ”
Now you wouldn’t even understand it from the chapter titles, but each chapter is an drill-down of internal politics, technologies, compliance, and policies which maintain large businesses “organized” ultimately get into the way of common sense.
I think that the model he presents, together with empathy at the center, might have used some type of picture so that the reader could understand how all of these elements connect and affect one another.
How to Bring Common Sense Back
The tension from the novel revolves around the question “How am I supposed to fix this?! ” This doesn’t even get answered until the ending. The last chapter of the book provides some guidance regarding how you might place common sense in the center of your company and how to begin changing some policies in the kind of typically asked questions along with Lindstrom’s replies.
Listed below are a couple of recommendations I gleaned from the book that I think will be helpful for small to mid-sized businesses:
Shop your own organization. Think of a way to give yourself the specific same experience that your clients have. Establish a job, telephone in, use the website, etc. If you run a face-to-face business like a retail or restaurant, receive a secret shopper (it’s cheaper than you’d think).
Get into your customer’s world. This may include just asking your clients, visit your clients. Research what they’re really thinking about if they use your service or product.
Consult your workers and then LISTEN. Vow to make modest changes based on their opinions.
Are We In a Common Sense Revolution?
The Ministry of Common Sense isn’t even the very first publication I’ve reviewed on This Issue. Would You Do That for Your Mother (2018) is just another book that amuses the corporate bear in the hopes of inciting a common sense revolution.
However, I think that it will take more than a book or 2 to do that. Perchance a worldwide pandemic may do just fine.
Remarkably, Lindstrom has integrated the COVID-19 disturbance in this publication. In fact, there are several non-common-sensical examples of how businesses are trying to do the right thing with unintended effects.
But this ’s beside the point.
Disruptions are inclined to put bare inconsistencies, gaps and the various ways that we make life more Tricky for clients.
And because of this, I wonder if The Ministry of Common Sense may nudge more businesses toward embracing empathy as a core value and simplifying our lives. If they aren’t sure where to begin, They Ought to ask Martin Lindstrom. I’m so pretty convinced he’d be pleased to assist.
Picture: amazon.com
This article,”The Ministry of Common Sense Strives to Bring Empathy Back” was published on Small Business Trends
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