• Real takes courage, part two

    Posted on April 16th, 2010 by and currently 5 commenting.


    Why didn’t I think of that first.

    I love Ira Glass. Love him. I think I am repeating myself but I would marry him if he asked, which most likely he won’t since he already has a wife. I’ve checked on that. Her name is Alani.

    Anyway. I got the chance to see him last year at the Peace Center. We had amazing tickets, 3rd row center. I have listened to every single segment of This American Life. Some of them twice. I guess you could say I am weirdo fan.

    Well, the minute that the lights went up. (He started the show in the dark since you can’t see radio). Anyway, I had this overwhelming urge to yell. “Ira, its me.” I guess his ability to tell stories just makes him so real to me. I feel connected to him emotionally.

    And I just couldn’t believe he didn’t know me as well as I know him. I was almost… hurt. But that is not the real point of this post.

    Hmmm.

    Sunday night I was reading Presentation Zen. Love that blog. And I found this quote from Ira.

    “Everything is more compelling when you talk like a human being, when you talk like yourself.”
    — Ira Glas

    Don’t you love that. What a simple, true statement. And I think being human is what separates the good from the great as organization.

    The other day Kristen, the executive director of WOMMA, admitted WOMMA had made a mistake. And here is what I think about her words: I loved her honesty. Her humble human-ness.

    Companies, the great ones that are embracing new ways to engage with their customers are made up of humans. And humans stumble sometimes. And they say and do things they regret. Or they take a step backward and think robocalling is a good idea…

    I am not a huge Carrie Underwood fan, but I will leave you with this:

    There’s some things that I regret,
    Some words I wish had gone unsaid,
    Some starts,
    That had some bitter endings,
    Been some bad times I’ve been through,
    Damage I cannot undo,
    Some things,
    I wish I could do all all over again,
    But it don’t really matter,
    Life gets that much harder,
    It makes you that much stronger,
    Oh, some pages turned,
    Some bridges burned,
    But there were,
    Lessons learned.

    And isn’t that what matters most now?

    We are all in marketing grad school now. All learning.

    So go out and try some new ideas, get messy, make a few mistakes. It is the only way to learn.

  • Pingback: Alltop_Social (Alltop)

  • http://deliverbliss.com Tim Sanchez

    The Ira Glas quote reminded me of this quote from David Ogilvy:

    “I don’t know the rules of grammar… If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think.”

    The WOMMA incident turned into such a big deal because the message was in a completely different format than what the recipients were expecting. It portrayed a company culture that was the polar opposite of what they preach on a daily basis.

    And of course, it didn’t help that Seth Godin wrote a post about it. :)

  • http://brainsonfire.com Robbin

    Oh, I know. I am not defending the error of judgment on WOMMA’s part, just saying we all make errors in judgement. And acknowledging a mistake in my humble opinion with sincerity and human-ness and language that is REAL, connects with me. Every time.

  • http://bournesocial.com/ [Bournesocial (Michael Bourne)]

    Real Takes Courage. Great post from Brains on Fire [link to post]

    - Posted using Chat Catcher

  • http://www.unitedlinen.com Scott Townsend

    It’s nice to see a misspelled word every once in awhile. it’s nice to hear someone speak comfortably in their own way.

    And it’s nice to hear someone admit a goof and get back to work. it helps us relate to them and them to us. we’re all goofing up along the way