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comment UNCERTAINTY IS NOT
THE SAME AS FEAR
Al Crawford
Executive planning
A MOVING EXPERIENCE
Adam Joseph
Insights manager,
director, Herald Sun
Clemenger BBDO
That nasty looking economic wave we’ve all been I’ve recently moved house and so have enjoyed the
watching from the beaches turns out to be a thrills and spills of dealing with various utility
tsunami that will engulf us here as well. The ASX has companies: gas, electric, water, telcos.
performed the equivalent of a swallow dive onto Judging by the speed and quality of the services
concrete, exporters have seen free-flowing rivers of provided anyone would think only a handful of
trade dry up Murray-Darling-style and everyone has people moved each year rather than it being a
stood transfixed with horror as their margins have mainstream activity. My experiences have led to the
become rice-paper thin. Communications budgets, rather ironic conclusion that dealing with power
so often a barometer of recession, have softened. companies can leave you feeling powerless.
Hell, even Gerry Harvey is cutting spend. For starters, energy providers should be aware
I’ve spent the last couple of weeks reading The that a 10-hour “window” for a technician to visit is
Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama and The not particularly helpful to the nation’s working
Audacity of Hope by the new US president, so families. Having to wait at home between 8am and
despite all this, I’m as happy as a pig in shit. But, for 6pm for a technician to turn up to then spend five
those of you who haven’t been Dalai Bama’ed, I’d say minutes at your property isn’t a great way to plan
you’ve got two ways of greeting this crisis: your day. And when you’ve been on the phone an
1. React with naked fear, marvelling as your hour and are scarlet with rage, it’s not a good time
adrenaline and cortisol levels shoot through the to be asked if you’re interested in “green” energy.
roof. There’s a problem with fear though; it stifles If dealing with energy companies can sap your
creativity. How do I know? In what is, no doubt, a energy, then dealing with suppliers of high-speed
highly dubious psychological experiment, internet access can make you feel like you’re living
researchers asked two groups of people to lead a in slow-motion in a parallel universe. Broadband
cartoon mouse out of a maze. One group led said providers should be aware that “three business
mouse to an inviting piece of cheese and a mouse days” to wait for reconnection of your internet is
hole; the other to a scary owl, waiting to pounce. hardly the service you’d expect from something sold
Then, in a subsequent creativity test, the latter on its speed and readiness. When you consider the
group were 50% less creative. Proof positive, I enormous sums many of these big businesses fork
reckon, that viewing the recession as a scary owl out on their communications, it’s staggering that the
isn’t likely to yield great results, especially in our most important and deep interactions many
noble profession, where lateral thinking and consumers have with them largely go ignored.
entrepreneurialism will be needed in spades to Which leads me to conclude that it’s ultimately
escape the economic sinkhole. futile getting mad with utility companies. So why
2. Unless you’re borderline psychotic, you’re not not try to get even with them instead? Next time
going to welcome the impending fiscal doom as an you phone a utility company start timing the call
inviting piece of cheese. However, you could greet it from the moment the switchboard robot reads out
with uncertainty. On the face of it, this may not your numerical options (“press five to hear these
sound a whole heap better than bug-eyed fear. options again, press zero to lose the will to live”).
However, there’s good evidence that uncertainty is a When your matter is finally resolved, stop timing
massive step up. For starters, it’s an and decide how much of your time has been wasted.
acknowledgement and acceptance that we’re in Then invoice them at your hourly market rate, or
unfamiliar territory. Better still, it’s an else simply make up an incomprehensible unit of
acknowledgement that the existing methods and measurement like “wastage watts” or “cubic effort”.
tools may not be sufficient to do the job. In This strategy seems to work for them.
uncertain situations, our intuitive ‘rat brains’ tend to When the accounts payable people query the
take over as we find new and inventive ways of invoice, make them wait three working days before
solving problems instead of relying on familiar, tired you get back to them. Then tell them they need to
modes of operation. speak to another department and say you’ll put
If we’re fearful, we’ll see the industry go them through, but keep them on hold for half an
backwards; a retreat to predictability. If we’re hour before cutting them off. Then invoice them
TO MAKE A uncertain, we’ll see creativity thrive as we search for again with addition charges for late payment.
more entrepreneurial ways to solve the problems But just remember not to piss them off too much
COMMENT EMAIL that lie ahead. Let’s hope, for all our sakes, that the or you might suddenly find your power goes off or
EDITORIAL@BANDT.COM.AU scary owl doesn’t get the better of us. your internet stops working.
16 BANDT.COM.AU FEBRUARY 06 2009