Creativity Central [Marty Baker]

In the relatively tiny geography of business magazine world, it was the equivalent of a pre-1981 Beatles reunion. Alan Webber and Bill Taylor, co-founders of Fast Company magazine, took the stage together at BIF5 for the first time in many years.

It was easy to see the synergy they brought to an enterprise that became the fastest growing, most successful business magazine in history. Webber talked about his 5-year experience as managing editor and editorial director of the Harvard Business Review.

 He lead the journal’s visual redesign and created the architecture for its editorial performance that continues to this day.

The idea for Fast Company began when Webber spent time in Asia and began to see China and other emerging markets as a big idea. But HBR wasn’t as enthusiastic about Webber’s perspective.

So, he and Taylor worked on a model for a magazine that would push the envelope beyond the clinical to include a social perspective of business. Fortunately, they had the serendipity to enter the market just as the internet began its ascendency.

Bill Taylor has been a strong supporter of BIF since the first conference and has co-hosted the event for the past years. Seeing them together was a glimpse of their complementary strengths. Taylor is adrenaline and Webber is cerebral.  But the joy is seeing them reverse roles.  They are both good listeners.

 Later in the day, Webber gave a 25-minute talk based on his new book “Rules of Thumb: 52 Truths for Winning at Business without Losing Yourself.” was published this year to great reviews. Webber said, “Rules of Thumb is in part a memoir: In writing it I drew from more than 30 years of work and life experiences. Some of the rules come from the 1970s when I worked in the Mayor's Office in Portland, Oregon; some come from my time working as the editorial director of the Harvard Business Review; quite a few derive from the experiences I had in launching and editing Fast Company.”

The 52 rules come from real-life lessons learned and recorded on 3”x 5” cards, a technique borrowed from one of the many mentors whose teachings Webber captures in his book.

Here are just two of the 52 rules. 

Rule #5. Change is a math formula. Webber faced the crowd at BIF5 and said, “Change is really a math formula.  Change happens when the cost of the status quo is greater than the risk of change.  C(SQ)>R(C).

(This echoes Pip Coburn’s Change Function “most people will not adopt a new technology until the perceived benefits outweigh the perceived pain of trying to learn something new.”)

“I learned this lesson more than 30 years ago,” adds Webber.  “Since then I have been involved and written about dozens of change efforts.  Usually they involve deeply committed people who believe in their cause, are convinced they’re right, and are prepared to sacrifice their careers, if that’s what it takes to win. Most of the time, they lose and sacrifice their careers.”

Webber says it’s not enough to be convinced you’re right.  The other side is equally convinced it’s right. “On the other hand, if you really want to win, rather than settling for dying for a cause, there are some techniques and tactics that can help change the math in your favor.”

“It’s not enough to be against something that’s bad – you’ve got to be for something that’s better.  This is particularly true if you’re trying to convince the boss or the voters that the status quo isn’t good for them.  Frustrated as you may be by the status quo, keep your powder dry until you’ve worked out the details, the arguments, the economics, and the math of your much better alternative.”

“Learning to make change is all about learning to do the math of change. Done right, it’s not just a soft art, it’s also a hard science.”

Rule #10.  A good question beats a good answer.

Webber writes in his book, “Questions are how we learn. Which means questions are how we create change.  Why? Because questions are dangerous. Imagine being alive and the mid 1500s and asking whether the sun revolves around the Earth or the Earth around the sun?

Questions are liberating.  Questions are useful.  Questions are how we avoid disasters.

“So,” Webber says, “why is it so hard for companies to embrace the art of asking good questions?  It’s not what you don’t know that will hurt you and your business. It’s what you don’t bother to ask that will kill you.

Asking questions can be dangerous.  Not asking them can be fatal.  Now, any questions?”

Creativity Central weighs in with another rule.  “Bad leaders don’t invite questions.”  I have seen this phenomenon at advertising agencies, colleges, financial institutions and hospitals.  Questions seem to threaten rather than intrigue poor leaders. 

Tom Monahan, in his terrific book, The Do-It-Yourself Lobotomy,” writes about one of his top creative tools:  “Ask a better question.”

One of the core ideas that have emerged from each of the BIF conferences is that top innovators have asked a provocative question. At BIF4, Dennis Littky asked “is the a smarter way to educate kids?” Debra Books, the Michael J. Fox Foundation co-founder asked how can we bring together the best minds and ideas to help treat and eventually cure Parkinson’s Disease?

At BIF5, the questions were equally as provocative.  How can education evolve to better meet the student’s experience?  Is there a better to (un)mass produce a car?  What value can an “independent” diplomat bring to the table?  Can an health insurance company authentically sell “wellness?”

Which brings me to Webber rule #52.  Stay alert. There are teachers everywhere.”