Becoming Live 2.0: The Secret Ingredient is Leadership

This is the first of a yet to be determined number about how to transform a Live 1.0 organization into a Live 2.0 organization.  You get my completely unenforceable guarantee that if you do everything I’m suggesting, your organization will be terrifically successful and poised for years of glory, fame and fortune.

At the heart of being a Live 2.0 organization is the idea of being special.  That is, there’s something about what the organization does that really speaks to somebody.  Not everybody necessarily, but somebody.  There are a lot of mp3 players in the world, but only one is special:  the ipod.  There are lots of terrific golfers on the pro tour, but only one is special, and I don’t even have to tell you who he is and most of you probably don’t watch golf.

In his case, it’s partly because he’s so good and partly because of who he is.  In the case of the ipod, it’s partly because it’s good, but it’s partly something else.

So for a live entertainment organization (and for the purposes of this piece, I’m going to focus on organizations, not individual performers), the whole idea is that making the transition to Live 2.0 is about embracing the importance of building specialness into what you do.

And while I can’t tell you how to be a Tiger (see, I gave it away after all), I can tell you what the secret ingredient to being a Live 2.0 organization is.

Leadership.

You might be the boss of your organization or you might know and work with the boss, but either way, the person running the organization is going to determine, eventually, whether you make the leap or not.

It’s good news and it’s bad news.  It’s good news because with the right leader, things can change incredibly quickly because in most places, people are ready to make the kinds of changes needed simply because it’s more fun!

The bad news is that if you’re an ambitious young (or young at heart) middle or upper middle manager in your organization, your ability to influence your organization will ultimately stop where the boss’s begins.

You can start a revolution from the middle, but you can’t finish it from there.  You either have to lobby the government successfully for your new legislation or you have to overthrow the government.  (Or I suppose, get elected to office.)

Someone recently told me a story about some work they did for an arts organization several years ago that, based on the little bit I heard about them, were a dyed-in-the-wool Live 1.0 organization.  This person was brought in because the head of the org was looking for “change.”

The only problem was that every time actual change was suggested, the answer was no.

Which leads me to what might be a new Live 2.0 maxim:  the only way to change things is to actually change things.

There’s a strong temptation when you’re in charge to try to change without changing.  To make a radical revision to the way you do business without having to actually tell anybody or make anybody do anything differently.

Understand that this isn’t stupidity or complacency.  There’s a good reason for this:  the past worked, and the future, by definition, has no track record of success.  It’s just human nature to tread lightly.

But just because it’s human nature doesn’t mean it works.  Think back to when you were first riding a bike or a jet ski or trying to use snow skis.  When you start to wobble, human nature suggests you slow down.  Be cautious, evaluate your situation and then slowly restart.  The problem is that by doing that, you’re almost guaranteed to fall over.

To get out of your wobble, you need to accelerate.  It feels wrong, especially at first, but it works.  If your bike was an organization full of people, though, they’d all be complaining that this is not how we do things around here.

But if the person driving the Jet Ski (that’d be the boss) doesn’t hit the throttle–doesn’t make the decision to change, that is–it just ain’t going to happen.

If you’re the boss, the message is simple:  do what’s necessary to make your organization special.  Rattle some tea cups and make some people uncomfortable.  You’ve been hearing a lot about change for a long, long time, but back then, change was something you went out to find if you were interested.  A bit like a Brazilian restaurant.

Now, change is looking for you, and it’s got a bone to pick.  More like a collection agency.

If you’re not the boss, you have more options:

1.  You can spark a revolution in your organization.  This is a spectacularly good idea.  Figure out what really, really has to get done and then try to do it.  Break through resistance as much as you can.  Find out how much change the organization has in it.  You never know; you may be just the evangelist for improvement that the boss needs. Hey, maybe you’ll even get his or her job!

2.  Quit.  If you think your organization is passionate about mediocrity, then Option 1 won’t work.  The only thing you can do is quit and go find someplace else.  Or if you’re getting valuable experience in your mediocre organization, stick around til your growth slows down and then quit.

3.  Hmmm.  I don’t think there is a “3.”

On second thought, there is a 3.  Here it goes:

3.  Have an extremely frustrating career.  Accept mediocrity as a part of your daily life.  Go to after work drinks with your co-workers and complain a lot, without actually ever making anything any better.

I strongly suggest 1 or 2.  Both are good options.