What's the ROI?
Famously Steve Jobs was once asked at an Apple shareholder meeting by a shareholder who wanted to get some insights into his most in-depth thinking: "What keeps you awake at night?" Jobs replied, "Shareholder meetings."
Can you envision Jobs in a shareholder meeting being bogged down by endless questions all focused on ROI?
Tim Cook, Apple's current CEO, maintains this ethos today.
At a shareholder meeting a few years back, an investor was looking for more transparency.
Apple is committed to source its power needs from renewable energies, something this investor didn't see as the best ROI for its money.
Cook's response was to reinforce that his company does "a lot of things for reasons besides profit motive" and that "we want to leave the world better than we found it."
Allegedly Cook went on to say, "If you want me to do things only for ROI reasons, you should get out of this stock."
I don't have fancy shareholder meetings, but I do have sales meetings.
Sales meetings where the question of what is the ROI for someone attending a Brigadoon gathering usually comes up.
The exchange usually proceeds down this path:
Question to me: "What's the ROI of me attending a Brigadoon event?"
Response from me: "I have no idea."
Question to me: "Will the people in the room buy my product?"
Response from me: "I have no idea."
These two responses are usually less than satisfying to the person posing the questions.
There is usually silence as well. Plus, the questioner is generally puzzled, perplexed, and many times perturbed.
Being shaped by a consumer environment where the customer is always right, hand-holding is demanded, and orange slices for everyone, such cavalier responses from a seller can be unsettling.
After this, how does this conversation move forward moment?
This is how I usually respond:
"If you are interested in having conversations with compelling entrepreneurs and thought leaders in dynamic settings, Brigadoon is probably for you. The ROI of Brigadoon is up to you on how you use the conversations and settings to enhance your business, mental health, investments, and performance. If you need a clear, from the start ROI, Brigadoon is probably not for you."
From my observation, those Brigadoon attendees that are free from seeking a calculated ROI from the start have the best experiences and leave the gatherings smarter and more energized. Not having a predictable and repeatable ROI for Brigadoon works because the result is divergent and distinctive for each attendee.
It's tempting for those who sell a product to obsess about providing secure, measurable, and help me explain to my boss the outcome for a customer.
It's tempting to make it easy, black and white, and predictable for customers - it is called industrialization.
It's the difference between dining with Ronald McDonald and Grant Achatz.
Ronald McDonald spends all his time delivering value meals, predictable experiences, and repeatable french fries.
Grant Achatz spends all his time delivering expensive meals, unpredictable experiences, and unrepeatable french fries.
The market rewards the industrialist with short-term accolades followed by a relentless need for ever more of the same growth and productivity that got them awards in the first place.
Today's industrialists define our economy, secure the headlines, get interviewed on CNBC, and win awards from magazines, but they offer very little excitement for tomorrow. Their work makes it easy, black and white, and predictable for customers. It's industrialization.
Some products, services, and outcomes must be designed from the start to alter the culture, eschew ROI, and operate in ways that will ensure the customer must define her ROI that is individually divergent and distinctive.
As long as industrialists are focused on ROI, uncomplicated, black and white, and predictable, there will be a gap for those of us that want to engage in a customer experience that is ambiguous, foggy, and unpredictable.
If you are working in an overly industrialized business, I would recommend adding a little unknown to your offerings. Customers will find the outcome they desire. Customers will be comfortable in finding their value. Customers will want more.
Thinking back to Steve Jobs and the iPhone environment, when you unpack an iPhone, there is no roadmap, no predictive outcome of where the device will take you.
Each iPhone experience is divergent and distinctive.
-Marc
WHAT BRIGADOON IS WATCHING THIS WEEKEND
National Geographic recognizes new Southern Ocean, bringing global total to five: The Guardian reports the organization says the Southern Ocean consists of the waters surrounding Antarctica, out to 60-degrees south latitude. National Geographic Society geographer Alex Tait said scientists have long known that the waters surrounding Antarctica form a "distinct ecological region defined, by ocean currents and temperatures."
Fevertree takes its drinks playbook to the US, with a twist: Bloomberg reports a growing cocktail culture has the British tonic maker expanding abroad.
I was at the market recently, and a customer asked the shop clerk, "Where is the Fever-Tree?"
Not where is the club soda?
Not where is the tonic?
Not where is the ginger beer?
But where is the Fever-Tree?
Amazing.
Lordstown Motors, an electric vehicle startup that recently went public, may not have enough cash to get its debut pickup truck to market and might not survive the next 12 months if it can't raise more capital.
+ Tesla is worth more than the next three biggest carmakers combined
+ 7% of US adults said they currently have an electric or hybrid vehicle
+ 39% of Americans say that the next time they purchase a vehicle, they are at least somewhat likely to consider electric seriously
When eagles dare: The ultimate underdog story of Crystal Palace FC. From the looming threat of liquidation, a points deduction, and a relegation fight to avoid plummeting to English football's third division in 2010 - to the prospect of promotion to the biggest league in the world three years later, this is the extraordinary tale of a football club saved by its fans. Watch the trailer - click here.
How walking became a radical act during lockdown: FT reports hitting the streets every day didn't just help Lou Stoppard get through the pandemic, it changed her sense of self.
Like this content? Become a Brigadoon Member for just $50 a month and get 45+ articles, news reports, surveys, and insights like this 5x week.
"Walking is a simple way of proving to myself and others that I intend to take my time, to move at my own tempo, not the tempo of the city. To walk is to reject falling in step with the crowd, shepherded unwittingly to keep up, keep up. It is a small way of rejecting the rush."
Join here for just $50 a month, and for peace of mind, you cancel whenever you get bored or find the membership trite.
BRIGADOON EVENTS
Speak Globalization | How To Workshop
June 15, 2021
Adventures with Fiat Pandas + Autogrills + Negronis | Brigadoon Monthly Call
Matt Hranek | Founder + Editor @ Wm Brown Magazine
June 16, 2021
More details and passes - click here.
Thanks for supporting Brigadoon. See you next week.
-Marc
Curation + commentary by Marc A. Ross | Founder + Chief Curator @ Brigadoon
Brigadoon is probably not for you.
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