Chapter 1
POP CULTURE WISDOM

Influences affecting our society, cultural upbringing, business concepts and working style. Most people are more products of pop culture than they are of training. Business dilemmas, solutions and analyses are framed first in the field of reference (pop culture teachings of their youth) and then reframed in modern business context.

Working with companies, I have realized that presenting organizational strategies as an extension of previously-held pop-culture values gets more understanding, comprehension, attention and support. Most leaders of today’s corporations grew up in the 1950s-1980s. I have conducted countless strategy meetings where leaders cannot articulate business philosophies, but they can accurately recite lyrics from “golden oldie” song hits, TV trivia and advertising jingles.

Being one of the rare business advisors who is equally versed in pop culture, I found that bridging known avenues with current realities resulted in fully articulated corporate visions. Many a Strategic Plan was written by piecing together song fragments, nostalgic remembrances and movie scenarios, then were aptly converted into contemporary corporate nomenclature.

When we recall the messages of the songs, movies and books of the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, we realize that today’s adults were formerly taught in their youths to:

• Think Big Picture.
• Conceptualize your own personal goals.
• Understand conflicting societal goals.
• Fit your dreams into the necessities and realities of the real world.
• Find your own niche, do your thing.
• Do something well and commit to long-term excellence.
• Seek truths in unusual and unexpected sources.
• Share your knowledge, and learn further by virtue of mentoring others.

How individuals and organizations start out and what they become are different concepts. Mistakes, niche orientation and lack of planning lead businesses to failure. Processes, trends, fads, perceived stresses and “the system” force adults to make compromises in order to proceed. Often, a fresh look at their previous knowledge gives renewed insight to today’s problems, opportunities and solutions. I developed the concept of integrating Pop Culture Wisdom with management training and business planning over the last 40 years.

From 1958-1982, I produced many entertainment documentaries for radio, comprising anthologies of pop music. I emceed concerts with stars like Elvis Presley, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Little Richard, Kenny Rogers, The Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, Simon & Garfunkel, Nelson Riddle, Dionne Warwick and Andre Previn. I produced videos with stars from Audrey Hepburn to Vincent Price, plus television public service announcements. That was another lifetime ago.

For the longest time, I didn’t let my business clients know about my years as a radio DJ, status as a musicologist and experiences in pioneering radio’s “golden oldie show” formats. I didn’t think that it lent credibility to wise business insights. However, years of experiences with corporate leaders made me come full circle and start integrating pop culture lingo into the conversations, consultations and planning processes.

All business leaders agreed that no road map was laid out for them. Executives amassed knowledge “in the streets,” through non-traditional sources. Few lessons made sense at the time and, thus, did not sink in. When repackaged years later, executives vigorously enjoyed the rediscovery process. The previously overlooked became sage wisdom. Knowledge they were not ready to receive as youngsters before became crystal clear in later times.

Looking for Role Models

All of us are products of the mass culture in which we grew up. This permeates our careers and every other aspect of our lives. We are a confluence of many factors:

• Societal expectations, dreams, failures and also-rans.
• Events beyond our control.
• Mass media variations on home and family.
• Fads and foibles.
• Legitimate goals versus fancies.
• Music.
• Perceptions.
• Realities.
• Movies.
• The educational system, not to be confused with lifelong education.
• What we perceive other families have that we do not.
• Social changes and advances in global cultures.
• Television.
• Technology.
• Changing roles that people play in interfacing with each other.
• What constitutes self-improvement.

The same holds true for business and careers. If pop culture was a confusing mish-mash of mixed messages, then so was our business education, or lack of it. Rarely were we taught about such things as:

• Codes of personal conduct.
• Tiers of professionalism.
• The dues paying process.
• Contributing directly and indirectly to the bottom line.
• Expectations of executives.
• Sophisticated nuances of being a successful executive.
• Empowering teams.
• Benchmarking performance, yours and that of others.
• Observing trends and changes in society, the economy and the marketplace.
• Becoming an active participant, rather than just an observer.
• Championing-mastering change, rather than falling victim to it.
• Standing for something…and being counted-acknowledged.
• Mentoring others.
• Having original ideas.
• Learning how to think for yourself.
• Thinking for yourself gives you the advantage to make clear decisions.
• Carrying decisions into actions.
• Recognizing the positive by-products of effective decisions.
• Becoming a leader and sustaining leadership potential.
• Effecting a career Body of Work.
• Leaving something meaningful behind.
• Continuing to produce, rather than becoming a relic reflection of yourself.

The Ideal Parents

Most of us have fantasized the possibility of our parents being other people. Sometimes, idolized parents were those who already were attached to our friends. Most often, role models were symbols of people we didn’t know but wanted to be like.

Businesses operate the same way as individuals. What looks good on the outside is what we must have and become. Tactics are commonly devised to get what we perceive that someone else has and look like what we assume they appear to be. Perception becomes reality. The process of chasing the perception becomes an obsession for businesses of all sizes until reality sets in.

With the advent of television in the 1950s, it was natural that TV families would be held up as ideals. We jokingly wonder how June Cleaver could do the housework in her fancy dress, high heels and pearls. We just knew that Harriet Nelson would make more delicious meals than our own mothers did. The families on TV situation comedies were all white, middle-class, carried traditional family structures and were mostly based in mythical small towns.

The realities behind the facades now make for fascinating insights:

• Harriet Nelson could not really cook. She had grown up in hotels and was accustomed to ordering room service.
• Ozzie Nelson had no job on TV, and his wife didn’t work outside the home. No explanation was ever made about their means of support. Though his character appeared light on screen, Ozzie Nelson was the true guru of that show. In my mind, he stands with Desi Arnaz as one of the behind-the-scenes geniuses of TV.
• There was dysfunctional behavior, even though we didn’t recognize it as such. When Danny Thomas yelled at his kids and spit coffee on the living room floor, it was couched in wisecracks.
• Women were severely stereotyped. Many TV wives appeared to be subservient…yet pursued their own pro-active courses. Laura Petrie always got her way. Lucy Ricardo pursued adventures with her friend Ethel Mertz. And mother did really “know best,” though society would not quite position it that way in the 1950s. Nonetheless, women learned subtle ways to master the system, within the confines of good humor.
• While Western sheriffs won at the shootouts, the issues of good versus bad were overly simplistic. Life is mostly shades of gray, which tough strength does not work well against.
• Behind the guns and action, the Westerns taught lessons of empowerment and team building. On “Wagon Train” and “Rawhide,” people had no choice but to get along and work together. As a team, they fought the elements and usually won.
• Gangsters always got their just deserves in movies and on cop TV shows. We were taught that crime does not pay and were shown the price for violating property and safety. Jack Webb, Broderick Crawford and other tough cops put the baddies in their place, in no uncertain terms.

Recalling Heroes, Molding Our Values

People’s formative years influence their business careers. Heroes and role models of movies, TV shows, literature and music are forever held in our hearts. Whether consciously or not, we mirror our role models in everyday life. When the chips are down, pop culture mentorship really comes to our rescue. Deep inside, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Sky King, The Lone Ranger, Captain Midnight, Robin Hood, Zorro, Wonder Woman and others live within us.

Leadership skills were developed through playing games, from house to football. Concepts of the team contributing toward an organizational goal were the highlight of sports, youth clubs and group outings.

We now realize that many of our childhood idols had demons of their own. Keeping up appearances and being interchangeably confused with their on-screen characters led many a performer toward personal abuse, career burnout and eventual ruin. Not many taught us about going the distance. Too many actors and singers had short-term careers. That was the design of the system. In business, we must not follow pop culture and train ourselves to last, prosper and get better with age.

As we get older and more cynical, society tends to shoot down its media heroes and watches them stumble and fall, sometimes with interest and joy. We don’t expect any of them to measure up to past pedestal status. When one falls from grace, we may either repudiate our past allegiance or justify unrealistic ways to keep them perched up on high. Having met many major performers and media heroes, I know that raw talent does not directly translate to business savvy and people skills. The Paul McCartneys of the world, who successfully embody it all, are few and far between.

One of my first career idols was Dick Clark, another man who is smart and accomplished in many facets. He had just debuted on “American Bandstand.” I was in the fifth grade and started working at a radio station, determined to be Texas’ answer to Dick Clark. A mentor reminded me that none of us should go through life as a carbon copy of someone else. We can admire and embody their qualities but must carve out a uniqueness all our own. Good advice from a 24-year-old Bill Moyers, who stands for me as an ever-contemporary role model.

Values and Ethics with a Pop Culture Spin

Great scriptwriters and songwriters have stuck with us. Our views of humanity were shaped by folk and pop songs. The sense of purpose, dedication to an end result and relishing of victory bring to mind many adventure films, westerns and epic dramas of our youth. We were taught and believe that good things come to those who wait, that good people get rewarded and that evil defeats itself. Whether we articulate them to others, we carry inward values, ethics, quests and senses of dramatic conclusion.

Corporate executives do not get a rulebook when the job title is awarded. They are usually promoted on the basis technical expertise, team player status, loyalty and perceived long-term value to the company. They are told to assume a role and then draw upon their memory bank of role models. Top executives have few role models in equivalent positions. Thus, they get bad advice from the wrong consultants.

In the quest to be a top business leader, one quickly reviews how poorly corporate executives were portrayed to the mass culture:

• J.R. Ewing (“Dallas”) sold every member of his family and work force down the river. He is hardly a CEO role model, though many “good old boys” think how he operated was perfectly acceptable.
• Alan Brady (“Dick Van Dyke Show”) practiced nepotism with his brotherin-law, Mel Cooley. Brady yelled at everyone and was especially abusive to Mel, in front of others. Creativity was determined by his will. All were expected to parrot his “vision.”
• Lou Grant (“Mary Tyler Moore Show”) drank on the job, was brash, threatened termination, asked pervasive questions and sometimes dated co-workers.
• Charlie Townsend (“Charlie’s Angels”) was never around. He left his staff to their own devices and to supervise themselves. The reasons most employees do not perform as expected is they are given insufficient direction and time with a mentor, not knowing what is expected of them.
• It was never revealed where John Beresford Tipton (“The Millionaire”) earned all that money that he gave away to total strangers, in order to study their behaviors.
• Economic accountability was not a consideration in TV families. They lived well, but we rarely saw the relationship between workplace output to quality of life. How did Mike Brady (“The Brady Bunch”) afford to feed a family of eight, especially with his wife staying at home and not working? He seemed to stay at home much more than the average successful architect.
• In reality, most TV lead characters were the employees of someone else. The boss was the brunt of the jokes. Fear of being disciplined was openly communicated to viewers as part of the territory in earning one’s way in life. For example:
• Ralph Kramden (“The Honeymooners”) was not considered to become a supervisor, nor a leader. He exhibited a defeatist attitude that probably kept him from being successful.
• Certain characters did their jobs in such a way as that the bosses fell in love with them and eventually married them. Witness Katy Holstrum (“The Farmer’s Daughter”), Agent 99 (“Get Smart”) and Jeannie (“I Dream of Jeannie”). At one time, some women went into business with such an unrealistic view.

Then, there were those who fostered the notion of “do as I say, not as I do.” For example:

• We never saw psychologist Bob Hartley (“Bob Newhart Show”) conferring with colleagues, attending professional symposia, authoring academic papers or seeking professional help. When he wasn’t in session, he was joking with the receptionist and the dentist.
• Editor Perry White (“Superman”) threatened young Jimmy Olsen, “Don’t call me chief,” when mentoring the eager reporter would have amplified Olsen’s service to The Daily Planet. Alas, Olsen was always a tagalong and did not develop as a seasoned reporter, stalling his career.
• Marshal Simon Cord (played by Henry Fonda) was always out of town. His “Deputy” (played by Allen Case) was a shop keeper, who became the town’s part-time law and order by default. Part-time jobs and careers are not the same thing.

Money was rarely an issue. We rarely saw families just scraping by, as were most Americans. “The Real McCoys” were farmers, with wealth in spirit and positive will.

There were unexplained quirks, showing insufficient resources necessary to do business:

• All the detectives on “77 Sunset Strip” drove the same car (a Ford convertible). How did the others get around and earn their livelihood, if a car was essential equipment?
• Steve McGarrett (“Hawaii Five-0”) drove the same car (a 1967 Mercury Monterey) year after year. With his arrest record, why didn’t the department upgrade his equipment?
• Jim Anderson was an insurance agent on “Father Knows Best.” Yet, he never made evening calls…only working days. Thus, he couldn’t sell that many policies and missed his marketplace…not being available at peak times that his customers were.
• Ricky Ricardo worked in a nightclub and always went to work during the day, usually being home most evenings. Try to figure that one!

Speaking Their Own Language

I’ve been in meetings recently where the following expressions were used to express some business context: “emergency bat turn” (for a market correction), “groovin’ on a Sunday afternoon” (for a profit-sharing plan), “gypsies, tramps and thieves” (for marketplace competition), “a failure to communicate” (for personnel problems) and “head ‘em up, move ‘em out” (for creating a company rollout). Certainly, younger people had no clue of this jargon. Baby boomers did.

Every age demographic has its own pop culture lingo. We even borrow old ones and dust them off periodically for modern nomenclature, including these fad expressions that were hot at the time:

Would you believe (from “Get Smart”)

A silly millimeter longer (from a cigarette commercial)

Let me make this perfectly clear (from Richard Nixon)

Get while the getting’s good

Putting on the dog

Heavens to Mergatroid

See you later, alligator

All dolled up

That’s the most

Stepping out

What a drag

Hot rod

Gun moll

What a bummer

Tell it like it is

Groovy

Rat fink

Peace, Brother

Right on

Black is Beautiful

Far out

Have a nice day

Time to rock and roll

Keep on keeping on

Sooky (have mercy, baby)

Tubular

Make my day

Shop till you drop

Doofus (acting silly)

Geek

Biker babe

Groupie

Talk to the hand

Don’t go there

Changing with the Years

There are seven stages in people’s willingness to adopt new perspectives:

1. Cluelessness or Apathy. Henry Ford said, “90% of the American people are satisfied.” Will Rogers said, “Mr. Ford is wrong. 90% of the people don’t give a damn.” Content with the status quo. Taking a vacation from thinking. Not interested in learning more about life or seeing beyond one’s realm of familiarization.
2. Basic Awareness. Latent readiness. Not moved to think differently, take risks or make decisions until circumstances force it. 90% don’t care about specific issues until events that affect their lives force them to care about something. 5% affect decisions. 5% provide momentum.
3. Might Consider. The more one gathers information, they apply the outcomes of selected issues to their own circumstances. Begin learning through message repetitions.
4. Taking in Information. Something becomes familiar after hearing it seven times. Gains importance to the individual through accelerated familiarity. The more one learns, the more one realizes what they don’t know. At this plateau, they either slide back into the denial level of cluelessness or launch a quest to become mature via learning more about life.
5. Beginning to Form Opinions. Triggering events or life changes cause one to consider new ideas, ways of thinking. Survival and the need-desire for self-fulfillment causes one to form strong desires to learn. Cluelessness and inertia are no longer options and are now seen as backward and self-defeating.
6. Thinking and Analyzing. Changing paradigms. Behavioral modification ensues. There are ways we used to think and behave. We do these things differently now because we have learned preferable ways that cause better outcomes. Thus, we don’t revert to the old paradigms.
7. Behavioral Change and Commitment. Advocating positions. Creating own original ideas. Holding and further developing insights. Commitment to change and personal growth. Willing-able to teach and share intellect and wisdom with others.

Becoming Your Own Role Model

Amidst these entertaining analogies is a confluence of ideas in each of our heads. Few of us had modeling for life and career. We learned early glimpses of life from TV. Along the way, we absorbed others, always influenced by the misperceptions of pop culture.

It is difficult to inventory all the images, sort perceptions versus realities and look new ways at old business tenets. This progression of statements, validations and commitments is the premise of this book, which is just the same approach utilized when I work with corporate clients on strategizing and visualizing their future:

• Examine where you came from.
• Retread old knowledge.
• Apply teachings to today.
• Honestly evaluate your path to progress thus far.
• Affix responsibilities, goals and benchmarks to all intended progress.
• Find creative new ways to approach and conduct business.
• Proceed with zeal, commitment, creative instinct and boundless energy.
• Achieve and reflect upon successes.
• Learn three times more from failure than success.
• Plan to achieve and succeed in the future.
• Never stop researching, planning, executing and evaluating.
• Benchmarks of one phase, project or series of events drive the research and planning for the next phase.
• Futurism is not an esoteric concept. After all, It’s Almost Tomorrow. Actually, that phrase first appeared as the title of a song in 1955. But then, the present always is the dawn of a new golden oldie future.

Quotable Quotes

Poems, Prayers and Promises

“Big girls don’t cry. That’s just an alibi. Walk like a man, fast as you can. Walk like a man, my son.” Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons (1962)

Letters, We Get Letters

“A line a day when you’re far away. Little things mean a lot. Give me your heart to rely on.” Kitty Kallen (1954)

We’ll Remember Always

“Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.” Kris Kristofferson (1967)

“When you move real slow, it seems like mo’, cause it’s alright.” Curtis Mayfield (1963)

“The Ballroom prize we almost won. We will have these moments to remember.” The Four Lads (1955)

“Diamonds, diamonds, pearls galore. She buys them at the five and ten cent store. She wants to be just like Zsa Zsa Gabor. Even though she’s the girl next door.” Dion (1963)

Planning & Anticipation

“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” The Beatles (1969)