BrandingFire Blog

I’m heading to Podcamp Nashville tomorrow. I’m not a podcaster, but the place will be crawling with the new media/social media elite. And I already talk with many of these people online, so I’m looking forward to meeting them in person.

If you’re going, look me up!

“A person is smart. People are stupid.”
- Agent K, Men in Black

Several years ago, the “wisdom of crowds” became a popular concept. The theory follows the old adage that “two heads are better than one”. Today, the phrase “wisdom of crowds” has fallen out of favor with many people, but the theory is still sound when implemented in the right circumstances and manner. For instance, it works well with reader ratings and reviews on Amazon.com or Travelocity.com. It works well because the feedback informs a user and then they make a final decision themselves.

Where “wisdom of crowds” fails is when it’s utilized as a decision-making tool. Essentially, it was seen as an inclusive way of making decisions. One of the ways it was instituted was to let everyone air their opinions on the matter at hand and then a decision was made in a way that incorporated those opinions and “validated” everyone’s input. The trouble with this “decision by committee” is that it’s a breeding ground for a virus known as Groupthink. Groupthink is a type of thought exhibited by group members who try to minimize conflict and reach consensus without critically testing, analyzing, and evaluating ideas. During Groupthink, members of the group avoid promoting viewpoints outside the comfort zone of consensus thinking.

There is validation in seeking other opinions, from both people experienced in your subject and those who aren’t. Fresh outlooks are great to solicit. But eventually, someONE must make a decision for the process to move forward. Decisions made by multiple people tend to be muddy and lackluster.

A creative director I know recently went through this “design by committee” purgatory. She needed to get a new company logo, business papers and website designed and approved in 8 weeks. A daunting task under any circumstances. But in this case she had to run EVERYTHING through a committee of company executives and every one of them had to have a say about every little item and every change thereafter. The continual nitpicky changes back and forth and lack of a leadership decision frustrated the creative team and nearly broke their relationship with an outside agency they were using. After nearly ending up with ugly, in-distinctive art the creative director finally pushed through something decent by sheer force of will and a bit of subterfuge. However, the silliness of the decision process took seven weeks and obliterated the roll out time line. Everything had to be rescheduled and the executives grumbled that they couldn’t figure out what the delay was.

Decision by committee is a terrible way to get things done. Take other people’s opinions into account, but then task someone with being the decision-maker and get it done. Besides, everyone’s got better things to do with their time than to site in committee meetings.

Do you have an opinion on this? Share it and leave me a comment!

I recently found a cool website called PartnerUp.com. It’s a sort of social networking site for wantrepreneurs and entrepreneurs. You can create a profile with your abilities and experience. You can post business opportunities or browse opportunities from other members. If you’re willing to pony up a subscription fee, you can search other member’s profiles to help you find potential partners who match your specific needs.

But this really brings up the question of partnerships. Two of my mentors really, really don’t like them. They’ve both seen some very ugly business break ups in the past when one or more partners don’t or can’t keep up their part of the workload. It really puts a strain on a partnership when you rake in $5 million in revenue and having to split it 50/50 when one of the partners did 90% of the work. Or if the business struggles when one of you is working your heart out and the other is completely absent. There’s also the challenge of making sure all of the partners share a passion and vision for where the business is going.

On the other hand, there have been some successful partnerships: Hewlett-Packard, Sergei & Larry, Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Peanut Butter & Jelly! In all seriousness though, there have been many successful partnerships. And having more than one person to work on a startup would sure be helpful. The amount of work it takes, no matter if you fail or succeed, is rough and sometimes overwhelming. I think the key to success is to set up a well-defined partnership. One that defines who is responsible for what jobs, what is the definition of successful performance, what happens when someone doesn’t perform, how much everyone owns and a hierarchy of leadership. It’s also important to define how disagreements will be
handled. And all of this needs to be decided before anything else is done in the business.

I think a partnership can work out if it is well structured. That having been said, I haven’t decided yet if I will take on partners for one or more of my endevors. I’ll keep it in mind as an option.

Have you had partnership experience? I’d like to hear about it! Comment on this posting or shoot me an e-mail at darrin-at-brandingfire.com.