When we look at the links below the overall takeaway is clear as day: Got diverse points of view?
Not everyone feels the way you do about a situation.
Not everyone sees things the way you see them.
Not everyone is having the same experience as you.
It’s important to surround yourself with people who bring other perspectives to the table, and to seek out evidence and educate yourself on how other people experience the world in situations as simple as running out of milk or as complex as navigating systemic racism.
Whatever your role at work, you’re a human being working with or in service of other human beings, and we’re complicated, and different, and we deserve to be treated with respect.
And if we can remember that, and if we can see clients and coworkers and target audiences as human beings, we’re all going to be better off. Andddd we might just stumble upon the next Got Milk? which is every marketer’s dream, amirite? 😝
What lies below
The story behind the Got Milk? legend
Let’s fix this: Men get different feedback than women
Please listen to The Test Kitchen (yes, that one)
Different cultures = different work styles and values
Friends of North and Now: Last Call
🥛 Epic Twitter thread: Uncle Burnbach breaks down the ‘Got Milk?’ campaign
6ish minutes
//Moly: LOVE this thread as an epic example of getting to the truth of a product. Not your aspirational push behind why someone should use your product, but how ppl actually connect with your product. And people simply hate it when they run out of milk.
//Faaiza: I totally agree! It’s such a simple way of finding the pain point that plagues all consumers. The tv spots are so clever because they’re a fun way of presenting a situation that so many consumers find themselves in—that one moment where a glass of milk is the thing they need! And again, another reason why it’s so important to talk to users and not just the echo chamber in your office. If Goodby hadn’t pushed for the simplicity of ‘Got Milk?’ we wouldn’t be talking about this today. 👏
//Moirae: CAN YOU IMAGINE BEING THE MASTERMIND BEHIND THIS? A slogan and campaign that is still used, championed, and celebrated 30 years later? I aspire! When you put creative people in the room with the lethal combo of data and 👏 market research 👏, of course “got milk” would be born! In my current role at GoodMorning.com I am learning fiercely the power of market research and scholarly resources to back up anything and everything I say. Now….just waiting on my ‘Got Milk?’ moment…
😑 Harvard Business Review: Men Get More Actionable Feedback than Women
11ish minutes
Read all about it (then change it!)
“…feedback provided to women tends to be less actionable and less useful for leadership progression than feedback given to men, making it less likely that women will advance to more senior positions.”
//Faaiza: This article reminds me of a recent tweet from Adam Grant: “If you think women talk too much, it may be because you expect them to talk so little.”
It’s the same thing with leadership. Why do women get less actionable feedback than men? Maybe part of it is the unconscious bias that we don’t expect women to have big vision and we expect them to be productive, empathetic, and agreeable so we give them feedback that helps maintain that bias.
//Moly: Bookmark this because it’s going to be your guide for what questions you can ask yourself to develop as a leader, and we can all use it to make sure we’re giving great feedback to our team members no matter their gender.
Apparently women are given more feedback to help get through the day and get stuff done versus thinking long term and with vision like their male counterparts…
What I appreciate is the balance the article encourages—how it’s just as important to coach men to be more collaborative as it is to teach women to be more assertive. Both are important leadership qualities.
//Moirae: In my opinion, this isn’t only a gender challenge. Qualities are going to differ person to person, depending on how and where a person grew up and what gender roles they may have been exposed to. At the end of the day, the rule I live my life by is: if I want something, I ask for it—including feedback.
I appreciate this article is trying to shine a collective light at teaching genders new qualities, and poses a great call out—but on an actionable level we will never see this implemented holistically into every role, in every business you and I ever work for. So, I leave you with this: people don’t know what they don’t know. Ask for what you need, teach people how to treat you, and lead by example.
👂 Reply All: The Test Kitchen
60 minutes
Although only two of the four episodes in this series were published (read about why here), we had a really great group discussion and debate and wanted to share a few of our thoughts. The learning and unlearning continues.
//Moirae: I highly recommend listening to these first two episodes. This series (or half the series, shall I say) provided a clearer picture of how an organization such as Bon Appétit could be so diverse in their culinary playbook, yet the very opposite when it came to the hands responsible for preparing that food.
I don’t think this can be pinpointed down to just one challenge, it is always a combination of struggles and challenges. In this particular case, Bon Appétit certainly woke up, and when they did, they found themselves surrounded by people at the leadership level who all shared the same perspective, resulting in many poor decisions being made over and over again.
//Faaiza: Moirae, I’m so glad you shared this with us! It really showed me how deep rooted some of our society’s behaviour is, to the point where we almost don’t notice it until we put this 10 years of history together.
It also got me thinking a lot about complicity. Consumers have way more power than we think. It might be difficult for people like Alison Roman to feel like they have enough power to keep their jobs and still defend their colleagues (I truly don’t know what I would do in those situations). But as consumers, we can make purchasing choices based on our values, which could help accelerate change at these big brands.
By withholding ad spend, Procter & Gamble was able to make a change at Vogue, but how long will that change last? Imagine if millions of consumers stopped buying magazines or consuming digital content based on the choices the brand makes? Wouldn’t that all be so much more powerful together with Procter & Gamble’s choices?
//Moly: I appreciate how this examination of Bon Appétit’s culture really unpacked how subtle systemic racism is even for those going through it and made me wonder what my blind spots might be. It was tough hearing some of the chefs recalling how they thought they weren’t talented enough to be assigned great stories, but how in hindsight, and hearing all their stories together, it was clear something systemic was at play. It was a reinforcement of why we need diversity of people and points of view in leadership positions—and not just one token person who has no real power.
🍒 Armchair Expert with Erin Meyer
82 minutes
//Moly: This was fascinatinggg! Erin Meyer studies how different cultures conduct business and giant multinational companies like Netflix hire her to help them work across cultures. For example, one culture may call another too rigid, and then another culture thinks that same culture is too relaxed—everything is relative.
Basically leading culturally diverse teams or working with other cultures is going to work best when you understand that every culture is different. Another example: some cultures aren’t taught to raise their hands for questions and you should be sure to call on those ppl so you’re not always just hearing from more talkative cultures in meetings.
//Faaiza: I want to have dinner with Erin. She is SO interesting! One of my favorite examples was of two international teams both pitching for a big piece of business with a company in China. The US team was totally prepared, flew in, delivered a great presentation and flew out. The other team (I think they were from Japan?) flew in, gave their presentation, and spent time with the client over multiple days going for dinner, drinks, and building a relationship. In the end, they won the business based on trust and connection (and competency of course!) and the Americans lost based on that same criteria.
The US team assumed their loss was because of price, but because they didn’t study the cultural values and perhaps didn’t know who they were competing against, they weren’t able to consider all of the factors they needed to and didn’t structure their visit in a way that would give them the best result.
Diversity isn’t just important within a team or organization; our world is becoming smaller and remote work will make understanding these cultural nuances even more important. Care about who you’re doing business with!
//Moirae: Everyone, press play…now!
This is what I learned about North Americans: in grade school we are often awarded a ‘participation’ mark in the classroom. Fast forward to being a grown up and well into our careers, we are one of the most talkative cultures in the boardroom—in fact we don’t shut up.
We’ve all seen those TikToks by now where they are making fun of how colleagues speak to each other (at the moment on ZOOM) e.g.,
“Yes, and to add to what Greg said….”
“I agree with Carol, and certainly see the value when she pointed out that said ….”
“I’d like to circle back to what Jenny said, and reiterate….”
YA, umm not every culture does that. We are just obnoxiously participating, because it was a learned behaviour from school that is now ingrained. 🤯
🥃 Friends of North and Now: Last Call with James Grant
Our friends at Above Average Drinks are putting together an interactive virtual cocktail tasting with one of Edmonton’s most influential bartenders, James Grant before he leave to a new city. Over 60 minutes we’ll hear insights on James’ experience behind the bar in Edmonton, how the city’s bar scene has grown, and how to level up your WFH happy hour 🎉
Order your kit of 3 quality-crafted, ready-to-drink cocktails (seriously, the menu looks delish 👀 and all you have to do is pour!) directly from Biera—probably order some amazing snackies to pair them with—and sip along at 7pm on April 9th!
A little background
North & Now started as an idea for a conference in 2016, and though we shelved that, we’ve continued to gather around these beliefs:
1. Look at leaders in other industries in order to be leaders in your own
2. Identifying opportunities is a learned skill (this one’s our favourite)
3. A fresh perspective on something familiar to you can be a game changer
If you want to send us links you think we’d like or want to discuss a fun idea, hit reply or send us a note:
Faaiza → Twitter (most active) / Instagram (infrequent posts, frequent scrolls)
Moirae → Instagram (her stories are 🔥) / Twitter (all business, no play)
Moly →Instagram (follow for wine/podcast recs) / Twitter (all things community)