THEN: Secretary of State (KY), 1996-2004; Candidate for Lieutenant Governor, 2007
NOW: JYB3 Group (Owner) -public affairs consulting firm; Miller Wells law firm (Of counsel)
Full Biography:link
By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Jul 10, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
The calculus of bad customer relations.
Company A estimates if they make it maddeningly difficult to get through to a customer service representative and have a nearly incomprehensible policy for refunds when a failure occurs … it will take approximately 3 hours of waiting and wading through annoying delays, hold times, and numerous representatives saying, “I understand your situation, John, and if it were up to me I would refund your money, but it is out of my hands and the rules require me to…..” —-Company A estimates that after 3 hours a rational customer will give up. And they are correct.
Giving up is a “rational decision” because 3 hours of anyone’s time is worth a lot to them. Probably more than the money in question, even if it is a several hundred dollars. Just do the math. Would you let someone have 3 hours of your life if it required you getting increasingly frustrated in return for the “chance” of getting $200? Probably not.
Plus, to persist for longer than 3 hours with multiple different customer service representatives trained to say “no” 258 ways in the same language as they wear you down to demoralizing defeat requires one to be, well, a certifiable ass. A jerk. And that’s very hard –in fact, almost impossible– for some people.
But we never get too old that we can’t occasionally surprise ourselves.
And sometimes that can include surprising ourselves in unusual ways. Like the fact that despite repeated past failures at successfully being an ass, finding out that deep-down inside us there is an “inner ass” just waiting to come out.
And further surprising ourselves that sometimes, in a few select and rare situations, making an irrational decision about our time and money is actually the right thing to do. And feels better than the “rational decision” of giving up.
And no, it’s not the “principle of the matter.”
It’s the value of reminding ourselves–and others on remote calls with customer service operators from parts unknown–that we can if we really, really, really want to— still stand up for ourselves. And sometimes that we will, despite logic to the contrary, do just that.
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Business 101 lessons aren’t typically fun to be reminded of or interesting to re-learn and rarely ever are profound. They do, however, tend to be essential to business success.
Like this fairly uncomplicated rule of thumb.
Nothing in business relationships is more upsetting and disappointing than poor customer service.
Nothing in business relationships is more appreciated and valuable than good customer service.
No product or service is easier or cheaper to provide than good customer service. (The only requirement is the organization treat customer satisfaction as the top priority)
No product or service is more costly to skimp on or more difficult to remedy than poor customer service. (The only requirement is the organization not value customer satisfaction)
I suspect that no business miscalculation has caused more organizations to fail than skimping on giving time and priority to customer satisfaction.
The “soft stuff” truly is “the hard stuff.” And at the core of every business relationship isn’t an inanimate piece of technology or clever algorithm or new system or decision tool. But rather a human being who is free to take his or her business elsewhere at anytime for any reason. And will.
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Jul 8, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
How smart were our Founding Fathers really?
Were they just good with “big ideas” about freedom, liberty and all that. Or did they have practical intelligence too?
One way to find out is to look back on the original July 4th in 1787. If it was set on a Thursday like this year’s allowing for not only a great national political event (“big idea” part) but also picking a date that allowed for everyone to enjoy a long weekend and have an extra day to recover from over-indulging on food and drink the night before, I think we can confidently conclude the Founders had both high theoretical and practical intelligence.
But if they set our big celebration day on, say, a Tuesday, we can confidently conclude they were more like a bunch of absent minded professors. Brilliant with complex and philosophical ideas….but could not be trusted with practical matters like party planning.
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I remember hazily a rainy 4th of July with our family about 20 years ago. My half sis Pamela was having fun holding sparklers (and trying not to let sparks touch her arm) and laughing as we tried to light fireworks on the front porch in the damp and dank evening light.
I remember looking down at a disappointing and spent firecracker that had settled amid a sea of matches that it took to finally light it.
But tonight Pamela seemed to have a slightly brighter and more memorable 4th.
She was the CNN reporter covering the re-opening of the Statue of Liberty.
And avoided burning her arm with a sparkler.
And it didn’t rain. One of the blessings of liberty is freedom of speech….and that is especially valuable since we love the power of story.
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Here is a powerful scene from a powerful story exemplifying the modern essence of what we as a young nation carved out for ourselves in an early defining moment on this day 226 years ago.
Happy 4th of July.
For all the original reasons for this nationally sacred holiday. For all the reasons that have developed over the years for celebrating this holiday. And for the fireworks, cookouts, friendship and fellowship too.
As we live freely in each of our individual communities tonight together as Americans.
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Jul 5, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
Idiom-speak can leave you tongue-tied.
It’s depressing when things that are supposed to “wax and wane” end up merely “waning and waning” And then waning once more —and in a big way, as waning goes—when you least expect it and when you really, really needed a major league waxing period to begin.
At some point waning (without waxing) is just a trend that you have to accept and just deal with …it for what it is and stop telling yourself it will stop soon and start waxing. It may not. It may never wax again.
In fact, it may wane and ebb!
And that is some serious stuff when that starts to happen. And you better be ready.
You can’t be standing idly by wearing rose-colored glasses telling yourself a flowing or waxing period is just around the corner when it’s obvious to everyone else around you there is only more waning and more ebbing ahead. Maybe a lot more.
And that your “glass,” so to speak, is definitely half empty and not half full. And really more like only a third full (or, I should say, two-thirds empty).
Don’t be the last one in the room to realize you are waning and ebbing and already–and maybe permanently —half empty, glass-wise.
Put it this way: When that happens, and you see a light at the end of the tunnel, it’s best to run the other way. And to leave all those pesky idioms, maxims and metaphors behind.
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Jul 4, 2013 at 3:00 PM ET
Happy 4th of July.
And some personal reflections on a firecracker of a political race that just transformed from a cheap sparkler barely worth lighting into an expensive battle between a couple of souped up Roman Candles, so to speak, in the fireworks department.
Here’s my unsolicited and completely ignored advice to the two major candidates for Kentucky’s US Senate seat.
To challenger and current Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes:
You are getting an overflowing of detailed advice from every corner of the state and nation.
My advice to you would be to ignore all the advice you are receiving and trust your instincts. Your instincts have served you well to date and I think you should play to your strengths. When in doubt, dig down and go with your gut.
I don’t mean you should blithely and arrogantly ignore the advice and commentary about the race and your campaign. Listen. But don’t be transfixed by it and certainly don’t be transformed by other’s opinions of what they say you should say and do.
Alison, you should embrace that you are the endearing and energetic youthful candidate who is very bright and knowledgeable— but also unpredictable. It’s not your youth or political party or campaign style that distinguishes you most for Senator McConnell. It’s the fact that Sen McConnell is the most prepared, disciplined, and predictable politician on the political scene today. And Alison Lundergan Grimes is just the opposite—and will daily be a stark contrast on a visceral level to Kentucky voters of both the benefits and shortcomings of being the kind of ultra-methodical political personality Senator McConnell is.
Watching Mitch’s campaign will be like sitting through a long strategic low scoring baseball game controlled by good pitching.
Watching Alison’s campaign will be like watching a pick-up street basketball game, by comparison. You are drawn to watch the street basketball game not because you admire a well coached , managed and disciplined team strategy but rather you watch because of the chance that something amazing may happen….even if unintended. You feel young again and want more passion and conviction that you can believe in from your US Senator. Or at least you think you do.
As for Senator McConnell, on the other hand, I would suggest running a disciplined tight ship and not taking a day or even several hours for granted. Be light and funny not exasperated and bored with your younger opponent. You must show respect and you must show manners reflective of the sexes in the South. Real Men, as it were, needn’t go for the jugular and would be better off going for the funny bone. You can still be tough on Alison but not viciously or gratuitously. Southern gentlemen and ladies will be watching. Humor will serve you better than detailed side-by-side hard hitting comparisons.
Sen McConnell, you have to adeptly balance the perception of not taking Secretary Grimes seriously enough while simultaneously being careful not being viewed as taking her too seriously. You want to be confident but not cocky. Constructive but not reactive. Like you are going through a necessary exercise you cheerfully have agreed to that requires concentration– but not perspiration.
Be the well oiled, disciplined and well-managed machine you know best how to be—and chip away methodically and relentlessly. Try to engage more and show your personality but only if natural and genuine. Don’t ever appear to be trying to out-Alison, Alison. Make her play your game on your playing field in your way without letting her be aware there are other options available to her.
Senator, unlike Alison, I would recommend taking my advice. But I realize that you are probably already 4 or 5 steps ahead of needing or wanting advice from a constituent from the other party explaining his suggestions to your US Senate campaign, which you’ve won now 5 times in a row. But approaching your campaign in the way I’ve described is playing to your strengths and you should, I believe, repeat the approaches from past campaign successes —but never count out your opponent’s intangible qualities or unpredictable style.
As a candidate, Alison has more potential than experience; more pluck than planning; and more personal appeal than detailed campaign strategy. Whether Alison is the underdog or not, she will be cheered as the strong and decisive lady who cut through all the political chatter and said “Yes” more as a matter of the heart than the head—- as contrasted with the seasoned and senior US Senator who is best recognized for saying “No” to new ideas with calculated élan and impunity
Sen. McConnell, your greatest strength, in gambling terms, is that you are essentially the House in this political gambit. Over time you may grind out your endearing and energetic opponent but will never be as appealing as she is in the process. The House never is. You play the odds and are a master tactician. But you’ll never be able to completely ground out your opponent. Alison will always be waiting in the wings and never seem to be winded while coming back to bat not with a long term strategy but willingness to swing for the fences time and time again
At the end of this race—returning to our earlier analogy— Team Mitch will be viewed as the solid and reliable master relief pitcher who is trying to close out a win in a game they have been ahead all 9 innings.
But Alison Lundergan Grimes will be walking, working and talking fast, frenetic and furiously just a few feet behind.
To borrow an analogy from another sport popular in Kentucky, boxing, Senator McConnell, if this political match is decided on points, you win. But if it’s decided by knockout, Alison is the likely winner.
This race will be decided largely, in my view, by voter mood during the final few months of the campaign. Voters–come next fall —may be in the mood for a masterful tactician relief pitcher to successfully take the field and close out another win. Or they may be a bit more restless and willing for change. And go with the up-and-comer just called up from the minors but taking the majors by storm. Only time and political, social and economic winds will tell.
The race won’t be about “Hope” or “Staying the course” or a dozen other political cliches. It will likely instead be about something more basic: To stick with what we know (sticking with the status quo) or trying something new (“rolling the dice,” so to speak). And how fitting it is that the race takes place in a state with a deep gambling tradition but today is ambivalent about expanding gaming.
And if both candidates completely and wisely ignore my unsolicited and free advice, we can expect to be witness to one of the smartest and dynamic; substantive and engaging political campaigns in the nation—and one that will be as difficult to predict as it will be reflective of emerging national trends. A bellwether, as they say up North. A doozy as we say down South.
And it will all happen right here in ‘lil ole Kentucky’s race for US Senate. The political race next year with something–in style and substance and symbolism—for everyone. And profound political meaning for our country.
Pull up a seat. And make sure you’re are registered. The nation is watching.
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Jul 4, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
Initial Reaction to Blue Lights Behind You (Phases over our lifetime):
16-35 : Panic because you immediately think of three things from your past that you could be pulled over for.
36-50: Irritation because you can think of four things it could be for and you don’t have time to get ticketed for any of them.
51-69: Indifference because you know you probably did something wrong (you just don’t know what) and ypu don’t have anything to do until Wednesday’s dentist appointment appointment anyway.
70 and up: A sense of enchantment at the pretty blue whirling lights and a feeling of affirmation that you still matter– and hope that the officer is someone’s son or daughter you know and will feel like talking for a while.
By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Jul 3, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
Travel tips for visiting NYC.
If you are meeting three male friends who are highly educated and they ask you to meet at MOMA at 5:30pm, you may have troubles if you assume too much.
I assumed that since it was 5:30 they wanted to eat dinner, albeit a bit early.
I further assumed, rather excitedly, that my friends had suggested an Italian restaurant. Pronounced MO-MA. Like Italian, I assumed, for MAMA.
I imagined big homemade meatballs from an Italian family recipe.
Then there is the problem of asking cab drivers to take you, please, to “Moma’s restaurant.” The first taxi driver pulled away without letting me in. I assumed he thought it was only a few blocks away and wanted a bigger fare.
Finally, when my exasperated taxi driver gave up on finding a Moma’s restaurant, he dropped me off at The 21 Club. I asked the kind doorman if there was a “Moma’s restaurant” nearby and apologized for not going to 21 Club. He politely told me one block over. Finally!!
And there I saw my three friends…although running a little late and by this time quite hungry. We were outside MOMA’s–which seemed to be more than just a restaurant (in fact it was big and long and seemed to include works of art as well). “Nice!” I thought to myself.
I asked someone working beside the entrance where the restaurant was. He laughed and said, “Restaurant?! This is the Museum of Modern Art! There’s no restaurant!!” And laughed again.
I alerted my friends they had mistakenly chosen an art museum that lacked a restaurant.
The friend who suggested MOMA’s said, “Oh, I’m not hungry.”
And it was about this time that I put two and two—really more like one and one–together.
We weren’t going to an Italian restaurant with homemade meatballs like I told my wife. We were going to the Museum of Modern Art. Which didn’t even have a concession stand.
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Jul 2, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
There is always the possibility of a tomorrow to do what is called for today
And the past is part of the present, too, but never the most important part.
So today I will live. But not too narrowly. I don’t want to miss important signs trying to guide me.
A good day for me includes working hard, living intensely, standing still, and retreating more than once into play.
A good day includes busyness and routine but also just enough down time to tempt trouble but resisting it joyfully.
Laughing is essential. Sadness may be too. Sharing always is necessary, personally and materially.
Take enough for yourself but give back just a little bit more, unless you don’t have it to give. Then take more for today
Be somebody’s hero and somebody else’s servant.
And do both well. Without acknowledging you are doing either.
Be grateful for what you have; grateful for what you have had taken away; and most of all grateful for what is still left, today.
Today is enough. And not too much.
We are, at the end of it all, painting by numbers. But don’t stress out over getting the numbers right. That’s not the point -although we always forget that.
The main thing is the colors that each of us chose for the picture of our lives that we paint a little bit of each day. And today’s little piece of the bigger picture is more important than we think …but is, ironically, most important with how it fits into the bigger picture of our lives–which we can’t see.
Think generally; act specifically; and play with all the pieces. Each piece has a place to fit that fills out the richest details of our life’s big picture and without the little something is missing .
And even though we can’t see the big picture we are painting, it is the only important job we have to do each day. And can only be painted by us today–using old colors we know and new colors we invent.
By John Y. Brown III, on Mon Jul 1, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
You never know when you are getting a history or literature lesson ….so it’s always good to keep an open mind. Especially if an 11 year old is involved.
When I was 10 years old, my neighbor Kyle Hibbs, had me over to spend the night. Kyle was 11 and clearly more sophisticated than I was. I ran the Lemonade stand in our neighborhood with Kyle as my CFO and Kyle ceded basketball and a few board games to me. But when it came to culture and coolness, Kyle had an edge over me I knew I might never be able to challenge.
So when he excitedly asked me over to spend the night and watch the movie “The Odyssey” which was in channel 41 at 12:30am, I had no socially acceptable response but to pretend that sounded like an awesome idea even though it sounded suspiciously like something one of my boring school teacher aunts might recommend when I spent the night with them.
Everybody was asleep except Kyle and me and we loaded up on soft drinks and candy as our big movie was about to start.
I pretended from the start to be really into it. Even though I wasn’t. I focused mostly on the soda pop and candy and my wondered on to other more interesting topics.
And then something happened.
The story pulled me in just a little bit even though it seemed like a grown-up story. I didn’t realize that they weren’t playing fair and I was watching a classic, a timeless and age-agnostic tale. And then pulled me in a little more and a little more until I was entranced.
To this day, many years after finally reading—and loving– the full literary masterpiece The Odyssey (including the Cliff Notes), whenever the famous Homer Epic comes up, it’s the images from the famous movie starting Kirk Douglas that I see.
And also how I learned to ingeniously fend off an angry Cyclops and to escape by clinging the underbelly of scampering sheep.
I’m glad I played it cool and pretended like I wanted to watch The Odyssey —until I actually did want to watch it. And led to a life-long interest in Homer.
And having cool and sophisticated 11 year old friends who encourage us along the way to try new things that aren’t obvious or “popular” is absolutely essential.
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Jun 28, 2013 at 12:00 PM ET
Parenting Pride and Paradoxes
You know those extraordinary moments as a parent where you see your child behave in a particularly challenging situation that lets you know, “They are going to just fine as an adult”?
Those “moments” when your child acts adult-like provide a sense of satisfaction to a parent, a sense of relief and security and great pride.
And we never forget them.
And they become more frequent with time.
And begin to correspond inversely with those extraordinary moments our children experience when they see a parent behave in a particularly challenging situation that makes them wonder, “I can’t believe my parent is acting like such a child.”
Those “moments” when the child’s parent acts child-like also provide a sense of relief, security and great pride–in the children —that they can be a successful adult.
By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Jun 28, 2013 at 9:15 AM ET
Sometimes, Sigmund Freud, was quoted as saying, “A cigar is just a cigar.”
And if Siggie were alive today he’d probably offer a corollary that “Sometimes same sex marriage is just same sex marriage.”
I don’t want to get all controversial about this….but this DOMA decision by the SCt has me worried.
No, not worried so much about the threat to the institution of marriage between a man and a woman caused by same-sex couples wanting to marry. We heteros have already done a fine job of that ourselves and can’t–with a straight face, so to speak–even try to blame same sex couples for piling on.
Frankly, I don’t think same sex couples care a great deal about what we heterosexuals do in our personal lives. It’s not all that interesting, I admit. But I kind of like knowing that gays are analyzing our sex life every chance they get. And lucky them! That allows gay people time to think about other things—like decorating and dressing nice. They sure got us on those two fronts.
I’d even go so far as to say we heteros could probably learn a thing or two about not always talking and thinking about gay sex and gays marrying. Maybe it does scare some of us. But I suspect anybody who talks all the time about how bad gay sex is, is talking about gay sex because, well, he just likes talking about the topic…. and it gives him a sort of cheap thrill he doesn’t get by talking about heterosexual sex.
And that’s fine. I’m not judging them. I’m really not.
Heck, when I was in elementary school I acted that way myself. At recess I’d chase girls pretending they were gross and I didn’t want to have anything to do with them. But even though I swore I was trying to avoid gettin’ the cooties, there I’d go chasing after these very girls who we thought had cooties and trying to touch, pinch or push them anyway I could. And it wasn’t a coincidence that I’d always chase and push the ones I wanted the most to like me back.
It didn’t really work out well for me. And wont for politicians talking about animal marriage this time. But on that playground I did get a little thrill out of it all and suspect these older fellers talking about gay-this and gay-that get some kinky thrill in their own way, too, when they are chasing and pushing around gay people in the political playground. I could be wrong. But I know what it looks like when someone says they don’t want girl cooties and then can’t stop chasing and talking about girls.
Read the rest of… John Y. Brown, III: The DOMA Decision
Business 101 lessons aren’t typically fun to be reminded of or interesting to re-learn and rarely ever are profound. They do, however, tend to be essential to business success.
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