February 7, 2005
herding cats
In business, there’s always a great deal of uncertainty governing every major decision. The larger the opportunity, the more it feels like “herding cats”.
Having gone through this wringer more than once, I can see why there’s such a large market for “business gurus” like Tom Peters or Seth Godin.
It’s not just their ideas are good. It’s not just that they’re “visionary”. It’s not just that interacting with their brand inspires and clarifies our own thinking. It’s not just that their optimism and enthusiasm for what they do and think is infectious.
It’s that what they offer takes our minds away, for a little while at least, from the neverending uncertainty of business, from the “herding cats” feeling of fear and dread that is always with us.
I used to believe the “herding cats” metaphor until I started living with cats. It might have been first revealed to me in an old issue of Fast Company, in one of their columns devoted to debunking “consultant myths”, but herding cats really is as simple as opening a can of food. The trick with cats (and with many many people) is that it’s a lot harder to push them to a destination than it is to tempt them to a reward. Once I wake up in the morning, the cats basically herd me to the food bowl, and keep checking on me if I’m moving a little slowly to the kitchen. Once I found out that one of my cats liked popcorn, I quickly trained him to come, turn, and sit on command. Now we’re working on shaking hands. Still not as easy as training my dog, but it is definitely easier than “herding cats” is supposed to be
.
Stretching the metaphors anew: If you can find something they like, expect the people (cats) that like your product to work just as hard to help you deliver it to them. The cats will herd themselves and you in the process.
That’s great, Jason. Just open a can of food!
That seems about right for customers, but what about the internals?
If Cats are your customers…
Dogs are your lackeys and sycophants, those inhabiting the executive suites, waiting for the odd bone.
Monkeys your workforce.
Dolphins /manatees your public face.
Hyenas your collections department…
I likened the consultant thing recently to family or marriage therapy. We all know that we should talk to each other, air differences, invite happiness into our lives, promote goodwill in the everyday, etc., but somehow when we are paying someone else $100 an hour to tell us these things, they seem much more prescient.
something…consultants…something…ignorance premium…something…something…