In the 1976 film, All the President’s Men, which depicts the Watergate investigation (do any of you remember what that was?), there is a character named “Deep Throat” who meets the eager reporters (Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein) in a parking lot where he feeds them information slowly, over time, which builds to the climax of the film.
And I assume that if you’ve read anything about Watergate you know where it ends.
Here is a clip where Woodward (played by Robert Redford) gets fed up with Deep Throat’s innuendos and hints…and says, “I’m tired of your chicken-sh*t games!” (racy for 1976).
So…what does this mean to you as you close out 2023 and head into 2024?
It’s to ask the question:
“What (who?) is in YOUR parking lot?”
At Boardroom Inc., where I spent 34 years learning and growing, whenever we held one of our famous freewheeling creative brainstorming meetings (where, theoretically, there are no bad ideas), there was always a section on the white board which said:
“Parking Lot”
That simple addition made all the difference in those meetings (and to the company):
- It enabled the folks in the room not to get derailed by an idea that was “raw,” not cooked enough or needed much more seasoning.
- It freed everyone’s brain to continue the firehose of ideas without reflection on any one idea.
- It gave permission to put a bad idea (that can never really be a bad idea…” theoretically”) someplace safe and warm, probably never to be addressed again (which is OK by the way).
- And of course, it is a place to store the best ideas of tomorrow.
The key is to have a parking lot big enough to hold everything and anything that gets captured over time.
And thankfully this parking lot allows for loitering…especially for those uncooked and unseasoned ideas.
Neither are there any cars in this parking lot–or anything else–that takes up any significant real estate.
However, sadly, there is no “Deep Throat” hanging out there to guide you through the ideas…that’s up to you.
You might be able to find your own deep throat to guide you…more on that in the P.S.
Also: This parking lot will accommodate all ideas and should never be confused with a junkyard.
Our parking lot of ideas at Boardroom was the single biggest asset we owned (well…maybe second to our 9 million name database of customers) over the time I spent building both.
The lot was always full—but also with room to spare (when does that ever happen without giving the parking attendant a huge tip)?
Keeping it full–with the option to pull any idea out at any time–led to the biggest and most successful marketing campaigns we ever did.
I’ve written about these previously…for example:
- How we eventually brought our products to TV to the tune of $200 million in sales after the idea was in the parking lot for 15 years…with no rust on the idea despite all that time in storage.
- How we developed a book division of “other people’s content” which was a parked idea in the lot for over a decade (but we never paid a dime in overtime parking). And this idea led to a $45 million dollar profit center.
- How we eventually got to work with the most prolific copywriters and marketers when the initial idea to work with them was only a gleam in our eye.
Once we pulled these ideas out of the lot…along with many others… when the time was right…there was no oil leaking from any of them. Their engines started immediately.
All of those stories/case histories are chronicled here, along with the people who were beside me…behind me…and ahead of me too.
My theme…as it is at the end of each year:
2023 was once again a year of too many ideas.
And I say: Yay!
And once again, as renewals have come up for my Titans Xcelerator Mastermind, those who have decided not to renew, seem to have a similar refrain:
“Titans has been a non-stop source of new ideas, concepts, relationships, resources…there are just too many. I am overwhelmed.”
To which I answer: “And that is bad news how?”
Despite achieving a 70% blended renewal rate over the four years Titans Xcelerator has been in existence, and over a 90% renewal rate among those going on year five, the lament of “there are too many ideas to deal with” never sits well with me.
Now if the member can’t afford it (although it is fairly inexpensive for what is delivered) …or they feel the information is not applicable to their business anymore…I can deal with that.
But too many ideas? Too many deep relationships? Too many unlimited resources to use as needed.? Those reasons for not renewing I have a much harder time understanding.
I’m not bitter about it…but it’s why I don’t let anyone go without reminding them that they too, can build a parking lot of their very own.
And not being proactive in the group all the time is fine. The group also serves as a marketing insurance policy or a de facto Board of Advisors.
Where can you find that for $2,000 a year?
Included at no extra charge, a parking lot “attendant” (i.e., me), not “Deep Throat” playing chicken-sh*t games, but rather, making sure they get the most out of their years inside the group.
The one question I ask every non-renewal:
Is there anything I could have done during the year (s) you were a member that would have led to a different result for you?
Once we get past whether it’s simply money or time, the one objection that makes me want to scream is a version of this:
I’m spending too much time learning, and not enough time doing.As we both know, all the learning in the world is worthless if not implemented.
That sounds good…but I believe it’s based on a faulty premise that learning and implementation are mutually exclusive.
You can’t implement anything without learning…and you can never take a break from learning to implement.
After all, if you learn something additional (and related) to what you are implementing, even while you are implementing it, might you implement it better?
Or maybe you can even pull out some “learning” from the parking lot that makes it better?
Or you can park new ideas in the parking lot while you are implementing in the present.
Learning and implementation always work in tandem, not against each other.
And of course, learning and implementation needs to lead to successful results…which is the bottom line.
You must create a success path for your members…but they need to prepare for it as well.
One of my favorite movies of all time, in addition to All the President’s Men, is Amadeus, which if you haven’t seen it (and you must!), is a fictionalized biography about Wolfgang “Amadeus” Mozart which follows Italian composer Antonio Salieri’s rivalry with Mozart at the court of Emperor Joseph II.
One of my favorite scenes in the film is this dialogue after Mozart presents a brand-new piece of work to the emperor (and here it is written out):
EMPEROR: Well, Herr Mozart! A good effort. Decidedly that. An excellent effort! You’ve shown us something quite new today.
[Mozart bows frantically: he is over-excited.]
MOZART: It is new, it is, isn’t it, Sire?
EMPEROR: Yes, indeed.
MOZART: So then you like it? You really like it, Your Majesty?
EMPEROR: Of course I do. It’s very good. Of course now and then – just now and then – it gets a touch elaborate.
MOZART: What do you mean, Sire?
EMPEROR: Well, I mean occasionally it seems to have, how shall one say? [he stops in difficulty; turning to Orsini-Rosenberg] How shall one say, Director?
ORSINI-ROSENBERG: Too many notes, Your Majesty?
EMPEROR: Exactly. Very well put. Too many notes.
MOZART: I don’t understand. There are just as many notes, Majesty, as are required. Neither more nor less.
EMPEROR: My dear fellow, there are in fact only so many notes the ear can hear in the course of an evening. I think I’m right in saying that, aren’t I, Court Composer?
SALIERI: Yes! yes! er, on the whole, yes, Majesty.
MOZART: But this is absurd!
EMPEROR: My dear, young man, don’t take it too hard. Your work is ingenious. It’s quality work. And there are simply too many notes, that’s all. Cut a few and it will be perfect.
MOZART: Which few did you have in mind, Majesty?
EMPEROR: Well. There it is. [Dismissing Mozart completely]
The emperor reminds me of a member who didn’t renew Titans Xcelerator … although I don’t recall Joseph the Second ever enrolling as a member…nor had I launched the program, as far as I recall, in the mid-18th Century.
So, it wasn’t him exactly. 🙂
But he might have been one of his relatives centuries later who told me, after not renewing, that there were “too many good ideas” coming out of the group (i.e., “too many notes”).
He didn’t renew because he was frustrated that he couldn’t find the time to work on (or execute on) all the amazing things he was learning.
Yes…that made me scream (but not at him of course).
I was not insulted, nor did I try very hard to keep him in the group–and I promised to help him in the future (which I have).
Ironically, the two biggest initiatives he decided to focus on most intently when he left (and now with no distractions from any other good ideas getting in the way) could be sourced directly to two presentations given by guest speakers during his time inside Titans Xcelerator.
Who knows what other speakers or ideas could have enhanced what he was doing if he had renewed?
Regardless, my work was done with him since there was no convincing him that he needed ideas now more than ever despite being super busy.
I couldn’t help but feel I had failed him–and I was a bit glum.
He ran away just when we were getting cooking on his business…double glumness. 🙁
I didn’t have the model in my mind at the time (that I have now) to convince him that additional ideas could be additive to what he was currently working on…and if not, I could have shown him a blueprint to begin construction on his very own, sparkling new, parking lot.
As a “quick start” entrepreneur, and I know many of you are, it’s easy to get overwhelmed…and that’s why you must have a system to catalog, store and have at the ready as many new ideas as possible all the time.
Whether you are a rainmaker creating rain (i.e., ideas) yourself, or drinking from the firehose of ideas from others, or just listening to compositions that have too many notes, let me suggest that you stop complaining and work on learning and implementing simultaneously.
Here’s the 5-step prescription:
1. Soak all ideas in.
2. Drink up and stay hydrated (with ideas) always.
(And it’s no accident that the five-year Titans Xcelerator renewal bonus is a stainless-steel water bottle. 🙂 )
3. Listen to all notes (ideas) from everywhere (and the more notes the better).
4. Never meet an idea you don’t like.
And then…
5. After you meet each idea, get cozy with the ones that make you vibrate the most, figure out if the time is right to pursue now…but never eliminate the “not now” ideas simply because your brain can’t process them “now.”
That’s why we build parking lots.
Warmly,
Brian
P.S. Are you ready for 2024 to be a “year of too many ideas” that you can handle efficiently?
Then I encourage you to check out Titans Xcelerator here.
The group is getting better and better…and the additional bonuses that have been added on the page will add even more to your experience.
Including: Free admission to any of the “Bootcamps,” paid webinars or workshops I do throughout the year (all focused on implementation and results), half price discounts on any of the products I own and sell…and of course the opportunity to contribute and connect with the most committed and passionate marketers anywhere in the world.
Plus, you can have an opportunity to do a “hot seat” or present in your zone of genius with a “Titan Spotlight.”
You can ask for help, contribute your expertise, learn a ton…all with no obligation to act on every idea. Now that’s the definition of low risk/high reward.
And you get me as your parking lot attendant, no additional tips required. 🙂
I hope you decide to join here:
briankurtz.net/xl