Another article in praise of mess … this time from Alex Marks at Microsoft Advertising. His key point is that by “allowing your work to get ‘messed up’” (by which he means allowing consumers to get involved in the creation and dissemination of a brand message) “… You’ll not only save yourself money but you just might increase your share of voice.”
Unfortunately, enlightened thinkers, such as Marks, face a tough challenge when trying to advocate messiness as a solution to tougher economic conditions. When we feel insecure, our instinctive impulse is to try to impose order on what appears to be a chaotic situation. Business guru Tom Peters believes that: “Leaders resort to the command and control model when they are scared. That is; scared as hell that followers will figure-out that they (the leaders) don’t have a clue as to what the hell is going on.” Fear makes us more cautious, more controlling, less collaborative … and most importantly in the current economic climate, far less cost effective.