Business Communication Epiphanies via Apathy and “Pulp Fiction”

Ok…much to my wife’s dismay, I once again sat through “Pulp Fiction” a week or so ago in my half-hearted search for something relevant and meaningful to watch on cable television.

Somewhat ironically, I had to settle for a 13-year-old movie that I’ve seen maybe 40 times to be engaged and interested enough to stop channel surfing.

Then I thought about it…or more accurately was heckled about it enough to be forced to explain myself. What about this experience makes me willing to relive it for more than 2.5 hours roughly 40 times in my lifetime? (For those playing at home, that’s 100 hours of my life that I’ll never get back.)

“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.” — Ezekiel 25:17, as said by Samuel Jackson in Pulp Fiction

My response was pretty basic, cliché really: “The movie just speaks to me.”

Not that I’ve killed people, been part of a global crime syndicate, boxed professionally or been in that “Hanoi pit of hell.” I’ve heard so much about from the mercurial Captain Koons, but the dialogue in that movie is a visceral experience that so moves me every time I’m brought back into that world that I’m left wanting more.

So I keep going back to the well. Why?

Because it is direct, original, innovative, sometimes unsettling, and always ready to pounce on contradiction, false logic, trite language or ill-conceived actions. Pulp Fiction teaches us all to speak our minds, but not take assertions at face value.

So what does all of this mean for companies that want to get noticed and be valued in a bloated and often gimmicky global business landscape?

Bluntly, question everything you put out into the world for public consumption. Does what you say mean anything to anyone outside of your four walls? Does it capture the voice of and the challenges faced by your desired audience? Does it encourage them to join you in their quest to be better? If it doesn’t, don’t bother.

I’d suggest the following:

• Be relevant
  
• Be willing to see and exploit the hypocrisy, humor and “Hanois” in the world around you
  
• Be committed to building lasting and memorable dialogues with the people you hope to engage in life-long business — maybe even personal — relationships.

Anything less and you’ll run the risk of being forgotten, with prospects surfing right past you—be it on the Web, in a magazine, in the aisle at the grocery store, on TV, or some other tried-and-true medium. Your customers and business allies want you to be that familiar place with engaging, intelligent people who speak to them in a way that creates a sense of excitement and belonging.

What are you doing to cultivate that type of visceral, self-affirming experience?

In my effort to be your shepherd through the valley of cliché, tortured metaphors, and bone-dry prose with the appropriate buzzwords plugged right in, I pledge my allegiance to the companies that dare to be different, even a little disruptive in the marketplace to revolutionize the way business does business.

…capture the hearts and minds of your customers and competitors.

…make the world a better place.

…champion authenticity and real-world value in business relationships.

OK…this shepherding stuff may be little tougher than I thought.