Duffbert's Random Musings

1 - Now that's a great quote...

My issue is that I believe that when you look in the eyes of a lot of the Lotus community's members, you do see the Lotus logo, and I think we do get infected and carry the torch.

Yet, I really do think that IBM do not get evangelism in the sense that Kawasaki means. The passion, the belief in the product, the dream... Certain individuals do, but not the organisation.

2 - That's why I put the "actively supported evangelists" at the end. They *have* evangelists. It's just that too few of them work for IBM/Lotus, and the ones that do get far too little support (as do the ones who *don't* work for them.)

3 - I think as a rule, IBM see their products as a business while Apple see their own as a way of life.

A "way of life" is far more likely to lead to radical (radical in a good way) behavior. Just look at Tunisia.

4 - Let's not forget, that Apple also has great products that are simple to use, look beautiful, and get you laid.

5 - It's a different mindset. IBM could point to "many" evangelists within the organization, including, I am sure, to some within the IBM Lotus area. But for the most part, I would imagine that role is served by Sales Reps, Technical Reps, and so on. They may even point to the PlanetLotus and say that is evangelism.

While you are reading The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs, I am reading Wikibrands. Another book that has many lessons for those inclined to learn more about social media, customers, marketing, and brands. As I read through the book, I am struck by compare/contrast with what I see from IBM. Sure, IBM is mentioned (for Connections), however their use of "Community" and "Customer" seems to be much different from what the authors point out as "Best Practices." The "Lotus Knows" campaign is, I hate to even say this, very traditional (you may argue that it is not, however look at where the message is delivered and by whom).

Reading is dangerous.

6 - To Volker's point, Steve Jobs understands (and successfully drives throughout most of the company) Frederick Brooks' concept of conceptual integrity - a purity of design that makes the products easier to rally around and therefore evangelize.

It's tough to evangelize products that are pulled in too many different directions at the same time.

7 - I know some people have been asked on twitter to discuss evangelist efforts via IBM and us on the outside. I will be speaking to people about it as well.
IBM has a Tiger Team which is made up of what we would think of as evangelists.
These people predominantly do not blog on the outside and hopefully do on the inside.
I have meetings at LS11 with some people on this as well.
What you need to understand is the people exist, but the issue is quotas/targets and goals and if your state/region/product is not on a list, or funded for that person to get there then usually the request will not get completed.
Management may have a travel budget or expect the local region to pay for it, internal politics, it happens. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Shaping one's imagination to see a future reality is what it is about, but it is not an easy task. Also these people rarely stay someplace for more than a day or 2. It is up to the local sales force to really win the deal, the evangelists role is to set a course and vision.
Now, maybe training of sales people and evangelists needs to be more in synch. Not sure where the problem lies.

8 - Apple's chief virtue was patience. Bear in mind that Apple's evangelism took a very, very long time to build them out beyond a relatively small cult-like following into the wildly successful results that they have today. And indeed evangelism alone wasn't responsible for the change in Apple's fortunes. Their break-out success was due to innovative products that defined or re-defined categories. At best, evangelism was one of the factors just keeping them alive until technology was available to really bring their simple and beautiful products to a mass audience at a price point where their cost premium was not as much of a hurdle as it had always been.

9 - Richard, great point. Apple, early on, realized that their fanatics made an excellent resource. "Cult-like," yes, however they were always trolling the boards and UseNet groups. You just bought some strange, new computer, turned to the boards, and received fast, accurate answers. Evangelism certainly helped Apple, and I think they knew how to leverage it.

Fast forward, and they still employ fanatics; just look at who staffs their Apple Stores. Now, it is a little easier as their products have moved beyond the cult into mainstream. Richard, I believe as you do; their evangelists helped keep them alive and somewhat relevant until they released their breakout hits (iPod and iMac, IMHO).

If Apple and their "cult" interests you, I highly recommend The Cult of Mac, by Leander Kahney:

{ Link }

10 - IBM is a much larger organization with a much more diversified set of products than Apple. Apple is much more focused on a few products. IBM operations are pulled in so many directions that it is hard to have a focus. Lotus is really the only user facing brand for IBM and how it is market and brand needs to be different that the other IBM brands. However, IBM uses the same approach as the other brands. Apple on the other hand is a pure user focused company. All their products interacts with the consumer.

11 - But not to get hung up on Apple being the only example... look how Microsoft has leveraged the "evangelist" role. You can make the case (and quite well) that their products are nowhere near what Apple creates, but they have captured the hearts and minds of many, and they certainly have many people fighting their battles.

12 - @11 has a good point. MS and Apple (and now Google) have given us cultural nomenclature.

People say Windows, Office, Outlook when they mean OS, Office (ok, letter writing and spreadsheeting) and email.

We all "google".

We all "iPod".

IBM have given us what? The "IBM Compatible PC"? And they choose not to hold on to that.

13 - @11 - Robert Scoble, for example, back in the day?

Fascinating that you throw that idea out and Robert is the name that comes to my mind.

14 - Microsoft's evangelists have always been the developers, admins and consultants who make their living supporting Microsoft stuff. It is much the same with Lotus, too. Apple, on the other hand, gets end-users to be their evangelists in far greater numbers.

15 - Actually, I should have said "in far greater proportion to their numbers".

16 - maybe a shortcut: can't those executives be replaced?

17 - @16 - even though I write this with some hesitation, it may have validity.

One of the many reasons the Cleveland Browns football team sucks so bad, is that they change coaches every 2-3 years. The longest a coach has been in place, since they came back in 1999, was 4 years. Before that, I think that you have to go back some years before you find a coach that lasted more than 3 years.

Is that a valid anecdote for IBM Lotus? I don't know.

But what I can tell you is that evangelism starts in the CEO/COO office. I am not saying that Sam Palmisano should be evangelizing Lotus software (maybe to the people on boards that he shares) but Alistair Rennie certainly should be leading the charge.

Wow, some yahoo in Cleveland is creating tasks for the GM of Lotus. That's pretty gutsy (or stupid).

18 - There is one thing missing in this discussion, and that is emotion.

Apple customers are often emotionally attached to the product. I have had some late night panic calls from young women whose iPhone would not work anymore. I just had to tell them to press two buttons for 10 seconds to make them very very very happy. [Insert your own joke here] This emotion breeds evangelism for the product.

Microsoft does not share this emotion anymore. What they have is inertia. People are generally afraid of change, so the biggest competitor to Microsoft's products is often an old version of their product. Once people do make an upgrade, they deem a new Microsoft product a smaller risk than any other change. They will even look for Microsoft Office on the Mac although it is a completely different product.

Now for Lotus, I know a few of you weirdos are emotionally attached to Notes, but that is hardly the case for the millions of Notes users. And that's OK, since Word oder Outlook users also hate the product, but they just don't dare to change.

So the big mistake you can make here is to think you can transfer your emotion to others. That will not work. Your product has to be better, and at least three times better, tangibly, for the end user. If it isn't, and believe me, Notes isn't, that will not work. Period.

Which leads me to the biggest mistake evangelists make. They believe the other people are blind. Where it's them which are blindly in love.

As for the paid evangelists, you can pay for sex as well and confuse it with love.

19 - Volker,

That was a great analogy.

20 - It's easy to get IBM exec's will evangelise heart and emotion. Just put it in their KPI's.

This reminds me of Disney's recent transformation in their movies/animation division. I saw an interview with John Lasseter who took over Disney's animation production, as chief creative officer, a couple of years ago.

The story goes like this. When Disney bought Pixar in 2006, he got all the "Creatives" together for lunch, and throughout the afternoon pointed out the direction of the organisation.

At the end of it, he said, "...now, to keep your job, you have to be able to draw. If you can't or won't draw you have to go."

Almost all of them resigned. He promoted those who could not only draw but also have the passion for the medium and the telling of stories.

So, he wanted to keep people with heart and passion to produce good content. Software development is not much different in many ways. We produce software to make the world a better place not just meet quota. Yep, airy-fairy stuff, but if the IBM exec's can't "draw" then why are they there. Give them the boot! Because Domino and Lotus Notes is getting murdered out there.

21 - I agree product/technology would be helpful for IBM/Lotus. Microsoft has gained a lot of mindshare with their tech evangelists. The key is getting the right IBM executives to realize this.

The odd thing is that MS has been cutting the tech evangelist budget with their relentless cost cutting drive. The Microsoft's corporate bureaucracy may ultimately prove their own worst enemy....!