Last Thursday, a friend invited me to see a gifted young English singer-songwriter named Robert Leslie. I agreed, but couldn't stay long. I already made plans with a recovering drug addict, sex addict, and flamboyant jester. Russell Brand is equal parts Shakespeare, Lenny Bruce, and scatological stripper. He also embodies the strange, destructive power of success.

Unlike the small, dingy café where Robert triumphed, Russell would perform to a packed theater that already screamed TRIUMPH – all by itself. The crowd was pregnant with expectations. After all, Brand has shown flashes of genius. Doing hilarious interviews, schooling dim-witted TV hosts, and satirizing some contrived Hugo Boss event. Few performers have his gift of improvisation, language, or wielding sexuality like a rapier. That made his chosen subject, The Messiah Complex, that much more intriguing. Would Jesus or Gandhi surrender to a sexual deviant in tight pants?

The crowd greeted Brand with a two minute ovation as he peacocked across the stage. Sadly, what followed were tiny rations of wit served on giant plates of libido and narcissism. Brand propositioned female fans, gyrated in places where punchlines should go, and hid behind his mastery of language. It was like a Greek orgy where only one invitation got delivered.

If he were a 20 year old upstart, this might have felt like seeing Radiohead after their first album came out. Average material that has yet to match its performer’s potential. But Russell Brand is 38. He already sells out theaters at $60-$200 per ticket. And his stage persona is rooted in fame. Without it, he’d seem as strange as Siegfried and Roy working construction, sharing a studio apartment, and taking their Bengal tigers for walks through the neighborhood – while wearing golden robes.

The last time I saw Chris Rock, he did 20 minutes of hit-or-miss material opening for Louis C.K. at Caroline’s Comedy Club. Why? Because he’s great. Like Louis and Bill Burr, Chris spends a year doing small clubs to chisel rough ideas into a masterpiece worth hefty ticket prices.

Russell Brand performed like a kid who can pass the test by cramming the night before. He is on the verge of depriving his audience and himself of his full potential. And the worst part is - he doesn’t know it.

Hear Steve discuss this article on the Glimpse of Brilliance Podcast

Delusion

From beautiful models to high school football stars to young entrepreneurs, success can intoxicate. It can make others believe you have powers well beyond your field. It opens doors that others don’t know exist. Success and fame are at their most sinister when you start to believe your own hype. It’s why Michael Jordan decided to quit basketball to play baseball. It’s why Sylvester Stallone decided to do comedy. And why Apple tried to be a social network.

Part of the problem is success is a magnet for yes-men. Truth becomes a scarce commodity when an ecosystem of dependents spawns around you. Everyone laughs at your jokes, inflates your ego, and builds false confidence that dulls self-awareness. Even when good advice seeps in, it must duel cockiness.

Stream audio only:

I had a great conversation with Yifat Cohen about what I see happening in the global economy, the future of American Innovation and what you can do about it.  It's the first time I've spoken in such detail about some of the core ideas in my book, Econovation.  Get ready for the end of consumerism and rise of what I call 'producerism'. You can watch the video or listen to the audio podcast.

You can follow Yifat on Google+ and her YouTube channel.

Stream audio only:

I had a great conversation with Yifat Cohen about what I see happening in the global economy, the future of American Innovation and what you can do about it.  It's the first time I've spoken in such detail about some of the core ideas in my book, Econovation.  Get ready for the end of consumerism and rise of what I call 'producerism'. You can watch the video or listen to the audio podcast.

You can follow Yifat on Google+ and her YouTube channel.

 

 

The strange tale of Twitter, the anti-social network. Also listen to Steve's ABC Australia Interview on it.

Why am I writing about Twitter at midnight? Even Ashton Kutcher is icing his iThumb at this hour. I’m chasing a brainstorm for my keynote at New Media Expo/Blogworld on Sunday. My talk is about the future of social currencies and the new economics of work. Since launching several successful loyalty services at MasterCard and American Express, I've been obsessed with deconstructing what motivates us. That’s why social media and gamification are so amusing to me. They’re a shiny new set of controls that can change – or exploit human behavior. But before drunkenly commandeering The USS Twitter, it’s best to first meet its passengers. Like my 15 Faces of Facebook article last year, here is a deconstruction of Twitter – what it is, who uses it, and what motivates them.  In future articles, I’ll go deeper into tools to change both customer and employee behavior.

Listen to Steve discuss this article on ABC Radio Australia

Twitter is not what you think...

Twitter has 200 million active users, but is definitely not a social network. Though it looks social, it’s more hyperactive than interactive. Of the billions of tweets sent, 71% get no response, only 36% are worth reading, and a majority is generated by a tiny fraction of users. Twitter is a personal announcement system that captures the collective pulse of a world screaming for attention - or revolution, or discounts, or Kanye. Twitter is a tiny, evolutionary step towards a “global mind”. Making sense of that mind has spurred a gold rush of mind-readers trying to sell you shovels, pans, and a donkey. Of course, Twitter itself is evolving and like any analysis, this is a snapshot in time.

Who are the 10 Types of Twitterers?

Here is my deconstruction of the major behavioral groups on Twitter, what they do, and what they get out of it. The chart illustrates how a tiny population (bubble size) gets the greatest return (in followers) for each tweet. For each person they follow, the truly famous - or big spenders, have 25-500 following them.

 

Note: My analysis is based on stats from beevolve and proprietary sampling of about 25 random accounts in each category. (These are not representative, but directional. For segmentation purposes).

* Undead – Let’s get this one out of the way – 60% of Twitter accounts are inactive. They don’t tweet or maybe even exist. Some are unused second accounts, forgotten passwords, or reserved for babies yet to be born. We’ll never know because they’ll never tweet.

* Protector – Almost 12% of people lock up their accounts, making their tweets as precious as Platinum and harder to find than Rosie O’Donnell’s ballet slippers. Sure, they’re missing the entire point of Twitter, but they can sleep safe knowing no one will ever use their disjointed thoughts and hyperlinks to build an evil cyborg clone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vsDpSpypJs

Cirque du Soleil's Andy Levey joins Steve Faktor to discuss the business of social, including:

Can you make Charmin cool on social media?Is Mark Cuban alone at being mad at Facebook?Do platforms have monopoly power?The economics and future of Twitter and Google+How actionable is social data?Is the social user a real human or a "subset of humanity"Is buying fake followers like paying for a stripper?Who is a real influencer or expert? How to use brand ambassadors.Can you sell through social media?

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast here and visit ideafaktory for more daring ideas for innovators.

Awesome intro music by The Walkers

Listen:

Cirque du Soleil's Andy Levey joins Steve Faktor to discuss the business of social, including:

* Can you make Charmin cool on social media?

* Is Mark Cuban alone at being mad at Facebook?

* Do platforms have monopoly power?

* The economics and future of Twitter and Google+

* How actionable is social data?

* Is the social user a real human or a "subset of humanity"

* Is buying fake followers like paying for a stripper?

* Who is a real influencer or expert? How to use brand ambassadors.

* Can you sell through social media?

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast here and visit ideafaktory for more daring ideas for innovators.

Awesome intro music by The Walkers

Here's the audio of a fun interview I did this morning on NPR's Chicago station WBEZ about my 9 Corporate Personality Types article on Forbes.

Here's the audio of a fun interview I did this morning on NPR's Chicago station WBEZ about my 9 Corporate Personality Types article on Forbes.

 

 

Classic post that will change how you view the people in corporate. Read & listen to NPR interview.