Weekly Alert: Remembering the Muse of Big Ideas

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[Read more](54648/ct7_1/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow)by Ann Smarty [Distribution and Promotion] Some more of this week's best stuff: - [A Small Amount of Data Can Do It for B2B Personalization](54648/ct8_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow) by Dennis Shiao [High-Level Strategy] - [How to Get Valuable External Content Sources](54648/ct9_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow) by Ann Gynn [Content Creation] - [7 Ways to Unite Your Content Team in a Remote Work World [Tools]](54648/ct10_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow) by Emilie Moreland [Content Creation] - [Pondering the Power of Disruption and Risk in Content Marketing [The Weekly Wrap]](54648/ct11_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow) by Robert Rose [Trends and Research] - [Retool Your Demand-Gen Engine for High-Performance ABM [Video]](54648/ct12_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow) by Carlos Hidalgo [Chief Content Officer Exclusive] [] [] A Note From Robert Rose Remembering the Muse of Big Ideas Who shapes your ideas? In Greek mythology, nine muses gave artists and philosophers inspiration for their creations. There were muses for comedy, tragedy, sacred poetry, lyric poetry, dance, music, astronomy, and history. And then there was Calliope, the muse of epic poetry and the protector of heroic poems and rhetoric. According to legend, Homer turned to Calliope for the inspiration to write The Iliad and The Odyssey. I like to think of Calliope as the muse of big ideas. This week, the poets and philosophers of business art and science lost their Calliope: Clayton Christensen. The Harvard Business School professor was best known for his 1997 book, [The Innovator’s Dilemma](54648/ct13_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow). But his ideas on innovation, entrepreneurship, and life in the modern world span much more than business strategy. I was first introduced to Christensen’s work at a time when I was going through a bit of disruptive change. My transformation from artist (screenwriter and musician) to marketing professional had me immersed in the teachings of the Harvard Business School. In 1995, I read an article called [Disruptive Technologies: Catching the Wave](54648/ct14_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow). One sentence stopped me in my tracks: “Companies listened to their customers, gave them the product performances they were looking for and, in the end, were hurt by the very technologies their customers had led them to ignore.” Put simply, our job isn’t to meet the needs of the market, but to make markets where none exist. This observation marked the beginning of a journey I’m still on. When I was CMO of a small, startup software company, I reveled in articles like [Meeting the Challenge of Disruptive Change](54648/ct15_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow), and [Marketing Malpractice: The Cause and the Cure](54648/ct16_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow). The latter introduced me to an entirely new muse – Theodore Levitt – and the jobs-to-be-done framework. In 2010, as I struggled with my transition from CMO to entrepreneur, my Calliope was there with his perfectly timed challenge, [How Will You Measure Your Life](54648/ct17_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow)? In that article and his subsequent book, Christensen concluded that “management is the most noble of professions – if it’s practiced well.” And with that, I finally understood my role as a consultant. It isn’t to help companies succeed. No. It’s to help people learn, grow, evolve, and contribute to the success of a team. I never had the pleasure of meeting Clay Christensen. And I never sent him the letter I had written to explain what he has meant to my career over the last 20 years. I won’t make that mistake again – I’ll devote time to thanking the many others who have inspired me on my journey. Christensen, a member of the Latter-Day Saints community, was a spiritual man. His most recent book, [The Prosperity Paradox](54648/ct18_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow), which focuses on how innovation can help developing nations, has me feeling inspired all over again. So have his ideas on the changing nature of learning and teaching. In a 2013 interview, Christensen said that as technology has disrupted education (and as the delivery of content has moved online), the teacher’s most important “job to be done” is to inspire students to change and to “make sure that the spiritual part of students’ lives is being attended to.” When the interviewer asked him why that was important, Christensen replied, “It’s the only thing online learning can’t emulate.” That’s another big, Calliope-inspired idea I’ll take with me as I continue my journey. I hope when my life is measured, it will be by the standards set by Clayton, and at the level of inspiration he’s had on me. It’s your story. Tell it well. Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute This article from Robert is available only in this newsletter for you, the newsletter subscriber. If you have friends that would see value in Robert's weekly updates, please have them [subscribe](54648/ct19_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow). 54648/ct20_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow Tune in to the Weekly Wrap Listen to the latest episode and browse the show notes [right here](54648/ct11_1/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow). Or subscribe [on Apple Podcasts](54648/ct21_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow) or [Stitcher](54648/ct22_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow) so you’ll never miss a show. [] [] A Word from One of Our Content VIPs: Why We Click: The Psychology Behind a Great CTA What’s the difference between a click-worthy call-to-action and one that’s ignored? In this guide, we break down the psychology behind the best CTAs and how you can apply it to your own marketing strategy. [Download now](54648/ct23_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow) 54648/ct23_1/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow [] [] More From CMI 54648/ct24_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow Come to ContentTECH Summit to learn how new technologies and innovative processes are fundamentally changing what marketing and strategy will look like in the next two to five years. It's the place to be next April 20-22. Hear from some of the best in the business including Christopher Penn, Pam Didner, Lee Odden, Laura Ramos and more. Register today! Early bird rates end 2/14. [Code EM100 saves an extra $100.](54648/ct24_1/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow) [] CMI Video 54648/ct25_0/1?sid=TV2%3AAwPfip5ow Fifty-five percent of millennial moms are asked for their opinion about purchasing decisions, compared to 39% of total moms. But while black mothers have an enormous spending power and over-index in a number of CPG categories, three out of four moms still say companies have no idea what it’s like being a mom. 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