The Arrested Development Factor: When Being Great Isn’t Enough

Are you good at what you do? Are you great at what you do? If “no,” stop reading and go get better. If, “yes,” keep reading, because being great may not get you anywhere…

I have recently been re-watching the genius that is (was) Arrested Development. If you are unfamiliar, Arrested Development is a TV show that lasted for three seasons between 2003 and 2006. It was a critical success – reviewers loved it, and it was showered with awards (including a “Best Comedy Series” Emmy win in 2004 and “Best Comedy Series” Emmy nominations in 2005 and 2006).

As a person who loves funny TV, Arrested Development is one of my favorites of all time. It’s hilarious. And smart. And unique. And…well, it’s just freaking awesome! It’s been off the air for years, but you can watch it on DVD:

Sadly, America didn’t get into it. For whatever reasons, despite the critical raves, the show never got the ratings it needed and was cancelled in 2006.

Yes, one of the funniest comedies ever, a show that Time magazine listed as one of “The Top 100 Shows of all TIME,” failed.

The lesson here is that sometimes, being amazing is just not enough.

Let me be clear: I still think being good being absolutely freakin’amazing at what you do is critical, and is the best marketing strategy you have. But still, just being amazing is not enough.

Here are four things you can do, in addition to being amazing, to avoid a fate similar to Arrested Development

Blow Your Own Horn

In the business world, this is called “marketing.” In the dating world, this is called, “getting yourself out there.” In the acting world, this is called, “going on auditions.” In the world in general, this is called, “getting off your ass and doing something.”

I have to admit, as much as I love Arrested Development, I didn’t watch it when it aired. I don’t remember too much about the marketing; I just remember seeing some ads and thinking, “eh, there’s another Fox comedy.”

Would better marketing have helped Arrested Development? Maybe. But it certainly wouldn’t have hurt.

Being great is awesome, but people have to know you’re great. There is very little benefit to being amazing at something if only you, your spouse, and your cat know it (and trust me, your cat doesn’t really care. No matter how well you think you communicate with her…).

When I say “being amazing is the best marketing strategy you have,” I really mean “demonstrating your awesomeness in the delivery of your service or product is the best marketing strategy you have.” I am not implying that you can be successful by being amazing in your apartment, twiddling your thumbs.

Demonstrating your awesomeness is marketing. Sitting around thinking about your awesomeness is the fast track to starring in a Bruce Springstein Glory Days video.

However good you are, you need to get the word out. Demonstrate what you do. Write articles. Go networking. Make cold calls. Find activities that match your strengths, but do something.

Question: What are you doing, today and everyday, to let people know you are great?

(Logical Disclaimer: This isn’t about bragging or being arrogant. It’s about realizing that if you don’t care about getting the word out, no one else will either)

Maximize Your Chances For Success

I find the art of TV scheduling both fascinating and dumbfounding. Why do some shows get put in certain slots? Why do some shows get moved? Why bother moving a failing show to an even worse slot instead of just canceling it out-right?

Some very good shows failed because they were buried in a bad slot. Some failed because they kept getting moved around from slot to slot. Others failed because of a bad match to their “lead in” show.

Granted, timing isn’t everything. If you put a bad show between Friends and Seinfeld on Thursday night (one of the most coveted time slots in TV history), you still won’t get past the fact that your show is The Single Guy or Boston Common. However, if you put a good show in a bad time slot, it’s likely to struggle.

This is about maximizing your chances for success. A mediocre show in a great slot may very well outperform a great show in a bad slot. Networks tend to give the shows they most believe in the best slots to increase the likelihood that they will gain a following.

In the same way, you should maximize the chances for your own success. You can do this by:

• Focusing your marketing activities on people with the highest chance of buying.
• Surrounding yourself with positive people who support and help you.
• Spending your time on tasks that have the greatest chance of bringing success instead of messing around with “busy work”
• Doing what you can to be in the “right place at the right time” (yeah, you can’t totally control this, but 99% of the time “on my couch watching TV” is not the right place or time).

Question: How are you maximizing the chances for your own success?

Be Spreadable

The challenge with some great shows, such as Arrested Development, is that they are very hard to jump into “mid-stream.” If you try to start watching at episode 12, you may feel lost and quickly lose interest.

This would also make it hard for the people who love the show to spread the word to others. There’s only so many times you can hear your friend say, “You don’t watch Babylon 5??? It’s sooooo good!!” before you want to punch him in the face while yelling, “I tried, it makes no sense!!” Or worse, when your uber-fan friend tries to give you the back story of the last 2.5 seasons by talking at you for what feels like 2.5 seasons…

Fortunately, your product or service is probably not so linear. That is, people who haven’t known about you since the day you hung your shingle won’t feel lost. But, you should still ask yourself, “how spreadable is my business?”

Does your name, website, slogan, marketing materials, etc. immediately let people know what you do, or do they get lost when they look at your stuff?

Is it so simple that someone who doesn’t work for you could easily spread the word about it?

When someone asks, “what do you do?” do you have a concise answer or do you blather on like a pageant contestant talking about maps and geography?

It’s easy to overlook this point. You may be so familiar with what you do that you assume:

1. Everyone already knows what you do
2. Everyone “gets it.”

I have friends who have known me for years who still introduce me as things that I am not (I have never branded myself as a “success coach,” but some people insist on introducing me that way). Don’t assume everyone “gets you”; make certain they do.

Question: How spreadable are you and your products and services? What can you do to make it easier for people to understand what you do and spread the word?

Be Persistent

To Fox’s credit, they did give Arrested Development three seasons. Sadly, even after three years, the show failed to find its audience.

That kind of persistence is admirable. It is also rare these days. (“Lone Star” was a new show this season and received great reviews. It also got cancelled after just two episodes).

Some things take longer to develop and you need to have the long term view and persistence to see them through.

Seinfeld, arguably the most successful sitcom of all time, struggled its first three seasons. After the show’s premiere, NBC tried to sell the show to Fox!

The ratings juggernaut that we all remember, the show who’s finale 76 million people(!) tuned in for (never have so many tuned in to watch so little…), did not even crack the top 30 in the ratings until season 4!

Fortunately, a few people at NBC fought for the show, and the rest is history.

Stay at it! If you believe in yourself and what you are doing/selling/offering (and if you don’t, you need to rethink your plan and start with that), then keep at it. Even the most successful sitcom in history needed a few years to find it’s legs.

Question: Are you willing to be persistent? Do you believe in yourself enough to keep at it, even if things don’t go well at first?

I’d really like to believe that “being good” is enough. That would make life so much easier. Sadly, there is a lot more to success than just your own talent. So yes, be good. Be amazing. Be, as Steve Martin puts it, “b so good they can’t ignore.” But in addition to that, blow your own horn, be spreadable, maximize your chances of success, and be persistent. Do all those things, and you may avoid turning yourself into the next Arrested Development…

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