Hamburg

Before they tasted success the Beatles spent two miserable years in Hamburg. They played in seedy clubs in the worst part of town. They played day and night, seven days a week. They slept in a store room next to the toilets, and quite often their performances matched their accommodations.

They spent countless hours on the stage, often playing to a virtually empty room. But they were free to experiment and there was no pressure to be good. As long as they were loud and they finished their sets the club owner was happy. As a consequence of playing so much, their playing improved. Over time they mastered their instruments, they learned to play together, they learned to improvise, they learned to play many different songs in many different styles.

By the time they left Hamburg in 1962 the Beatles were transformed. They had a new look, a new attitude, and a new sound. Within months they had their first big hit with "Please Please Me" ... the rest is history. Failure and hardship prepared them for success.

Every success story includes a stop in Hamburg. Malcolm Gladwell claims that almost anyone can succeed with a bit of luck and 10,000 hours of hard work. Seth Godin says the number of hours is not important; you just have to do whatever it takes to become the best in the world at what you do. Both are right. The bottom line is potential + effort = success. Most people have enough potential to achieve great things; very few put in the effort required to cultivate that potential into achievement.

I see plenty of potential for our industry to succeed online, but we're not allowing our people the time or freedom to cultivate that potential. There is no shortage of able people ready to roll up their sleeves and move the industry forward, but they are met with resistance every step of the way. Our best people get frustrated by the closed minds at the top and leave. [later: it's worth noting there are also plenty of closed minds in the middle and bottom of the MR layer cake] The experimenters are labeled heretics by those with a vested interest in the status quo. The MR dinosaurs can see the comet hurtling toward them, but they refuse to evolve while the money is still flowing into their pockets.

Evolution is natural. It's going to happen whether we like it or not. It's simply a question of when and where. Either we open ourselves to it and let it happen within our industry, or we continue to resist it until it takes root somewhere else and displaces us.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? We all need to spend some time in Hamburg.