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Artificial Harmony

Lesson 16 from: FAST CLASS: A Brand Called You

Debbie Millman

Artificial Harmony

Lesson 16 from: FAST CLASS: A Brand Called You

Debbie Millman

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Lesson Info

16. Artificial Harmony

Lesson Info

Artificial Harmony

You're also going to have a sense of how an interview is going. You're going to have a sense, "This is going well," or "This isn't going well." But sometimes, somebody will give you the indication that it's going well, even though you think it's not going well. And that's like kind of knowing when somebody is lying to you. So, Patrick Lencioni in a book called "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" has a term for this and he calls it artificial harmony. And artificial harmony is the state of a meeting where both people involved in the meeting don't want to acknowledge that it's really not going that well. What do you do? What do you do in a situation like that? Do you just chalk it up to a bad interview? Do you wonder for the rest of your life what you did wrong? I find that the best way of getting through those experiences is to very gingerly, very sensitively, acknowledge it. And I do this in a very, very simple way. If I get the vibe, the really strong vibe, that somebody is not digging ...

what I'm showing them, I will say, "I'm getting the sense "that maybe you don't really like this work." And instantly, you find out, you instantly find out. And it breaks the tension of the room. And they'll say things such as, "Yeah, it's not really doing it for me." Or they'll say, "No, some of it I like, and some of it I don't." Or best possible scenario, they say, "Oh no, I'm just in a bad mood." (audience laughing) "I love it." And then, you know. But if you don't do that, a couple of things are going to happen. Well, only one has a happy ending, and that is, you don't say anything, but they really were in a bad mood, and they do love you and they call you. But two other things could happen, either you never ever hear from them again, and you wonder, "What did I do? "What was wrong?" Or they actually tell you in an email or a phone call that you're not gonna be hired. And you don't learn anything. You don't learn anything about what it was that went wrong. And so we come all the way back to "The longest way round is the shortest way home," as James Joyce would say. And we come all the way back to what do you want to communicate? What do you wanna leave people with? You wanna leave people with a sound understanding of what you stand for, your unique beliefs and benefits, stated with stature and sincerity. And then, once you've done all of that, you ask about next steps. You always have to ask about next steps. I want you to, at the end of every interview, talk about what would the logical next steps be. That's all you have to say. What are the logical next steps? You always wanna make it clear that you want this job. Not in some crazy, aggressive, when-are-you-expecting-to-hire-me kind of question. Just what are the next steps? 'Cause you always want to make it clear that this is something that you want, which is hard for people, 'cause we don't always know if somebody is going to give that back to us, if they're gonna want us. But you have to be vulnerable in that moment and say, "What would the next steps be?" You can also ask a question like "Is there anything that you haven't seen "that you'd like to see from the candidate for this job?" Because maybe they haven't seen everything that they wanna see. You might have other things that you can show them. But again, you only want things in your portfolio that you love. Your ultimate goal in any interview is one thing, it's not even the job offer, mutuality, the process by which you are able to passionately convey a message in a manner that is enthusiastically contagious. And the mutuality that you want to be able to achieve in this interview is you want the job and they want to hire you.

Ratings and Reviews

Hilary Larson
 

I was not expecting to get so much out of this accelerated class! Debbie is a captivating speaker who manages to get her points across directly while maintaining a strong sense of relatability with her audience. I really look forward to taking what I have learned here with me as I move forward in my career as a visual artist. Highly recommended.

Michelle
 

This class is for a specific audience - young or new-to-the-field designers. It is NOT a branding class for the regular person. The class description is misleading. However, there are bits and tips that anyone can benefit from, but you have to sit through the entire presentation to get those bits and tips. I am not a designer. Because I had the all-access pass, I dipped in and out of different classes, speeding up and skipping as needed. I found enough value in this Fast Class: A Brand Called You to watch it, rather than the long one. I can see how this would benefit new designers as they job hunt.

Matías Obando Ruiz
 

Debbie the OG

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