By Lindsey Ducroz
A wise man once sang a tune…
I saw this ole’ dog chasin’ this rabbit
I…saw a dog chasin’ this rabbit
I…saw this ole’ dog chasin’ this rabbit
It was on Sunday, around Noon.
I said the rabbit, “Ya gunna make it?”
I said to the rabbit, “Are ya gunna make it?”
I said to the rabbit, “Ya gunna make it?”
The rabbit said, “Well, I GOT to!”
That disheveled-haired man is Austin legend and favorite, Ray Wylie Hubbard.
Ray sings many metaphorical tunes. Or maybe I’m in a metaphorical state when I listen to them…eh, same/same. Regardless, this is my favorite. To me, it’s the perfect description of our agency core value, Restlessness.
This value is often hard to describe, and I’m not sure I have acquired the acoustic skills to sing this version to our new employees, much less when giving tours of the idea mansion to visitors. Would that be weird? Not in Austin. So, I’m working on it for your entertainment.I reflect on the story our SVP of the people department Dorian Girard told me once as she was exploring the definition of the word. She told me before understanding the agency’s definition of the value, she had only heard the term restless from her Aunt (pronounced Ain’t) Iny-Ruth growing up in south Texas, and it was used to describe that one man in the town who strayed away from his spouse, and not after a rabbit (at least not the furry, woodland kind, I hope). You know Edith, he was just restless. Just restless, I tell ya.
Another description by a well-dressed former employee goes something like this. “Restlessness and Curiosity are like two sides of a coin. Restlessness is the attitude and curiosity is the intellect. Together they push us to do new things.”
Our definition of Restlessness is summed up in a single word…NEXT. Though I like the coin symbolism and feel that Restlessness is the means to curious endings, Restlessness is the how and curiosity is the what. We have to be curious first, then approach that curiosity with a ferocious Restlessness (the enemy of satisfied).
In an industry that demands, awards and respects novelty at Liger pace, restlessness isn’t just a value, it’s a constant existence. It has to be. We can’t sit comfy on our laurels. Laurels are already yesterday’s news. They don’t matter as much as what’s NEXT for our brands, and we have the responsibility to create it. Just like the rabbit, we GOT to.
Plug Alert: http://raywylie.com/
