By Kevin Lightfoot, vice president, Corporate Communications, Xerox
Pesky Zombies, they’re everywhere.
Every day, one of those droning, stiff-limbed creatures are getting in my way. Every single time I turn on the television – Zombies. I walk into the bookstore – again Zombies. Heck, even Brad Pitt is getting into act. And when I take my dogs for a run in a quiet, deserted meadow, they get distracted and start chasing after what seems to be nothing…or maybe…Zombies?
Thankfully, the only place I haven’t encountered Zombies is at work. While these non-thinking, single-purpose beings may be ideal in some sectors, such as sports commentary or marriage counseling, they wouldn’t be suited to our services industry – on either side of the table.
If you think I’m using the recent popularity of Zombies in a shameless attempt to make a point, well, you’d be right. Relevancy is the valid currency here.
The best clients are curious, inquisitive counterparts who enjoy the challenge of thinking through a business challenge to simplify how they meet their customers’ needs. They know their customers best and need the advice of equally innovative colleagues who know how to apply technology. That’s where we fit in.
With about 140,000 employees in the Xerox ranks, that is a lot of brain power. Like Xerox Research Fellow Lalit Mestha who is working on a way to use common web cameras to monitor a newborn’s vital signs without hooking the infant up to machines. Or saving us time in Los Angeles by installing a program that allows us to find a parking spot without driving around in circles like, well you know, like Zombies.
You don’t get to this point of innovation without asking the right questions. Or as John Cleese of Monty Python’s Flying Circus once said, having the discipline to be creative and allowing us to think differently.
So when trying to get to a different solution, Zombies need not apply.
We have the same problem with website build clients that we pick up. They know they want something…generally it helps to stick pictures in front of their face until the spark returns to their eyes. I think the Zombie effect has more to do with corporate grind than non interest or willingness to engage. Everyone has a button. It is our job as creative thinkers to find it, push it, and lite a fire.