Artists sign their paintings. Custom bike and car makers have the name of the person who assembled the engine on it. Every company that has ever been a brand has its logo at all customer touch points. All these are signatures of endorsement, of approval and of an unwritten assurance coming from person or the company, personally — assuring quality.
What this implies is, that over a period of time what a company ‘signs-off’ , will decide what they perceive as good, bad or great. Apple never signs of shit products. It probably never will. That’s the value their signature carries. Tesla will never sign-off a car without ensuring that it delivers the highest level of quality to its buyer. Harley-Davidson will not sign-off any bike they make just to make a sale. These signatures are valuable assets of the organisation — sometimes even more so than their products in some cases. This value has been built over years and years of not just building great products, but also by saying no to the bad ones.
The value of these companies, over time, is not their technology, or their supply chain, or their charismatic leaders — but its the diligence, almost borderline stubborn nature with which they reserve their ‘yes’ and ‘go-ahead’ only for the best.
Signatures also translate to human endorsements. Every time you and I have signed off a piece of paper, or have given a go-ahead to a project, a product, or said “It was an amazing movie” it means that we have personally given our endorsement to it. Today with social media and apps, approving something happens at the click of a ‘like’ or a ‘share’, or a ‘retweet’, or in some cases, swiping right inside an app. We sign off that viral video with a ‘like’ because its so damn easy, the button is right there. We then recommend that new movie to a friend — because hey, ‘we stand a chance of winning free tickets if we just share this link with friends’. We send about 10 resumes to HR because even if one gets through, we get that referral bonus (boo-yah!).
Many of these things, simple as they are, are essentially your signatures of endorsement and approval on them. We don’t think about it, since we aren’t accountable for it. If that movie I recommended sucks, I’m not accountable. If that referral I sent in, is actually a big ass — not my problem anymore (I got the referral bonus by now didn’t I!). But, we are accountable, we just don’t know it yet. Over time, just like brands, what I sign off starts building a story of who I am.
Over time, I will become “That person who…..”. How the sentence finishes will be story that I have written for myself and the brand I have created, of myself, unknowingly.
I can be “That person who never approves any design unless its pixel perfect” or I can also be “That person who recommends all the shitty eateries in town.” or is it “That person who truly follows an open door policy.” Who I become is an aggregation of all the big and small endorsements I have made over time.
Knowing this, how quickly will you say yes to that QA report, how quickly will you say ‘Looks Good’ to a project approval, how quickly will you say “This guy is the perfect person for this job.”
Pick your endorsements carefully, because your signatures will remain forever.
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Follow me on twitter: @shwaytaj . Or don’t, I don’t tweet much.
Currently working with an amazing team, on a super product.