More Matt Rife than Sebastian Maniscalco

I make no secret of my love for TikTok -- bite-sized videos that (when done well) can communicate an enormous amount of information; although - as many will attest, TikTok can be quite the rabbit hole to dive down.

Matt Rife is an extremely popular stand-up comic (who's not without his share of controversy -- it has no bearing on my article; but I do want to share that I'm aware of that). Rife can almost certainly attribute much of his celebrity and increased recently popularity to his short videos on TikTok. Rife is also well-known for his "crowd work" - where he interacts with members of his audience.

Sebastian Maniscalco has been popular for some time. For several years, he's done a podcast with a friend of mine from high school; so I've had opportunity to hear an awful lot of Sebastian. And, without doubt, his standup act -- the physical comedy, facial expressions, etc. -- is amazing; but his 'improv' work; his extemporaneous humor, is less so. In fact, it's through that podcast that I began realizing that so much great "stand-up" comedy is -- functionally -- acting ... and needs to be rehearsed repeatedly.

Obviously, crowd work can't be rehearsed -- you have no idea who'll be at a given show. And while I'm sure there are occasions where that crowd work bombs (and thus, isn't shared to various social media), it seems (for Matt Rife) that it works more often than it doesn't.

I want to swing to a different topic (but don't forget where we left off!). Way back in 1999, one of the seminal works on communications was published: The Cluetrain Manifesto. The book is dense, chock full of information; but one of the key takeaways (to me) was the admonition that practitioners should not bog down the social media/communication process by analyzing and calculating metrics on every tiny detail and post (and, of course, years later, we analyze and calculate metrics on every tiny detail and post ... even "heat" signals on websites).

Even with current practices, it's clear (if you read the work) that there is more than one way to be successful in that arena (even if, as of yet, not many have tried to do things the "Cluetrain" way). But, reading the work, you can't help but feel like, "Man, those guys really knew what they were talking about."

Back to comedy - knowing that, who is the "better" comic? Rife or Maniscalco? Maybe the right answer is: Neither is better? They're different. Maniscalco's act is so well-honed that you can't help but laugh - even though you know what's coming! Every gesture and facial expression has been optimized to guarantee the best laugh. Rife, on the other hand, might be quicker witted; but with a risk of leaving the success in the hands of the crowd.

One of the things I've noticed as I've interviewed (and, in some cases, even when I was working -- depending on the contract/company assignment); companies are split on whether they're more interested in "the plan" or "the outcomes."

At one of my last consultations, I was fundamentally handcuffed to begin actual "work" (after my initial audit had been completed) pending a step-by-step plan of every action I intended to take (this culminated in an "ask" that I design a monstrous spreadsheet which would contain EVERYTHING anyone could ever say in the workplace; with a flow-chart for each subsequent reply. I explained this was not the way communication happened -- humans don't use project plans to generate their responses. Nevertheless, tackling some of the most pressing issues was put on hold while a "plan" was generated.

I'm certainly not advocating for no plan -- far from it -- but, there's a reason I've always been happier to tie my outcomes to business-related results as compared to self-serving assessments. It doesn't do much good if my communication efforts are scoring at a 95% favorable rating; but the company is experiencing increased turnover and declining productivity. I'd rather skip the assessment that inquires, "How am I doing?" and -- instead -- see the results in the company's profitability and increased morale.

So much of great communications work -- in my eyes -- is less about the organized plan; and more about the agility to build relationships and implement (and edit) the projects that are best suited to fixing the issues present at that company. There is no one-size-fits-all solution; there's no guarantee that what worked at Company A will automatically be equally as effective at Company B. Rather, the most necessary skills for someone in internal communications are to be relatable and agile. With someone who can traverse across all lines and hierarchies of business; and modify approaches based on instant feedback; your employees will feel heard and valued. The ability to respond to the communications heading back from the front-lines and nimbly adjust is so absolutely vital; and -- almost certainly doesn't need to be memorialized in a project plan before any action can be taken.

In short, while the Sebastian Maniscalcos of the world can be hilarious -- and without doubt -- never a bad show; you need to hire the Matt Rifes to handle employee communications. Prioritize response over rehearsing; pivoting more than perfection.