Department of Doing

Here's a conversation I'd like to have about an intersection in Devonport, Auckland. For a while there was just a simple shingle hanging above a doorway on a side street. Now that there is street front space available, The Dept of Doing has spread out a bit. Possibly this has something to do with what they've been doing.

I'm not exactly sure what that is, but I like the sound of it. I want one of their shirts.

Let me share some excerpts from their own fountain of creativity:

Amongst their lists of directives are a few things every business, agency or organisation can take notes on . . .

If someone comes to the Department with a problem, solve it for them. This is what The Department of Doing does. It is why we exist. . . . Anything is possible with effort and imagination.

We have learned by experience that business is more productive, more creative and more fun, when people trust and respect each other.

Never say, “That’s not my job”. The business world is full of organizers, planners, facilitators and managers. It doesn’t need any more. At the Department of Doing we only want doers. We are about making stuff, and making stuff happen. We are about taking clients’ problems and making them go away. That’s our job.

If you don’t know, find someone who does.

Not knowing is not a crime. Not caring is.
. . . We have a very tall building, and will not think twice about throwing people off the roof if they are in breach of Dept. Directive 5.

People associated with the Department of Doing are called Doers. I like that. They get things done. They don't just talk about it or pretend to know all about all, but they care deeply about getting things done, solving problems, applying creativity and ingenuity. I like that. I wanna be one of them.

Mario, one of the original Doers, describes The Department of Doing as a ‘spiritual home’ without the excesses, egos and endless meetings of big agency life, so that he can, simply, get things done.

An influence in the Department of Doing's sphere is a book called, The Knowing- Doing Gap by J. Pfeffer and R.I. Sutton (HBS Press, Boston Ma, 1999)

"The most menacing phenomenon most organizations face is the knowing-doing gap, where knowledge is not implemented. This phenomenon costs billions of dollars and failures of all kinds. The world is full of knowledge experts but short on doers who can implement knowledge personally and/or organizationally. The most destructive aspect of the knowing-doing gap is the substitution of various talking activities for action where myriad members of the organizations make decisions that change nothing. Other reasons for the gap are: entrenched and outdated culture, fear of change, internal competition, and measurements that lead nowhere.

The knowing- doing gap is common to most organizations. . . . " book summary

For someone like me who hates meetings, that sounds spot on! I wish I'd written it!

Another Department of Doing quote, "never forget the guy on the couch. As creatives, we have to connect with our target audience. What never ceases to bemuse me is how out of step with people’s ordinary lives most business folk are. And ad people can be some of the worst offenders."

I'd say people in my business are too, but let's not argue.

Click somewhere near here if you wanna read more of the interview with Mario McMillan.

I'm gonna go do something.