Dining with Della: Colin Macrae at Phnom Penh
November 07, 2016
Colin Macrae is a Senior Director of Communications at Electronic Arts. We met in 2000 and worked together at Quay Strategies. Our shared clients included companies like Shaw Communications, Peoplesoft, E-Comm and MDS Labs (now Lifelabs). Colin came to Quay after working at Microcell on the big success story of Fido.
He has been at EA for 11 years. We have done consulting work for this fast paced game producer and can attest to the quality of their work. Through his tenure, Colin now embodies global thinking and the digital world. It is great to know someone over the span of 16 years and see their capabilities continually evolve and expand.
We had lunch at Phnom Penh, a local Vietnamese joint that is so popular, it is packed from 10am onward. I arrived at 11:30 and still had to wait for "family" seating. I actually like sitting at the big round table with other patrons as you get to check out what they order. Colin loved it too. Of course, we had the chicken wings... everyone orders the wings as a side dish. As Colin said it is "crack chicken", so addictive. Not good for the arteries but de-lish!
As we caught up over lunch, Colin talked about his volunteer work for the Board of Trade, Leaders of Tomorrow mentoring program. He has been mentoring up and coming leaders for 7 years. You can see he gets the biggest charge out of helping people advance and grow. He shared a story of a fellow he mentored who started with a small video company and is now a big success. The joy Colin gets from his volunteer experience is obvious and inspiring.
Colin talks the same way about his daughters. There is something incredibly enduring about people who thrive on the achievements of others.
What one bit of communication impacted your life?
Colin's big learning has always come from being put in a situation where you are most challenged. "Where you know just enough to get in the door before being kicked out" is how he describes the feeling. For example, when he worked at Fido and was thrown into public meetings or later through EA when put on huge national stages - this is when he says great things happen. He quotes Malcolm Gladwell's "thin slicing", where you know just enough on the song sheet to get to the next note. Apropos example for a guy who plays in a band.
Thin slicing comes via Gladwell's book, Blink. Here is an explanation - to 'thin-slice' refers to the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behaviour based on very narrow slices of experience. Mr. Gladwell says it is part of what makes the unconscious so dazzling.
Colin talks about the challenges of being in a field for 20 plus years and making sure you force yourself into scary situations. He is glad to be in an industry that is constantly changing so fast.
As Colin noted, while the speed of work keeps escalating and changing, the strategy for good communications does not. The core craft of storytelling might have been ancillary ten years ago but now it is everything. It is the engine. Even through his global work there is always the need to create engaging content, that is universal.
What did not work...
Colin said he has not had a lot of failure but that in itself is failure. He believes the nature of communications work is to mitigate risk. It is in the communicator's DNA. And, he thinks that might result in a whole bunch of missed opportunities.
Colin has been trying to take more risks in the last few years. On the personal side, he and his family have started stand up paddle boarding. While still a novice, he decided to enter a race and came in dead last. This was tough for a guy who runs marathons, has done triathlons and is accustomed to doing well. I said, "good for you, at least you did it!" "Noooo," he replied, "losing is totally overrated". We talked about it for a while and he finally agreed (I think) failure would have been choosing to not go for it.
He really did not like coming in last.
What if...
What advice would you give to your younger self to enhance your ability to communicate with others – and why?
Colin would tell his younger self to focus more on being a voice at the table. He feels communicators waste a lot of time trying to please or protect others. He remembers when marketers ran the show and likens it to the Aesop's fable and analogy of the sun and wind fighting over who can get the traveler to remove his coat. The wind (marketer) blows hard at the traveler make him hold his coat tighter. The sun (communicators) warm up the traveler so he is compelled to take off his coat.
He has recognized it is a lot easier to come up with questions in a meeting versus answers and sees the difference between those that want to hear their own voice and the "sense seekers". As he says, questions are the monologue, answers are real currency. Colin is definitely a sense seeker. He has been reading Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back When You Need It by Marshall Goldsmith. The author also does a series of thought provoking videos. Colin said it makes him realize the importance of being the optimist in a room, no matter what is happening. Mockingly he yells, "We are all going down... but at least we are together!" Classically funny Colin but his point is well taken.
Oh, and he adds advice for others. Always be early. Plan to arrive everywhere 15 minutes early. Gotta love him for that one. One of my biggest pet peeves too. People who constantly arrive late for meetings (unless there is a good excuse) seem inconsiderate and disrespectful of everyone else. Colin was right on time for lunch.
(Final word from Della: Colin travels a ton for work and says he finds it important to make every place (airplane, hotel, cities) feel like home. To make that happen, he carries items such as a favourite notebook, hat, etc. He includes the pen we gave him as a parting gift from Quay as one of those comfort items. He left the company in 2003 and said he uses the pen every day and it brings back fond memories. I have to admit, I don't recall the pen but the sentiment warmed my heart, gave me a little lump in my throat and brought a tear to my eye.)
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