American Idol - The Show That Almost Wasn't - Lessons on Empires and Organisations

(picture taken from the New York Times, 30 April 2006)

I just read on the New York Times a most insightful article on the arduous route that American Idol, that phenomenal hit on TV networks around the world, had to take to be aired.

The article traces the difficulties that the original inventors of the show, Simon Cowell and Darrell had in trying to persuade the American TV networks to support this new reality TV idea. What they faced were mainly arrogance, ignorance and disinterest, all from a know-it-all attitude from the studios' top dogs.

Below is an extract from NYT describing the cold self-enclosed wall of arrogance and ignorance faced by Simon Cowell, the famed producer and American Idol judge, when he first tried to pitch the show to the major American networks.

Despite the wall he sensed going up at the UPN meeting, Mr. Cowell, never cowed, simply plowed ahead with his pitch. "What this is really about is the American dream," Mr. Cowell told the American executives in his smooth British tones. He laid out the format for the show that he and Mr. Fuller were calling "Pop Idol" in Britain, describing how exciting this show would surely be. When Mr. Cowell wrapped up his comments, the room went quiet — stone silent.

At the opposite end of the table, a young woman executive, whom Mr. Cowell had identified in his head as the "lippy second-in-command," seemed to be calculating whether or not this truly was the end of the presentation.

"And what exactly do you think we're supposed to be doing for you?" the woman said, dismissively.

"Well, actually, sweetheart," Mr. Cowell replied, applying just a dash of acid, "it's more a question of what I could be doing for you."

Again a terrible silence fell. Then the woman piped up: "Well, we'll get back to you."

Mr. Cowell said he had heard that line before — too many times for it to bother him ...

From 'How a Hit Almost Failed Its Own Audition', by Bill Carter, The New Yoirk Times, 30 April 2006

Full Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/30/business/yourmoney/30idol.html

The lessons to be drawn are many: how to recognise talent, how to recognise current inadequacies, how to be vigilant and open-minded to suggestions and new life-lines, how not to be self-inflated in ego, how to be focused and humble in success, how to be undaunted in failures, and how to be excited about the possibilities and tasks of the next day rather than yesterday.
In this American Idol saga, one aspect that particularly strikes me is how some of the top executives in the highly successful networks become so complacent, self-important, and perhaps so ignorant and ill-informed, that they have forgotten how to really get down into the details and merits of a proposal. In short, they passed up the chance to rectify a situation, or to harness the potential of a new idea.

Sometimes, its seems that the Top Dogs in any organisation will be so overly puffed up in their self importance and self-know-it-all confidence that they simply forget how to appreciate a gem when they encounter one. They either treat suggestions, feedback/criticisms and new ideas pitched to them with condescension and scant regard, and worse still as personal affront to their empires. At times, they place themselves on a pedestal high up, looking upon all with benign largess and bestowed smiles. Tell them that the writing is on the wall, and that they ignore the signs at their peril, they will not believe it. They are oblivious to the very propsect of being made obsolete.

In history, when the rulers stopped self-evaluation and self-warning, when the rulers stopped watching and observing the signs, when the rulers stopped listening and improving, it spelt the beginning of a long demise. That was how great empires and kingdoms were overrun and disintegrated, that was how great rulers were overthrown, and in the last 100 years that was how big business companies and conglomerates were overtaken or bought over. Think about the fall of the ancient Macedonian Empire, the Persian Emprie, the Roman Empire; think about the endings of the Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty; think about MGM, IBM, Ford, General Electrics. They all fell at the end due to inner-weakness, lack of proper governance, over-reliance on hear-say and interference by sweet-whispering lackeys, and inflated egos ignoring all good advice from officials and the ground.

At the end of the day, there's a lesson here as we note how Fox Network (thanks to the incisive dictates of Murdock to 'Buy It NOW') managed to overtake the otherwise more powerful TV networks who had smugly given American Idol the passover. No one has the monopoly of knowledge and power for ever. One has to be nimble and humble, willing to really walk the ground and observe, able to recognise wise counsel and weak sweet-nothings, and willing to change direction, admit weaknesses/errors and take hard decisions. This is especially if one is in great power, for otherwise, he will choose to ignore the changes of trends and sentiments, and that will be the beginning of the fall.

And if we still don't see the point, think of Alexander the Great, and think of Julius Caesar.

But I digress. This insider's view of the putting together of American Idol is full of juicy bits of news nad comments, and is well worth a read.