This was Maya's first brainstorming activity that was to take place in the newly designed room with sleek glass walls and equipped with state-of-the-art technology as she walked in for the first meeting. The room was full of smart and talented people at Catalyst— And then there was Maya, freshly onboarded to the team; her anxiety swarming in her stomach. Ryan assumed the leadership right from the beginning of the meeting to decide what he wanted out of it. He sounded very sure of himself as he explained what the campaign was all about.
'There is still a search for the plan that will serve to make Starlight Industries more than just a tech firm; this has to be a company whose image people identify with", he said and looked around to get nods. "Innovation is key. But more than that, it is – and always was – about trust. Starlight has to become a brand associated with people's interaction in a world filled with modern technology. Closely Mayan observed him all the while listening to his words. However, as he talked Maya saw the mantle settling on her shoulders with the great weight of the expectations. This was no ordinary project. This was Starlight a moment for Catalyst to make a true opportunity for making their mark on the industry.
When Ryan started to explain the details of the campaign, Maya began to lose confidence. She didn't care much about big business plans—she loved creativity, the part where she could explain things with passion and where she could make people care, but she had no such opportunity with Ryan. It was all about the data, KPIs, and outcomes. There she was silent afraid to utter a word, unsure of where she belonged in such a competitive world. The conversation continued, and team members started suggesting more ideas to the front—hashtags, viral challenges, and influencer marketing. Maya had no empathy for any of it. This made her feel like a stranger in the room who had no idea how she could be of help to the rest of the people in there.
Finally, the meeting ended and as we got up Maya was busy drawing something on the paper that lay in her notebook. She thought about an advertising campaign that people can relate to – not a commercial with beautiful models and machines, but a story about the regular employees at Starlight, the ideas those engineers came up with, and what they have to struggle for when inventing this technology.
A Few days later
One afternoon, Maya was alone looking through Starlight's employee database on her laptop at work, sitting in the breakroom, when she saw Priya and Ahmed arguing as usual. "All right, tell me," Priya was saying. "Who in this office would be the world's worst karaoke singer?"
Without even lifting her head from her laptop, Olivia quickly put up her hand. But then she smiled and said, "Ryan Turner" There was one optimistic remark, however: I'd never heard the man sing and I had no doubt he could not sing at all if the ability depended on him.
"Ryan? No way!" Priya laughed. "He's a robot. I am sure he sings opera while taking a shower."
"It has more in common with figuring out where to hit the mark of a note to the tenth mark," Ahmed said.
'He'd overanalyze to the extent he'd get lethargic,' Liam snorted.
"Exactly. 'I give myself five minutes to study how the atmosphere will look before I start singing and to adjust the volumes for the songs'. The two girls – Priya and Maya – turned beet red while Ahmed just joined the two together in laughter.
And for a second, she felt happiness consuming her and the burden of the Starlight project freeing her for a while. Priya who standing behind her casually glanced at Maya's screen. "Hey, you are still writing that campaign pitch, right?" she asked and her tone changed suddenly to a more serious one. Maya bit her lip, hesitating. "Yeah. It should… I mean it is…" "Look" Priya waved as she walked to sit on a chair opposite where Maya was seated. That doesn't sound like I am attacking but honestly, has Ryan been actively disregarding all our inputs lately?" "Yeah right," Maya said bitterly and she placed her fingers on the keyboard ready to type. That means I know he is my boss but it seems like anything I am planning never even gets out of my head.
"Yeah I know what you are doing," replied Priya, bending slightly in the middle as if they were taking a secret.
"But you know what? Starlight needs you. Oh, you got that whole… real angle down. That thing where you don't just tell people about what you're selling, but tell them that they know the product personally. Ryan can't get it, but I guess you do."
Maya sat up straighter. "You think so?" Priya nodded firmly. It means that you have something else that you need to contribute. It has hit the ground running but I hardly think Ryan is fully aware of it. That was the smile on Maya as I told her, 'Just… keep doing your thing.' Filled she was with a strange new confidence seeing Priya vote for her, Maya decided to come out of her shell. Late that night, after getting off from work, and eating a poorly chosen burrito from a food truck out on the road, she returned to work. It began to occur to me that it is all about real people, real stories. Instead of using the message built upon the breakthroughs that defined Starlight's products, she would use the message that she had connections with people who made those products possible.