I recently had a bit of a professional debate with a colleague about an issue that pertained to the inner workings of a project we are working on. The "debate" ensued after I sent out an email (after numerous attempts to get the issue I was perturbed about resolved) to the entire project team to escalate the issue. My colleague did not take too well to this ploy and accused me of "creating unhelpful noise within the system" (the "system" being our project team) and that such a ploy was not effective is moving towards a resolution (because he was miffed that I sent the mail).

Through the course of our lively "debate" I mentioned to him that, despite his apt criticism, I was quite happy to create a certain amount of noise within the system ... that in fact, I was aiming to create a controlled amount of noise to elicit a movement towards resolving the issue. Whether not my noise was effective in resolving the issue I'll leave to a caveat comment at the end of this post ...

My colleague reads this blog and knows too well that this issue has not been resolved yet.

Anyway, I tell you his because the recent Cliff Jennings saga has reminded me how one can intend to create noise within a system, and the type of noise is really not that important to whether or not your intent is a success.

For those not in the know Cliff Jennings is a contestant in the reality show Idols 4 here in South Africa. He made himself known by attending every regional audition for the competition (he attended more than one because, well, he was terrible enough to ensure that he got kicked out each time ... and thus could continue his journey). He had his mate, Benji, tag along and record his "Cliff Jennings: Living the Dream" journey. Video clips were posted on YouTube, Facebook groups were created and a MySpace page dedicated to him. Cliff Jennings, because of his talentless tenacity, gradually became a viral phenomenon.

That was until ... Ogilvy JHB admitted to him being a hoax. But not just any hoax ... he was a commissioned actor who was conscripted by the Idols ad agency to create hype around the show. Or in other words, to draw more attention to the programme.

The whole plot clearly broke out too soon and some Execs now have egg on their face. BUT, is there any publicity that is bad publicity? Or, in my case, is there any noise in the system that is not useful. The reality is that the Cliff Jennings story has created huge noise in the "idols" system for its fake-ness ... and he was created to draw attention to the show!!! Have heads rolled at Ogilvy? I doubt it ... I even wonder if the supposed leak about Jennings' true identity is not a measured release of noise into the system?

***if you have jumped to this part after my promise of a caveat comment, please return to the upper end of my post and continue reading from the 3rd paragraph ... did you not learn to read through your entire exam paper before jumping around the questions? ***