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It’s Only Common Sense: Eight Things I Learned from Don Draper

I like to watch TV and I have found there is much to be learned from it. Some of my columns have focused on what I’ve watched, from the management skills of Tony Soprano to the business skills of Walter White in “Breaking Bad,” and the real business shows of “Shark Tank,” “The Profit,” “The Deed,” “The Pitch,” and the tear-jerking “Undercover Boss.”

But there are still people who brag about not watching television. It reminds me of the old days when pseudo intellectuals hid their “portable” TV in a closet, rolling it out when there was what they had deemed an interesting program on PBS. As a matter of principle, they kept it hidden away the rest of the time, lest their beret-wearing poet friends came over to share a jug of Chianti. Well, those people were idiots and not to be trusted with any degree of, shall I say it, common sense. I put them in a category of people who wear bow ties, don’t eat meat, or spend too much time trying to decide whether it will be a Birkenstock or a Croc day.

The point is, to the discerning viewer, there is a lot to be learned from many TV shows. Good television is one that entertains while getting you to think. It gets your creative juices flowing freely—the same way a great business book does.

I can’t read Seth Godin, Tom Peters, or Jeffrey Gitomer book without stopping to take notes. Often my notes are not the words in the book, but what it led me to think about. For me, that is the most important aspect and contribution in any kind of media.

By sometime next year, I will have written 800 weekly columns (pause for applause). I couldn’t have done it without a little help from these TV and book writers. These provide me with a plethora of ideas that I repeatedly steal like a skilled jewel thief.

So, you shouldn’t be surprised that “Mad Men” was among one of my favorite shows. Lead character and ad man Don Draper dropped some real gems, particularly for those of us in the world of advertising and marketing. Now, if your “portable” TV is still in the closet and missed this show, the character of Mr. Draper led a Madison Avenue ad agency in the 1950s and ’60s. He was the agency’s creative director and resident genius, the guy who always came up with the right solution to sell the right product to the right people even if they didn’t know they wanted or needed it.

Here are some pearls of wisdom from Mr. Don Draper, the creative director at Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency:

1. Focus on the need behind the need: What does a client/customer really, really need you for?
2. Remember your true purpose: Satisfying your customer and making your customer happy.
3. Embrace change with open arms: Change is inevitable. The exceptional person in any field is the one who can embrace and adapt to change.
4. Change the narrative: If you don’t like the way things are going, change the narrative; go in another direction that better suits your purpose in the end.
5. Take regret and spin it around: Dump the “woulda coulda, shoulda” game and move on when something goes wrong. Forget missed opportunities; learn from them and move on.
6. Don’t just talk about things; get them done: Don’t just tell us what you plan to do, tell us about them once they’re done. Keep track of your accomplishments every day to make sure you are heading in the right direction.
7. Think like your customers: Get away from what you think and concentrate on how your customers think. Try to figure out what they like and why they like it—not what you want to sell them and why you think they should like it.
8. Take responsibility when things aren’t going your way: You are truly in charge of you. You can decide whether you will succeed; it’s up to you to step up, especially when things aren’t going well. Don’t play the blame game. Look in the mirror and realize that success or failure is up to the person in the mirror. Make it happen.

There are so many more things you can learn from Don Draper, “Mad Men,” and television, in general. If you are truly serious about treating your career, and sales specifically, to find ideas, innovations, and solutions, it’s up to you to look anywhere you can. Believe it or not, much of the time you can find those ideas right there in the closet with your “portable” TV.

It’s only common sense.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group.