Tom Fishburne - Humor as Tool for Reflection and Change in Business

Have you ever experienced something like “marketing funnel vision?” Been trapped in a “sub-silo?” Feared a case of “data-blindness?” What a relief to laugh at the challenges of business, which is what cartoonist Tom Fishburne helps us do. 

Tom Fishburne took an unconventional career path, which might be true of all cartoonists. He started cartooning as a child and continued through his time at Harvard Business School, where his cartoons were featured in the student newspaper. But for many years he earned a living from more conventional jobs, working in marketing leadership roles at General Mills, Nestle, and Method before striking out on his own. Now, as founder and CEO of the Marketoonist, he finds humor in the business world – and turns it into marketing value for brands including Google, SAP, and LinkedIn, as well as many startups. 

The conversation in this episode takes a look at Tom’s career and explores the care he takes with humor. As a keen observer of the business world – a prerequisite for humorists of any stripe -- Tom has a lot to say about both trends and ongoing themes in business. 

Some points to listen for: 

• Tools, including tech tools, can help us with productivity and focus, but they can get in the way of the core of the work we try to do – Tom gives the example of “marketing funnel vision,” but CX professionals face this challenge too. 
• Tom has observed that despite increasing talk about silos as a problem in business, in practice many disciplines have become even more siloed – all the way down to “sub-siloes” within departments. 
• Tom talked about the difficulty of being “data-driven” without being “data-blinded,” a common area of struggle. 
• And find out what Tom would do if he had a magic wand to make customers more customer centric. 

If you’ve ever enjoyed a cartoon about business, you’ll enjoy this interview. 

 

Find out more about Tom and subscribe to his newsletter for a weekly cartoon: https://marketoonist.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomfishburne/  

Find out how predictive CX analytics can help your business: https://ocxcognition.com/

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ocxcognition/

Connect with Richard Owen on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richard-owen-98ba3