ADVICE FOR THE NEW RADIO PROGRAM DIRECTOR, Part Three

Avoid The “Moat Effect.”

Stimulating a small area of the brain’s cortex will increase neural activity in that area. It also will decrease neural activity in that area’s surrounding regions.

John Lilly, the neuroscientist who invented the isolation tank and was famed for his work with dolphins, called this phenomenon the “Moat Effect.”

In his book, THE DYADIC CYCLONE, he remarked:

“People tend to do exactly this kind of operation in regard to their knowledge about any given subject. They raise the importance of their own knowledge and demean areas of knowledge not within their own area of competence — they surround it with a moat in regard to other knowledge or other people’s knowledge.”

You’ve already seen the Moat Effect in your own company:

The Salesperson who believes, “Without me, this station would disappear. Nothing happens until somebody sells something.”

To which the Programming Person responds, “Excuse me. Without the Product, you’d have nothing to sell. I am the radio station.”

At which point the Engineer declares, “Really? Let’s try a little experiment. I’ll shut down the transmitter for a few weeks and we’ll see what kinds of ratings Programming gets and how much business Sales writes.”

As a PD, you will be stronger in some areas than in others.

Perhaps you’ll be a wizard with music scheduling software and weak in Promotions.

Brilliant at brainstorming new ideas but poor at managing your time.

Instead of declaring the areas outside your primary focus to be irrelevant or unimportant, make a continuous effort to strengthen those areas — either by enlarging your own skill set or by surrounding yourself with people who excel in those aspects of your profession.

And make sure everyone knows how much you value those people.