Selling dirty socks

Douglas Rushkoff is posting excerpts from an upcoming book on innovation. This first one is about questioning the product you're pushing. I've gotten shirty looks when, as the marketer, I've asked questions like "Do people like this thing? Do they want it? Do they need it? Do you like it?"

The look says "That's not your province." Maybe not, but I'll always try to get it on the table. The look also can have a shading of "Get back in your place." Well... I'll never respond to that.

I used to work for a PR firm that occasionally subbed out morning TV show placement to a killer booker in New York. She knew everybody and would always, always come through, for a price. I was in awe. I hated pitching. All the time I worked in PR I always found a way that I could do anything else: write press kits, do proposals, anything else.

"She could get dirty socks on the air," people said about her. I didn't admire that. It made me feel slimy about what I did,