Last week the world mourned the loss of Last Lecture professor, Randy Pausch.  His final lecture at Carnegie Mellon University was intended as a collection of life’s lessons for his children – a beautiful gift of love.  But as the inspiring lecture spawned a best selling book and touched the lives of millions of people around the world, including my own, the book became more than a gift to his children.  It became a gift to humanity, tapping into our hopes and dreams and the obstacles we encounter on the Yellow Brick Road.  Or as Prof. Pausch repeatedly said, “Brick walls are there to test how badly you want it.”

If you haven’t seen or heard Pausch’s Last Lecture, I encourage you to see the YouTube video.  Here’s the link.  

The first time I saw it I focused on the obvious lessons.  When I heard the sad news last week, I watched again.  This time there was a new take-away – a contract take-away.  I bet Randy never dreamed he’d be teaching law.

One of the stories Randy tells is about his childhood dream to work for the Disney organization.  Given that goal, it was no wonder as a young professor he jumped at the opportunity to work on a virtual reality project with Disney’s Imagineering Team.  Only one problem: the University’s policy on intellectual property. 

The first Dean he spoke to insisted that any patent rights resulting from the collaboration stay with the University.  Disney, as you might imagine (no pun intended), was adamant about confidentiality (that meant no published paper) and they wanted the patent rights.  Neither side wanted to back down.

When you see Randy tell this story in the video his frustration is palpable.  He wanted to work with so Disney badly.  He was ready to quit his job if he had to.  It was huge.  

Then Randy realized that perhaps another Dean would have the final say about the contract and he went to talk to Dean #2.  That conversation went much better.  Instead of saying “no”, Dean #2 said “tell me more.”  Those were magic words:  Tell Me More.  (Remember those words and use them.)

In the process of asking questions about the Imagineering project Dean #2 did learn more, the legal risk was isolated, and successfully negotiated.  The deal was done, a paper was ultimately published, and Randy Pausch fulfilled a dream.  A brick wall was conquered – that’s powerful stuff.

Think for a moment about some of your own contract frustrations.  Next time you hit one of those brick walls pick yourself up and ask yourself how badly you want it and then take the Yellow Brick Road.  Look at the thorny issues from different perspectives.  Compare them to your real goals.  Isolate the legal risks and put them in the context of this transaction. 

You can learn a lot by saying “tell me more” and the more you learn the more opportunity you have for reconciling what at first glance appears to be irreconcilable differences.  Randy, for example, did get to publish a paper about his virtual reality work with the Disney Imagineering Team, but I’ll bet the contract gave Disney a limited right of review to make sure no sensitive “confidential” information was being released.  See, a win-win. 

Remember, contracts are business tools.  They memorialize the deal.  They don’t create the deal.  You do.  You’re the Wizard of Oz.

“Marketers can’t focus on those things” I was recently told at a conference when I raised a question about a potential legal pitfall in a marketing plan.  “If I did,” said another, “I’d never get anything done.”

There is was again.  The justification for why legal stuff was a business roadblock.  They preferred to be blinded by success instead of immobilized by fear.  I understand.  It’s less work and a whole lot more fun to bask in the glory.

These entrepreneurial marketers are not alone.

The Rhythm Watch Co. appears to have a similar philosophy.  Who’s Rhythm Watch?  They are the watch maker who took the cell phone ringtone idea and applied it to clocks.  Their “Grand Nostalgia Clock” chime rings includes songs by famous artists, including Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.”

The Grand Nostalgia Clock concept was good.  The execution was not so good.  Nostalgia Clock failed to license Paul Simon’s song and now he has sued them for copyright infringement. 

Some folks will tell you that it’s easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.  Lawsuit math doesn’t work that way.  According to the Complaint filed by Simon, a song as famous as “Bridge Over Troubled Water” could command a licensing fee of at least $1 million.  The suit seeks damages of $10 million and that doesn’t include the cost of the lawyers to defend the case and management’s time to help locate documents (i.e. evidence) and testify in court or at depositions.

Bigger companies have bigger financial shock absorbers than small businesses.  Those extra resources make it easier to handle litigation speed bumps.  For small businesses, however, a suit like Simon’s could be devastating. 

While marketers are always looking for innovative ways to reach their customers, it’s wise for you to look both ways before crossing the street.  That doesn’t mean you need to be lawyers or engage in minutia.  It only means you need to recognize potential problems before you get flattened by them.  Otherwise, the street you cross could become a “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”