VidBit: Evil Plans – Having Fun On The Road to World Domination

March 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Evil Plans - Having Fun On The Way To World DominationThis is not really like any book I’ve ever read, and that’s ok. You may even not like it (but I did!), and that’s ok too. Hugh Macleod, the author, cartoonist and blogger, sums it best:

“It has never been easier to make a great living doing what you love. But to
make it happen, first you need an EVIL PLAN. Everybody needs to get away from lousy bosses, from boring, dead-end jobs that they hate, and ACTUALLY start doing something they love, something that matters. Life is short.”

This isn’t a book to read through all at once. It’s broken up into short sections of only a page or two each, and a couple of his remarkable cartoons. Fantastic little 5 to 10 minute marketing, branding, advertising, and purpose “gut checks” that will make you think – and take action.

Here’s an example of the type of humor with built-in insight you can expect to find:
Sample comic from Hugh MacLeod

Big thanks to Holly Haener for turning me on to this one!

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VidBit: Unleashing The Idea Virus

October 30, 2010 By

Seth Godin discusses why some ideas spread, and others do not. Most marketers still haven’t figured it out. If you still haven’t read any of Seth’s books then hopefully this video can encourage you to do so.

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The Downside of Adaptation

October 18, 2010 By

As humans, we have a remarkable ability to adapt to our surroundings. Turn off the lights, and in only a few brief moments the utter blackness will fade into shades of gray that allow us to distinguish general features of the landscape around us. That overwhelming smell? Give it a few minutes – an hour or two tops – and it will fall into the background of life. We all know these things, but we forget about the other things that we allow ourselves to adapt to – bad habits, incorrect beliefs, and apathy.

This explains what it is so hard for many new home sales people to enter their sales arena (community, model, sales office, etc) with the fresh eyes that consumers have. You hardly notice that messy area you call a desk… or the creaky crypt-keeper front door that screams “our homes are low quality and require more maintenance – welcome!”

It’s all to easy to adapt to reaching voicemails and assume that leaving a message is accomplishing a task. You can even begin to adapt to the shadow objections that buyers bring up in the sales process. You internalize them and believe them, even when you should know better. How can you combat this natural human skill of adaptation?

When artists are formally trained, one of the first things they are taught is how to “see again.” I experienced this first hand. Our drawing professor asked us all to draw the ear of the person next to us. We all ended up drawing something like this:

The professor collected all of the papers, and ripped them up one by one. “You are NOT drawing your neighbor’s ears!” he shouted. “You are merely drawing the IDEA of an ear that’s stuck inside your head (the symbol of an ear that we had adapted to). Now connect your eye to your hand, really study their ear, and draw them again.” This time, the result was something like this:

One secret to overcoming the downside of adaptation is to learn how to see, and think, again. It takes intentional energy and focus, but it will help you stay fresh and remain aware of your surroundings. Another is to ask someone you respect for their un-adapted view. Just don’t ask the wrong person! Finally, you can change yourself and your surroundings. I know a very successful sales person who changes communities every year or so – voluntarily! When she feels so is no longer able to rise above the urge to adapt, she knows it’s time to make a change.

What urge to adapt are you fighting that you shouldn’t be?
(Don’t fear change!)
What are you adapting to that you shouldn’t be?
(Don’t grow apathetic!)

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Get Creative! STOP Thinking Outside the Box

August 25, 2010 By

There is an old myth about creativity that goes something like this… give someone enough time, money, and free reign and the best and most creative ideas will be the result. In your mind you probably have a stereotype of a creative person. They probably frequent trendy non-Starbucks coffee shops, have tattoos, and wear really modern looking glasses. They certainly don’t dress in business attire – or even business casual for that matter. Last but not least, the myth goes, they are constantly thinking “outside the box.”

Man with box on his head - thinkingSorry Cinderella, it’s just not true – at least not when it comes to creativity in business. The reality is that “necessity is the mother of invention.” Anyone can think outside the box (wouldn’t it be great if…    if only…), it’s the exceptional people who are able to think creatively inside the box – within deadlines, budgets, and requirements. I’m not saying to stop challenging the status quo. However, once you confirm that gravity does indeed exist, it no longer is beneficial to keep trying to jump just a little bit higher to make sure it still does. To summarize – make sure your boundaries have been correctly set first, but then commit to stay within them unless a significant shift in the marketplace occurs (correctly identifying when those shifts occur, and reacting quickly, is perhaps the most critical part).

Far too often we fail to realize the options and opportunities that are right in front of our nose inside the box that could drastically improve our situation. We’re too busy day dreaming about a parallel universe where what annoys us no longer exists and we ignore the every day insights of those around us. There are solutions everywhere – we’re just too lazy to act on them. If you really want to be an innovator, then do what other people only talk about doing. There is an old saying that “he who is most creative conceals his sources the best.” Don’t worry – you don’t have to tell anyone else we had this little talk.

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