Gorilla BBQ – A Study in Successful Entrepreneurship
Note: Click here for my earlier post on Gorilla Barbecue and their amazing ribs.
As I walked into Gorilla BBQ for my Sunday beef brisket and the most awesome ribs in San Francisco, I had a moment to reflect on their success model. Plus. Gorilla (the co-owner) and I actually had a minute to talk.
They always have a line. Sometimes very long. I would say 2 weekends out of every month they run out of at least two items on their 4 item menu list before closing.
He loves it. No hassles of sit down – it’s all take out. He sells what he makes every day. He slowly expands how much he makes as his “running out” drives customers to come earlier and he feeds the new later ones. He is thinking about maybe having a second location but he has reservations because he is concerned about replicating how he makes his food elsewhere.
Quality is numero uno to Gorilla.
I have worked with a number of extensive franchise organizations and I have lived through how difficult expansion planning can be.
The pursuit of profit is enticing. And sometimes the overwhelming sense of “I have to do it before someone else gets there” is difficult to stave off. ‘How much is enough’ can be a facts and figures discussion or it can be a philosophical discussion.
What Gorilla understands is the charisma or mystique factor. His stuff is good. Unfailingly good. But his business’s reputation outstrips his stuff. He is constantly reaching out to more sales rather than excess capacity.
So. Expansion in retail is tricky. Heck. Any expansion is tricky.
Do organizations make it a science? Sure they do (analysis of geography and consumption and possible customers and ticket size and all that crap – albeit useful crap). I have seen multi-page spreadsheets and maps and revenue analysis information presentations and binders that would make your head spin.
I am sure Starbucks had numbers out the wazoo for location growth plan. What I personally believe they missed was the mystique quotient (never seen that number in an analysis). That, I believe, is more a gut thing. It is also a philosophical vision decision. I personally wouldn’t have expanded Starbucks that fast and I would have tried to maintain some mystique. But, yeah, I could be using hindsight (as they run into some struggles).
Yeah. I know (and like) their “third location” strategy (home, work, starbucks). It’s just that maximizing that location strategy threatened what made them so popular in the beginning.
Hey. Starbucks isn’t going to crash. But their over expansion has created issues they may not have had to deal with had they been a little less aggressive in store openings.
Hey (again). Many businesses cross that line in expansion. It is a line that is difficult to see. Especially when it becomes about money.
But. Back to my man Gorilla and his business. He has two huge things going for him:
- He understands exactly what makes him successful: His food. While maybe he is conservative about expanding at the risk of that standard, he fully understands why he has lines and a profitable business.
- He understands his priorities. I am sure he likes money but he hasn’t let it overwhelm his direction.
Once again, having worked with dozens of companies and expansion, I don’t doubt for one minute all those companies who expanded beyond what now seems unreasonable fully understood #1. In fact I think they sometimes fool themselves a little into believing that expanding is a formula (at one or a small group of locations) that can be easily replicated (replicating quality is a tricky thing too).
It is number 2 that really gets people in trouble. Money is an evil thing. Greed is good (for the economy). Greed is bad for a great business guy’s head. It leads thinking astray.
What Gorilla has going for him is he isn’t greedy. And he likes to like his stuff (and won’t compromise that).
Will he be a millionaire? Maybe. I doubt it.
Will he make money? Sure. No, let me take that back and say, absolutely.
Will he be happy? In no uncertain terms. Unequivocally. Yes.
What more could you ask for?
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cell phones and 8 year olds
May 14, 2012 - 5:15 pm
Tags: a generation of concerned citizens, a global education kids initiative, a net education platform, actions today make who i am tomorrow, affecting people’s conflict behavior, aligning generational attitude and technology and consumer trends, augmented reality, augmented storytelling, books, broadcast, building character, business, Business Thoughts, cannot imagine, cell phones, cellphones and kids, cellular industry and reading, change begins in the head, change takes remarkable effort, changed behavior, character, childhood mediated by technology, children and critical thinking, children out of school, children owning cellphones, children’s education, communication, community individualism, conflict and people, content dissemination trends, content odd man out is books, conversations, creating innovation attitude in children, creating the next generation of thinkers, creating the next generation of thinkers using the web, curiosity is the enemy of ignorance, death of paper, death of paper part 3, decision making, developing cross cultural skills, developing minds of next generation of thinkers, developing social and emotional competencies, e books, educating using the net, education to enlighten, effective teaching globally, encouraging curiosity, encouraging understanding of choices, enlightened conflict, enlightened learning, enlightened teaching, enlightened technology, facebook, freedom of choice, Gen X, Gen Y, generation after millennials, generational ideation, generations, global, global collaboration, Global generation, global generation sociological platform, global respect, Google, Harvard, ignorance, ignorance is the enemy, interpreting morality, jared leto, jared leto free your mind, kindle, knowledge, leadership, learning, lessons, libraries, life, life lessons, literature, little access to cyberspace, love will not change the world, marketing, mass mingling impact on Global Generation, measuring exclusion from primary education, measuring generational attitudes, measuring generational behavior, measuring global education, media, meeting the challenges of concentration, millenials, mobile technology impacting education, net enabled education, paper books, paper disintegrates, paper to digital, parenting, peace on facebook, pop up schools, predictions, print, project global generation, redefining children’s education with a global initiative, research, respect, respect for individual choice, responsibility, short term concentration capabilities, social media, social technology, strategy, strength of character to make change, strength of values, Stuff I Like, teaching kids globally, technology and parenting, technology innovation, that i will be tomorrow, the death of libraries, the economist e-communication and society, the growth of the independent library, this i am today, trends, truth, Twitter, twitter triumph of humanity, UNESCO children out of school, using cell technology for education, web based global education, who reads books
Posted in Rants and Observations, project global generation | No comments
“Adults — digital natives or not — can’t imagine what a childhood mediated by mobile, social technology that didn’t exist 10 years ago is actually like.” – Senior editor The Atlantic magazine I admit. Technology has created a significant new challenge to parenting. I struggle to think of anything since the printing press that would [...]
augmented reality
May 14, 2012 - 5:15 pm
Tags: a generation of concerned citizens, a global education kids initiative, a net education platform, actions today make who i am tomorrow, affecting people’s conflict behavior, aligning generational attitude and technology and consumer trends, augmented reality, augmented storytelling, blurring the lines in a story, books, broadcast, building character, business, Business Thoughts, cannot imagine, cell phones, cellphones and kids, cellular industry and reading, change begins in the head, change takes remarkable effort, changed behavior, character, childhood mediated by technology, children and critical thinking, children out of school, children owning cellphones, children’s education, communication, community individualism, conflict and people, content dissemination trends, content odd man out is books, conversations, creating innovation attitude in children, creating the next generation of thinkers, creating the next generation of thinkers using the web, curiosity is the enemy of ignorance, death of paper, death of paper part 3, decision making, developing cross cultural skills, developing minds of next generation of thinkers, developing social and emotional competencies, e books, educating using the net, education to enlighten, effective teaching globally, encouraging curiosity, encouraging understanding of choices, enlightened conflict, enlightened learning, enlightened teaching, enlightened technology, facebook, freedom of choice, Gen X, Gen Y, generation after millennials, generational ideation, generations, global, global collaboration, Global generation, global generation sociological platform, global respect, Google, Harvard, ignorance, ignorance is the enemy, interpreting morality, jared leto, jared leto free your mind, kindle, knowledge, leadership, learning, lessons, libraries, life, life lessons, literature, little access to cyberspace, love will not change the world, marketing, mass mingling impact on Global Generation, measuring exclusion from primary education, measuring generational attitudes, measuring generational behavior, measuring global education, media, meeting the challenges of concentration, millenials, mobile technology impacting education, net enabled education, new technology, paper books, paper disintegrates, paper to digital, parenting, peace on facebook, pop up schools, predictions, print, project global generation, redefining children’s education with a global initiative, research, respect, respect for individual choice, responsibility, short term concentration capabilities, social media, social technology, strategy, strength of character to make change, strength of values, Stuff I Like, teaching kids globally, technology and parenting, technology innovation, that i will be tomorrow, the death of libraries, the economist e-communication and society, the growth of the independent library, this i am today, trends, truth, Twitter, twitter triumph of humanity, UNESCO children out of school, using cell technology for education, web based global education, who reads books
Posted in Business Thoughts, Stuff I Like | No comments
Augmented reality is … well … a reality. Augmented Reality: engineers are pulling graphics out of your television screen or computer display and integrating them into real-world environments. This new technology, called augmented reality, blurs the line between what’s real and what’s computer-generated by enhancing what we see, hear, feel and smell. On the spectrum [...]
ordinary extraordinary sports fans
May 13, 2012 - 4:22 pm
Tags: advertising, avoiding the trite, believe espn tv, best espn commercials, branding, brilliant in simplicity, business, Business Thoughts, easy creative work, enlightened advertising, espn commercials, espn ordinary michael jordan, life, marketing, not just for sports fans, ordinary dealing with extraordinary expectations, ordinary guy, ordinary person with famous name, relevant to many not just few, smart advertising, Stuff I Like
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Ok. Creating good espn television commercials is sort of an easy task in the scheme of things <in the world of creating good advertising>. It’s not like having to explain how my detergent is somehow better then another detergent <that is 25cents less and claims to do the same thing>. Anyway. As long as you [...]
life formulas
May 9, 2012 - 10:50 am
Tags: a full life, a human defect or a flaw, a severe shortcoming, accountable decision making, actions today make who i am tomorrow, aligning perceptions and behavior creates satisfaction, alignment, analysis paralysis, analyzing actual behavior, anything that can go wrong will, architects of fate, astonish people, at some point you are accountable, attacking doubt, attaining levles of good, attitudes and behavior, averting chaos, avoid the gray, be who you are, behavior management business, being accountable, being distinct, being honest to yourself, being soft in business, believe, bell curve, big mistake big succcesses, big mistakes, black or white, boundlessness of friendship, brand, branding, breaking life decisions down, breeds an aspect of complacency, bull in a china shop living, business, business is messy, Business Thoughts, can someone really give 110%, capacity of the human mind, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change is easier if you simplify, change takes remarkable effort, changed behavior, changing objectives to make change, chaos, chaos control methods, chaos creates opportunities, character, choice between alternatives, choice by numbers, choice cannot be made with statistics alone, choices, choices leading to full life, choices we make or do not make, choosing to be true, collaboration, collector of moments, committed to showing up everyday, communication, complex simplified, concept of chaos, consensus, consistency, consistency is underrated, consistency of character, consistency of character is underrated, consistency of values, consumer attitudes, consumer buying system, controlled chaos, courage and faith, courage doesn’t always roar, courage is about resiliency, cowardly decision making, creation means destroying something, creativity, creativity process, crushed by doubt, cynicism, days of thunder and chaos, dealing with adversity, dealing with everyday life, dealing with extenuating experiences, death is a forever nap, deceiving others, deceiving yourself, decision making, decision making under uncertainty, decision utility, defining happiness in moments, depth of character to face everyday life, designing perfect systems, desire everything at the same time, destroying the personal baggage you carry, differentiation, difficult to discern good guys from bad guys, difficult to manage expectations, disappointment created by expectations, disappointment in yourself, discerning the difference between attitude and behavior, discipline but freedom, disciplined chaos, discovery is messy, do not go gentle, do not go quietly, do whatever you need to do, doing the right thing, doing the right thing is hard, don’t worry about people stealing an idea, doubt, doubt resides between certainty and uncertainty, doubt something, doubt something once unquestionable, doubts of words, dreaming is not just for kids, easier to quit, ee cummings, effective communication, embellishment, embracing failure, 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alternative, what is the place of words, what looks like chaos, what we have is not what we need, what we need is impossible to get, what we need to get us through, what we want is not what we need, whatever it takes, whatever it takes to cross that dark bridge, woefully inadequate data, words, words that become deeds, words worse than nothing unless they do something, work is often up to people, work nevertheless, worry about implementing a great idea versus protecting it, yhprum’s law, you are not a failure because you fail, you cannot dwell on every moment that slipped by, you fail
Posted in Personal & Nonsensical, Stuff I Like | No comments
Life is not as simple as it seems. Or maybe it isn’t as complicated as it seems. Shit. Maybe its both … at exactly the same time. I cannot remember where I found all these awesome “life formulas” but I love the way they take complex life things and simplify them into basic equations (note: [...]
advertising beer
May 4, 2012 - 3:48 pm
Tags: advertising, agency, alex from strohs, bad beer advertising, beer fetching dogs, bland advertising, bland beer advertising, blandly innocuous, brand, brand personality, branding, bulls refuse to fight him, business, Business Thoughts, campaign, character, charm, charm in advertising, cinco de mayo beer ads, communication, dos equis, good thoughtful marketing, great ad writing, his pinatas fight back, I don't drink beer all the time, immature humor, learning, lessons, marketing, messaging, most interesting man in the world, rant on beer advertising, silly advertising, stay thirsty, stay thirsty my friends, strategy, Stuff I Like, taught a german shepard to bark in spanish, truth, when I do I drink dos equis, words
Posted in Business Thoughts, Stuff I Like | No comments
“his piñatas fight back.” – the most interesting man in the world Cinco de Mayo brings out the beer advertising and my annual rant about beer advertising. And how bland it is … not bad … just bland. Bland. I continue to think once a year all the beer company marketing people sit around a [...]
finagle’s Law
April 30, 2012 - 4:34 pm
Tags: a human defect or a flaw, a severe shortcoming, actions today make who i am tomorrow, aligning perceptions and behavior creates satisfaction, alignment, analyzing actual behavior, anything that can go wrong will, architects of fate, attacking doubt, attaining levles of good, attitudes and behavior, averting chaos, avoid the gray, be who you are, behavior management business, being distinct, being honest to yourself, believe, bell curve, big mistake big succcesses, big mistakes, black or white, boundlessness of friendship, brand, branding, breeds an aspect of complacency, business, business is messy, Business Thoughts, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, chaos, chaos control methods, chaos creates opportunities, character, choices we make or do not make, choosing to be true, collaboration, collector of moments, committed to showing up everyday, communication, concept of chaos, consensus, consistency, consistency is underrated, consistency of character, consistency of character is underrated, consistency of values, consumer attitudes, consumer buying system, controlled chaos, courage and faith, courage doesn’t always roar, courage is about resiliency, creation means destroying something, creativity, creativity process, crushed by doubt, days of thunder and chaos, dealing with adversity, dealing with everyday life, decision making, depth of character to face everyday life, designing perfect systems, desire everything at the same time, destroying the personal baggage you carry, differentiation, difficult to discern good guys from bad guys, disappointment in yourself, discerning the difference between attitude and behavior, discipline but freedom, disciplined chaos, discovery is messy, do whatever you need to do, don’t worry about people stealing an idea, doubt, doubt resides between certainty and uncertainty, doubt something, doubt something once unquestionable, dreaming is not just for kids, easier to quit, ee cummings, effective communication, embellishment, embracing failure, employees, energy, enlightened conflict, enlightened people, every one is an architect of life, every one plays a role in fate, extraordinary cruel logic, facing overwhelming responsibilities, facts and truth, failure is a reflection of a flaw, faith in oneself, fear, fear of choices, fearlessness, fight the hardest battle to be yourself, finagle, finagle's law, finding what is possible from impossible, finding your way is tough, flame inside, follow the truth, freedom of, gain some new identity aspects, generalist, generating ideas, geting thru chaos unscathed, getting a grip on life, getting a new start means destroying some old things, getting kicked in the gut, getting kicked in the gut by questioning, good people, groups, growing up is tough, having a personal defect, hope, I fail, identifying who you are, ignorance, imperfection implies opinion, in chaos we found safety, inaction, individuals, inefficient processes, inserting myself into tangled moments, intentions, investing energy when appropriate, is anything back or white anymore, it is okay to fail, it isn’t process it is the work, judging failure needs context, just this once, kindness in words creates confidence, lack of self confidence, lacking hope, leadership, learning, lessons, lies, life, life is a struggle, life is a winding road, life is about making choices, life is tough, life lessons, Life truths, little failures versus big failures, living life backwards but still question, making changes personally, management, managing perceptions, marketing, Maslow, maslow and decisions, maybe it is better to admit we failed at something, messaging, most things in life are not black or white, motivated by a desire to achieve, murphy and finagle, murphy's law, no one says you failed any more, no one wants to trust chaos, nothing is original, once doubt enters it takes on huge proportions, only few find the way, ordinary life with extraordinary responsibilities, ordinary people don’t think they are remarkable, organizations, organizations are living orgamisms, organizing chaos, original ideas, original ideas are typically nuances of existing, people confuse process and disciplined thinking, perfection is crap, perfection is the thief, personal creative destruction, power of words, process is a means to an end, productivity, pursuing the way, put failing in perpsective, questioning the unquestionable, quotations, quotes, randomness of life, reason for being, relationships, resiliency, resiliency and character, respect, responsibility, safe, scared, see your own reality, seek truth, seeking the way of truth, self actualization, self doubt, self esteem through problem solving, self truth, self worth, shades of gray, shortcomings leading to consequences, simplicity seems too chaotic, six impossible things before breakfast, slippery slope, slippery slope of despair, slippery surface of irrelevant brilliance, small gestures in trivial looking moments, smallest actions contribute, something more important than fear, sometimes systems work that should not work, sorting out the truth, soyoufailed.com, specialist, stand for something within yourself, standing on the uncertainty pedestal, standing up every time we fall down, stimulus reponse, stop and think, strategy, strength against adversity, strength of character, strength of character to make change, strip away the undoable and identify the doable, struggle between energy and indolence, struggle between vitality and decay, Stuff I Like, stumble upon doing it right, stunning grace in the face of overwhelming life, symbolic dynamics, systems remain stagnant, take revenge on doubters, tangled ball of string, tangled up people, teens, that i will be tomorrow, the butterfly effect, the grocery shopper, the myth of original, the myth of the proprietary process, the word failure is tough love, there is no formula for good choices, thinking, thinking impossible things, thinking is good, this i am today, thomas jefferson, thoughts, to be sure of you, to slay a dragon you need to believe in dragons, trivial moments, trivial moments in bigger life, trust, truth, truth goggles, truth is rarely simple, truth or lies, truth or nothing, truth to oneself, trying to preserve will lead to stagnation, tween strength, uncertainty is a bitch, uncertainty takes on geometric proportions, unintended results, unquestionable, untangling people, use your imagination, we all fail, what is the alternative, what looks like chaos, what we have is not what we need, what we need is impossible to get, what we need to get us through, what we want is not what we need, whatever it takes, whatever it takes to cross that dark bridge, words, work is often up to people, work nevertheless, worry about implementing a great idea versus protecting it, yhprum's law, you are not a failure because you fail, you fail
Posted in Business Thoughts, Rants and Observations | No comments
Well. I imagine I am way behind the rest of the cool people <who already know what finagle’s law is> but I just discovered it. Maybe because I had always known it as Murphy’s Law. The generalized or `folk’ version of Murphy’s Law, fully named “Finagle’s Law of Dynamic Negatives” and usually rendered “Anything that [...]
the flaw in creativity collaboration
April 26, 2012 - 6:32 pm
Tags: action and consequences, actions today make who i am tomorrow, addressing your business situation, advertising, affecting organization thru actions, agency, aiming high, architects of fate, art is an I business, art is I science is We, bell curve, booker washington, brand, branding, builders versus renovators, business, Business Thoughts, change begins in the head, character, collaboration, collaboration is not good with creativity, communication, company of adventurers, consensus, creating positive touchpoints, creativity, creativity process, decision making, depth of character to face everyday life, differentiation, discipline but freedom, disciplined chaos, discovery is messy, don’t worry about people stealing an idea, dynamic beyond our own purposes, employees, energy, enlightened conflict, enlightened creativity, enlightened thinking, events are meant to be commanded not feared, every one is an architect of life, extreme situations demand extreme solutions, Favorite Quotes, fear, fearlessness, finding your way is tough, flaw in creative collaboration, generalist, generating ideas, george bernard shaw, greatest danger is aiming too low, groups, ideas generated from an individual, individuals, individuals provide the spark, it is not an easy discussion, it isn’t process it is the work, john kenneth galbraith, keep your mind open to solutions, lack of consensus, leaders and character, leadership, learning, lessons, life, life is a winding road, life lessons, logic, making hard decisions, management, managing perceptions, marketing, messaging, michelanglo, Moscow, most things in life are not black or white, Napoleon, no one wants to trust chaos, nothing is original, one foot in history one foot in future, only few find the way, original ideas, original ideas are typically nuances of existing, overcoming optimism, people confuse process and disciplined thinking, process is a means to an end, productivity, pursuing the way, quotations, quotes, reach for the stars, relationships, respect, responsibility, risk, Russia, safe, scared, seek out events without fear, Shakespeare, simplicity seems too chaotic, smallest actions contribute, so what do we do, specialist, strategy, Stuff I Like, that i will be tomorrow, the myth of original, the myth of the proprietary process, this i am today, thrive on dreams and possibilities, tough decisions are tough, transformational people, truth, unpopular point of view, unreasonable, what do you do when you get what you want, worry about implementing a great idea versus protecting it
Posted in Business Thoughts, Favorite Quotes, Rants and Observations | 4 comments
Ok. This is not a popular point of view these days. I am a firm believer, that in the creativity business, collaboration isn’t good. Well. “isn’t good” is like saying “never” or “it always sucks” or something like that. Let’s just say creativity isn’t about collaboration. And I found a quote that says it perfectly: [...]
spinal tap marketing
April 23, 2012 - 5:02 pm
Tags: about marketing truths, actions today make who i am tomorrow, affecting people’s conflict behavior, aligning generational attitude and technology and consumer trends, attitudes and behavior, broadcast, building character, business, Business Thoughts, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, character, communication, conflict and people, content dissemination trends, conversations, convincing people to buy shit they don’t need, created truths, creating confusion, creating confusion and distrust, creating distrust, creating interest, creating the next generation of thinkers, creating the next generation of thinkers using the web, crowd clout, crowds providing unsolicited feedback, curiosity is the enemy of ignorance, decision making, devaluing value, developing cross cultural skills, developing minds of next generation of thinkers, developing social and emotional competencies, discovery, do this or die, do this or die Bernbach, education to enlighten, encouraging curiosity, encouraging understanding of choices, enlightened conflict, ethical advertising, evil in marketing, exploration not ROI, fabricate unimportant truths, facebook, failure of imagination, finding what is possible from impossible, finding your way is tough, freedom of choice, generation of measurement, generational ideation, global collaboration, global respect, having moral and ethical substance, ignorance, ignorance is the enemy, imagination, influencers are still influencers, influencing purchases, insights, insights are about truth, insights don’t exploit, intrusive and annoying, is marketing evil, it has become uncool to do simple things in business, lazy marketing, leadership, learning, lessons, life, life is a winding road, life lessons, making the simple complicated, making unimportant important, marketing, marketing absurdity, marketing has an image issue, marketing inflation, marketing people are responsible, marketing’s ethical compass, maslow and marketing, maslow needs, measuring generational attitudes, measuring generational behavior, measuring global education, meeting the challenges of concentration, more honest online, most people cannot recognize simple solutions, most things in life are not black or white, no one believes in simplicity anymore, online friends, only few find the way, organizations, predictions, project global generation, pursuing the way, quality versus quantity online, quotes, rare to make complicated simple, research, respect, respect for individual choice, responsibility, ROI versus imagination, self actualization, selling truth, simplicity has gone the way of the dodo, simplicity takes remarkable effort, six impossible things before breakfast, social media, spinal tap and marketing, spinal tap marketing, strategy, strength of character to make change, strip away the undoable and identify the doable, Stuff I Like, substance versus style, success of ROI, telling the truth, telling the truth in marketing is hard, telling the truth is not impossible, that i will be tomorrow, the absence of truth, the best interest of the people, the responsibility in marketing, there are a lot of insights, thinking, thinking impossible things, thinking is good, this i am today, truth, truth in marketing, truth should be simple, twitter triumph of humanity, unethical advertising, unimportant truths, use your imagination, using truth to deceive
Posted in Business Thoughts, Favorite Quotes, Rants and Observations | 4 comments
Ok. This is about the senseless marketing inflation that is becoming prevalent in the marketing world and I am going to use the movie Spinal Tap to show how bad it is. Just in case you don’t remember the movie Spinal Tap, or the moment I am going to reference, here it is: “Our speakers [...]
what will become of us?
April 13, 2012 - 7:20 am
Tags: a generation finds a voice, a generation of concerned citizens, a global education kids initiative, accepting social merits of social media, accepting things you cannot change or understand, account management in ad agencies, action and consequences, actions today make who i am tomorrow, affecting people’s conflict behavior, aiming high, aligning generational attitude and technology and consumer trends, alignment, always some failure, architects of fate, art of staying, be still in midst of activity, beautiful expansive thinking teen brains, beautiful teen brains, because of you days to come will be better, best you can during your life, builders versus renovators, building a culture, building character, business, business lessons, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, character, chemistry, children and critical thinking, children are not killing civilization, children’s education, client, communication, community individualism, conflict and people, conversations, creating innovation attitude in children, creating positive touchpoints, creating the next generation of thinkers, creating the next generation of thinkers using the web, curiosity is the enemy of ignorance, decision making, depth of character to face everyday life, developing cross cultural skills, developing minds of next generation of thinkers, developing social and emotional competencies, difficult lessons, doing the best you can, dynamic beyond our own purposes, education to enlighten, effective teaching globally, encouraging curiosity, encouraging understanding of choices, enlightened conflict, events are meant to be commanded not feared, every child deserves a chance, every child should hear this, every one is an architect of life, fairness, feel strangely lost even in a crowd, finding your way is tough, free your mind, freedom of choice, fun, generation after millennials, generational ideation, generational things, generations, global collaboration and learning, Global generation, global respect, going with your gut, greatest danger is aiming too low, hope in learning, hunger games is proof, ignorance, ignorance is the enemy, impacting kid’s education, influencers are still influencers, internet enhances social conversations, leaders and character, leaders are still and active, leaders have strength of character, leadership, learning, lessons, life, life couldn't be any better or worse, life is a winding road, life lessons, lives of quiet disappointment, magnificent lives, managing people to be successful in life and business, managing perceptions, managing transitional moments, many good kids fail, measuring generational attitudes, measuring generational behavior, meeting the challenges of concentration, more reading and writing among children, most things in life are not black or white, national geographic teen brains, net enabled education, next generation of thinkers, old farts talking about social media, one foot in history one foot in future, ones you love will disappoint you, online friends, only few find the way, optomism for the youth, organizations, overcoming pessimism with regard to our youth, part of something bigger than you, partner, partnership, Pew studies social media, positives of the blogosphere, predictions, project global generation, pursuing the way, quality versus quantity online, quotations, quotes, reach for the stars, relationships, respect, respect for individual choice, responsibility, restless consistency, seek out events without fear, short term concentration capabilities, smallest actions contribute, social media is not antisocial, stay or go, strategy, strength of character to make change, stressful decisions, strive for greatness and justice, Stuff I Like, telling youth what will be, that i will be tomorrow, the future, the global generation, thinking too much, this i am today, thrive on dreams and possibilities, transformational people, trapped by fear, truth, twitter triumph of humanity, vibrantly alive in repose, voices of a generation, web based global education, what do you do when you get what you want, what we are seeking explanations, what will become of us, words, young children collaborating online, young people speaking
Posted in Favorite Quotes, Rants and Observations, Stuff I Like | No comments
“because of you the days to come will be better than the days before this one.” So. I have been participating in another TED discussion with regard to the youth and education and a distressingly pessimistic view of who they will be and what they will become <a post/rant/observation is forthcoming on that soon>. That [...]
marketing is evil?
March 27, 2012 - 4:09 pm
Tags: about marketing truths, actions today make who i am tomorrow, affecting people’s conflict behavior, aligning generational attitude and technology and consumer trends, attitudes and behavior, broadcast, building character, business, Business Thoughts, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, character, communication, conflict and people, content dissemination trends, conversations, convincing people to buy shit they don't need, created truths, creating interest, creating the next generation of thinkers, creating the next generation of thinkers using the web, crowd clout, crowds providing unsolicited feedback, curiosity is the enemy of ignorance, decision making, developing cross cultural skills, developing minds of next generation of thinkers, developing social and emotional competencies, discovery, do this or die, do this or die Bernbach, education to enlighten, encouraging curiosity, encouraging understanding of choices, enlightened conflict, ethical advertising, evil in marketing, exploration not ROI, fabricate unimportant truths, facebook, failure of imagination, finding what is possible from impossible, finding your way is tough, freedom of choice, generation of measurement, generational ideation, global collaboration, global respect, having moral and ethical substance, ignorance, ignorance is the enemy, imagination, influencers are still influencers, influencing purchases, insights, insights are about truth, insights don’t exploit, intrusive and annoying, is marketing evil, it has become uncool to do simple things in business, leadership, learning, lessons, life, life is a winding road, life lessons, making the simple complicated, making unimportant important, marketing, marketing has an image issue, marketing people are responsible, marketing's ethical compass, maslow and marketing, maslow needs, measuring generational attitudes, measuring generational behavior, measuring global education, meeting the challenges of concentration, more honest online, most people cannot recognize simple solutions, most things in life are not black or white, no one believes in simplicity anymore, online friends, only few find the way, organizations, predictions, project global generation, pursuing the way, quality versus quantity online, quotes, rare to make complicated simple, research, respect, respect for individual choice, responsibility, ROI versus imagination, self actualization, selling truth, simplicity has gone the way of the dodo, simplicity takes remarkable effort, six impossible things before breakfast, social media, strategy, strength of character to make change, strip away the undoable and identify the doable, Stuff I Like, substance versus style, success of ROI, telling the truth, telling the truth in marketing is hard, telling the truth is not impossible, that i will be tomorrow, the absence of truth, the best interest of the people, the responsibility in marketing, there are a lot of insights, thinking, thinking impossible things, thinking is good, this i am today, truth, truth in marketing, truth should be simple, twitter triumph of humanity, unethical advertising, unimportant truths, use your imagination, using truth to deceive
Posted in Business Thoughts, Rants and Observations | No comments
“What is the difference between unethical and ethical advertising? Unethical advertising uses falsehoods to deceive the public; ethical advertising uses truth to deceive the public.” – vilhjalmur Stefansson Now. Vilhjamur was a kick ass anthropologist (known for his description of the “Blond Eskimo” which is a Copper Inuit), his discovery of new lands in the [...]
