Posts tagged organizations

dirty windows

Mar 5th

“And I do not assume that my experience is universal. It is simply mine, and I offer it to you as a window, dirty though that window may be.” – opticalnoise (a blogger)

Ah.

Sometimes young people say things with the type of panache you only expect from older people.

This young blogger wrote the quote and I liked it enough to use it.

Experiences are personal (unless there is enough similar critical mass to make it quasi-universal).

And in the business world I often find myself debating with people when they offer their experience as …. well … not dirty but rather … well … universal (and that is an issue).

Two thoughts.

- Research of one is not research.

- The odds that the person relating the experience (in business management) actually reflects mainstream American (or any mainstream consumer) is so low that even Las Vegas wouldn’t take them odds.

Bottom line? Realize that your experience is most likely not universal (particularly when discussing business … but beware on personal advice also).

This may seem like a no brainer, but I can’t tell you how often this basic rule is ignored. I think a large part of it is that is because people personalize their experience (or their wife/husband’s) that they cannot fathom that no one else feels exactly the same way.

Anyway.

All that said I am now going to share my dirty window experience list (although I actually stole the thought from a blogger named arina and put my own dirt on some different windows).

I created the list because I almost have it all figured out (yeah … not so much). Thinking back from my personal experiences I believe there are a few universal experiences (let’s call them windows we all peer through on occasion just for the sake of this post) that seemingly work without fail throughout life:

- The Karma window

Karma is this random thing floating out there in the ether that somehow impacts cause & effect on all of us. Simplistically … for every action there is a reaction. Yeah. Every action <and thought just in case you have forgotten>. It is amazing to me how often we forget that our actions always, yes, always, have repercussions.

Whatever force we exert … things we send into the ether around us in the form of our thoughts, feelings and actions … comes back to us in kind (if not sometimes multiplied). There are no exceptions and you get no free passes. Oh. Please note I included thoughts & feelings in the “cause” column. That is truly the Karma aspect. Somehow … someway … thoughts & feelings enter into the ether as some type of tangible force (or ’cause’) that often creates a nuclear-sized effect. Never forget that.

- The Life window

This may actually be a different pane of glass in the Karma window. We are all connected by invisible glass in one window … called the Life window. When we hurt someone or when we pass judgment on someone … we are affected as well. Sorry. Life, for some reason, just likes to keep everything balanced.

What that means is you are probably better off (or more likely to be happy) if you attach what you care about (and Life objectives) with good intentions for other people. If you look at it selfishly, when your objectives benefit other people there is less difficulty in achieving them. Oh. And others will assist you. If you don’t look at it selfishly … well … just assume more good shit will happen in your life if you do good shit (and think good shit about other people).

- The Creation window

Everyone is creative and every one has unlimited creative potential. It is just how you define creation. Create art. Create financial success. Create the most awesome balance sheet your company has ever had. Create a kid that will be the next president. Everyone one of us has the potential to create some type of greatness. You just have to make sure the window is open and the blinds are open. Oh. And make sure you know that you actually have that window.

- The Neutrality window

Life is neutral. It does not play favorites. This is probably a derivative of the balance thing. In the absence of good & evil Life probably wouldn’t choose sides but rather stay in bed taking a nap. Life does not decide someone is more important or less significant. Life never randomly punishes. Life never randomly rewards. Nothing is random but pretty much (with some notable exceptions) everything is earned. Everyone is given an opportunity to learn something (which ultimately is the key opportunity for personal success). Everyone pretty much has a chance in Life (albeit it is tougher for some people than others).

- The Action window

This is the window right next to the neutrality window. In the absence of individual action Life will do its own things in its own time. Life does not just happen to us. It requires our active participation. Remember. Life is neutral. If you are inactive … Life is inactive <with you>. It will not take interest in you until you take interest in it. It is too busy paying attention to people paying attention to it.

- The You cannot Ignore ‘What is’ window

“What is” will evolve into “what will be” when ignored. That I guarantee. In other words … you will continue to receive what Life gives you even if you refuse to accept it. If we ignore our problems, they will only get bigger and more urgent. If we ignore opportunities, they will cease to exist. If we refuse to learn lessons from the past, larger, more serious, lessons will be given to us. If we obsessively pursue a goal or idea that is not right for us, it will elude us until we accept that we can live without it.

- The Stagnancy window

This one is the opposite side of the Action window pane. And this one is a warning. Stagnancy is addictive. What I mean by this is, if the view from your window is awesome, you can find yourself sitting there doing nothing but enjoying it. So. This I guarantee … it may be a beautiful view today but if you don’t move … and just stay there … it will lose its appeal. Stagnancy is the death of inner growth and happiness (or seeing beauty in life). When you do not use skills you lose them. Similar, without continuing effort in personal growth, you are doomed to fall back as Life continues moving. What happens then? Obsolescence. Life, and people, and thoughts, and whatever …. just pass you by.

- The Impatient window

Impatience is sneaky in life. Sometimes it can disguise itself as ambition or ‘goals’ or things like that. Because the allure, and desire, of success is something we all desire. And we may like the idea of instant gratification or easy success or short cuts … but deep down all of us know that things of value have to be earned. And that is where impatience rears its ugly head. You are peddling as hard as you can toward success … but as look through this window you are impatient, and it is challenging, because you want it NOW … but this window is about patiently waiting for the reward to come in its own time. Ok. This doesn’t mean you should be scared to do things nor shouldn’t be ambitious … this is more about having some common sense. Good things typically don’t come easy. If it were all that easy anyone could do it. Maybe learn to be patiently impatient for success.

- The Reality-based Optimism window

Here is a reality <2 of them actually>. Negativity begets negativity. If you think negatively I can guarantee you will never attain happiness. Uh oh. But. If you always think optimistically I can guarantee you will always be disappointed (sorry about that).

So can you ever be happy? Yup. By being realistic, but being optimistic. A truth in this window? Good things DO happen to good people. Well. Let me be specific … that is ‘good people who exhibit some reality-based goodness’. By the way … for anyone who wants to debate the view from this window …. research (published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) predicted in simulated models that generosity/trust pays. Mathematically they found it pays to be trusting in the long run even though you will sometimes be cheated (so that is how Santa can figure out how to assess naughty or nice).

- The Trade-off window

For everything you gain you have to give up something else. A simple complex one.

And the last.

- The Desire window

This window sometimes has a weird filter over it that makes things not look as they really are. What I mean by that is not everything we go after is what we truly want. Sometimes we only think we know what we want … and sometimes we don’t know what we want until we get it. Maddening? You bet. But everyone has this window. Unfortunately this window is most typically found in the main room so you look through it a lot. This window is also, individually, often the dirtiest. You will be tempted to go to other people’s houses and look thru their “desire window” and hope for some guidance. Sorry. No can do. Your Desire window is your Desire window. I kind of think they are like snowflakes … no 2 the same. You will probably not have a more aggravating window in your home. Too bad. Every home has one.

So.

There you go. I will admit though … while I made my personal experiences universal … I do look through other people’s dirty windows as often as I can. Like the opening quote said … they offer a view … regardless of how dirty the view may be.

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iacta alea est

Feb 29th

Posted by Bruce in Favorite Quotes

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“the die is cast” (iacta alea est) – Julius Caesar

die is cast by HotWheeler deviantart

I was tempted to call this ‘now or never part 2.”

For this is all about post choice/decision.

And the fact there is no turning back.

The fact that “we have made our choice … and the die is cast.”

Julius Caesar said this as he crossed the Rubicon, defying the Roman Senate, and starting civil war.

Caesar was stating that he was making an irrevocable decision.

And, as dice is a game of chance, he will have to play them as they are cast.

I think more people should think this way with regard to choices. Too often I feel people think a choice is simply but of a moment. And the next moment they can make another choice.

And that may be the case … sometimes … but as noted in ‘now or never’ … not all the time.

Some choices are truly forks in the road where you cannot go back and start over.

And I believe most of us would be better off if we thought more of our choices should be thought of this way. As ‘the die have been cast.’

But, hey, that’s me.

Ok.

One more thing.

Let me take a minute to discuss an “irrevocable decision.”

“It is always thus, impelled by a state of mind which is destined not to last, that we make our irrevocable decisions.” - In Search of Lost Time, Volume II: Within a Budding Grove

Now or never is a state of mind which is but a window in time. It is there … and gone. And it is within those windows in which irrevocable decisions are made.

To use the quote … it is within this window you throw the dice.

Now.

“Irrevocable” is a lot like “forever” or maybe “never.” I mean that big, all encompassing, fraught with peril, audacious-type thoughts are captured in those little words.

And that is why many people do nothing in now or never moments. You just hold the dice.

Because it is scary to make an irrevocable decision.

It is kind of scary to know you will have thrown the dice … and will never get to throw them again. And have to play them as they lay. Regardless how they lay.

Yup. That the die have been cast.

But know this.

If you do nothing when it is now or never … Life will cast the die.

And Life will make the irrevocable decision.

Personally?

I would rather cast my own dice.

Nothing against Life but <I am sure he is a great guy or gal> … but I do not know it well enough to trust it with my fate.

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now or never

Feb 28th

Posted by Bruce in Favorite Quotes

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“Sometimes there is no next time, no time-outs, no second chances; sometimes it’s now or never.” – Alan Bennett

Life is tricky.

While there often seems to be unending line of second chances standing outside your door sometimes … well … you look outside one morning and they have all gone to have a scone at starbucks.

And you are alone.

And you can’t play the ‘next time’ card or ask the next second chance to come on in. Or say … uhm … can you wait a minute? <until one of the second chances comes back from the bathroom>

Nope.

Its now or never.

And this gets even trickier.

Because while I suggested a line of second chances typically hangs out outside your door they don’t really stand around. You just kind of envision, and hope, they are hanging around.

What that means is this is a judgment call on your part.

Now.

If it helps … the odds are with you.

Life DOES give you a shitload of second chances and timeouts and next times. Probably more than you could ever use in a lifetime as a matter of fact.

But that’s not the point.

This is about the moment when the odds say … oops … none of them available.

Now or never.

Life walks right on up to you and says … ‘what’s your call?’

And this is actually the judgment call.

Life doesn’t say (in an aside whisper) … “Hey, just so you know, this is one of those no time out, no second chance, no next time moments.”

(sorry about that)

You just gotta know.

I guess the point of this is to remind everyone that while Life is extremely generous in giving time outs and second chances … there are going to be now or never moments.

And you have to be prepared for them.

And do your best to recognize them.

And make a call.

Oh.

And, I imagine, it is also important to recognize afterwards, if you fucked up and didn’t see it, that it was a ‘now or never’ moment.

And that is important because … well … you cannot undo or go back or ask for a second chance.

Because, well, it was a now or never moment.

And you are done with it.

It is gone.

Move on.

Don’t beat yourself up (wasted energy).

Don’t try and fix it.

Live & learn.

It sucks but, trust me, you will get another ‘now or never’ opportunity again one day <whether you want it or not>

And … at that moment … remember … “sometimes there is no next time.”

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Heapsongs

Feb 24th

Posted by Bruce in Music

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So.

Imogene Heap continues to convince me she must be an incredibly interesting person in person … as well as a talented musician. And she just released another new song … from China.

Think of this:

Featured on TED (magical gloves <that capture sound through motion>).

Finds musical inspiration in almost absurd ways (newspaper printers).

Innovative thinker (YouGov).

Certainly not mainstream (I envision most people have no clue who she is). But certainly way ahead of what I would consider a global collaborative thinker (not just a musician).

First. The song.

Heap is working on her fourth cd. But she is going about it in a really interesting way … it is almost like sh is releasing each song as a “cd” as she rolls out the entre cd one-by-one. While the cd will be a collection of songs written and released individually two months apart each “Heapsong” is a story in itself. As I just said … each song is almost its own cd. People should be paying attention to is concept … REALLY paying attention. Because this may be the way of the future. Full length cds simply being a means to an end (a compilation of individual songs).

The newest song, the 5^th, she made in China and is called Xizi She Knows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgvAx2Bdt-o&ob=av2e

Ok. About the song (and another reason why I think she is one of the most innovative musicians out there today):

We went into a primary school class, where the children were doing their eye exercises, and the teacher giving them their instructions gave us our tempo. The sound of the newspaper printing presses – that became the beat. And we caught this woman who heads up this huge hill to a temple every day at sunrise and screams at the top of her lungs, so the sound of that is now in the middle section of the song.- Imogene Heap

Next.

She worked with YouGov to conduct a unique piece of research.

Imogen wanted to find out more about her fans by working with YouGov to write a tailored survey. Through it, she hoped to discover how her fans first came into contact with her work, when, how and why they enjoy her music, and what it is about Heap fans as individuals that mean they connect with her sound. It is a fascinating way to stay in touch with not only fan base but a larger base of what I would consider ‘global influencers’ or, at minimum, people who care about issues globally.

YouGov mapping of HeapFans

YouGov Heap: http://labs.yougov.co.uk/news/2012/02/14/imogen-heap-results/

Oh.

By the way.

Every one of my readers (because I assume they read because they like to explore new ideas and be involved in a worldview) should register with YouGov.

While it is certainly UK based it explores global issues as well as UK issues and is really well done. A very easy way to keep in touch with a variety of global issues (and some are serious and some are not).

Here is the registration site: https://labs.yougov.co.uk/account/register/

Next.

I love the fact she has made new technologies and social media integral to who she is and what she does … WITHOUT losing her individualism.

Heck. in 2010 she accepted her Grammy for the best engineered non-classical album (there are so many frickin’ grammy categories its nuts) wearing an interactive Twitter dress <yeah … interactive> specially-made to enable her to ‘bring’ her fans on stage with her.

And.

She has been featured on TED as assisting in the development of “magical gloves” which capture sounds in motion.

I love the fact she is recognizing the importance and functionality of social media as a vehicle for, and measure, of not only engagement but also the possibilities created through collaboration by constantly involving people with various projects.

I have written about her before an this 4^th cd but it us using an entirely new innovative approach to writing & recording by releasing one song every three months … because each song is basically being created through collaboration in a two-week song-composing flurry.

‘Lifeline’ and ‘Propeller Seeds’ were the first and second tracks created this way.

For ‘Propeller Seeds’, Imogen invited fans to share their moments of ‘clarity’ with her – namely, the times in their lives when “everything seemed to click” – to inspire her interpretation of this moment in her music.

Anyway.

Fascinating young lady.

And, from a bigger picture perspective, I believe her efforts and working style actually does more to encourage arts & music in people’s lives than any “music & arts is good” advertising initiative. She is involving people … and young people to see how music can be part of their lives.

Here is the Guardian article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/feb/23/30-minutes-with-imogen-heap#1

And if you ever wanted to be part of a song writing process … well … here is your chance. Her cd ain’t done yet.

Enjoy.

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fearless & young people & hook in your head

Feb 23rd

Posted by Bruce in Rants and Observations

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“Guess I need to unhook these thoughts.”

- Throwing Muses lyric from ‘hook in your head’

Ok.

I began writing this to remind us that young people are smarter and more innovative than we give them credit for as well as we typically have to look to the youth for trends and what the horizon has in store for us (whether we like it or not).

Oh. And this is is also just a reminder to us old folk how short our memories are.

So I began this with lyrics from a Throwing Muses song because it was written by Kristen Hersh (maybe 20 at the time) and Tonya Donnelly (maybe 20 at the time). And I used music as an example because … well … that’s what I do.

Two young 20somethings from Rhode Island creating things that would influence musicians for decades.

That said. I will say that aging, getting older, is consistent.

We begin to doubt that which we believed in when we were younger.

So this is a reminder.

Since I read Rat Girl it has re-instilled my belief that the youth is our future.

And the early 90s provides some good proof. And the Throwing Muses are proof. And Kristen Hersh (and Tanya Donnelly who has made every band she has played in sound awesome … not only did she co-found Throwing Muses with stepsister Kristin Hersh but then went on to work in The Breeders and Belly).

Anyway.

Hook in your Head is proof.

The song isn’t for everyone.

But it is a spectacular piece of song writing. In its 6:30+ length it is kind of 3 different songs.

In my words … it is a “clean messy” song.

(definition: the constant incredibly hooky rolling bass and drum riff is clean allowing Tonya and Kristen to be spectacularly messy).

Hook in Her Head remains one of my favorite Throwing Muses songs of all time (and no it isn’t a real hook it is something that is just stuck, or hooked, in your head).

Certain things I love, Spend my time

I guess I’ll have to unhook those hooks

This woman literally

Felt she had a hook in her head

When I first heard the song I listened to it … and listened to it over and over. Typical of the Muses it was odd … a fusion of alternative sections in one song(within 6:32). It has a brilliant drum steadying it with an awesome rolling bass riff holding it together.

And all the rest is messy.

But it sounds messy great.

The song is “ridiculously intense” as one commenter suggests (this is a live version but an almost perfect rendition of what you would hear on The Real Ramona): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcnDsTpO-CY&feature=related

And, most importantly, it is timeless (you could play this on any current alternative radio station I will guarantee multiple calls will come in asking who the heck the band was).

And they were teen-young 20’s defining a future sound.

Unpopular then? Sure.

Fearless ? Sure.

Young? You bet.

Old people hated it? Absolutely.

Acceptable today? It is what all alternative does and sounds like.

Truth? <as in “what can we learn” truth>

The youth are fearless and therefore, inevitably, they are influencers. Oh. Influencers of not only their own generation but of everyone.

At least everyone who pays attention.

At least to everyone who would quit bitching for “the good old days.”

And we shouldn’t forget it.

And any time us old folk do forget this I encourage you to go back to your youth and take a good hard look, and listen, and remind yourself.

And, frankly, we should remind ourselves more often.

Because too many of us are pretty frickin’ stubborn about today’s youth (and how irresponsible and immature we are so sure they are).

I have one suggestion for the old folk (say 40+).

Get your head out of your ass.

Young people are smart.

And they are innovative.

And, yeah, some of the innovations are aggravating … but we are supposed to be mature enough to delineate between “aggravating because it is simply aggravating” and “aggravating because now I am going to have to change.”

And, frankly, young people think of things we older people not only don’t – but can’t.

And if you ignore it or dismiss it (teen thinking) you are going to miss out on a lot.

Maybe worse?

You will have failed that generation. The young’s innovative thinking should be nurtured and fertilized like young plants that you want to blossom. For like flowers or trees they are the foliage that will line our horizons in the future.

If we kill their ideas our horizons will lie barren. Or worse. Our horizons will be lined in our ideas. And while we may be comforted in the sight of things we have created we are leaving nothing for future generations to look to on the horizon as their own.

(sorry … I felt kind of poetic as I banged away on the keys … ignore that bad imagery but accept the point … please)

Anyway.

Here is a thought for you as you think about today’s young people.

The Throwing Muses weren’t ahead of their time.

They were at their time.

But originality is often unpopular.

Play their music today and they would be a top 10 alternative band.

Does that mean they missed out? Nope.

Because they created. They were influential. They were a voice of the youth innovators of that generation.

Ignore the Throwing Muses music if you want.

But don’t ignore the youth.

Nurture the voices of this generation. Don’t mute them in your non understanding of what they say.

Just because originality is unpopular doesn’t mean we should discourage originality.

No matter what age the originality occurs.

Bottom line?

Unhook those thoughts from your head about young people.

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voices of a generation

Feb 21st

Posted by Bruce in Rants and Observations

No comments

Well.

This is about teens and what they are thinking and how the respond to reading <or claims they are not reading> and, frankly, a view from their perspective. And I am going to use their words. I am gonna use a lot of their words.

I am going to do this one in parts. First. A website dedicated to giving voice to teens globally. Second. Some response comments pulled from an article written … well … I cannot remember. Suffice it to say the article was from a reputable publication and the article was a bunch of moronic drivel written by an old guy waxing on about how this generation of young people are missing out on what his generation did (mostly reading) and are turning out to be a generation of illiterate mindless dweebs (sorry … it probably wasn’t that bad but you get the point).

I get tired of this (bashing today’s youth).

So … the first. The voice of the global teen. A blog created and written by teens. As a good friend of mine said “it is humbling.” Beyond that it is smart, insightful and extremely well articulated. And if anyone tries to tell me that this is a minority from a generation made up of a majority of morons I respond with a simple “bullshit.”

All generations think thoughts. But all generations have individuals who give voice to those thoughts. In fact all generations need an articulate few to create the voice of a generation.

Here is the site: http://voicesofyouth.org/users/11472

If you have any doubts that this generation doesn’t “get it” you can read the words of the younger generation globally right here … in one spot.

Do not doubt for one minute they are not extremely qualified to step into our shoes if not throw away our shoes and do us even better.

Second.

Reading.

Whew. This is one never ending gripe from old folk.

So I will begin with reading and literacy and … well … books, e-books and whatever else you want to consider reading.

Here is how one teen responds:

A major source of confusion is the fact that information from reputable sources is increasingly available on the Internet, which is far more convenient to use than hauling your ass to a library, browsing through the book collection, finding a giant tome, browsing through it to find what you need, and then rinse and repeat.

We’re keeping up with the modern world. And we’re definitely reading. We’re just not reading on physical paper, which is apparently a crime against humanity or something.

Hell, we’re reading plenty of things on physical paper too. Just not what we “should” be reading according to these “Damned-Whippersnappers”-crying adults. We’re reading not only fiction and fantasy (Harry Potter, Hunger Games, etc.), but also memoirs (The Glass Castle and Night) and many other genres.

We’re reading, just not what and how you think we should – GuywiththeContacts commenter

(amen)

Look.

I have read Hunger Games (a youth book … and I am looking forward to the movies) … the Immortal Nicholas Flamel book series (an excellent smart series) as well as I rarely read a newspaper anymore … oops … rather I read newspaper online. And, in fact, I probably read a wider variety of opinions and articles because I gather information online versus one paper newspaper than ever before.

So maybe I am also ‘just not reading what and how you think I should.’ Uh oh. I guess that means I owe an apology to the 50000 some people who visit my site each month.

Aw.

Bullshit.

Guywithcontacts is right. We adults need to stop crying. Reading (and writing maybe even more so) is alive and well. And prospering.

And the world is not losing its moral foundation nor is it crumbling …

Is Western Civilization coming to an end again? So soon after the last time? Actually, this article made me nostalgic for all of the other times Western Civilization was on its last legs. The symptoms are always the same – teenagers are distracted, can’t pay attention, and don’t have patience or empathy. The cure is always the same – read more, especially books from the canon. But the cause is different each time.
Remember when it was Facebook and Twitter that was going to bring us to an end? And before that, it was the internet? And before that, it was MTV? Before then, I think the culprit was supposed to be blockbuster movies (for killing our imaginations and preventing us from reading). Before that, it was television. And before that it was comic books. Then radio, movies, jazz, and vaudeville. And dime novels. And let’s not forget the assembly line and the automobile. All of them were, at one time or another, the cause of the demise of our culture.
I also recall, when I was a teenager, being told that I was the reason Western Civilization was doomed. Because all teenagers would lack the wisdom and common sense necessary to function. I heard the story about the high school student who hadn’t been aware that the U.S. and Japan had once been at war. “Who won?” she asked. I heard the story about the teenagers who saw a movie poster for “Amadeus” and wondered to each other who wrote the soundtrack. They sounded like jokes to me, but were presented as Actual Facts by adults. All it taught me at the time was that: (a) adults could be awfully credulous at times; and (b) backhanded put-downs weren’t much of an inducement to read more. But articles like this one are never aimed at the teenagers who are putting Western Civilization in peril. They are aimed at people who want to rail at the annoying, careless behavior of those who are just beginning to acquire the means to act independently, when carelessness or obnoxiousness could actually do someone harm. I propose that Newsweek retitle this article, “Kids today!” and leave it at that.

That being said, I have found texting to be both useful and terribly, terribly annoying. It depends on the context. – Maura commenter

(amen)

Get on the train or get run over by the train.

This generation is going to be managing our future one day.

Quit bitching.

If our generation didn’t kill civilization no generation will be able to. We have certainly done our best to do so … therefore … maybe this generation will pull our proverbial asses out of the fire and make all good as it should be.

But, as Maura so rightfully points out, ‘backhanded put downs are not an inducement’ for anyone to want to do anything.

This generation is not going to destroy civilization they are going to rebuild, recreate and renovate civilization. That said … we adults better quit bitching about reading and make sure we let them learn the good stuff any way they want.

Yeah.

Any way they want …..

“I’m so incredibly tired of everyone railing my generation for using the technology available to us. Yeah, cell phones allow us to communicate with each other easier. Awesome. That’s why they were invented. And the reason we use them a lot isn’t because the act of typing a message on a tiny keyboard gives us some immeasurable thrill. It’s because there’s someone on the other end whom we care about and want to be in contact with. Text-speak just makes things go faster. Is there anyone who honestly thinks that there are teenagers out there who don’t know how to spell ‘you’?
It’s like Maura said– you don’t think your parents said the same things about you? And their parents about them and on and on until you get back to neanderthals and the invention of the wheel. It’s just scapegoating and fear of change. It’s old news, buddy.
Also, I don’t hear people complaining about how Facebook and Twitter led an entire region to overthrow tyranny and oust dictators. Someone who did a great job of finding the real heart of the problem– and not maligning technology and advancement–was Ray Bradbury in Fahrenheit 451.
So please, stop accusing teenagers of destroying the world before we’re even allowed to vote, and quit blaming my generation for things we haven’t even gotten the chance to do yet (such as, you know, spike the US deficit to over a trillion). – chrissy a commenter on a site

(amen)

In the end … maybe let’s try some of these words on for size and today’s youth …

Resilience.

Adaptability.

Innovative.

Optimistic.

Yeah. Optimistic. Instead of cynicism … which seems to appear in older generations … this youth remains optimistic.

Think about this … a Pew survey found most young adults today believe they have a harder time than their parents did:

- 82% say it’s harder to find a job.

- 75% say it’s harder to save for the future.

- 71% say it’s harder to pay for college.

- 69% say it’s harder to buy a home.

<note: I tend to believe ALL younger generations believe they will have a more difficult time then their parents.> Yet. Despite all of that … the same Pew study found high levels of optimism among young adults. Although the survey found young people are less likely now than before the recession to say they have enough income, their level of optimism hasn’t shrunk from where it was in 2004, the report notes.

“Their optimism is just as high as it was in a booming economy or a stronger economy” before the recession.

There you go. I bring up optimism to close this post because, dammit, it’s not up to older generations to kill this optimism … or bitch about how “they don’t do it the way we do/did” … rather … it is up to us to fuel this optimism and let this generation find its true voice … and foster the generation to create whatever innovations it is destined to create .. and reach whatever new horizons they are destined to reach … all of which “civilization” will benefit from.

Oh.

We will benefit to (just wanted to remind everyone about that).

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beautiful brains

Feb 20th

Posted by Bruce in Rants and Observations

No comments

“Moody. Impulsive. Maddening. Why do teenagers act the way they do? Viewed through the eyes of evolution, their most exasperating traits may be the key to success as adults.”- National Geographic

teen brain Harvard magazine

Ok. This is about teens … their <maddening> brains … science … and the art of how we can <positively> influence them.

And, yes, beautiful brains refer to the teenage brain.

And, no, I have not been drinking nor have I become <officially> delusional because I agree that the teenage brain is beautiful … beautifully creative, insightful, sharp, inquisitive, non linear & fragmentally brilliant (among other things).

Personally I love the way the teenage brain works and dealing with it.

Sure. If I was a parent and had to deal with this inconsistent brain 24/7 I am sure I would have a different perspective (or at least it would be colored by that perspective).

But. Beyond parenting … let’s focus on how the teen brain works and what it creates (beyond the obvious fairly maddening decisions) … because it is typically quick, expansive and sometimes quite brilliantly random, therefore, while it may appear impossible to deal with it is at the same time a whetstone for our own brains.

It hones us and sharpens our own logic, thinking & articulation skills (as well as our patience & character I imagine).

Their brains force US to weave our way through a veritable hornet’s nest of thoughts & thinking to uncover some pretty insightful quick thinking sharp ideas.

Yeah.

Think about that for a second.

And maybe that is why their brains are so maddening to us. It makes us work too hard. Or maybe it makes us move more quickly mentally then we typically are comfortable with. But think about what we “get” if we get involved with the intensely intricate beautiful brain.

We get the opportunity to jump in the middle while all that stuff is being jumbled in their head …. and … well … unjumble. And decipher. And guide. And redirect. And repurpose. And rejoice.

But we don’t get to relax. And maybe, once again, this is where we fail.

For even if we redirect & repurpose a teen thought it doesn’t stop moving …. it interacts with everything else that is going on in their brain and in an iterative fashion it begets additional brain activity.

So.

You snooze you lose.

Slow no go.

Pick your bad poetic poison.

If you don’t get in and stay to play, well, I guess it is just maddening.

Anyway.

This isn’t just me that find their brains beautiful. National Geographic wrote an article (called Beautiful Brains) and actually did research.

Here is the fascinating National Geographic article about the science behind teenage brains trying to understand why they are what they are.

National Geographic Teenage Brains: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/10/teenage-brains/dobbs-text/2

So.

The proof is that while their thinking may sometimes appear illogical that it is sharp thinking …. and … if you read between the lines (and think about it) you can see the small windows of opportunities of which if we glimpse them we can make massive impacts.

Research shows “there is simply too much going on in the brains of adolescents” for them to concentrate on the task at hand. That means resources and energy in the brain are wasted as it tries to identify what to focus on … and, as with anyone <even adults> that has a negative effect on decision-making.

The study shows that the brain doesn’t actually grow very much between 12 and 25. It has already reached 90 percent of its full size by the time a person is six. However during the teen years the brain undergoes extensive rewiring and restructuring (they suggest it is like having an electrician come in and do a complete rewiring job).

distraction because of too much stimuli

During this period the brain has a much better chance of being distracted by something … and by ‘something’ I mean ‘everything’. It’s just the way rewiring works.

So. It isn’t that a teen cannot focus … it is just sensory overload. There is too much stimuli. And the sheer volume of stimuli management is challenged in that they don’t have the experience to shut things out … or maybe better said … they don’t have an experience filter with whoch to prioritize the stimuli. (

In the end it is an overwhelming combination of too much and an inability from lack of experience to manage.

It is easier for a teen to shift focus than to keep focus.

In national Geaograhic’s words … “In short, more grey matter means more room for mistakes and a sharp decline in efficiency.”

While us old folk may not like to hear this but as as we grow older we lose brain (it shrinks). but it’s not so much a loss as it is a honing. Our brains shrink, becoming more efficient, and (hopefully) less prone to distraction and what could be construed as stupid immature <inexperienced> mistakes. That honing is a double win for most adults. Less room fr random distraction combined with more experienced stuff crammed into it.

A Cornell study also points out that while teens do a lot of irresponsible things (drinking & driving, sex, drugs, smoking) it is not because they think they are invulnerable or haven’t thought about the risks.

In fact, the Cornell study suggests they are more likely to ponder the risks, take longer (about 170 milliseconds more) weighing the pros and cons of engaging in high-risk behavior than adults — and actually overestimate the risks.

“It’s just that they often decide the benefits — the immediate gratification or peer acceptance — outweigh the risks”, says Valerie F. Reyna, professor of human development at Cornell.

If you buy that (risk versus reward) and the fact that psychologists have found that teenagers are about as adept as adults at recognizing the risks of dangerous behavior you have to begin understanding the role we adults play (and in fact the opportunity we have).

This beautiful brain is a massive network of neurons constantly assessing the costs and benefits of potential actions calculating the reward … how far they are willing to go to gain the reward (the risks) and making judgments in hundredths of a second.

The article does a nice job of pointing out that at some level and at some times (and it’s more the parent’s job to spot when then the teen’s to ask) a teen recognizes that the parent can offer certain pearls of wisdom—knowledge valued not because it comes from parental authority but because it comes from the parent’s own struggles to learn how the world works. The teen rightly perceives that he/she must understand not just her parents’ world but also the one she is entering.

This last point is extremely important because:

“a sort of crucial period of learning—the wiring is getting upgraded, but once that’s done, it’s harder to change.” Douglas Fields, a NIH neuroscientist

The teen is quite capable, if not as capable, as an adult to make a decision … they just need assistance in assessing and sifting through the stimuli … and I imagine with some sort of prioritizing as they assess.

If we miss this opportunity to assist simply because we judge a teen as “unable to make good decisions” or “immaturity” or <gasp> ADD … we are cheating them.

We have an opportunity to help with the rewiring … actually ‘upgrade the wiring’ if yu will if we elect to do so.

This isn’t me … this is science telling us this.

I end (or close to the end) with that thought because I also found a whizbang interactive chart created by PBS on the teenage brain: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/

Even if you don’t give two shits about the teenage brain it is still interesting.

Now.

For the end.

From twitter:

ohteenquotes Clara Quiambao

I would love to meet the teenage version of my parents. Don’t you?

25 minutes ago

Am I asking us to be kids again? Nope. We lived those years and those experiences help make us who we are today. However … what I am suggesting is that we shouldn’t forget that we don’t have to be immature or foolishly act young … just interacting with children is how we return to our youth.

There really is no other way.

Any span of years we may live will never make what we say or do immortal. It is children that give each of us some immortality.

And with that thought we should all think of how we can help the beautiful brains … no matter how maddening they may seem at times.

Oh, and remember these wise words from one who you would have to have assumed would have been a stodgy Brit … and 2 time Prime Minister in the 1800’s … Benjamin Disraeli:

“Almost everything that is great has been done by youth.”

Smart guy for a Brit.

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wasted or not

Feb 20th

Posted by Bruce in Personal & Nonsensical

No comments

Well.

Who would have thought Whitney Houston dying would make me write 2 posts? (not me)

And, while I’m not weeping over her death, I certainly respect her talent and how good she was at her craft.

But. What I do weep over is the fact it seems like when someone like Whitney Houston dies people start blathering about her addictions and shortcomings … and inevitably you see the comment “what a waste.”

Or.

“A sad waste of a great talent with a once in a lifetime voice.”

Well.

Was her life a waste? Really? C’mon.

The woman had more brilliant moments to take with her to her grave then most of us will ever dream of in a lifetime (so the whole “wasted” thing kind of aggravates me).

And as I noted when she passed away … why should we judge her based on her flaws (as if we don’t have any) and by our expectations … but rather by her legacy as a singer?

I admit.

It drives me a little crazy when people start questioning what her legacy will be … for a singer admired for her amazing vocals, but who also battled drug and alcohol addictions that generated tabloid fodder of her health, marriage issues and finances?

Surprisingly (to me) one of the best Whitney articles was written by a Pravda writer (and one who typically almost makes me scream & throw things with his often skewed slightly absurd opinions): http://english.pravda.ru/society/showbiz/13-02-2012/120486-whitney_houston-0/

In addition. I was also slightly surprised, among the spectacle someone calls her funeral, that Kevin Costner stepped up to the plate with a really nice articulation of what I imagine all these famous, talented, people face … insecurities of “am I good enough.” And the day to day neverending subtle, and sometimes not so subtle in today’s world, are you god enough questioning. It has to take its toll.

That is no excuse for how Whitney handled it (the well publicized flaws) nor how anyone handles it. But. In the end. We can only hope all the baggage that people are focusing on evaporates and what’s left behind will be is a focus on a spectacular career of work and music.

There was also a nice tribute from Lenny Kravitz as he was performing the night after she passed away.

Intro. To Push by Lenny Kravitz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQaTUg1JSw8

(side note: Craig Ross is the guitar player you always see by Lenny’s side – not only is he an incredible guitar player, and showman, he write/co writes the music. Are you Gonna Go my Way was his repetitive riff and the solo. Same thing for Is There any Love in Your Heart and My Love. He, and Lenny, is awesome in concert if you ever have the opportunity to see them).

Ok. Back to Whitney.

Separating the legacy from the lurid isn’t easy. “I’d like to say her incredible voice will trump all in how she’s remembered,” says Yahoo music’s Chris Willman. “Unfortunately, with a lot of entertainers who come to tragic ends, it becomes hard to appreciate their art or how it was intended, without thinking of the tragedy of their lives.”

Anyway.

I wish two things.

First is that people celebrate her life & talent and not focus on tragedy we may associate with her life. oh. And the spectacle ends.

Second.

Mainly because I cannot believe I wrote two things about Whitney Houston.

Because she was just one. And every day approximately 151,650 people die in the world.

It boggles my mind the amount of loss experienced every single day. Its not just the 151+ thousand but the ripples of people affected by each loss.

Maybe part of Whitney’s legacy is that it should remind us all of someone’s loss somewhere that happens every day.

That number I gave you makes one wonder just how many stories are not covered and discussed. Yet, each is maybe just as important as Whitney’s.

I guess maybe when one really special voice like this leaves us it should make us all think of the imperfection perfection of life.

And remember each and every one imperfect soul not as imperfect … but as perfect in their own way. And that there are another 151649 stories not being told that day.

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social media ain’t antisocial

Feb 16th

Posted by Bruce in Business Thoughts

No comments

Well.

Because I was in a recent business meeting where we were discussing social media and I was surrounded by a bunch of old farts (of which I am also) who were blathering about kids texting too much, how twitter is killing reading and basically all that old person garbage about how the internet is crumbling the foundation of civilization I thought I would write a quick factoid article on how social media is anything but anti social.

I am usually pretty harsh on the whole social media thing. Mainly because I don’t believe most social ‘tools’ (facebook, twitter, etc.) were created for marketing. They were … well … created to be social hubs not marketing hubs. But marketing people, being marketing people, came along and said “wow, how can I take advantage of that?”

Anyway.

Let me spend a couple of minutes on social as social hubs.

Because they do NOT diminish reading skills (by texting & such), or diminish social skills (conversation & talking) nor do they enhance marketing (for the most part).

Some factoids.

PewInternet research has shown that social relationship and sense of community are NOT diminishing but rather growing … and growing n non traditional ways. Simplistically instead of a tighter cocoon of friends there are now truly social networks … expanded groups of like-minded people (and there can be very obscure ‘like-minds’ but no less passionate & interesting) can be brought together regardless of geography. Social relationships now have no boundaries. Doesn’t mean they are any less meaningful in fact they can be empowering. Those who felt ‘alone’ … unlike others … are now empowered to find ‘others’ an, in fact, are quite pleased to find many others. Social relationships are being empowered. Let me close this section with this … PewInternetResearch: “Our research shows face-to-face time between teenagers hasn’t changed over the past five years. Technology has simply added another layer on top.

PewInternet research also shows that the internet has actually positively affected core ties and significant ties (definition: core ties identified as close/intimate relationships and significant ties as people to whom one is somewhat closely connected). Internet enables more contact (quantity) than ever before. The quantity translates into stronger, deeper ties with cores and significants.

PewInternet research reflects that 32% of respondents say that internet engagement has increased the size of their face to face network. Only 3% said it decreased them. Overall internet users have somewhat larger face-to-face social networks than non-users.

Research has shown the internet has strengthened church and fraternal organization involvement rather than diminish them (this is an indicator of social involvement).

Ah.

And texting.

Pewinternet research has found that more frequent texting actually encourages more face-to-face time. In addition research shows it is not about the quantity of texting but rather texting takes more careful crafting that telephone/face-to-face as well as texting more often happens at night/home therefore people share more intimate feelings.

3 out of 10 teens say “they are more honest when they talk with friends online.”

PewInternet research also indicates the internet doesn’t create false selves (and the predators are a miniscule minority … similar to the face-to-face predators who hide as Sandusky-like neighbors) but rather helps people bring out their true selves. Social scientists have suggested that “one can share one’s inner beliefs and emotional reactions with much less fear of disapproval and sanction.”

Oh (because it is topical and, oddly, among all the garbage about the degeneration of our youth caused by the internet social revolution actually came up).

Internet does not create social revolutionaries. The internet just means that anyone can have a voice. But the internet is as fragmented, no, more fragmented than cable tv.

Do you know every station you have available? Have you ever even watched every channel? <answer: no> Internet is the same. Just because someone has a voice doesn’t mean someone will hear it.

Yes. On occasion something can gain critical mass.

And, yes, that is what people call ‘viral.’

But in the scheme of things they are few and far between. What the internet does do is permit likeminded people gather. And if there are enough likeminded people who gather … and they become some derivative of a critical mass … that still isn’t a revolution … it is simply a voice loud enough to be heard.

Oh. And that voice has to say something meaningful & relevant.

Internet doesn’t (and cannot) create things from a void but rather it gives voice to those things that need to be said (and a LOT of things that don’t need to be said).

Suffice it to say with the internet that the good will be good, the bad will be bad and everyone can take a place in either the good or the bad line.

<note: marketers should read the social revolution section, insert marketing for social revolution and take a moment and ponder>

Lastly.

Reading.

Conventional wisdom suggests that YouTube, videogames, cable TV and iPods have turned us away from the written word. All these new fangled innovations have replaced paper and longhand letters only to shrink reading & writing into bite-sized status updates, text messages & colloquial emailing (or so the theories abound).

Conventional wisdom, in this case, is wrong.

A large-scale study by the University of California at San Diego and other research universities revealed what some of us have long suspected: We’re reading far more words than we used to as we adopt new technologies. “Reading, which was in decline due to the growth of television, tripled from 1980 to 2008, because it is the overwhelmingly preferred way to receive words on the Internet,” found a University of California at San Diego study.

Take a look at Facebook. It clearly shows we’re writing more than we used to. Take a look at the blogosphere … the young generation has more opportunities to write and read than ever before. And write and read in response to other writing and things they see.

<note: we adults also have the opportunity to interact with their reading & writing if we choose to>

That’s it.

After listening to a bunch of old farts babbling away about the good ole days (and taking a look in the mirror to be sure while I may look like then I wasn’t sounding like them) I thought would write this.

as one social scientist stated in a Guardian article: “Step back. The telephone, the car, the television – they all, in their time, changed the way teens relate to each other, and to other people, quite radically. And how did their parents respond? With the same kind of wailing and gnashing of teeth we’re doing now. These technologies change lives, absolutely. But it’s a generational thing.”

In my words? There is nothing anti social about what is happening in the social media world.

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here an insight, there an insight, where an insight?

Feb 9th

Posted by Bruce in Business Thoughts

No comments

So.

Every once in awhile in the ad/marketing business we talk about “what’s the insight that will help us create the big idea?”

Ok.

Not every once in awhile.

Actually ad nausea.

So often your head hurts.

In fact it may be the reason why people in the industry drink as often as they do.

Wow. I wonder if that is an insight.

Anyway.

Here is an insight to the aggravating people always asking for “an” insight.

There are product insights.

Company insights.

Consumer (or user) insights.

There are category insights for gods sake.

Insights are all around us (I wanted to use a gnat analogy but that could be construed as sarcastic).

Here an insight, there an insight, everywhere an insight (I believe that is a nursery rhyme insight reference).

In the end … a really good insight in marketing/brand management/product development/whatever development … marries the product and consumer needs.

Here is an insight.

Consumers don’t care about products or brands. All they care about is outcomes and results. Let’s , for simplistic sake, suggest that is “need.”

Some marketing insight guru described a consumer insight as “penetration into the target’s collective subconscious to unearth a link between untapped attitudes and behaviors to discover a deep-seated truth that reveals important needs/values the brand can exploit to connect with the target to impact attitudes and behaviors.”

That insight definition made my head hurt.

Especially the “exploiting” part.

But.

I do like the ‘deep seated truth‘ part.

Regardless. Suffice it to say the guru meant “an insight into need.”

<oops. Too simple>

Anyway.

There is no one insight.

And rarely is an insight more than just a window of opportunity (only to be replaced by another “insight” at another time).

The only thing that stays the same? That truth part.

Because the frickin’ truth is that if you want to change something in a consumer mindset (attitude) leading to purchase/usage (behavior) which benefits the brand (sales) … focus on some outcome/result.

Yeah … yeah … yeah … that ‘outcome’ may be a Maslow type outcome (self-worth, appearance, esteem, actualization, etc.) but that is outcome for god’s sake … not some mumbo jumbo on a voodoo thing I want to penetrate and exploit.

It is something real to a person. And if it is real … it is a truth. And if it is a truth it cannot be exploited … it can only be something that can be ‘met.’
And, by the way, if you happen to wrangle up an insightful truth (and make it through the mumbo jumbo marketing maze internally and externally) it really can impact what you do:

- Product design: how it looks and what it says on shelf or wherever you sell it. Why? Well. Now we can talk about exploiting. Because if you DID make it through the maze I can guarantee you are the exception to the rule … most of your competitors didn’t … therefore you can exploit their failure to do so (marketing gurus call this “weakness”).

- Marketing communication: this is obvious … but easier than you think (assuming you have made it to a ‘deep seated truth’) … why is it so much easier? Well.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm <I am thinking not humming>… because you have an opportunity to … well … speak the truth. Ok. It’s harder than you think despite that fact. Because even if you make it to this point (having identified the truth) a shitload of people will panic … they will want to dress the truth up in Lady Gaga like clothing trying to make the truth look ‘sexy’ (or more appealing). Why? Because sometimes people think the truth is too bland and needs to be spiced up. Marketing gurus make you think this way because they want to call his truth thing something like “an untapped compelling belief”. Yeah. Right. Marketing bullshit. Run away. As fast as you can.

So. This is easy if you are around people who accept that it is easy.

Ok. Next.

A lot of good insights are wasted. Not just because the window of opportunity closes while you dither around with whether the insight is really an insight or whether it is sexy enough … but because even with a good, or even mediocre, insight it gets wasted because then no one wants to identify who the insight should be communicated to.

Huh?

Yup.

It can be a real head scratcher but let’s say you find a nifty insight against a specific group … and then all of a sudden some genius stands up and says “tell everyone that … maybe they just didn’t know ‘x’ and we need to tell them … because … well … your presentation was great … and we should tell everyone the truth.”

In marketing layman’s terms this is some spineless jellyfish who doesn’t want to agree on a targeting choice but rather go to some broad audience (this is the infamous shotgun versus rifle battle).

Suffice it to say if most CMOs/Marketing/Agency decision makers were generals their armies would be carrying around shotguns and not rifles.

I think the Cosa Nostra called them “luparas” (lupara is an Italian word used to refer to a sawn-off shotgun traditionally associated with Cosa Nostra. The shortened barrel of a lupara lend itself to easier concealment and the lack of choke contributes to a wider spread of shot when the weapon is fired).

Yeah.

Well.

This is sounding more and more like the Valentine’s Day Massacre so maybe it is appropriate.

And it all starts so innocently.

“We need an insight.”

And it sounds simple … align purchaser need, an insight, and customer benefit and you can typically have a great opportunity to identify a good marketing idea.

Maybe it is simple because, once again, success revolves around the truth.

And maybe it is so frickin’ hard because, well, once again, it revolves around the truth.

In the end?

I end up discussing the mafia and shooting myself with a Lupara.

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