The Risks in Branding (A lesson from Nigeria)
Nigeria’s new branding campaign to bring in tourists and economic development – Nigeria: Good People. Great Nation.” (this was a follow up to their last campaign .. Nigeria, heart of Africa.”)
Okay. I have never visited Nigeria so I may have a naïve point of view. But. Here are three news items in the last month about Nigeria:
- A prominent Nigerian comic actor who is famous for singing a song about e-mail scams has been kidnapped.
- Nigeria appears to be shedding the toga of being one of the most corrupt nations in the world. In the 2008 Global Integrity report released recently, Nigeria is listed among the gainers, with a plus 10 marks from its 2007 rating. This means that Nigeria has improved from its previous rating.
- James Ezuma, the embattled proprietor of Ezuma Private Hospital, Aba, who is standing trial at an Umuahia High Court for illegal sale of babies, can no longer move around like other free people do. He moves around under the protection of heavily armed Bakassi Boys, a vigilante group that operates in most states in the South-East.
In addition, a consultancy specializing in economic development assessment listed Lagos (largest city in Nigeria) as the world’s worst place for expatriates to live because of poor sanitation, horrible roads and violent crime. Hmmmmm…“Good People. Great Nation.” I am sure there are good people doing their best in this country, but an outsider would have to question how many and are there enough.
Huge disconnect for me on this.
To me this has become an example of someone developing a brand image of “who I want to be” and deciding to tell people “I am this already” and reality suggests “hey, you have a ways to go yet before I may believe this.”
This campaign becomes wasted money and, I could argue it is detrimental to future work in that Nigeria is digging itself out of a distrusted hole to become trusted in some way.
Would I tackle this problem? Sure. It can be done. But before they begin another marketing campaign they probably need to remember something – marketing has to be an extension of who you are as a company/brand/country. Because the rubber hits the road when words are faced with actual human interaction. I believe it was The Limited who said “the brand is what is delivered in the store every day.” (and they didn’t do any advertising).
In the end a brand is not words but actions (and the net result of interactions). Nigeria seems to have some work to do to meet these criteria. Think about all of this the next time you talk about a branding campaign.
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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
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“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
Posted in Business Thoughts, Stuff I Like | No comments
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 [...]
comment of the day: elections and governing
May 10, 2012 - 10:11 am
Tags: actions today make who i am tomorrow, america repairing it’s faults, America’s character, behavior in new economic world, better than every other country, buy as soon as possible, cannot function because always fighting for job, capitalism and morals, capitalism communism, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, changed behavior, changing objectives to make change, character, clarity of ideological thinking, communism, communism embracing capitalism, consumers are complicated, country geography, country mortality, decision making, democracy in america, democratic uprisings, depression versus recession, do elections ever end, economic inequality, economy, effect of recession, elections, enlightened conflict, enlightened reading, enlightening reading, excellence in brevity, generations changing behavior, geopolitical wars, give consumers a choice, global economic superiority, global unrest, government, government imbalance, great manifestos, have and have nots, haves, haves versus have-nots, history, ideological thinking, ignorance, impact of recession, it is tough but how tough, job insecurity, job responsibility, keenly aware of america’s flaws, learning, letting go is difficult, letting go is not simple, life, life lessons, Lost Ground, making shit is good, marketing, marx and engel and founding fathers, middle east, middle east is complex, moral fiber, no easy steps in middle east, nothing lasts forever, optomism versus pessimism, optomistically cynical, perspective, Pew Research, pluralism, poverty, proud patriots, quotes, recession, recession affecting shopping behavior, redistribution of power, redrawing boundaries, relationships, resiliency, respect, responsibility, rethinking elections, seeking new experiences, self determination, social imbalance, social revolutions, social unrest, social upheavals, socialism, spending money as soon as we have it, story of two americas, strength of character to make change, Stuff I Like, switching but not satisfied, that i will be tomorrow, the constitution, the decline of europe, the economist, the have nots, the haves, the story of a fragmented america, the story of fragmented middle east, this i am today, time magazine, tocqueville, today’s economy, truth, uncertainty of nations, understanding the middle east, unreasonable solutions, well written documents, words
Posted in Rants and Observations | No comments
I saw this comment in The Guardian: The French elections lasted for what? A month and a half, now they have a new President. Our elections begin 2 years in advance and don’t end until super tuesday which sounds like a sporting event. Our leaders cannot function because they are always fighting for their jobs [...]
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, 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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: [...]
no secret to life
May 7, 2012 - 4:03 pm
Tags: 37 seconds well used is a lifetime, a full life, actions today make who i am tomorrow, America’s character, architects of fate, astonish people, be who you are, being a collector, being soft in business, career, change begins in the head, change forces prioritizing, change takes remarkable effort, changed behavior, changing objectives to make change, character, choice, choices, choices leading to full life, choices we make or do not make, collect stories, communication, creation means destroying something, decision making, destroying the personal baggage you carry, doing the right thing, doing the right thing is hard, enlightened conflict, enlightened listening, every one is an architect of life, every one plays a role in fate, everyone has a story, everyone has had some life changing event, everyone has some experience of note, fear, fear of choices, gain some new identity aspects, gain something more than words, getting a new start means destroying some old things, good people, hard choices, hard decisions, hesitate to tell, hope, identifying who you are, if i only had time, ignorance, ignore people, in those moments, inaction, intentions, interesting stories, just this once, knowing what is right is not enough, lacking hope, leadership, learn someone’s character, learning, lessons, letting go is difficult, letting go is not simple, lies, life, life changing event, life lessons, listen more, listening, making changes personally, making choices, making the hard choice, managing perceptions, marketing, moments, moral fiber, motivated by a desire to achieve, ordinary people don’t think they are remarkable, our minds create, overcoming ignorance, people have a story, personal creative destruction, personal perspective, purpose to learn, quotations, quotes, relationships, resiliency, resiliency and character, respect, responsibility, right is right, secrets to collect, see your own reality, self truth, slippery slope, slippery slope of despair, smallest actions contribute, so you can be better, soft choices, some experience worthy of note, stories, stories we will never tell, stories you want to hear, story they never want to tell, strategy, strength of character to make change, Stuff I Like, teaching, that i will be tomorrow, there is no formula for good choices, this i am today, time, time and choices, trust, truth, trying to preserve will lead to stagnation, unlocking the story, wacky wisdom, waiting or living, we all have stories, we should all listen a little more, what you do with your time, when people do not listen, words, you have to work to get these stories, you may gain something
Posted in Favorite Quotes | No comments
“There are no secrets in life just truths that lie beneath the surface” – Dexter I love this quote. To me it seems to put a highlight on the inner struggle we seem to have with trying to make life so‘mysterious’ (or some invisible hand) and a lack of desire to control, or assume responsibility [...]
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
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“I’m fine”
May 3, 2012 - 11:02 am
Tags: a full life, accountable decision making, actions today make who i am tomorrow, analysis paralysis, architects of fate, astonish people, at some point you are accountable, be who you are, being accountable, being soft in business, breaking life decisions down, bull in a china shop living, 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, 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, communication, complex simplified, cowardly decision making, creation means destroying something, cynicism, 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, difficult to manage expectations, disappointment created by expectations, do not go gentle, do not go quietly, doing the right thing, doing the right thing is hard, doubt, doubts of words, enlightened conflict, every minute is another chance, every moment counts, every one is an architect of life, fear of choices, few words, finding the right words to say, generations changing behavior, getting a new start means destroying some old things, good people, guilt and obligation, happiness, hard choices, hard decisions, heightening value in life choices, hiding behind statistics, hope, i am fine, i am fine is the biggest lie, i like numbers, I think opinions, identifying who you are, inability to manage expectations, inaction, increasingly popular words, informing a decision, intentions, isolating variables using statistics, judgement, judgment is not easy, juggling versus balancing, just this once, knowing what is right is not enough, kodak, lack of responsibility, lacking hope, lazy decision making, leadership, learning, lessons, letting go is difficult, letting go is not simple, lies, life, life formulas, life gives you a bazillion second chances, life is a string of minutes, life is complex, life is not a mission, life is not a straight line, life is not as simple as it seems, life is often not lived best gently, life lessons, life not defined by meeting objectives, life thoughts, life's white lies, listening, live life to the fullest, logical decision making, lying to your friends, lying to yourself, making changes personally, making choices, making the hard choice, managing perceptions, marketing, maybe life is not that complicated, measurement of failure, measuring life, messaging, moments are like a balance sheet, moments of passion, moral fiber, motivated by a desire to achieve, no substitute for judgment, not a quantity of words person, not meeting an objective is not failure, numbers are facts, numbers are facts nonsense, numbers show possibilities, numbers will confess anything, obligation to do, obligation to do the right thing, ongoing search for the right words, ordinary people don’t think they are remarkable, personal creative destruction, personal thoughts, perspective can help with the complex, prioritizing actions, providing perspective, quotations, quotes, relationships, resiliency, resiliency and character, respect, responsibility, right is right, right words, say it is happening when it isn’t, say that something is happening when it is, saying it is fine when it is not, see your own reality, self doubt, self truth, simplicity in life, simplifying to make choices easier, slippery slope of despair, slippery slope of I am not fine, smallest actions contribute, soft choices, speaking, statistics cannot make the decision for you, statistics getting in the way of a good decision, straight lines, straight lines are rare in life, strategy, strength of character to make change, Stuff I Like, swallowing nonsense, talking, that i will be tomorrow, the answers are within you, the most powerful weapon in life is not a mission, there is no formula for good choices, this i am today, torturing numbers, trust, truth, truth and expectations, truth is what really happened, what I know opinions, what is the place of words, words, words that become deeds, words worse than nothing unless they do something, you cannot dwell on every moment that slipped by
Posted in Rants and Observations | 1 comment
“I’m fine.” How many times have we heard those two words? How many times have we accepted the response and moved on? Oh. And how many times should we not have moved on? So. I have had this post in my draft folder since mid March. It just didnt seem done enough to post. Like [...]
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 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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: [...]


