A brand is nothing to do with your logo or your mission statement. A brand is the perception of the person you are dealing with before the next interaction happens about what they expect will happen. The brand expectation and promise are the things that saves us time. Most mission statements I have read could be swapped from one company to another and you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference – apart from the logos. One of the few mission statements that means something is Patagonia’s. Patagonia says we are going to reduce the number of items we sell, or we are going to stop selling this profitable item because it leaves too much of an environmental footprint. I think these are not mission statements, they are mission actions and if you do enough mission actions the statements get made by itself.
Invictus poem
“Invictus” by William Ernest Henley is one of the best motivational poems of the Victorian era.
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
This poem contains invaluable advice to those who blame others for their failures. The poem also talks about a person’s battle with mental and physical impediments, and the mindset that makes one surrender while faced with challenges. I think challenges make one stronger but mentally submitting oneself to those impediments extinguishes the inner light that one carries inside the heart from infancy. Through these lines, Henley tried to say that it’s not about how difficult the path is, it’s about one’s attitude to keep persisting without submitting oneself to fate’s recourse.
These basic things
What are you doing to help the people relieve the tension?
I make a conscious effort to smile throughout the day and take the time to appreciate the little things, for example, the architectural detail on buildings. A simple smile, can reduce stress, help heart health, lower blood pressure, and boost your immune system by decreasing cortisol in the body. Smiling, genuine or even forced, prompts the brain to produce endorphins and serotonin which may have a positive effect on your mood. Try it – SMILE. I think that if we make new behaviours fun, we are far more likely to do them in a consistent and repeatable way.
This is not just noise
Operational Excellence has been describes as delivering leading performance across all measures of value by consistently executing the strategy.
Consistent execution requires two components working together:
1. The systems in place to manage the work to be done to execute the strategy
2. The culture that drives how well and consistently the work is done.
What are the basics and fundamentals of excellence in your space?
In my experience, personable people tend to be more successful as I think everything revolves around people, networks, and communities because we all value something. Regardless of what business you are in, everything starts with the people, and yes, I know this may change in the future but I’m a humanist. Everybody uses different tools and means; we all have different mentalities but in the end it all revolves around people, so I’ll continue to focus on the human aspect. Contact me via e-mail when you would like some guidance in helping you connect with your customers on an influential and human level.
The cost to nature
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an environmental policy approach in which a producer’s responsibility for a product is extended to the post-consumer stage of a product’s life cycle. An EPR policy is characterised by:
1. The shifting of responsibility (physically and/or economically; fully or partially) upstream toward the producer and away from municipalities; and
2. The provision of incentives to producers to consider environmental considerations when designing their products.
While other policy instruments tend to target a single point in the chain, EPR seeks to integrate signals related to the environmental characteristics of products and production processes throughout the product chain. I think that this will be a gamechanger.
We deserve your money
The majority of management is about rational planning of things that are entirely in their control. The obsession with planning, quantification and rationalisation arguments means that we are automatically constrained to doing those things which makes sense in advance. It’s not safe to assume that the incentives and interests of individual employees are necessarily well aligned with the interests of the organisation. I think in reality, what your business depends on are citizens whose behaviour can only be influenced obliquely, they can’t be controlled - in other words you can’t tell your customers what to buy.
Exchanging knowledge
The hardest part of marketing meetings is persuading people to stop trying to prove that they were right all along. Defending the business, they came in with, defending their position and all their previous decisions. I’m sure these people mean well but they are limiting the possible because they are trying to defend what got them here in the first place. Everybody knows that knowledge is power, right? Knowledge is not power, I think it’s our ability to influence people that is power, and once you know, you cannot unknow.
““Any fool can know. The point is to understand.””
Change Management Triangle
What is the Triangle of Change?
The “Triangle of Change” is a framework that is often used to help understand and manage change in organisations or individuals and consists of three interconnected elements:
1. Leadership or Strategy:
This element involves the vision, mission, and direction of the change. It requires effective leadership, planning, and communication to ensure that the change is properly understood and supported by all stakeholders.
2. People or Culture:
This element involves the attitudes, behaviors, and skills of the people who are involved in the change. It requires a focus on engaging and empowering employees, building trust and collaboration, and addressing any resistance or challenges that may arise.
3. Processes or Systems:
This element involves the tools, methods, and procedures that are used to implement the change. It requires a focus on improving efficiency, effectiveness, and quality, while also ensuring that the change is sustainable and scalable over time.
The Triangle of Change is also known as the "Change Management Triangle" or the "McKinsey's Three Horizons of Growth". It recognises that all three elements are interconnected and that any change in one area will have an impact on the others. Therefore, successful change management requires a holistic and integrated approach that takes into account all three elements.
Stories are timeless
Stories have been around for thousands of years, way before humans had anything we had stories and that’s how we continue to see the world. Stories are the basic human technology which are shared through colours, feelings, and emotions. A story is not only a fairy tale. Ultimately stories are also about life and death, joy, suffering and status, and the way to get good at telling stories is by practicing. I think that storytelling connects the past to the present, allowing humans to conceptualise about historical and contemporary events.
With this gift
How can we change the stories we live and work by for the better?
You can’t give away everything to everyone nor can you be everything to everyone, but you can go into a community and be a part of it. When people get more value, they do more , pay more and give more in return. I think that when we figure out what a community values, show up, be present, participate, listen, and become a relevant member.
Allow yourself
I think that being empathetic towards someone doesn't necessarily mean that you agree with them. And intelligence is the ability to change your mind when presented with accurate information that contradicts your beliefs.
““People will forgive you for being wrong, but they will never forgive you for being right - especially if events prove you right while proving them wrong.””
Marketing for kind
Getty Images ©
I think that there are only two kinds of marketers:
1) Market chasers, and
2) Category creators
Which one are you?
Not all marketing is marketing for good. I belong to a community of marketers and change makers who believe that as most of the world’s problems depend for their resolution on forms of human cooperation, so we have a responsibility to better use marketing to create positive change. We partly do this by stepping out of our day jobs and upcycling our marketing skills in support of inspiring charities and social enterprises. We coach each other into becoming more purposeful and impactful marketers in the digital fireside. And we recognise that the systems that which we are a part of are themselves shaped by stories that we tell each other across society.
Tips on Thursday
Want business success?
It starts with quality people on your team. Incorporate these 5 principles into your leadership style to improve team performance and foster a positive work culture: Be kind, be competent, help people succeed, be authentic, and listen.
Get lucky
Lucky people generate their own good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good. Here’s how luck will find you:
1. Work harder than expected
2. Stay teachable
3. Give without expecting a get
4. Read and write more
5. Show up on time
6. Focus on your customers
7. Develop good manners
8. Be humble
9. Be kind and generous
10. Surround yourself with smarter people
““Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.””
Solid foundations
We all strive for success in our businesses, this becomes easier when we have a clear and well communicated vision, core values, and strategy that everyone in the organisation understands. Effective execution requires processes and procedures which are centred around the critical drivers of your business’ success. I think that focusing intently on these steps will significantly improve the internal accountability by measuring and being transparent about the key performance indicators that drive success. It’s a good idea to praise those who hold themselves accountable and deliver on their promises as this will accelerate the positive results for your business.
Mental skills can be trained
Once you realise that you have an emotional brain, a logical brain, and a memory then this will give you a new insight into yourself and clarify why you behave and feel the way you do. Some of the assumptions you are making about other people, perhaps you should start by looking at yourself. Try asking yourself these questions:
· Why do I feel the way I am feeling?
· What triggers me and why do I respond the way I do?
· What does my best self, look like and why can’t I be this way all the time?
· Why am I feeling like my shadow self today?
Contact me via e-mail for a confidential 1:1 meeting.
Power starts from within
I Have Power
Power is joy
Power is love
Power is appreciation
Power is knowing
Power is clarity
Power is the universal energy that creates worlds flowing through my fingertips so I’ll like some of that, and I did that because I have power.
Acronyms help
The next time you have an important decision to make, try using this cool “B.R.A.I.N” acronym:
B: What are the Benefits?
R: What are the Risks?
A: What are my Alternatives?
I: What does my Intuition (heart) tell me?
N: What if I do Nothing?
Acting in a new way
We never know the truth of anything, what we know is the story we receive. We can tell a story or not, either way, there is going to be a story told. Marketing is the art of telling a story that you are proud to make true on behalf of someone who’s going to engage with you. I don’t think that marketing by its nature hurts society, in fact, I can think of many examples where it helps.
Here is a list of questions I will ask during the discovery phase:
· Who are your customers and what are their needs and expectations?
· How is your marketing strategy going to deliver on your business strategy?
· What unique value are you providing?
· How do you support it with content?
· How will you actively place your message in front of the right people?
· Why should anyone care or take notice?
· How do you communicate about your product and services?
· What is your customer journey?
· What data do you need to support your marketing?
· How can I help you improve?
Contact me via e-mail for a meeting about measuring and optimising your marketing performance?
A reduction in price
Human beings in general are allergic to change, regardless of whether it’s in their best interests. Strategic optimisation is more important than ever, especially in these turbulent times. The word, optimise is derived from the Latin word “optimus”, which simply means 'best.' Optimisation doesn't mean doing more for the sake of doing more, it means doing less, so what you do is full of care and attention. Strategies are designs based on the operating model, so when the operating model is outdated because of internal or external factors, execution will fail and not yield the desired results. Therefore, optimisation isn't the problem, we are. Two of my children have their birthday’s this week, so I am giving you or your organisation a gift. Contact me via e-mail for a free one-hour discovery session, use the discount code: “birthday”.