Being productive
Did the tax returns, baked two loaves of sourdough bread, cleaned the bird shit off the kitchen window, hoovered the floor, and did the laundry while checking out the latest PSB album. Good, productive morning.
New Batman
Not sure anyone can top Christian Bale. Or Christopher Nolan: http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/08/ben-affleck-batman/
Give And Give More - And Then Ye Shall Receive
Today I sent out a message to all of my LinkedIn connections who are in some way or another occupied with marketing on a professional level. The message was about a new free service that is being offered by The Danish Marketing association to their members: a mentor service designed to help members - marketing folks at large - tackle whatever work-related problems they are grappling with.
A great idea which is why I've signed on as a mentor (pro-bono). I support any initiative that can help companies build strong marketing capabilities which in turn can help improve their marketing practice and increase marketing's contribution to the business.
So, I receive a lot of positive feedback but I also receive mails from people who clearly think that I'm trying to sell them this service. At first I get a bit ticked off by this knee-jerk reaction. I'm not trying to sell you anything, all I'm saying is 'Look, it's a great idea and I want to share it with you; if you like it and can benefit from it, then great. If not, then no worries'.
But then it got me thinking about this, to me, cynical reaction: 'When someone is sharing something, it must be because they want to sell it'. I get worried in particular when this reaction comes from marketing people.
It suggests that this one-dimensional mindset is still the status quo in marketing and that companies still don't understand that consumer engagement is something to be earned - and to earn it we need to give.
Now, I'm not a philanthropist or plain naïve, we need to manage our resources and budgets, I'm not talking about doling out our products, give away our IPR, or hand out money.
But I've learned that the time is over where we as corporate marketers could expect consumer interest and engagement in our brands and product simply by touting them. Today, we need to do so much more and that includes giving, sharing, inspiring, providing stuff with no strings attached.
That the old fashioned sell mentality - the consumer as an object to be sold to - is prevalent among marketers is frankly concerning.
Lego, my former employer who I love dearly, spend a lot of resources on giving, sharing, facilitating, enabling stuff for and to their audiences. That doesn't mean they don't look at the bottom line, indeed they do.
But they know that by giving and giving a lot, they can meet and sometimes exceed customer expectations and that's their goal. Lego has a profit margin (ROS) of 30% and have gone from strength to strength in the past 5 years.
So what I'm trying to say: Marketers, put away the cynicism and the sell mentality. If you can't perhaps you need to find another line of work.
As the Beatles put it in 1969: "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." Enough said.
A great idea which is why I've signed on as a mentor (pro-bono). I support any initiative that can help companies build strong marketing capabilities which in turn can help improve their marketing practice and increase marketing's contribution to the business.
So, I receive a lot of positive feedback but I also receive mails from people who clearly think that I'm trying to sell them this service. At first I get a bit ticked off by this knee-jerk reaction. I'm not trying to sell you anything, all I'm saying is 'Look, it's a great idea and I want to share it with you; if you like it and can benefit from it, then great. If not, then no worries'.
But then it got me thinking about this, to me, cynical reaction: 'When someone is sharing something, it must be because they want to sell it'. I get worried in particular when this reaction comes from marketing people.
It suggests that this one-dimensional mindset is still the status quo in marketing and that companies still don't understand that consumer engagement is something to be earned - and to earn it we need to give.
Now, I'm not a philanthropist or plain naïve, we need to manage our resources and budgets, I'm not talking about doling out our products, give away our IPR, or hand out money.
But I've learned that the time is over where we as corporate marketers could expect consumer interest and engagement in our brands and product simply by touting them. Today, we need to do so much more and that includes giving, sharing, inspiring, providing stuff with no strings attached.
That the old fashioned sell mentality - the consumer as an object to be sold to - is prevalent among marketers is frankly concerning.
Lego, my former employer who I love dearly, spend a lot of resources on giving, sharing, facilitating, enabling stuff for and to their audiences. That doesn't mean they don't look at the bottom line, indeed they do.
But they know that by giving and giving a lot, they can meet and sometimes exceed customer expectations and that's their goal. Lego has a profit margin (ROS) of 30% and have gone from strength to strength in the past 5 years.
So what I'm trying to say: Marketers, put away the cynicism and the sell mentality. If you can't perhaps you need to find another line of work.
As the Beatles put it in 1969: "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." Enough said.
What I like about sports
There are many things I like about practicing sports and the people I meet there. One of the things is that we are focused on the training - and not very much on our jobs. We have little knowledge about what the others do for a living and little do we care. Somehow that's very liberating.
Ask not what my job is but what I am
When we meet new people, we tend to ask "So, what do you do?". Sometimes we do it because we are curious but mostly we do it simply to make conversation. Or when we meet our friends and acquaintances, we often start by asking "So, how's work?" Personally, I'm getting fed up with this line.
It immediately frames the conversation to an often narrow perspective that is purely work-related. I get why we do it and I do it myself all the time - but we are other things than work. I should hope!
I'd much rather that people ask me what my interests are, whether I have an opinion on subject x, if I've read any good books lately, what I had for dinner last night, or what generally engages me for the time being. I'm pretty sure we would have much more vivid and interesting conversations.
One of my old friends always asks "So, how is your soul doing?" For many years I felt it was so corny to ask something like that but I've come to appreciate it. It's an open question that encourages us to reflect, think a bit, feel in the stomach, and yet allows any answer what so ever, be it small talk or big talk.
I'm going to try to ask less about people's jobs and more about what their interests are and what fills their lives. Sometimes there's an overlap between job and interests which is fantastic. Sometimes there isn't and that's fantastic, too. I think we can get into more fruitful conversations if The Job isn't always the starting point.
It immediately frames the conversation to an often narrow perspective that is purely work-related. I get why we do it and I do it myself all the time - but we are other things than work. I should hope!
I'd much rather that people ask me what my interests are, whether I have an opinion on subject x, if I've read any good books lately, what I had for dinner last night, or what generally engages me for the time being. I'm pretty sure we would have much more vivid and interesting conversations.
One of my old friends always asks "So, how is your soul doing?" For many years I felt it was so corny to ask something like that but I've come to appreciate it. It's an open question that encourages us to reflect, think a bit, feel in the stomach, and yet allows any answer what so ever, be it small talk or big talk.
I'm going to try to ask less about people's jobs and more about what their interests are and what fills their lives. Sometimes there's an overlap between job and interests which is fantastic. Sometimes there isn't and that's fantastic, too. I think we can get into more fruitful conversations if The Job isn't always the starting point.
What counts (often) can't be counted
One of my friends told me yesterday that the company he works for had named him CEO. He was very happy and proud and I am equally happy and proud for him. I know how career matters to him.
But it got me thinking about what matters to me when it comes to friends and relationships.
The thing is, I don't really care whether he is CEO or not, whether my brother-in-law is VP or not, whether my other friend makes this or that amount of money a year, how many square meters their house is, how many kids they have, how big their car is, how many books they've read, or how many iron men they've completed.
None of this makes our relationship more or less important, nor does it make them look more or less important in my eyes.
What matters to me is whether they are happy and whether it makes me happy that we are part of each other's lives. When it comes to my family and friends I'm a sensitive person. These relationships are what brings me most joy in life and also most grief.
To me, what counts in a relationship is how we treat each other and whether I feel that I am as important to the person as the person is to me:
But it got me thinking about what matters to me when it comes to friends and relationships.
The thing is, I don't really care whether he is CEO or not, whether my brother-in-law is VP or not, whether my other friend makes this or that amount of money a year, how many square meters their house is, how many kids they have, how big their car is, how many books they've read, or how many iron men they've completed.
None of this makes our relationship more or less important, nor does it make them look more or less important in my eyes.
What matters to me is whether they are happy and whether it makes me happy that we are part of each other's lives. When it comes to my family and friends I'm a sensitive person. These relationships are what brings me most joy in life and also most grief.
To me, what counts in a relationship is how we treat each other and whether I feel that I am as important to the person as the person is to me:
- That they would stand up for me if I got in trouble
- That they would be by my side if I got sick
- That they express interest in my life
- That they respond to me when I contact them
- That I feel appreciated by them as I hope they feel appreciated by me
- That they tell me if I've hurt them or otherwise made them feel let down, and that I feel I can do the same
- That they take responsibility for the relationship
- That they would lend a hand if I ask
- That we have fun and wonderful experiences together
- That I am a priority in their life as they are in mine.
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