Tag: Humanity

The Story About Stories!

 

Everyone loves a good story. Stories are a communal currency of humanity quoted Tahir Shah in Arabian Nights. And without wanting to sound far fetched, storytelling is our obligation to the next generation. Passing on the baton, if you may.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you. After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.
Forget about being perfect because it is boring, predictable and inauthentic. Be imperfect, authentic and relatable. Way too many people don’t share their valuable lessons because of fear of not being good enough. You are good enough! Share your story and touch people’s hearts and heads.
If you care about it, it’s probably a story. We remember a famous sporting win, not because we were there, but because the story resonates with us. We vote for candidates because of their stories, and shop at stores that have a story that strikes a chord with us.
Ideas are aplenty, but ideas without action are regrets. The last time we took action on an idea, extended our hand to a friend, went beyond self-doubt to launch a new project- all these happened because the story worked.
And it’s possible to tell a better story. Just get started.
It’s on us. We need to learn how to hear stories, figure out which ones are resonating, and do the difficult and urgent work to make our stories more effective.
Because if we care about it, it’s worth doing better.
Storytelling is metaphorically speaking in our DNA! We are storytellers. We are called Homo Sapiens, but we could also have been called Homo Narratus. Those who could tell great stories around the campfire would increase the odds of the group surviving. The parents who could tell great stories about lessons on the savanna, how to hunt and other essential skills would increase the chances of their offspring later becoming parents themselves- Asger Lindholdt
Don’t be trapped into following the Hollywood Paradigm of Storytelling viz- Set-Up, Conflict, Resolution. Thats an established practice in the movie business. Good stories will always captivate audiences, whatever the medium.Therefore its power is limitless.
In 6,000 years of storytelling, people have gone from depicting hunting on cave walls to depicting Shakespeare on Facebook walls. – Joe Sabia
Are you telling your story? Because, remember, your story matters!
ENDS

Branding is Not Equal To Marketing!

 

Branding shapes. Marketing sells.

 

And yes, there is a gray zone. The shape is essential to the sale.

 

Let’s face it. Brands define who we are.

 

Branding

 

Think of branding as expressing yourself.

 

What do you wear to a job interview? A suit? A dress? Do you want to appear professional or casual? Sneakers? Heels ? Perfume ? Cologne? Do you shave? Put on makeup? What kind of lipstick? Red? Burgundy? Gloss?

 

Marketing

 

Think of marketing as making your case.

 

Why me? How do I fit into the organisation? What’s my experience? How do I make your life easier, better? How can I help you? What can I learn from you? What can you learn from me?

 

Branding is Not Equal To Marketing!

 

Without doubt it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between these two disciplines.

 

The way to see it is that brands need marketing just like a fish needing water. Without the crutch of marketing, brands simply will not get the eyeballs it need for survival.

 

Yes, marketing has changed the world. Billboards alter our skylines, and commercials disrupt our entertainment experiences. But, it is not marketing that shapes humanity in such fundamental ways.

 

Like it or not. It is brands that do.

 

Branding is Expecting; Marketing is Parenting. More on this can be accessed at BrandKnew.

 

ENDS

Being an employee of our own myth!

We are all frauds! Forgive the blatant articulation.

 

To quote Wikipedia ” The master race (German: Herrenrasse) is a pseudoscientific concept in Nazi ideology in which the putative “Aryan race” is deemed the pinnacle of human racial hierarchy. Members were referred to as “Herrenmenschen” (“master humans”).

 

Creating is hard for every last one of us– including for the ones from the allegedly superior Aryan race.

 

If you think creating is hard, try grave digging. Or coal mining. Infinitely harder. Do you think miners stand around all day thinking and talking about how hard it is to mine for coal? Certainly not. They just go ahead and do it ie dig!

 

Throughout life, you collect data points or dots. And you probably don’t have a clue how these dots will connect in the future. As Steve Jobs said, you can only connect these dots looking backward. But, you can only collect them going forward.

 

In our daily lives, too many of us favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt. The result is that our beliefs get brittle long before our bones.

 

Without the mistakes we make, the decisions we regret and the experiences that didn’t live up to our expectations, we would be very short on material for our creative work.  These things are all just ingredients for your soup, material for making meaning and making art.

 

The creative process, just like the creative life, isn’t linear.  We don’t know how each of our life experiences will impact us down the road. With each step forward, the view changes, the landscape shifts and the horizon offers a different dimension. The most insignificant of our experiences and life’s little skirmishes at the moment can serve as the most informative (and even inspiring) ones in our future.

 

Our creativity is not something that someone can give us, gift us or take away. It’s something thats always within us.  Whether it’s the degrees we earn or the jobs we hate, every experience offers us seeds to plant for the stories we tell.

 

Life doesn’t pause or stop to make room for our precious creating time. So, if you are running your own life’s employment exchange, show up and ship out!

 

ENDS

 

Branding Matters. Because, Branding Matters!

Branding:  The peculiar art and science of distilling something* down to its essence and giving it physical shape.

( *usually a product, place, service, or person).

Brands continue to shape humanity in ever more fundamental ways- even those who don’t torment ourselves over logos, typography and the message like some of us do.

Brands connect us, just as they drive us apart.

At a time when it seems increasingly difficult to rely on our elected leaders, when virus and violence remind us of our shared mortality and required humility, we need to focus on brands that bring us together.

Branding is a tool.

All of us use it.

Most use it in public.

Many use it for profit.

Some use it for power.

It is rarely used in private.

Humanity is a web.

It is a complex, intricately woven structure of cultures, races, and genders. A patchwork of beliefs, histories, world views and identities. A quilt of sublime beauty and unimaginable horror.

We are all part of one species, sharing one planet. And we inhabit a world in which any of our individual actions- what we buy, what we eat, what news we share, how we travel, what we throw away- affect everything else.

Everyone of us has a place. We all have a role to play. Most of us want to make the world a better place for ourselves, our neighbors, and our children.

In some shape or form, we all want to be part of something bigger than ourselves.

We all want to belong.

Branding used to be about ownership– about what belongs to us. Branding was about marking one’s possessions in public.

At some point, we discovered that the purchase, use, consumption (or even wasting) of a product could serve as a reflection of our worldview- our status.

Caviar | The Automobile | Champagne | Fur Coats | Beaver Hats

We have transitioned from wearing pelts for survival to wearing pelts for status. Attaching value to actions and the consciously public display of labels allows us to seek out the like-minded. People like us. Do things like this. The not so subtle art of clanning. The same class. The same wealth. The same team.

Our people. Where we belong.

Was this the moment where we surrendered to the brand?

Brands are the ultimate gatekeepers, trendsetters, and mass mind-shapers. They determine who and what we love, who and what we hate, what gets visibility, and what gets marginalized and buried.

Brands are the foundation of the attention economy; without them, we wouldn’t be debating how much information the human species can realistically process. We wouldn’t be deliberating about how to divide our attention between all the things that require it. Without brands, we would be hopelessly lost.

Without brands, would we be free?

Brands mark our status, signify our value, and let us broadcast to the world:

” This is who I Am “.

Consciously, unconsciously- possibly in permanent denial- we are living in a mega-branded reality in which the gestures, messages, imagery and actions of brands influence us more than we realize. They touch every facet of human life.

” I shop, therefore I am “.

This is how I dress.

This is how I speak.

This is what I do.

This is how I play.

This is how I pray.

This is who I love.

This is what I believe.

” This is who I am “.

Brands have a way of teasing out the best in us. They help us feel attractive, prosperous, and together. They make us feel part of a group, like we belong. They help us maintain optimism about ourselves and the world. Whether it’s flashy new pair of kicks, a new car or a motivating app, brands can dramatically alter our moods, our energy levels, and how we see ourselves.

Caveat: This power though is a double-edged sword.

It is to our benefit that we’re drawn to offerings that help us thrive, succeed, understand ourselves better, and achieve more happiness.

But are we just flaunting what we have got? Living a life of empty materialism and compensating for our insecurities? Or are the brands in our lives serving a deeper purpose, supporting our best possible selves, our strongest relationships, our most viable society?

” Choose your self-presentations carefully, for what starts off as a mask may become your face .”- ERVING GOFFMAN

 

To be continued..

Responsibility bias

Every right has its responsibilities. 
People who do things without being told draw the most wages. Yes!
 
Responsibility is proportional to opportunity.
 
“I’ve got this,” is a phrase that some people will go out of their way to avoid saying. 
 
At work, where it’s incredibly valuable, or in personal relationships, where it creates deep connection.
 
What is your responsibility preference?
 
When things go wrong, is your instinct to hide in a corner and hope you won’t get noticed – or to lean into the situation and make it clear that this one is on you?
 
Like our control preference, responsibility is a learned skill. 
 
You might be born with an instinct for it, but mostly it’s something we’re taught or choose to learn.
 
There is work to be done. Responsibilities to be met.
 
A bias toward taking responsibility is one of the most important things to look for when hiring an employee, finding a doctor, appointing a CEO, building a team or making that next dent in the universe.
Humanity needs the ability of every woman and man.
We are not put here on earth to play around. Out of responsibility comes possibility.
And we can all be possibilitarians!