Knowledge x Imagination
That’s the formula Marty Neumeier, brand and branding legend, defined for Originality. K x I = O “Originality comes from the exposure of factual knowledge to the animating force of imagination, depending on the quality of knowledge and level of imagination.” Metaskills: 5 Talents for The Robotic Age.2012. Marty Neumeier Meaning, originality is more of a spectrum, with different levels you can tune in. Interesting thing, the more imagination you use, the more original. The more original, the…
Non-exclusive
Profit and purpose are not exclusive. Confusing which one is the main driver, that’s the misaligning. One funds the other. Like a car, gas and your destination. Without gas, you won’t go anywhere for there’s no motion. Having too much of one and not the other is like having unlimited gas without destination. You could end up in a cool place. Or drive right into the ocean. Or a wall.
Pancake party
Fellow daily emailers and friends of the list, James Turner and Danny Ruspandini, sent two emails about the same thing: pancakes. → 2 emails The First Pancake (James) The Third Pancake (Danny) → 2 unique (original) approaches → 1 inspiration: Making pancakes All by themselves, they’re great. When combined, they can develop an ability to create greater opportunities. They enabled a rounder view of the whole thing, and improved their takes on each (as mine as well). Were they stealing from each…
Praise you. Adapted from
“We’ve come a long, long way togetherThrough the hard times and the good I have to celebrate you, baby I have to praise you like I should” Praise You – Fatboy Slim. [Or is it?] Original is an spectrum. A first level comes to things that are only new to you. A next one comes from adapting things under a new take. Just like this song. A sample of “Take Yo’ Praise” by Camille Yarbrough mixed with many other samples. It takes things already known in a new way. The thing is, it’s original. It took…
New to you
Originality can take many forms. It’s more of a spectrum. How original really is everything? Original. not the same as anything or anyone else and therefore special and interesting. Novel. Cambridge dictionary Let’s go back to 1993, me and elementary school (damn! 30 years ago!). Here’s a friend, Diego, who comes to me with his Walkman (yeah. that was a thing) and tells me, “Do you know this song? It’s incredible!” I had no idea. This was the first time I heard this long intro with the…
Spend less time with your kids
– They just waste your time.- I can’t believe a father would say “Spend less time with your kids”. Now, watch this short ???? This is a common thing that happens when working with clients —or trying to close with prospects. We forget we might have different understandings of what we say, the nuances in our language and the subtle meanings. Most of the times, it doesn’t end in a big laugh, but in frustration, resentfulness, discomfort and stress, because we just assume. How do you become a Simon…
4 insanely unvaluable prompts to use with chatGPT. (Part 1)
“If you’re not learning ChatGPT, you’re falling behind.” This is one of the misconceptions around: “falling behind”. Incentivizing your FOMO (fear of missing out) and moving you into whatever is on trend just for the sakes of it. Here are prompts that —while being viral— bring nothing of value to you. The thinking behind these prompts… ???? Spoiler alert: this one comes out as a (digested) rant. 4 insanely unvaluable prompts to help you “master” ChatGPT. First two. 1. Learn any complex topic…
Product-Led Growth
There’s no such thing as product-led growth. Think of it: Growth. Led. By. The. Product. The product is inanimate. It can’t take responsibility. It can’t be accountable for. And it certainly cannot *lead*. As friend of the list and daily emailer, James Turner said in this essay: “The words you use matter. They change and shape the world around you. […] Things like asking, “Could you say that quietly?” as opposed to “Could you not shout?” when trying to lower the volume in the house.The…
How to avoid black swans
“Many modern-day “black swans” are merely plausible, but highly unlikely events that most people failed to consider because they’re outside their lived experience.” This section from Genevieve Hayes’ newsletter made me think that those are the biases that won’t let us see beyond our own noses, so we don’t prepare for a “black swan” —or, in diving terms: a clusterfuck. It’s inevitable, yet we act like it won’t happen. In organizations that are struggling, this keeps them in motion as inertia….
Is defining your category the same as creating your category?
Friend of the list, great illustrator and digital brand builder, Rad Co came back with this insightful question re: Category Creation. Here’s my answer (shared with permission) Is defining your category the same as creating your category? It depends on the meaning, although they’re two very different things from where I stand. For example, while some say that online/digital writing is a new category, it in fact is a sub-category. It belongs to the category “Writing”. Competitive-wise, digital…