bwagy, the blog of Ben Young

Is this.

Buy them an iPod Shuffle (or some other cheap mp3 player).

And download and sync all the Duct Tape Marketing Podcasts.

If they listen to each and every one of them (a couple a week) it will dramatically change their journey.  In my experience for the better.

John Jantsch does an amazing job and if there was one gift I wish I’d been given this would be it.

It is absolutely the best, most productive consistently great business input I’ve had (or had the pleasure of sharing).

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Update: John also has an iPhone App – which is my second choice 😉

Or is it?

Our instant reaction is that being exposed is a bad thing, that is only if we have something to hide, which for most people is nothing.  But that is our first reaction. No thanks, I’ll stay in my safe warm place.  However…

Every threat is also an opportunity and every opportunity is also a threat.

It’s just nice to think, that being exposed, also exposes you to good opportunities, good things, it’s not all bad.

Creativity is like getting fit, often you need to nurture it to be more creative.

At a basic level, creativity is creating new links between existing ideas. The Wikipedia definition is excellent:

“Creativity is the ability to generate innovative ideas and manifest them from thought into reality. The process involves original thinking and then producing.”

So how can you be more creative? It’s all about creating new patterns, but here are some ideas:

• Mix up your inputs: how & where do you absorb knowledge, new ideas, conversations?
• Watch different tv shows
• Meet the crazies (new people)
• Wear different clothes
• TRAVEL! Travel to places where people live completely different lifestyles
• Read lots of books, and different kinds of books, include magazines, blogs in that mix
• Listen to podcasts, radio, interviews, TED videos
• Drive a different way to work, everyday, or walk a different path (or cycle, bus etc)
• Express yourself! Start a blog, do some painting, take up an artful sport, photography.  You don’t have to share it with the world just do it.
• Learn a new language
• Attend different conferences, meetups, network & meet people
• Do the YES experiment, say yes to all social opportunities which pop up for a period of time
• Learn new skills! Take an art class, join a kayak club
• Question everything, you’d be surprised what you learn and how quick
• Invest in alone time, reflection, time to be quiet and relax
• Do tastings! Of food, art, culture
• Get a journal, draw ideas down, write them, scribble, tear our pages, stick them on the wall.  The mere act of pen to paper stimulates new thoughts & action, pushing through your existing ones.
• Share ideas! Let them go and get new/better ideas.

Go, try one of them, get creative! If you think you’re boring, I bet you’re not, we’re all creative in our own ways – just give something a go.

Great question Duncan asked me the other day, it’s a nice way of putting it, and answers the why, why we exist, why we do what we do.

As Simon Sinek discusses below, why we (as an organisation) do something is often underlooked, and those that understand why they do something perform magnitudes times those that don’t.

Give Duncan’s post If You Were a Charity What Would You Do? a read and watch Simon’s video below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4

A good mantra to have “know what works but accept that it isn’t permanent”.

Just because a solution works today, doesn’t mean it will tomorrow, or next year.

And vice versa, what doesn’t work today, may work next year.

Holding this mantra true keeps you proactive, receptive to new ideas & opportunities but most of all creating a habit of questioning everything.  And that’s not too shabby a habit to have.

It’s redundant.

Who isn’t busy?

If we’re all busy, why state it?

Come on, let’s retire it, at least for now…

In particular language.  Keep the language barrier low, about 12 – 14 years, that’s a level that you can reasonably expect most people to understand.

Remember that language is self selecting, if you want to talk to graduates raise the bar…

Funnily enough this was the difference between Google & Microsoft in the battle for search engine market share.  When a misspelled search occurred Microsoft would say ‘try rephrasing or using synonyms’ whereas Google said ‘try different words’.

Subtle changes but profound effect.

Especially when you realise that if you’re employed:

1) Your employer covers the costs of your mistakes (within reason)

2) Keeps you accountable

3) Will (in most cases) invest in your knowledge

However, if you think you can bear the cost of your mistakes, keep yourself accountable and most of all generate enough profit to continually invest in yourself… it might just be the time to make the leap.

“You don’t refine ideas, you refine the borders for within they need to operate”

There are some incredibly smart people which read the blog, here are a couple:

Robbie Mackay (@rjmackay): His blog posts, whilst short and sporadic deliver bursts of insight.

Andrew Weaver (@drewmaniac): Mixing it up, he shares great content, ideas and my favourite photo finish friday.

Louis Rosas-Guyon (@louisrosasguyon): Great ideas, from a technical focus, give it  a read.

Give them a read, follow them, send them a tweet.  At the least subscribe for a few weeks, get a taste of what they’re up to.

And I’ll be honest, I can only highlight and engage with those who I know are reading, if you have a blog send it my way… the worst that’ll happen is I place a comment or two.

First page of Ricardo Semler’s book “The Seven Day Weekend”.

This has to be one of the best openings to a book I’ve ever read.

It reads:

1. Why are we able to answer emails on Sundays, but unable to go to the movies on Monday afternoons?

2. Why can’t we take the kids to work if we can take work home?

3. Why do we think the opposite of work is leisure, when in fact it is idleness?

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Nevertheless it has set a high bar.

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If you haven’t read it, grab a copy, also grab his first book Maverick it’s incredible.

A favourite of mine:

“#11 of the bwagy marketing manifesto:

“You are always wrong, you just need to be less wrong than your competitors.”

It is so true – no matter your stance someone can always come up with a solid reason why you are wrong.

Don’t stress about being 100% right, you just need to be less wrong than those you compete with.

(And take action.)”

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Original here.

Tom Peters share’s an amazing analogy in his book The Little Big Things.  A colleague of his said instead of saying to kids, you’d better eat your food there are kids in Africa starving he was saying you’d better study, there are millions of kids in India studying to take your job.

Huge switch in mindset.  But as markets open up it makes complete sense.

If you’re not pushing, innovating or rethinking – what are you doing?

Chasing mediocrity.

You know the kind, “can’t do that, it’s not my job”.

It’s very easy (for me or anyone to say) they shouldn’t exist.

Truth be told, the fact that they exist in an organisation often reflects the companies culture.

However if you can change their attitude in such an environment, it’ll help, make the swing.

Reward initiative, reward ideas, reward risk.  Most of all reward those that sidestep their job description to get the job done.

Just wish more small businesses would do this!

Communicate for what you want to be, not for what you are.

In their outward communications, sending a strong message, which is bigger than what they are.  Then they can actually grow to that point.

It’s that confidence and reassurance that helps you get there.  Consumers can smell insecurity a mile away.