Enjoy Your Discomfort

It was a Friday night and I was half way through a Spin (cycle) class, at my gym. Half way through the class, the instructor encouraged everyone to turn up the resistance on their bikes, which puts a greater workload on your legs and lungs, and makes your workout increasingly more difficult.  Looking around, I could clearly see on the faces of those in the class who were working hard and who were simply cruising through the class. Right about then I heard the instructor say the following words 'Right, by this time you should be working very hard. It should be hurting, but enjoy your discomfort'. 

I thought about these words over the weekend and how they relate to creativity. There is a huge difference between those who are happy to cruise and those who feel compelled to challenge the boundaries of the comfortable existence, or rail against the status quo. The true creative spirit is someone who enjoys discomfort, who enjoys pushing into uncharted territory - and the discomfort of not knowing. When a creative individual has an idea or somebody poses a thought to them that is new, controversial, breaks new ground or sends that person into uncharted waters, they kind of get excited. They thrive on the uncomfortable notion that no-one has done it this way, and it could all come together or it just might unravel in a giant heap. That's the true nature of enjoying discomfort.

To truly unlock your creative spirit you have to get away from what's comfortable. You, your company and even your own mind has to move to a place where it feels comfortable being uncomfortable. I don't mean that  you have to do so for every idea you have or pursue every idea you come across. Rather, in the moment of hearing it, instead of looking for all the reasons why an idea won't work, you should enjoy that feeling in your stomach that makes you feel nervous or uncomfortable. This is the place where the true creativity lives.  

World Leader Loses His Mojo

Yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald headline said it all. The story related to President Barack Obama and the question from Washington as to whether he has lost his mojo. When Obama took office he had an approval rating of 60% or more, which gave him a good advantage. Today it said that his approval rating is drifting into the 50's. 

What is interesting is that over the last 6 months or so while Obama has been in power, whenever I have asked an audience who they believe has got their mojo working, more often than not, President Obama is in the top 3, if not the number 1. Even across the US people believe that Obama is top of the list when it comes to someone having their mojo. It just goes to show that you can have your mojo at one point and then through certain actions, occurrences or events you can start to lose it. This is actually the reason why your Editor wrote "Who Stole My Mojo?". At these times when you start to lose your mojo, it is up to you to get it back.

A lot of things can steal your mojo, but there is one defining factor that helps you get your mojo back and that is you, your thinking, the inner voice inside your mind (your fat bastard) and those you surround yourself with. This will be the greatest challenge for Barack Obama - he needs to back himself, put his fat bastards to rest and ensure the people in Washington that he surrounds himself with are the right people. One of the biggest challenges facing politicians is having the right people around them. Maybe we should send him a copy of Who Stole My Mojo?

Click here to purchase "Who Stole My Mojo?"

Starbucks Friends

“Facebook helps marketers interact with people in the same way that people interact in real life. But it’s not enough to broadcast a message to the masses: As the web becomes more social, users will expect to interact and engage with brands in the same way they interact with each other,” according to a Facebook spokesperson. So how does a brand, particularly a brand with a considerable legacy, pare down the broadcast messaging that works for traditional online media, to create the kind of singular voice where this kind of dialogue might take place? 

Starbucks has embraced the opportunity to reach consumers with messaging that reads more one-on-one than broadcast. “In many ways, the coffeehouse is the original social network, so social media is a natural extension of who we are as a company,” says Alexandra Wheeler, director of digital strategy for Starbucks. “Facebook helps us get a pulse on what is important to our customers. We can have a real dialogue with them about the values and ideals that they share with us.” Starbucks used Facebook to reach almost 1.5 million “friends” to raise awareness of their brand while raising money for AIDS. “We posted an event inviting customers into stores on World AIDS Day (12/1/08), where $.05 of every handcrafted beverage was contributed to the Global Fund. It became the most viral event in Facebook history. So not only were customers excited about the brand, but they came together on one day to do something good,” Wheeler says.

Foreverism

While the ‘now’ has never been more popular, with many consumers still trying to maximize the amount of experiences they can collect in as little time as possible (and with as little budget as possible), there are equally strong forces opposing this culture of instant gratification, instead promoting the ‘forever’, a new brand trend called Foreverism.

Foreverism encompasses the many ways that consumers and businesses are embracing conversations, relationships, and products that are never done or complete. Driving its popularity is technology that allows them to find, follow, interact and collaborate forever with anyone & anything, such as blogging, facebook and twitter.

Check out the website for trendwatching.com's June 2009 Trend Briefing covering Foreverism below to find out more.

p.s. - China’s version of Twitter, TaoTao, now has nearly 50 million users!

Click here for website

Naked Friday

Are they brave or mad?  A group of office staff have discovered they work better together when they are NAKED. 

Workers at design and marketing company onebestway in Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK stripped off at the encouragement of their boss, who thought the move would boost business. The ailing company had seen six redundancies since the start of the credit crunch when business psychologist David Taylor was brought in to boost team spirit. During the week leading up to the strip-off, the workers were encouraged to photocopy parts of their bodies to make them more confident about themselves. A nude model was also brought in for the workers to sketch and talk to.

The event, dubbed Naked Friday, was deemed a huge success and is even credited with turning around the firm’s fortunes. Front-of-house manager Sam Jackson, 23, told The Sun: ‘It was brilliant. Now that we’ve seen each other naked, there are no barriers. ‘We weren’t put under any pressure. If we wanted to come in clothed or in our underwear, we could...It took a week of David being in the office for us to build up courage. The first few steps were very nerve-wracking, but once I got to my desk and got used to it, I felt totally comfortable. It was emotional but we found we were much more able to talk to each other honestly – and have been since. The company has improved massively.’ Managing Director Mike Owen, 40, said: 'We're either brave or mad. But I did tell everyone they didn't have to do it, only if it felt right.'

The experiment in April was filmed for a one-off TV show Naked Office, which was screened on Virgin1 on July 9. Not sure it would work here in Australia but we were pretty impressed that they had the gumption to give it a go!

Source: Daily Mail Reporter, 2nd July 2009.