There’s a lot that doesn’t make sense in the writing you read. A lot that doesn’t make sense in the shops you frequent. A lot that doesn’t make sense in the ideas that are pitched in the room.
But somehow they make sense. Not because it’s logical. Not because it’s guaranteed to work.
It makes sense because it took guts to do.
And leaping always, always makes sense.
Read a Tom Robbins book. Participate in an agency’s concepting phase. Visit Dick’s Last Resort for a meal.
Sweeping mistakes under the rug might hide them, but doing so ensures someone will trip or slip on them later.
Far better to address and learn from them; see them as a positive rather than a negative.
“Mistakes are misunderstood. Sure, they can be evidence of carelessness, but they can also mean that we danced close enough to the edge to find a new move.” – Beth Andrix Monaghan
Stay Positive & Place Them In The Trophy Case Instead
The most effective team leaders do two things for those on their team.
And here it is:
During weekly 1-1s, they 1. make sure the team member knows what’s expected of them and 2. they ensure that the team member has the opportunity to use their specific strength every day.
If we’ve learned anything from Batman it’s that his signal, that bat shaped light in the sky, is as important – if not more – than batman himself.
The light sends a message to everyone who sees it, whether they are a fan of batman or not. In fact, I guarantee that the light prevents more crimes from happening than batman has ever stopped from happening.
In real life of course, our batman’s may not always succeed and over time because something didn’t work the way we wanted to, we choose not to shine the light; to not send the signal.
And that fuels the downward spiral of more trouble, more work, more stress.
In business, we don’t have a single bat signal, we have many. Everything we choose to do, to host, to create sends a signal – regardless of whether it works, satisfies and people talk about the outcome of it.
Speaking from experience, a lot of events I’ve hosted could be considered failures. Few people showed, but that doesn’t mean people didn’t talk about it.
And that right there is the absolute magic of word of mouth: you don’t need to attend/experience/buy something to talk about it.
It helps when you do, of course, but it’s not necessary. “Oh, did you see that Maurice’s bookstore held a wine night last month? How cool is that?” And so word – the signal – spreads.
Take this as a plea to not be disheartened when an outcome doesn’t go the way you had hoped. By all means, try something different next time, but don’t stop trying things.
People need to see your signal again and again and again – and just when you’re finally fed up with trying, they show up to be part of the outcome. And then more show up and more show up and more show up.
Just as it can be a downward spiral if we stop sending the bat signal, it can be an upward spiral if we keep sending lots of them.
Whatever industry you’re in could be going through a revolution. Culture could be shifting. Change could be happening.
But it won’t. Not without you, anyway.
It’s not a revolution unless you’re involved in it.
Things may move, no doubt.
But that revolution; that time period that the most number of artists show up, that make history books, that not only change the world we live in, but change it permanently – it requires you to show up with your art and your best self.
