Pages from Leonardo da Vinci's journal

Leonardo da Vinci, Aristotle, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein…

All of us know these names and the work associated with them.

But what if these great thinkers (among others) hadn’t documented their ideas? What would we know of them? Especially considering that the extent of their influence came long after they were dead and gone.

These ideators were not isolated. Certainly there were plenty of other contemporary great minds with ideas just as groundbreaking. The difference is that the ones we know about documented their ideas in a form that could be shared. They did this during times when it was much harder to document and share ideas than it is today. It took years (hundreds for some) for their work to circulate and gain recognition.

We live in a time of unprecedented access to information and ideas. The communication platforms we use everyday give us opportunities the great minds of history never had access to. Yet they took painstaking time and extreme care to document and share their ideas. And that has made all the difference.

Are you being intentional about sharing your ideas with the world? Nothing is stopping you.

P.S. If Da Vinci were alive today, do you think he would tweet?

Before you kidnap me and bust my kneecaps, let me say that I think Seth Godin is one of the preeminent marketing minds of our time. If you haven’t read him, click away right now and go read his blog. In fact, read it every day.

Here’s what Seth does: He has a blog, writes books, and speaks to very select audiences.

Here’s what Seth doesn’t do: Everything else.

Seth Godin doesn’t tweet, he doesn’t use Facebook, he doesn’t try to make viral YouTube videos. Basically, he doesn’t do anything that marketing experts say you must do in the current social media landscape to be relevant.

According to the social media barometer, Seth Godin is irrelevant.

Yet, he is still widely considered one of the leading marketing experts of our time. But how can a leading marketing expert openly refrain from the use of tools that are absolutely changing the way the world finds and shares information?

Seth is very open about why he doesn’t use social media. He wants to write the best marketing blog in the world and he considers everything else noise. But people are finding information differently now. They are finding new ideas in the noise.

My concern for Seth is that by refusing to embrace these new channels of communication, he’s missing opportunities to reach new people. Sure, those who know about Seth will probably always read his blog and buy his books. I guess what I’m saying is that it would be refreshing for Seth’s voice to be part of the social media conversation (his real voice, not the clunky blog feed from @sethsaid on Twitter).

Seth’s ideas continue to be timeless. His delivery may be losing ground.

What do you think?

From Harvard Business Review:

In this classic HBR article, Peter Drucker presented what was then a radical view of career development. He stated that in order to stay engaged and productive during a work life that could easily span over 50 years, we must develop a deep understanding of ourselves by asking four questions:

1. What are my strengths? Build on those, rather than wasting time trying to improve in areas where you have little competence.

2. How do I work best? Alone or with others? Making decisions or advising others? Under pressure or in predictable routines?

3. What are my values? How do your ethics resonate with those of your company?

4. Where do I belong? Based on your strengths, work style, and values, what kind of organization is the best fit for you — where you’ll be able to excel?

It’s good to know who your competition is and it’s good to know what they’re doing. It should stop there.

Don’t waste a minute being fearful about what they might do that might affect your organization. If you have hours to waste worrying about your competition, you’ll never be innovative enough to beat them.

The only thing you can affect is yourself. And the only thing you should fear is paralyzing your progress by worrying about the competition.

Focus on doing something unexpected, innovative and simple. Then, let your competition worry about how they’re going to catch up to you.

This HBR article is a must read for anyone in the creative industry (or any industry for that matter). It is so good! It’s insight from Dr. Ed Catmull, President of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios.

Here are just a few snippets:

Management’s job is not to prevent risk but to build the capability to recover when failures occur.

The leaders sort through a mass of ideas to find the ones that fit into a coherent whole—that support the story—which is a very difficult task. It’s like an archaeological dig where you don’t know what you’re looking for or whether you will even find anything. The process is downright scary.

We as executives have to resist our natural tendency to avoid or minimize risks, which, of course, is much easier said than done. In the movie business and plenty of others, this instinct leads executives to choose to copy successes rather than try to create something brand-new. That’s why you see so many movies that are so much alike. It also explains why a lot of films aren’t very good. If you want to be original, you have to accept the uncertainty, even when it’s uncomfortable, and have the capability to recover when your organization takes a big risk and fails. What’s the key to being able to recover? Talented people!

Read most of the article here (you have to have an account to read the whole thing):
http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2008/09/how-pixar-fosters-collective-creativity/ar/1

When it comes to content creation, often the most difficult hurdle to overcome is setting up a template. This should not be the case. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to explain how easy it really is to get started.

First, let me explain what I mean by template. A template is anything that facilitates and hosts your unique content and ideas. I’m mostly talking about online templates such as:

• Blogs that gives you a publishing platform
• Podcasts that people can subscribe to (i.e. iTunes)
• E-newsletter template
• Weekly video webisodes (with a pre-produced intro and graphic template)

The problem is, most of us think the template is the really difficult part. Maybe that was the case in the past, but it certainly isn’t the case now. With tools like WordPress, Squarespace, cheap HD video cameras and ridiculously simple editing software, no one has an excuse not to share their ideas with the world.

Once you have the template, you can focus on the content. This is where 80% of your energy should go. Unfortunately, most people get frustrated thinking about setting up a template and never even get to the content part. Don’t be one of those people!

If you have questions about how to get started, let me know because I’d love to help (as long as you are serious about creating and sharing great ideas with the world!).

If you look at Facebook on Sunday nights you’ll notice that some people talk about dreading work on Monday while others actually look forward to it. No surprise right? And it’s no surprise that the majority say they dread Monday.

I would hate to dread the workweek. It’s a bad ratio to live out. Five days of angst for two days of relief. Basically, 70% of your week is spent doing something you don’t like.

Why have we let that become the norm? Why do so many people get stuck in jobs they hate?

If your status on Sunday night expresses your loathing of work on Monday, then maybe it’s time to find a new job.

Life is too short to spend 70% of your week doing something you hate.

What if the big brands and companies had to start over right now?

Would they be successful or would they fail to even get off the ground?

What do they stand to learn from the young entrepreneurial companies sprouting up right now, like 37Signals?

Happy Birthday Blog! As of today, I have been writing on this blog for one year.

I’ve put together a list of the best blogs from the past 12 months (best in my opinion and based on feedback from others). If you have a favorite, let me know in the comments! Here they are:

An encounter on the streets of Philadelphia (Mandy’s favorite)
On a recent trip to Philadelphia, I met a homeless couple on the street near our hotel. David and Alicia recently moved from New Jersey to Philly looking for work. They have a three year old son and Alicia recently gave birth to what would have been twins if one hadn’t died in the womb. Keep reading…

Emotional Undercurrents
Have you ever been in a situation where something outrageous happened yet no one said a word because everyone knew what you were thinking? This happens all the time in environments with strong emotional undercurrents. Keep reading…

Marketing lessons from a tiny car
I recently purchased a 1976 MG Midget Convertible. I needed a car to get me around town since I’m changing jobs and no longer have a company vehicle. My search narrowed down to two choices. A 1991 Acura Legend and the MG Midget. Keep reading…

Millionaires eat generic cereal
A few weeks ago, we went to a Christmas party at the home of some of my favorite people in the world. We always have a blast–especially this year. The food was amazing and their house is perfect for entertaining. Everyone had a great time. This couple’s net worth is more than most people could accumulate in 10 lifetimes. Keep reading…

Failure is always an option
I’m not a fan of the phrase “Failure is not an option.” Not only is it cliche, it’s philosophically off base. Failure is always an option. And in fact it is often a distinct possibility. Think about it for a minute. If failure is not an option, yet you fail, then failure was in fact an option. Keep reading…

I would love to know which posts have been your favorites.

Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me to write and to keep writing. Please keep posting your thoughts and comments. That is what keeps me going.

Looking forward to another year of insights and ideas!