JoshByrd

Yesterday, I had the opportunity and pleasure of speaking on the phone with Joey Reiman, founder of Brighthouse and author or Thinking For A Living - Creating Ideas That Revitalize Your Business, Career and Life in which he coined the term “Ideation”.  Throughout his incredible career, he has successfully guided businesses such as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Rubbermaid to find and follow their Master Idea.

I am currently in a transitional place in my career (the good kind of transitional) and Mr. Reiman was kind enough to share a few of his thoughts regarding passion and following it to make meaning in the world.  I couldn’t possibly transcribe all the wisdom and inspiration he gave me but I did want to share some of the highlights.

Right out of the chute, Mr. Reiman asked me “What are you passionate about?” Not what have you done or what is your skill set but what is your passion?  He explained to me that successful people are the ones who pay mindful attention to their passions and through that, become the authors (or creators) of their own story.  They are the ones who “make meaning” in the world.

As it relates to career changes, he said “You are either hired for skill or for will” and you want to be the latter because skills change, making you dispensable but a person with will and passion is a long term asset to any company.

Mr. Reiman went on to say, “when defining your passions, ask 1. Where am I going? and 2. Who will go with me? always in that order” because if you get them backwards, you are letting the crowd define you and where you are going.  You will never end up where you’re supposed to be by following the crowd.  He said we must find a place where we believe in the values and ideals of the company and the clients they work for and are encouraged to follow your passion to create meaning for them.

He then left me with one closing statement regarding passion and success, “Follow your passion and success will come. People who make meaning, make money.”

I hung up the phone feeling inspired and ready to get down to business.  Life is too short to spin your wheels.  What are you passionate about?

Inspiration is a funny thing.  It can come from the most random places and often when we least expect it. I believe this is why people “wait for inspiration to strike” or “create when they are inspired” which is all well and good.  What if you create for a living though?

There are deadlines.  Expectations have to be met.  You can’t afford to “wait for inspiration to strike.”

So what do you do?

Practice the discipline of creating inspiration.  Note, this is not the same as creating with inspiration.  I am talking about creating a routine that reinforces your creative instincts with equal amounts of inflow and outflow.

For me, I spend time every morning reading blogs, books and my twitter stream to take in as much information as I can to fill my creative pot.  It’s hard to pour out creativity if you are not actively filling your pot.  As I have become more consistent, I have noticed that my brain has been attuned to look for inspiration, not just in the morning but throughout my day.

Then I use Evernote to clip quotes, save pages and jot my thoughts so I can come back to them to be inspired “on demand”.  After reading, I try to spend some time writing, even if it’s just a free write, to stir the creative pot and practice active creation.

The interesting thing is that I am usually inspired by someone else’s creativity.  Then I exercise my creativity, put it on display and hopefully someone else is inspired.  The cycle keeps repeating itself because we practice the discipline of creativity.  In essence, we create inspiration.

So, are you practicing the discipline of creating inspiration?

…or just being creative to be creative?

Both types of creativity are good but it is important to ask the question.

When we create for business purposes like marketing, branding, advertising, content creation, social engagement etc. we need to filter our creativity through the eyes of the consumer and the objectives of the business we are serving. We have to make sure our creation serves the needs of the business we are creating it for.  We can’t create something crazy just because it’s a cool, hip, fun, exciting idea.  It has to have purpose.

I am by no means saying be less creative or sacrifice creativity on the altar of commerce, though.  If anything, we have to be MORE creative to create something that fits within the defined business objectives and still creates a remarkable or wow experience for the consumer like Levi’s and Hyundai have done recently.  With all the marketing messages flying around these days, it takes true creativity to punch through and make an impact.

If you are creating to stir your soul with no commercial purpose (like this amazing video from Jeremy Cowart), then go for it!  Let loose.  Create something extraordinary that the world has never experienced.  It’s good for you!

This world needs both types of creativity but it’s imperative that we know why we are creating. Are you creating with purpose?

Every morning as I drive to work, I pass a guy on Belmont Boulevard smiling, waving and selling homeless papers.  His joy always makes me smile but I’ve never stopped to buy one.

This morning, however, I was stopped at the light right next to him so I decided to buy a paper and support him.  As I talked to him for a few seconds, I found out his name is George. 

Every day prior that I have driven past him, even though he makes me smile, sadly, I forget about him a minute down the road.  Today however, I can’t stop thinking about George.  Wondering about his story and how he ended up where he is.

So what does that have to do with branding, you ask?  Everything.  Once you put a name with the face, it humanizes the brand and as I’ve said before, people connect with people.

That is why Nike has Michael Jordan on their commercials. That is why Southwest has Christi McNeill and other employees tweeting to give them voice.  That is why Zappos trains every employee to embody the ideals of the brand. That is why I continue to go to the same coffee shop where the girl behind the counter knows me.

When you humanize your brands, people connect.  And just like George, they won’t be able to stop thinking about you.  They will come back to learn more and over time, you will have an opportunity to build a real, loyal connection with them worth far more than any logo. 

Are you putting a name with your face?

Did you know?  No matter what your position, loading docks, answering phones or taking care of blue chip clients all day, you are in sales.  Your attitude about your work tells a story.  How you interact with your coworkers and/or customers as well as how you talk about your company outside of work are all likely indications of the quality of your company and its products or services.

In this “trust economy” where people buy from brands they like and think positively of, we all need to be aware that when we speak and act on behalf of our brands, we are selling the image of that brand.

Are you selling your brand well?