Week of October 5, 2009

Hey everyone, here we go. . . . . .

 

IN OUR WORLD

 

Wow, what a great week!

 

I started, what I hope is a great long term relationship with a Dallas client by creating a custom day of learning around Communication and Thinking skill sets.  The group was highly participatory and way fun to work with.  I hope the seeds of skills we planted will grow.

 

Then I was off to Pittsburg to deliver an introduction to our Repeatable Successful Acts sales platform in the morning and then a brief repeat at an invitation only luncheon.   I was lucky to jump on an early flight home to get ready for a West Coast swing next week.

 

Fantastic times!

 

The October newsletter is ready to roll:    http://www.creativeventures.com/Newsletter/200910.html

 

 

 

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

 

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

 

I want to talk about an idea called Performance Gravity.  I have been introducing it in a couple of our latest programs.

 

Most companies develop a sense of comfort in what they do. Forged in repeated behaviors, this comfort creates a calming sense of reality.  What they DO becomes a steady processes filled with familiar systems.  That’s OK; in fact, it is the life blood of a strong brand.  You think of it as reliability.  You buy a bag of Doritos and they are always good.  A Big Mac is a Big Mac, no matter where you are.

 

BUT, often this same Performance Gravity existence causes you to miss new opportunities.  Despite the success of a Big Mac, McDonalds still tries to break out of their own gravitational nature by trying new things.  Their take on adding exotic coffee drinks has been a big winner.  They find these new niches by challenging their successful Performance Gravity.

 

Many organizations don’t look to expand their business orbits and find themselves missing key moments of opportunity.  Their Performance Gravity creates such a sense of comfort that they aren’t even looking for new things.  They are fat and content.

 

The newspaper industry is a great example.  Dominate in their historic gravity and armed with a monopoly sense of entitlement, they missed the signs of shifting and changing methods of connecting to news.  The music industry refused to acknowledge a massive change in the products gravity and lost their historically dominate position in distribution to Apple’s iTunes.

 

Spend your next staff meeting challenging a single aspect of your Performance Gravity.  Find something you do with such regularity that it seems to defy even thinking about.  Ask your team about it and see, if there is a way to leverage that pull of behavior so that you might find a single opportunity. 

 

In today’s chaotic world, a single discovered opportunity is a wonderful thing.

 

 

 

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

 

MOVIES:    Couples Retreat:  The previews make this one look funny and the possibilities of another bad Cowboy football game could make me in desperate need of a laugh.

 

NetFlix Fans:  State of Play:   I loved this newspaper reporter thriller with Russell Crowe. 

 

TV:    ESPN is really upping their commitment to original programming with a series of documentary films 30 on 30.  The first was on Wayne Gretzky and done by one of my favorite directors, Peter Berg.  Fantastic stuff!

 

BOOKS:  Just Listen    – By Goulston :    Really good stuff on our forgotten communication skill set, “listening”!

 

MUSIC:   Just stumbled upon this great solo version of My Grace is Gone by Dave Matthews . 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmC3kpM3C_k&feature=PlayList&p=0D3E318BAF24DC82&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=32      

 

WEB SITES:   A place for artists, trend setters and designers. 

 

 

 www.mymodernmet.com     

 

 

SOUTH OF NORMAL

 

Let me introduce Ms. Dambias Moyo.  You may have heard of her as she made the talk show circuit with a rather South of Normal pitch on how to save Africa.  Stop sending financial aid.  What? 

 

Her strange stand is based on some simple thinking:

 

• Europe and the US have sent billions in aid with great intent, but gobbled up by corrupt regimes allowing little to get to the actual needy.
• Loans have burdened already destitute nations with huge debt.
• Most of Africa is poorer today then decades ago.

 

She is not condemning all aid; she simply has a different idea:

 

• Taper off on financial assistance a little at a time.
• Replace it with direct investment.  Look at Africa like a business.  Have an entrepreneurial mind set.  This simple change is huge and having an impact in many emerging economies if many forms.  The micro business loans that allow small cottage industries to produce sustaining revenue to families is a great starting point.

 

It is simply about a different mind set.

 

She is pulling away from Performance Gravity.

 

 

Where you end and I begin is a river running through

My Grace is Gone – Dave Matthews

 

 

 

Drop me a note with your comments at steve@creativeventures.com

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and until next time, Adios and Aloha.