One day, Bill Klann took a trip to Chicago. Of all the wonders that he could see there, Bill found himself in the midst of the Union Stock Yards. In a slaughterhouse, of all places. The world’s capital of butchery There, he was immersed in a model of industrial butchering efficiency. Animal carcasses moved by […]
Surviving The Content Apocalypse
January 19, 2016 by 4 Comments
It started out innocently enough. Quite pretty, really. Lovely little messages, gliding on the breeze, falling lightly to the ground. Then things changed Suddenly, the wind shifted and the messages increased, filling the the sky, turning everything in their way into a shroud of white. Each message now propelled horizontally like an icy bullet. Making […]
The Evil Deception Of Content
December 15, 2015 by 3 Comments
“I have brought you here to the top of the changing, ever-shifting world, my friends, to be tempted.” “Look out, across time and space,” the evil deceiver whispers. “What do you see?” Content strategies being skillfully developed. Complex message platforms devised, revised, strategized and restrategized. Elevator pitches crafted in one minute, two minute and ten […]
The Great Idea That Isn’t
December 3, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Larry’s business was in trouble. The market he served was in trouble. The public infrastructure he supplied was in trouble. It was literally crumbling. And as a result, everyone was simply reacting to emergencies instead of thinking ahead and adding real value. For Larry, it was a death spiral of commoditization, drowning in a red […]
To The Big Uneasy
September 16, 2015 by 1 Comment
You’ve probably been here before. In fact, there’s a really good chance you’re here right now. Feeling uneasy. With that queasy little flutter in your stomach With that voice in your head questioning if what you are doing is worth all the extra time and effort and pain. Wondering if you’ll ever break through. Because […]
To the storytellers
July 13, 2015 by 4 Comments
Once there was a man obsessed with making complex, highly technical things easy for the common, everyday person to understand. And, in the process, he hoped to change the world. But his well-defined cause, burning passion, elegant design sense and tyrannical obsession with execution were not enough. Then he discovered one thing that changed everything. […]
Aristotle Leads A Tribe
June 29, 2015 by 15 Comments
It was blazing hot. We were lost. We were exhausted. We couldn’t fight our way out. And the harder we tried, the hotter it got, the more frustrated we became and the grumpier we felt. We needed something special. Something cool. That’s when I turned to my friend Aristotle, the master of logic, for a […]
Recognize Me?
June 23, 2015 by 4 Comments
I had spent a good part of my life trying to find the secret. I’d searched and searched. Then one day, when I least expected it, she turned to me and said the most insightful and profound thing I had ever heard. You just got to decide for yourself. You got the Saint Louie Blues, […]
To Those Who Make It Real
June 15, 2015 by 4 Comments
He had been siting under that gnarled, old tree, enjoying its refreshing shade, for hours. Just thinking. Pondering the universe. Then it happened. A thud heard around the world. A monumental plop in history. Who discovered gravity? Issac Newton, right? Well, not exactly. People already knew heavy stuff could fall and bonk you on the […]
Finding The Remarkable
June 8, 2015 by 3 Comments
I was in the middle of writing a post about why it’s important for purpose-driven brands to stand out instead of blend in. I’d just battered into submission the point that standing out doesn’t start with telling people things. It starts by making something remarkable. The remarkable is something that is worth sharing. Something people […]
