The Hot Duck: A Tale of Brand Differentiation

The ducks in Central Park in New York City have a cushy gig. They paddle around, they look cute, they create a picturesque tableau in the pond. The females are speckled brown, the males have handsome green heads. People like them, they bring their kids to see them, they feed them breadcrumbs. The situation worked for everybody.

But then he showed up. He being a Mandarin Duck who just dropped in one day and threw the whole operation into a tizzy. New Yorkers, habitual nicknamers, started calling him the “Hot Duck”.

Why hot? Mandarin Ducks are an explosion of spectacular colors and swooping patterns of feathers formed into a shape of a duck. They’re breathtaking.

Suddenly, there were crowds of people at the duck pond. Throngs of tourists with huge zoom lenses. Suddenly all that people could see or talk about was: That. One. Duck.

On display at the duck pond was the perfect embodiment of Rule #1 in branding: Stand out from your competition. Like Tesla, Virgin, Uber, you have rise above the sea of sameness and make a bold statement. Ruffle feathers. Redefine how people see your category.

You have to be the Hot Duck.

No Brand Is An Island

If I could have just one book when stranded on a desert island it would be One Man’s Wilderness by Richard Proenneke. Richard was a salt-of-the-earth guy who in 1968 built a log cabin in the Alaskan Wilderness with nothing but hand tools.

He then proceeded to live in it, alone, for over 30 years. 

What captures my imagination his is resourcefulness, his independence, his appreciation for the things that nature gives us. Including winters where the temperature reached -40˚. Um...no thank you.

Richard didn’t need much. But once in a while his bush-pilot “Babe” Alsworth would fly in his mail or a sack of dried beans. Not even Richard Proenneke could go it entirely alone.

His story reminds me of how many entrepreneurs I know who have built their businesses with their bare hands. Many of them still trying to do everything themselves, wearing all the hats, from go-fer to brand strategist.

But there comes a time in the growth of any business when it pays to reach out. To have a partner fly in the right tools to help you survive the cold winters that can freeze even the hardiest enterprise in its tracks. 

It’s time to find your “Babe”.

Putting in the Reps

I had the pleasure of talking with Antonio Centeno last week in London. Antonio is the creator behind the “Real Men Real Style” YouTube channel. His most popular video, “How to Keep Your Shirt Tucked In ALL DAY” has 12 million views.

When Antonio started out with YouTube he was filming in his basement which had a dirt floor. He always wore a jacket and tie, but he didn’t wear dress shoes. He didn’t want to get them dirty. And because his early videos were shot from the waist up, a lot of the time he wasn’t even wearing pants.

Antonio filmed late at night, after work and after his young kids had gone to bed, so he could concentrate. He posted over 150 videos before he broke 10,000 subscribers. He compares that time period to lifting weights at the gym. He calls it “putting in the reps”.

With any type of content marketing, it can take a while to see results. But if you put in the reps, the results will come. Today, Real Men Real Style is a seven figure business with corporate sponsorship, a podcast, live conference events and over 2.1 million subscribers.

Because Antonio put in the reps.

Set It On Fire

It was 1967 and there were a hell of a lot of great guitar players in London. John Lennon, Jeff Beck, Brian Jones, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, were all playing the clubs. If you were a guitar player too, it was hard to get noticed.

But there was this one skinny guy named Jimi Hendrix from America. He was a good guitarist. Better than most. He dressed weird, but everyone was dressing weird. He used a lot of distortion, but everyone did that, too. One typical night, his band The Experience was playing the London Astoria. At the end of their 45 minute set Jimi kneeled, laid his guitar down on the stage and…set it on fire.

The audience loved it. The music press couldn’t stop writing about it. They started calling him “The Black Elvis”. Soon it was standing room only. He was that guy who torched his guitar.

Unless you live on a tiny atoll in the Pacific, chances are there are a lot of competitors around who do what you do. You may do it better. Better than most. But how can you be really different? What can you do to set it on fire?

Your Success is Real: 10 Ways to Conquer Impostor Syndrome

Here’s a phrase that sends chills: “ You don’t know what you’re doing, do you?”

Executives worldwide agree that their number one fear is being found incompetent (Harvard Business Review 2015). It’s probably a safe bet that the same fear applies to entrepreneurs and creative professionals as well. Psychologists call this fear of being “found out” impostor syndrome, a term coined in the 1970’s by researchers Pauline Clance, Ph.D., and Suzanne Imes, Ph.D. to describe the behavior that Clance observed in some of her graduate students.

So if you’re feeling like an impostor at work, take heart. Chances are that others feel the exact same way. Studies show that 70% of the population feels inferior at least once in their lives.

Impostor syndrome is defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. It’s a general feeling of unworthiness that manifests itself in:

• Being scared to try new things

• Being afraid to be ambitious

• Not pursuing your dreams or goals

• Not pursuing growth opportunities, like a promotion

Feeling like you don't deserve success and recognition, or diminishing your success affects creative people and entrepreneurs disproportionately to the general public, possibly because they are often more sensitive than other professionals. They also tend to be more egotistical, which paradoxically can be a precursor to the syndrome (see #2 below).

The very nature of having a business requires you to stand out, it requires you to stick your head above the pack and say “look at me, look at what I can do”. While this is a necessary appeal for attention and approval it can also make us feel unsafe and judged. This feeling of uncertainty is the root cause of impostor syndrome (refreshedminds.com).

It's important to overcome the feelings of unworthiness. Left unchecked, these thoughts and feelings can become more deeply ingrained in your psyche. It’s best to address these thoughts and feelings as soon as they come up.

Here are ten ways to combat impostor syndrome:

#1 Feelings Aren't Facts.

Impostor syndrome is a feeling. It doesn't manifest itself in reality. It's simply your emotional reaction to something you perceive on the outside world. Emotions don’t always tell us the truth; so don’t treat them as reliable indicators of reality.

#2 Accept the hard work. 

It may seem illogical, but impostor syndrome is actually based on an unrealized feeling of superiority. Scientists theorize that children who are told they are superior (more intelligent, artistically gifted, etc.) and praised for their effortless success expect life to be full of easy wins. As adults, they mistrust praise and are convinced of their “failure” because they had to work hard for the result. To them, hard work means they are losing their edge and it’s not praiseworthy. Know that hard work is all a part of the equation for success. 

#3 Don’t keep it a secret.

Secrets fester, and your quiet feelings of inferiority can be self-perpetuating if they are not addressed. Talk about it with your friends, your spouse, or your co-workers. Take twenty seconds of courage to put it out there and be vulnerable. You'd be surprised by the support that you get, the number of people who will identify with you and the reality check that ensues. Let your secret out.

#4 Define your own success.

Don't compare yourself to Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. Compare yourself to yourself. Other definitions of success don't matter. You can define your own life and your own level of success. That sentence is without a doubt the most important career guidance I have ever shared, the hardest to achieve and the most rewarding when you do.

#5 It's not about you.

Impostor syndrome traps you in a self-centered mindset. You become consumed with thoughts about yourself; I’m worthless, I’m scared, I’m a loser. You can overcome this hyper-focus on the self by helping other people. Look for ways to serve other people and help them succeed. Check in with your co-workers and clients to see what help you can offer. By making it about others you feel better about yourself.

#6 Be vulnerable.

It's counterintuitive, but being vulnerable makes you stronger. Exposing yourself makes you more YOU and dissolves the impostor feelings. Statements like “I don’t know,” or “I’m sorry,” can lead to open, candid conversation. Try sharing your tender side and see what happens.

#7 Collect testimonials.

This is a way of “stacking the positives” with facts about your performance, rather than relying on your own opinion of how the world sees you. A great way to start is by asking your LinkedIn connections to write you a recommendation. Most likely people will be happy to publish a sentence or two of praise about you. You can post these on your website or put them on your social media, or just keep them in a “love file” on your computer. Collecting kudos about yourself is a great way to boost your self-esteem and to overcome impostor syndrome.

#8 Put Blinders On.

Don't compare yourself to other millionaires, other entrepreneurs, or other designers. Put blinders on and run your own race. Don’t keep a scorecard. If you must keep track of something, keep track of how much you have learned during a project or job, not how you are performing.Think about how far you've come, what you've accomplished, and how much more you know. That will give you fuel to go further.

# 9 No one else knows what they're doing either.

Impostor syndrome makes you feel like everybody else has life figured out. They have all the answers, and they do it all better than you do. The truth? They don't. We're all human, and by humanizing people and realizing that we're all progressing and struggling together, it takes the pressure off you. As Tina Fey says, “Seriously, I've just realized that almost everyone is a fraud, so I try not to feel too bad about it.”

# 10 You're Never Finished.

You are a work in progress. You're not done until you're dead. Period. So when those impostor feelings creep in, fight them off by reminding yourself that you are not “done for” or defeated. Keep moving forward, knowing that you will always be learning and growing. You're in a constant state of becoming. Always.

Putting an end to impostor syndrome is an act of self-love. Being able to fully convince yourself that you are praiseworthy and talented will help your career and your creativity thrive. If you can simply stall the thoughts for a bit by using some of all of these techniques, you’ll get much further than you can imagine.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us." – Marianne Williamson

Last One Standing

Hurricane Michael was called a once-in-a-100-years storm. One of the towns that Michael knocked square in the nose was Mexico Beach, which was virtually flattened. It wiped out most of the structures, but also severed the deep emotional connection of it’s residents. 

But one house made it through virtually unscathed.

Russell King and his nephew build their home on 40 foot pilings driven deep into the sand, constructing it out of re-enforced concrete that far exceeded all of Florida’s famously stringent building codes. They called it the Sand Palace. Their family’s emotional connection to Mexico Beach weathered the storm because they had built a solid foundation.

Verhaal will be leading a brand strategy workshop next week were we will be building a “brand pyramid” with our client. Brand pyramids are strategic tools constructed in five layers, much like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, with the brands functional benefits on the bottom building upwards to the emotional essence at the peak. 

Defining the emotional essence of a brand is critical. Why? Because people don’t buy using their heads, they buy with their hearts. They buy based on a deeper emotional connection. And you architect that connection by building from a solid strategic foundation.

Would your brand survive a 100-year storm?

Our New Frankenword

A portmanteau is a linguistic blend in which parts of multiple words or their sounds are combined into a new word. Smoke and fog combining to become smog. Motor and hotel becoming motel.  

A frankenword.

I was looking for a way to describe something that is a duality, a symbiosis, two things that exist in co-dependency. Why? Because I think the branding and business worlds need a new name. 

The world of design and the world of business are converging. They are fueling and sustaining each other in increasingly inextricable ways. For businesses to succeed in today’s commercial ecosystem they are required to be more and more creative, producing visually engaging content in an ever-expanding array of marketing channels.

For creative professionals to succeed it's necessary to be fluent in the machinations of finance, strategy, business, marketing, and in demonstrating the ROI of branding to clients.

Brand design is becoming more business and business is becoming more creative. They are merging. Those that embrace the merger will thrive and those that do not will wither.

Desiness? Bizign? Crearketing? Entrepreativity?

What is the design+business/business+creativity frankenword?

Don't Be Dr. Dynamite

A few years ago I was working on private-label food brands for big grocery retailers. I called it “big brand surfing”. That’s when you design products with names, colors, fonts and packaging that sound, look and feel remarkably similar to a major brand.

Think Dr. Pepper vs. Safeway’s Dr. Dynamite. Generally, the play is about price. But what they are really trading on is similarity. They try to look the same. They try to taste the same. You can sell a lot of stuff that way, but you are just surfing another brand’s wave. Success breeds clones.

Personal brands fall victim to this, too. On Instagram, social media star wannabes are increasingly adopting a popular, yet homogenized expression of beauty and now no one can tell them apart.

If you could capture the single most important quality that creates a successful brand, it boils down to differentiation.

Have you looked at your competition lately? How can you separate yourself from the pack? Aspire to a unique expression of your brand. 

Surf your own wave.

The Side Door

Jane Goodall wanted to study primates. But she didn’t know how she was going to do it. From England she made her way to a friend's farm in the Kenya highlands in 1957, but once there she desperately needed a way to make a living. 

The opportunity arose for her to study to be a secretary. It was a long way from studying apes, but she decided to take it.

One day, on the advice of a fellow student, Jane called Louis Leakey, the famous Kenyan archaeologist and paleontologist, to see if he needed help in his research. Louis didn’t have any openings for researchers, but he did need a secretary. He offered Jane the job.

Two years later she was in Tanzania studying primate behavior.

When I talk to my coaching clients I always stress the fact that you have to follow opportunities when they present themselves. Even those that may seem unrelated to your ultimate goal. Because one day they may help facilitate the achievement of your dreams.

What opportunity has come your way? Could it be a side door?

Looking for a Greener Pasture?

A landscaping company in Idaho had a problem last week. They offer a service that clears unwanted brush and growth from your property - with a twist. They don’t use mowers, blowers and trimmers. They use goats.

We Rent Goats trucked in their workers, a herd of 118 eating machines to help a client who needed to clean up around a pond. Let’s just say that the crew didn’t really like the “flavor” of the work. Instead of clearing the pond grounds they decided to tramp over to the adjoining suburban neighborhood and snack on the much tastier flowers, scrubs and gardens of it’s residents.

It’s a classic example of “If you don’t give them what they want, they will go someplace else to get it.”

I often work with clients who have designed businesses, products and services who have taken the “If I build it, they will come.” approach. And often they wake to find that what they are offering is not what people really want. 

An early investment in consumer research and the competitive landscape will tell you what you need to build. Because not even a bottomless marketing budget can keep your customers from tramping over to the competition if what they offer is tastier. 

Perfectionism Is Killing Your Career: Here’s What You Can Do About It

Perfectionism can sound like a good idea. At first glance, it makes sense; being a perfectionist must lead to perfection. But the truth is that perfectionism is greatness killer. A 2016 longitudinal study verified that perfectionism doesn’t make you better at anything, and can actually make you significantly less successful in life. Many of us know from experience that it can:

• Hamper creativity
• Decrease risk-taking
• Make the creative process unnecessarily stressful

Pushing yourself to create strictly above-average work and consistently perform at peak levels seems admirable enough. But when your standards become inflexible and unforgiving, perfectionism becomes an impediment to success; creativity diminishes, risk-taking wanes and your stress level goes sky-high.

Perfectionism is counterproductive.

Perfectionists are driven by a critical inner voice that demands flawlessness. This inner voice never self-regulates, never shuts up. It’s your job, as the person in charge of your life and your work, to regulate this voice, so your creativity and productivity can evolve.

The first step in conquering perfectionism is, like they say in 12-step programs, acceptance. Try to accept that you have some thoughts and behaviors that that are undermining your prospects for success. For example, you may be spending 90% of your time on that last 10% of the project (this is one I frequently get stuck in). Step back and look at your thoughts and behaviors from a distance. When you catch yourself in a perfectionist tangle, accept and adjust your reaction. Acceptance allows for change.

Sometimes your inner critic is so fearful of failing that it paralyzes you. I’ve had that “scared stiff” feeling. When I was in art school I used to paint on large five by six-foot canvases. That huge expanse of stark white canvas was very intimidating. Often I would get an idea of what this perfect painting would be, go to my studio…and just stare at the white canvas.

I was absolutely paralyzed by my perfectionistic preconception of the final result.

Then I realized I only needed to do one simple thing to get the creative juices flowing: make a mark. Just making a mark - taking a brush and some oil paint and just marking the canvas. It didn't matter what kind of mark it was. It broke that white surface. It broke down the imposing aspect of not starting. That mark gave me something to react to, something to react against, something to build on.

Of course, I would cover it up with other marks, which would then disappear under more marks. But that first touch of paint to the canvas was the most important brushstroke because it got the ball rolling. It broke the paralysis of perfectionism.

Renowned author Anne Lamott encouraged her writing students to make a “shitty first draft”. “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” That’s true for all creative endeavors.

When Apple made their first logo, it sucked. It was way too busy and complicated. But they got it out there. Now, their logo now is so well-known I would guess that 90% of the population could probably draw it. It's beautiful, simple and refined. So far removed from their initial identity, yet it would be impossible to evolve the logo if they didn’t take the first messy step.

When you start off, even if you’re Apple, you're gonna suck a little bit.

That's just the truth.

But it’s actually okay because sucking a little bit makes you more human.

It makes you more approachable and relatable. People don’t warm up to other people (or things for that matter) that are too perfect or too polished. They are off-putting. It’s counterintuitive but scientifically verified that being vulnerable is actually magnetic (it’s called the Pratfall effect).

Maxims are great tools to short-circuit perfectionist thoughts. A helpful saying I use is “ship it,” or “done, not perfect.” Getting something out into the world, “shipping it,” is the first step in making it better. It gives you the opportunity to react to it or against it –it’s just like making my mark on the canvas. The faster you get it out there, the faster it becomes something – rather than just an idea in your head or a project cloistered in your office or studio.

“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.” -Steve Jobs

Tech companies in Silicon Valley use a method called rapid prototyping. They create a minimum viable product (MVP) software or website and quickly put it on the market. The MVP is a starting point; it allows consumers to give feedback that’s used to iterate the design or the product; it begins the cycle of feedback and improvement. An MVP is a great model for conquering perfectionism. Put things out into the world that may be 90% there - accepting that it’s not perfect, but knowing you will learn from it. This will put any perfectionist out of their comfort zone, but that is where we grow, try new things, experiment, and innovate. Playing it safe never won any awards.

Pushing through self-imposed barriers opens you up to learning and improving.

Here’s an illustration:  One day my wife decided that she wanted to learn to play the viola. There is so much information about the viola out there. You can watch YouTube videos about the viola. You can attend lectures about the viola. You can read viola books, listen to viola music, but if you want to learn the viola, you have to pick up a viola and drag that bow across those strings and make a horrible sound. That’s the first step. Practice and practice until it makes a beautiful sound.  You will get better over time. That's very much what conquering perfectionism is all about.

It's about starting.

It's about making that mark.

It's about shipping it.

It's about innovating, improving and working outside of your comfort zone.

Conquering perfectionism is not always easy, but it does get you closer to more creative, fulfilling, useful work, with more perfect results (the irony!). Accept your perfectionistic thoughts and actions, and challenge them. Nudge them off the stage by doing something imperfect, no matter how small. It may be scary at first, but I guarantee you’ll feel liberated and more creative over time.

Finding the "Wow!"

SETI is a collective term for anything that concerns the search for extraterrestrial life in the universe. SETI asks the question: Is there anyone out there?

In 1955, Ohio State University built a telescope they called “Big Ear” to continuously scan the cosmos for radio signals. It wasn’t until 1977 that Jerry Ehman, a project volunteer, witnessed a startlingly strong signal received by the telescope. On the computer printout of the data he famously wrote “Wow!” in the margin.

It only happened once. But they heard it. They heard it because they were actively listening.

A couple weeks ago we conducted a strategy offsite with a client in Canada. She has a interconnected series of brands and wanted clarity on the best way to organize and grow her businesses. 

We didn’t approach the session with a specific point of view or predetermined answers. What we did was ask the right questions. And then we listened. 

When you actively listen - a mysterious and convoluted problem can be distilled into a clear signal. At the end of the day, the wall was covered with giant Post-It notes. On the last one we wrote “Wow!” in the margin.

To Win Big, Think Small

“Alice in Wonderland-like” syndrome is a disorder of the brain. The symptoms are named after Lewis Carroll’s protagonist Alice, who went down a rabbit hole and found herself shrinking or expanding depending on her circumstances. People who are afflicted by it misperceive the size and distance of objects, seeing them as larger or smaller than their natural state. 

In a white paper, comScore has reported that a staggering 80% of social media viewing is done on mobile devices. How do people choose what to consume? They click on thumbnails that jump out at them. So not only are viewers encountering content at a tiny scale, they are choosing what to click from even tinier thumbnail images.

When designing artwork for social media, for Facebook, for YouTube, you have to zoom way out.  When people view your post, your thumbnail may be as small as 3/4 of an inch wide. If your designs have lots of copy, small font sizes or detailed imagery, people are going to get frustrated and scroll right past them. Opportunity lost.

But when people click your thumbnail, you get traffic. When you get traffic, you win. To win big, you have to start by thinking small.

Retail Trend: The Cattle Chute Method

Cows are distractible. They have 360° wide-angle vision and are confused by everything from moving shadows to puddles of water, as well as any surface they can see though. To get cows to go where you want them to go, you line them up single file in a cattle chute.

It’s like putting blinders on a horse: you set it up so they are seeing only what you want them to see.

Last week the New York Times published an article about how Amazon has developed over 100 private label brands - with dozens more planned. If you search for a battery, a cable, or some other household item you will find Amazon Basics dominating the top results. It's a shopper cattle chute.

The best way to compete against the encroachment of private label is through superior brand recognition, product quality and design. To create your cattle chute you must eliminate customer distractions. You show them only exceptional brand visuals and create a simple, compelling customer journey and experience.

Are your customers seeing only what you want them to see?

Sunken Treasure

Remus 6000 spends most of it’s time deep below the surface. An underwater robot, Remus’ long-range sonar scans the bottom and then goes back to take pictures of anything it finds unusual. 

In May, Remus took pictures of what the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is calling the “holy grail of shipwrecks” 2000 feet down in the Caribbean. The San Jose, a 310-year-old Spanish galleon carrying gold, silver and emeralds worth as much as $17 billion.

You can’t see the bullion, cannons and artifacts scattered across the ocean floor from the surface you have to go deeper. And you need Remus 6000 to get there.

When speaking of brand value, many talk about how recognizable the logo is, how innovative the product is, the imagery used in marketing. But that stuff is what we see on the surface. The things today’s customers take for granted. You have to go deeper. And you need an agency partner to get there.

Below the surface is the realm of customer journeys and experience. Below the surface is where relationships are forged, where customer satisfaction is created and true brand evangelists are born. 

Below the surface is where the brand value treasure lies.

THREE LITTLE WORDS (AND PEOPLE ARE FREAKING OUT)

Companies regularly write lengthy vision statements, mission statements and mottos. Sadly, far too many turn out to be empty emotional BS.

Before Google got humongous they wrote a cheeky, three word, silicon-valley-punk credo for themselves: “Don’t Be Evil”. Having written a lot of long client credos, I loved it because it was only three words. And I loved Google as a business for putting a moral stake in the ground. 

Recently Google has been considering working on lucrative contracts for the Defense Department. Something about using AI and video image recognition for drone accuracy from what I’ve read. It seems lots of folks who work at Google are freaking out. They think that helping drones kill people better falls into the “evil” category just a tad. I’d have to agree.

Establishing a credo can be one of the most powerful things a brand can create. It guides every brand decision and action. It keeps you and your employees grounded in the brand values. Sometimes those values are tested.

Ultimately, Google withstood their test by refusing the Defense projects, demonstrating to the world their credo is meaningful and authentic.

Even if it is only three words.

Different Is Better Than Better

If you’ve ever stayed in central London you know that the hotels are fantastic. The best.

There are hotels that have old world charm that come in a range of prices. There are contemporary design hotels like St. Martins Lane but these are always very pricey. What didn’t exist was a high-tech high-design option available at a lower price point.

The savvy folks at hub by Premier Inn noticed this empty quadrant in the X/Y map of the competitive landscape. So they did what any smart brand does, they filled it.

I stayed at hub by Premier Inn when I was at a conference recently. My room was about 9 x 14 feet - about the size of a generous jail cell. There was no window, just a backlit glass panel that made you feel like there was one. The headboard was a touchscreen that controlled everything from the “do not disturb” sign outside to the A/C. The interior design was so inspiring and clever I never felt deprived. In fact, I felt smart, stylish and just a little bit richer. 

By expertly delivering on an unmet need, hub by Premier Inn has expanded to 40 locations in under 5 years. Hub is killing it.

Take a fresh look at your competitive landscape. Does everyone look the same? Are they offering the same things, in the same way? Where is the white space that you can fill?

Your Best Self: 7 Mantras for Designers & Entrepreneurs

Mantras are not just for meditating. Mantras are simply ideas and philosophies to live by. Some people call them maxims, mottos or catchphrases. They have one purpose: to keep us on track. They prevent us from going a down a rabbit hole. They act as guardrails for our thoughts and actions so we can focus our energy.

Here are seven mantras that I think are valuable for designers and entrepreneurs to keep in mind. 

#1 Be human.

When your brand is your business, you can sometimes act more like your brand than yourself. No one wants to work with a brand robot – a brandbot. Strategy is great, processes are great, brand tenets are great, but underneath it all we're people. We're original, quirky, and unpredictable. In other words, we’re human. As a businessperson, you do represent a brand, but don’t hold back on showing your humanity (it’s called the Pratfall Effect). Be personable, because people like to work with people that they like. Be humble, because people like to work with people with compassion. Be flexible, because people like to work with people who are open to new things. Most importantly, be you.

#2 Choose fun.

We got into this line of work because we didn't want to have an uninspiring, humdrum life. We became designers and entrepreneurs because we wanted excitement. We wanted to have fun. We wanted to do creative things. Design and entrepreneurship are tough fields, and you have to work really hard at it to be successful. But remember why you're doing it. You're doing it to create a fun, invigorating, extraordinary life for yourself. So try not to take yourself too seriously. Throughout the day you make thousands of choices. As much as you can, choose fun.

#3 What’s the worst that can happen?

Fear can be really debilitating. Whether it’s fear of trying something new, putting ourselves out there or going against the grain, fear can stop you dead in your tracks. Instead of letting fear guide your action - or inaction, think through the fear to the very end. “What’s the worst thing that can happen if things go wrong?” is a powerful question that can shrink  fear dramatically. Think it through; Will you get fired? Lose your apartment? Lose your girlfriend? Most of the time these imaginary disasters never happen, and once you realize that, it frees you up to be more courageous and try new things. And if something does go wrong, simply ask for forgiveness. Making a mistake is never the end of everything. Put fear in its place. Be brave.  
 

#4 Build your resources.

As designers and entrepreneurs, we often like to do everything ourselves. But ultimately, if we want to do bigger and better things, we need additional resources. Be proactive about gathering service providers, companies, printers, coders, any specialists that could help you at some point in time.

Start creating and curating a cache of professionals that allow you to do increasingly ambitious work for your clients. Keep those connections warm so they're there when you need them. Pick a day of the week, say, “Freelancer Friday” to reach out to one or two of your connections. Send a quick text or email, ask them what they’re up to, like some of their social media posts (see more suggestions here). It only takes a few minutes to reach out and if you do it faithfully for a few weeks, you’ll find yourself top-of-mind with them and ready for any project, at any time.

#5 First things first.

Procrastination is a killer for designers and entrepreneurs. Prioritizing tasks and projects can be difficult, but it’s the backbone of success. Tim Ferriss, human guinea pig and lifehacker, has some great advice, “You can spend the whole of the day busy, but fail to tackle the most important items, which in many cases are the hardest things on your plate. So isolate the one or two most important things you need to accomplish today. One or two only.” (Inc.com)

I noticed that Tim was right. Now I move the hardest things to the top of the list and do those first. It pays off. Mark Twain, commenting on doing the dreaded tasks before the easy ones, said, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” Amen.

#6 Done is better than perfect.

Designers and entrepreneurs, as a group, are perfectionists. This trait serves us well most of the time, but if you lean too heavily on it, it becomes a crutch. Perfectionism is a way of resisting the future. “Perfect lets you stall, ask more questions, do more reviews, dumb it down, safe it up and generally avoid doing anything that might fail (or anything important),” (Seth Godin).

Instead of focusing on getting things done perfectly, focusing on just getting things done.

Get them out the door. Volume trumps perfection any day of the week. Consistency beats infrequency. More is better, and frequency boosts recognition for your brand. So instead of being a perfectionist and trying to massage every fine detail, get it out the door. No one is really going to notice that level of perfection except you. It's better to just get it done, and move on to the next thing.

#7 When in doubt, communicate.

Here’s the biggest complaint I've heard in my career from designers and people I've worked with; "I don't know what's going on. No one's telling me anything."

It's really hard to do your job well if you feel under-informed. Don’t wallow in victimhood about being out of the loop. It’s probably not intentional. Find the person who might know what you feel like you’re missing and ask them to brief you. On the flip-side, you have to make sure clients know what's going on in your head and you know what's going on in theirs. You need to be consistently aligned to deliver your best work. There is no other way to do this than to communicate. Over-communicate, even. Especially when the news that you're trying to communicate is bad. Always recap conversations and meetings in writing. Communication is a conflict killer.

These mantras have helped me keep my thoughts and projects focused and on track.  They’ve helped me sidestep many professional potholes. If some of these resonate with you, I hope you incorporate them into your daily life. Make them visible. Put them on a post-it, make a graphic as your home screen, or tack it on your office wall. Make up your own mantras. They will enhance your focus, energy and undoubtedly smooth your pathway to success.

In the Flow: 10 Ways to Stay Creative

Creativity is critical to your success as a creative professional or an entrepreneur. New ideas and innovative solutions are your livelihood. But even naturally talented creative thinkers need to cultivate and develop their ability to consistently create “ah-ha moments”. Great ideas don't just drop out of the sky. You have to create an environment for those ideas to grow and be nurtured.

Creating an environment for creativity means looking at your inner world, such as your thoughts and beliefs, your outer world or physical environment, and taking inspired action. Here are my top 10 tips on breaking through for higher creative output:

#1 It’s OK to feel blocked

The very first thing to do when you hit a creative block is this: quit beating yourself up. Negative self-talk will only perpetuate your misery. Here’s the truth about creativity; Everyone hits a dry spot. Creativity isn't a constant. It ebbs and flows. So relax, and give yourself a break, because if you try too hard you’ll tense up and the flow can become constricted.

#2 Carry a notebook everywhere

Everything is available in digital format, even your notes and sketches But there is a downside to going digital with your inspiration; digital can get lost. If you carry a notebook and actually physically write it down or sketch it out, you’re always going to have it at the ready. It’s easier to page through a notebook than it is to open a folder of individual documents. The tactile aspect of doing so is inspiring in itself.  So sketch, doodle, write, tear stuff out of magazines and paste it in. Carry a notebook with you everywhere you go so your ideas are easily written and retrieved.

#3 Walk

It's scientifically proven that going for a 10-minute walk will dramatically increase your productivity and your positivity. New ideas will pop into your mind when you are walking - no podcasts, no music - just walking. Jump on a treadmill or take laps inside if that’s the only option available to you. Getting some fresh air by walking outside boosts your oxygen intake which gives the brain more fuel. Additionally, nature acts like a reboot for the overloaded brain so walking outside gives you twice the benefit.

#4 Copy Something

All fine artists learn by copying. Designers, musicians, writers, and even business professionals actually learn by copying, as well. There's very little in the world that's really original. So if you're having trouble with creative ideas, just copy something. It'll get the creative flow moving and some new ideas will inevitably pop up for you to explore. 

#5 Change your environment

I noticed that after spending many hours in my home office and then going into New York City, I'd have an explosion of ideas. I would write down so many blog ideas, lists, and things I wanted to do. I saw the connection clearly: I realized that simply getting out of my office and getting on the train made my creativity skyrocket. It was the change in my environment. A break from the monotonous routine that got my synapses firing. If you want to stay creative, you must change your environment. Go to the library. Get on a train. Take a drive. Take a walk. Simply sitting in another part of the room can even do the trick. Break  “location monotony” and get creative.

#6 Do something new

Using your brain in a different way can shake off the cobwebs. If you do a lot of designing, do some writing. If you do a lot of writing, do some sketching. If you live in Excel spreadsheets, take up piano. There's a famous saying, “If you want to change what you get, you've got to change what you do.” In order to loosen up those creative ideas, do something new and different.

#7 Practice

Creating a “final product” means sometimes  spending hours crafting it to make sure it's absolutely perfect. Instead, create some stuff that you're definitely going to throw away. Start a  project knowing you're not going to keep it. When you intentionally create work that’s impermanent, it takes away some of the stress that’s impeding your creative flow. It also gives you an opportunity to practice your craft without the tension of creating something final. This gets the ideas moving and helps release the stress that perfection brings.

#8 Calm your mind

In today's fast-paced digital world, we're always on our phones or laptops. Or we have TV, music, YouTube or a podcast constantly providing a healthy dose of sensory overload. All this input doesn't leave space for ideas and creative thoughts to gestate. In order to center your creative self, take some time out of your day and turn off all the input. Turn off your phone, put your computer to sleep, and just sit with yourself. You'd be really surprised how creative ideas will flow in when you simply stop and meditate. Not a seasoned meditator? Here are some short, painless meditations to try.

#9 A Special Kind of Brainstorming

Brainstorming has fallen out of favor in the past few years since its efficacy was debunked (Harvard Business Review, 2015). What has taken its place is a specific type of brainstorming, called a “question burst.” A “question burst” is “a process for recasting problems in valuable new ways” (Harvard Business Review, 2018) by writing down every new question you can ask about this problem. Writing questions instead of searching for answers helps you push past creative blocks by going deep into the “what ifs.” There’s less logic and bias to hold you back when you ask questions, so the creativity surges. Give it a try by yourself or in a group. You’ll be surprised how quickly interesting ideas start to formulate.

#10 Feed your mind

There is so much amazing visual inspiration available for you in print (which still exists, by the way) and on the web. Constantly feed your mind with beautiful images before a creative dry spot pops up. Make a habit of gathering inspiring images. Collect them like a fiend. There are a host of applications that make it easy to collect images. Everyone knows Pinterest, and there are other options like Niice or Behance, which help you make beautiful mood boards. You can also use software you may already have like Keynote, PowerPoint, or a Google Slides  document, Evernote or Google Keep. Become a voracious collector of visual inspiration and feed your brain a diet of refreshing stimulation. It will definitely improve your creativity.

Being in a creative “slow moment” or an “idea desert” is not fun. I know, I’ve been there. It happens to the best and brightest. No one is immune. But these tips and tricks are certain to  help coax your creative self back to life and have you producing exceptional work again in no time

The Sexy Potato

There are watershed moments in our professional lives where something happens that changes everything. Mine was during a photo shoot for Lay’s potato chips.

Lay’s is, maybe unsurprisingly to salty snack fans, the largest food brand in the world, selling in 50+ countries with revenue of $1.7 billion. With a business that big you have to be very careful what you do in a package redesign - well, for obvious reasons. 

So there we were, shooting the sliced raw potato that appears on the back of the core plain flavor of Lay’s. My marketing partner was not happy. The raw potato was unattractive. The raw potato was missing irresistible flavor appeal, that je ne sais quoi.

She said “Philip, we need a really sexy potato”. It was in that moment that I realized I was not in the right place. And that I needed to make a change.

We finished the shoot. We had successfully coaxed the requisite appeal from the potato - as reluctant a subject as she was. But something inside me had shifted. Four weeks later I resigned from Pepsico. A potato was my tipping point.

We don’t get to choose our watershed moments. The trick is to use them as a springboard for positive change when they happen. For me it was a sexy potato. A potato that launched the most exciting and fulfilling chapter of my life.