Conversation Agent

Leading Brands Lead

No, I am not talking about these Leading Brands, although how can one resist the pitch? Leading brands lead because they are far out ahead creating something that has value to the people who need and want "it."  The people managing those brands are not afraid to dare a little, to make choices, to limit number of features, for example, to go all the way to the edge.

I remember a conversation I had once with the person who was the lead business development for a major agency in New York city. He was talking about an internal project the agency was working on around launching new brands in a competitive marketplace. A few things he said back then stuck with me for years.

Two of them were that (a) people do not necessarily know if they'd buy or like something conceptually. Yes, who would have thought that we would fall in love with a device that you essentially need to replace once the battery runs its life? At the tune of hundreds of dollars. And that (b) bold statements work better than timid improvements. You can ratchet back something that is way out there, but you'd be hard pressed to get anywhere with something that is mediocre to begin with.

Average is the enemy of memorable, we have know that for a long time. How do leading brands stand out? In many ways, it all comes back to the experience they offer, which then feeds the perception of the brand. I would also consider three other characteristics that those brands have in common with leaders.

Uno (1)

They have the ability to improvise based on context and available information. What is improvisation? According to the entry on Wikipedia, it's the

practice of acting, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or new ways to act.

This invention cycle occurs most effectively when the practitioner has a thorough intuitive and/or technical understanding of the necessary skills and concerns within the improvised domain.

Improvisation and leadership go hand in hand because leadership has that built in ability to forge ahead and create new competencies. More and more as we talk about this three-dimensional conversation between people inside organizations with brands and customers, improvisational skills are taking center stage.

Enjoy this performance by Tommy Emmanuel.

The thing is we never have all the information, nor we may have the luxury - time, attention, resources anyone? - to be able to go down several paths. And testing is imperfect for the reason I outlined above - people may not know what is possible until it is available to them, maybe through sampling it first when others have it.

In case you're interested, there is an Applied Improvisation Network.

Due (2)

They focus on one or two characteristics that set them apart, even though they may have much more to offer. Yes, we have been talking about key differentiators for years. Yet, when we look at marketing messages, what we see is a sea of sameness. Why? Inability to choose one thing and commit to it.

Culture can be a differentiator. Personality can lead you to think differently.

Tre (3)

They spend more time where it counts, with customers. It is easy to see the world through the lens of busyness that colors our days. Immersed in the day to day programs, meetings, stuff to do, we may lose touch with those who really matter to the health of our brand. 

Ask yourself and your brand, what commitment am I willing to make to do what I know I should do? This is akin to the description of a dream leadership coach Marshall Goldsmith described in an article for Fast Company:

"You know, I am incredibly busy right now. In fact, I feel about as busy today as I have ever felt in my entire life. To be honest, a lot of the time I just feel over-committed. To be real honest - given what is going on at work and at home - sometimes my life feels a little out of control.

But, you see, I am working on some very unique and special challenges right now. I think that the worst of this will be over in four or five months. After that I am going to take a couple of weeks and get organized. I am going to start working on my personal development. Then I am going to start spending some more time with my family. I may even start my 'healthy lifestyle' program. After that everything is going to be different -and it won't be crazy anymore."

The time to talk with customers is now.

We're not in the times where we were in the fulfillment business anymore. Today we are in the demand creation business. Yet, many organizations are still behaving as if we were still taking orders galore. If you want to be in that position, you need first to focus on leading.

What George Washington Could Teach Us About Social Media

Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.

You get out what you put in, like everything else in life. There are many levels of relationships and degrees of connection. We all respond and are available to different dynamics.

___________________________

It's wonderful what we can do if we're always doing.

Social media isn't a quick fix: it takes continuous work. And it's worth the payoff. The best way to have a voice in the larger inter-blog conversation is to participate in one. There are only finite hours in a day, yet setting aside some time to seek out the work and ideas of others will be worth your time.

___________________________

I cannot tell a lie.

This saying is probably apocryphal. But its message isn't: in social media, transparency is key. Remember that part of the definition of transparency in addition to openness and communication is accountability. Transparency means also always being on.

___________________________

It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.

Take the plunge, stop putting it off. We are all procrastinators in different ways. There is really no magic formula except for participation. To the degree in which you feel comfortable, in the media that suit your style and allow you to develop your voice, jump in. Success is 90% showing up.

__________________________

To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.

Great advice for corporate bloggers. It is a good idea to review all the potential issues that could arise and be ready to address them.

__________________________

Happy Presidents' Day.

Internal Marketing Conversations

Maybe it will not be a best seller; there is beauty and power in a well crafted thought. That's exactly how I feel about today's post at Marketing Profs:Daily Fix, because the marketing conversation starts inside. There is one part of organizational life that has been abandoned like a sinking ship, shamefully so. Yet is is the lifeblood of your products and services. If any attempts exist at communications inside corporate America they are by and large left over from other times and harried check marks on a long "to do" list.

It should not be this way. Now that we have collaborative tools that are easy to set up -- wikis and blogs come to mind -- it is still mind boggling how we continue to expend considerable time and funds in trying to control the conversation inside the company walls. Hasn't anyone noticed how the entity may be the only part left inside? Employees are already out there, using their skills and talent on volunteer activities, networking, and expanding on their interests.

Today, I make a case for internal blogs and here is why:

• They can provide transparency to processes and content/project discussions without lengthy meetings. Let's say the marketing team posts regularly on their projects and solicits input, which is then stored in one place. There are good content management tools for this sort of thing too. Does your company invest in those? What is the ramp up time for your team?
• They can help you find pockets of energy inside your organizations and sometimes in the most unlikely places. Who would have known that so and so who's been in accounting for 15 years had such a flair for telling stories about the company?
• Blogging has an immediacy and urgency that in many corporate chains of command have gone lost through elaborate approval chains. Ideas come fast, and when execution comes slow, the disconnect can be great.
• Most importantly, when you treat employees with respect and maturity, that's what you get back tenfold. Those are the basis for trust.

Internal blogs are tools where conversations that matter can take place. [bonus link to Shel Holtz on internal blogs]

Think Different! About Changing Minds -- Are we Commoditizing Connections?

We change brains as we exchange information, yet we rarely change minds. Joe Raasch -- a conversation partner and frequent contributor to this blog -- tagged me with the Think Different Challenge.

My challenge back to you is to think different about changing minds in your connection-making activities. The more tools we have to become connected, the less we learn to value the true meaning of connection. Are we in fact commoditizing connection? LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, blogs and heaven knows what else next -- knowing how to connect with the human being on the other side of the conversation requires more respect, tact, sense of timing and purpose than ever.

We can throw words out in the excitement of potentially greater visibility, but are we truly adding value? Think different about how genuine you are as you leave comments on blogs -- who is the comment for?  What to make of the heated discussion between Chris Anderson and readers about PR blockage? Were people trying to think different about changing minds?

How about when everyone gets in your way of getting your own blogging done? Rebecca Thorman shares from her experience -- it could be any of us. The only mind that matters is the one that wants to change itself, whether that be ours or someone else's is a matter of individual choice -- the point is "want to", not have to, must, need, etc.

And something in between PR and leadership. Because brands give us identity, stimulate our senses and enrich life experiences, it's human to affiliate and surround ourselves with things we know, trust and aspire to be. There is great resistance to changing minds even about brands, as Jack Trout writes.

My work sits at the intersection of all these disciplines, where the conversation is a departure and not an arrival.

"Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, be fortified by it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it." [Herman Hesse, Siddartha]

The Challenge

The Think Different Challenge is all about finding something in your life you currently have negative thoughts or feelings toward (e.g. work or your mother-in-law), and deciding to look at it differently. It is about realizing that some things are just a part of life, so we may as well try to find the positives in them. Follow the link to Joe's blog up top to find the rules for this writing project.

And now the fun part. I tag:

• Skellie at Skelliewag -- if this blog is not in your RSS reader, check it out
• Ann Michael at Manage to Change -- motto: ideas need to add up before the multiply
• Liz Strauss at Successful and Outstanding Blog(gers) -- because she can think different

I'd love to continue the conversation on thinking differently about changing minds here.

Deep Dive has a Whole New Meaning

I love the sea and for a time had the fortune of sailing the ocean in Newport, RI, one of the capitals of New England charm for many reasons, one of which is its people. I find that people who live close to the sea tend to have a fluid quality to them that agrees with me.

Acclaimed ocean explorer Robert Ballard made that same impression on me last night. Dr. Ballard is also professor of oceanography and currently serves as Director of the Institute for Archaeological Oceanography, at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography. That is archeology of the deep sea, where the sun light never shines -- a new discipline he helped found.

Last night, he kicked off the 2007-2008 Philadelphia Speakers Series with a deep dive into the mysteries of the ocean. An explorer-in-residence of the National Geographic, Mr. Ballard discovered the Titanic or rather its wreck in 1985 while on his way to a far more secret mission since declassified. He then went on a discovery binge, finding the Bismarck, the Lusitania and other ships lost at sea, eventually going back to the RMS Titanic 19 years later with the aid of new technology, including improved robotic subs, high-definition cameras and better lighting to see the remains in much greater detail. Yes, Director James Cameron consulted with him through the making of the movie.

Dr. Ballard is about to immerse himself again in an exploration of the Aegean and Black Seas -- waterways that have served as major trade routes for centuries to discover the mysteries that lie underneath. According to the Science Daily:

Shipwrecks in the Black Sea often are remarkably well-preserved due to the waterway's chemistry. Nearly 90 percent of the Black Sea is a no-oxygen “dead zone,” where only a few bacteria live.

What did he learn about life in the depths of the ocean? The largest mountain range on earth is located underwater -- the Mid-Atlantic Ridge extends for 42,000 continuous miles with tens of thousands of active volcanoes. If you're curious as I am about this sort of thing, you will be intrigued to learn that 72% of our planet is beneath the sea and in total darkness. We live on the remaining 18%. In fact, some of Dr. Ballard's greatest discoveries do not involve ship wrecks, they are about life.

• In 1977, while exploring in the submersible ALVIN near the Galapagos Islands (in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Ecuador), Dr. Ballard and J. F. Grassle, on Project FAMOUS, discovered giant worms (called Riftia) and other organisms living deep in the sea, beyond the depth where people though that life could be sustained. These huge worms were clustered around underwater hot springs (near ocean rifts) from which they get energy. The underwater vents substitute for the Sun's energy. The worms grow in long tubes and are over 10 feet (3 meters) long.
• In 1979, Dr. Ballard found deep water volcanoes called "black smokers" located off the coast of Baja California in the Pacific Rise; they spew extremely hot mineral-rich water up chimneys formed by mineral deposits (it is so hot that it could melt lead).
• The water of the earth's oceans is cycled through the earth's crust, changing its mineral composition in the process. The water goes down through cracks in the crust until it hits very hot rock where it becomes superheated and dissolves minerals from the rocks. Then it shoots upward through the vents. This explains why sea water contains the minerals it does (this was unexplained by previous theories).
• The plates from our planet's crust are constantly ripping open and bleeding lava. Most of the earth is generated through lava force in a continuous process of genesis. This also explains the regenerative power of the earth. Our planet has a regular face lift!

More modern-day Captain Nemo than The Old Man and The Sea, after receiving a tremendous amount of mail from children about the Titanic adventure, Dr. Ballard founded the JASON Foundation for Education in 1989. The JASON project is named for Jason, the mythical Greek explorer who sailed the seas in a ship named "Argo" in order to find the golden fleece.

This project lets children learn about and follow global deep sea exploration. A Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) called Jason is sent to explore the sea down to 20,000 feet, and Jason's video signals are broadcast live via two-way satellite to students in schools and museums around the world. "All kids dream a marvelous image of what they want to do. But then society tells them they can't do it. I didn't listen. I wanted to live my dream," he said.

My favorite quote -- "If you can plan it out and it seems logical to you, then you can do it. I discovered the power of a plan."

Are Blogs the New Thought Leadership?

Usually what happens inside an organization is that a group of people from different departments get together to discuss topics for thought leadership materials. The biggest concession made to the marketing or public affairs group is to tie those into existing messages as put forth in campaigns and brand promises.

I've been thinking about a better way when I came across Five Ways to Make Yourself a Workplace Superstar from Brazen Careerist by Penelope Trunk. Her five ways (in bold) and some of my notes about them:

1. Have gaps in your resume -- I'm with Trunk on this one. Do take the time to think differently about yourself; experiment by taking on short term projects that stretch you. Gaps are opportunities for you to be in charge of your career, seek out new ventures and work on your terms. Plus, they can give you the chance to recalibrate your personal brand.
2. Cut corners at work to make time for the gym -- it means find that mind-body balance by creating an exercise program that works for you. In The Power of Full Engagement, authors and consultants Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz write about the pulse of high performance being a balance of stress and recovery. They translate energy as the capacity to do work -- the spaces are as valuable as the activity.
3. Start a side business -- Len Hernstein is the brain thrust behind Brand ManageCamp, where Greg Verdino will be speaking about Empowered Consumers, Emerging Media and Marketing's New Rules on September 26 (Wednesday). He started his business while working at Campbell Soup and was able to get the business off the ground while working as brand manager. If he could do it for two years, you can too.
   
4. Turn down promotions -- there's something incredibly interesting about corporate America. Often people get promoted from superstar as individual technical contributor to manager. Thus the saying that one gets promoted to their level of incompetence. It takes very different skill sets to become a manager and frankly one must really want to do it to be good. Trunk makes a great point here -- who's in charge of your path?
5. Start a blog -- starting a blog is the equivalent of letting people into the way you process information and form opinions; it's a way to see if you exercise critical thinking and flex your writing muscle articulating on topics of your choosing. This is part ideas lab -- the place where I test concepts to see for myself if they hold water. Sometimes I do not know exactly what I'm thinking until I commit it to writing and invite others to poke holes into it. The process is so transparent that it cannot be easily faked. It's also a way to let others inform our thinking without having specific agendas -- on a peer to peer level, with peer being defined as interested person/thinker. This is a very different process from the one we encounter in corporate America, where the person's title may be the driver in decision making.

So are blogs the new thought leadership?

[learding by inspiration, Sitar Ruparelia, Flickr]

The New Kind of Business Hero

"This new kind of business hero... must learn to operate without the might of the hierarchy behind them. The crutch of authority must be thrown away and replaced by their own ability to make relationships, use influence, and work with others to achieve results." [Rosabeth Moss Kanter, When Giants Learn to Dance]

When you hear the word politics you'd like to cover your ears and start humming to yourself, I'm quite sure of it. I have many friends who work in the career counseling and outplacement field and they tell me that the number one desire of people in career transition is for their next job to be free of office politics.

We might as well just decide to become hermits. Put two people together, you have politics. If we look at the Wikipedia definition:

Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions.

I like Hannah Arendt's: "political power corresponds to the human ability not just to act but to act in concert." Some of the greatest thinkers and philosophers from Confucius to Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, and Russeau spent considerable time on the subject.

With the flattening of organizations and the increased number of free agents who collaborate on a project-basis, there is an increased need to make decisions in group. Yet, group settings are the worst places to make decisions. Instead, we would be best served if we learned to build those relationships that are crucial to the success of our projects ahead of time.

Did I whet your appetite? I just finished reading the advance copy of GUST, The Tale Wind of Office Politics by Timothy L. Johnson. Tim blogs at Carpe Factum and was one of the very first people to welcome me to the blogosphere. This was not the first book on the subject I read, it was probably the easiest to digest. It's a complex topic; one charged by our own assumptions and ideas.

Are you starting a new job? Did you get that promotion you wanted? Have you succeeded in getting that big account? Are you working on a new project with a large team? The successful outcome of all these activities hinges upon your ability to embrace change (sometimes to initiate it) and to get the attention that is critical to your projects.

Tim's medium is the fable, which may be a very good way of making the subject approachable and concrete. Two themes jumped out at me as I began reading:

• The characters' victim status was compounded by the fact that they felt out of control and helpless so they whined a lot -- take a moment and reflect on this observation, I did. Quite sobering.
• The top person was completely clueless about what was happening inside the organization -- executives have many things competing for their attention. They juggle, while running and ducking.

When you have two or more people working together, what matters is that they are aligned towards a common goal. Knowing how to build relationships, use influence and work with others is crucial to achieving the results you seek. If you are looking for one resource to get you started on this topic reach out to GUST, and begin comprehending how to best communicate with the people and companies you work with.

In a world where we exist more and more as fuzzy people in David Armano's parlance -- "It's about putting aside egos, getting out of silos and mixing it up with each other—I mean really mixing it up." -- it becomes essential to be able to work effectively across teams and projects. We have new technologies and tools at our disposal, yet the make or break point remains the domain of the decisions people make.

Interface is not only for systems, it's for people too. Did you have a situation that could have been solved by a deeper assessment? How do you handle politics?

Heroes of the Future: we ARE Harry Potter

Harry Potter is the perfect metaphor for the contemporary hero's journey. How many of you have read the books? How many books do you know of that are printed in such large quantities? We are enamored with stories, and for good reason. When the human emotional component cannot process technology and the onslaught of learning anymore, you go back to story.

Every so often you come across a concept, a turn of a phrase in a conversation, that will forever change you and the way you think about everything. The energy released by that thought and the revolution it brings to your thinking makes you leap forward. It is very likely that it would be transmitted to you by a person who releases her/his energy in the form of message. Today I had the privilege of meeting two such people.

Jennifer James calls the release of energy progress. Dr. James is an urban cultural anthropologist, a lecturer, a writer, and commentator. What I learned from her about communicating a compelling story:

1. This is a set of ideas that fit reality and the marketplace -- we create reality, now
2. It has to resonate to a deep set of values
3. The person telling the story has to be believable, authentic, and genuine -- there has to be a level of trust

Why do we need to tell compelling stories? People cannot synthesize anymore, our brains are full. Culture is a story that you have in your gut about the way things ought to be, a story of the future. Now I ask you, do you see that future? Or are you worried that the cultural tapestry of mythology and stories of the past is being torn up too rapidly?  Our learning curve is straight up these days.

Dr. James and I share a love of learning. Specifically we admire the leadership qualities that make a person future-oriented, rapid-bonding, and an extraordinary communicator and negotiator. Someone who understands both the skills required for the current business environment as well as where the organization is as respects the local and global markets. What I learned from her about thinking in the future and the adaptive process is:

1. The technological change linked to the environment concentrates energy and changes everything -- intelligence, attitude, personality and also character. A measure of character is what you do to the community.
2. Economics uses the energy effectively
3. Demographics are loosening up -- it means we can bring into the equation people who can do the job. For example, when women went into the practice of law, we had the development of mediation. I know you'll relate to this, women can talk men into anything. It was a survival skill.
4. Culture is in the gut -- you cannot process it in the brain. There is a considerable time gap between this development and the former three stages. Shift happens and it takes time.

We want to produce reality. How many times have you felt connected with someone who was like-minded? If we have common interests, we also have common concerns. What we're doing with blogs and social media is by and large testing reality. But Harry Potter is not real, is he? He and his world are more real to us than you think.

Your job every day now is to morph. We're at the same time dinosaurs and high tech specialists. Harry Potter tells us something about the future. He's an orphan, whose parents got killed by evildoers, and lives in an abusive home. He is rescued from this place by knowledge, the school. We live in a world of magic where we keep seeking knowledge to learn and test what's real. Potter's chimeras are the new people who walk into our lives --if you can be courageous and have teachers and leaders that will tell you the truth. Finally, Potter and friends will redeem the lives of Harry's parents.

I am not surprised to read that Dr. James always receives standing ovations, she got one here. Her knowledge of the topic is a good start; what gets an audience to attention is the unbridled passion and love she radiates for them, for us. She embodied the new age of compassion.

Kare Anderson completed those ideas a little later today. The big thought is to seek a sweet spot of mutual opportunity and support. I've already probably violated her first principle, which is to say less, better. Her lessons, however, have not gone lost on me. My three key takeaways:

• look to someone's positive intent even if they appear to have none
• practice talking about "you" (the other), "us" and then "me"
• look for extremely unlikely allies that have different temperaments to yours for smart partnering

The reality world is possible. Who can tell the new story? Who can see the future? It seems odd that we can extract a business lesson from a children's book. Yet is is precisely the Harry Potter metaphor that can teach us about our current yearning for heroes and truth.

2 Weeks to a Breakthrough with Lisa Haneberg

Today I had the good fortune of spending a lot of time with Lisa Haneberg and I can tell you that everything they say about her is true: she is energetic, passionate and motivated to help you succeed. If you do your daily practice, you are Two Weeks to a Breakthrough, too.

This is not going to be an interview with Lisa, Phil Gerbyshak has already done a great one at Make it Great! Lisa and I had an interesting conversation over dinner and I can add that she is also a fantastic active listener. The type of conversation she's in is focused and in action -- she paid attention to what I was saying and the goals I was sharing (focus) and asked me to elaborate on the actions I am taking to get there.

The language I've used for some of the considerations she recommended was a bit different. I found it easier to adopt hers in my thinking. And here's the big aha for me from tonight's event -- breakthroughs are a social act. Maybe I knew that, maybe we all know that, deep down. So I'm sure I'm not stealing her thunder -- and thundering it is outside just now -- in writing this.

We know it and we don't. Lisa has wonderful stories that can help you catalyze your thinking around concrete, simple, and sometimes unexpected things you can do every day to leap to a breakthrough. I believe her -- I'm reading her book right now and will be putting it into practice.

Some of the thinking we shared is around how humans are chaotic systems -- somehow they never do what you expect them to do. And that is good. What that means is that we can create small little changes in our daily routine that can lead to big effects. Did I mention that Lisa's tour is on a bike? This here is Hazel, a 700-pound beauty that can present some challenges when packing all your stuff to leave for your next destination.

Tonight I learned that how we share publicly our goals matters. As well, our ability and willingness to make requests can function as accelerator to breakthroughs -- remember, they are a social act. I think I can go a little easier on action, the third component of the daily practice, my foot there is firmly pressed all the way down to the metal. And I already have my first list of five unreasonable requests to make this coming Sunday. So here are my questions to you:

• Do you share your goals with others in a compelling fashion? This allows you to enroll them in helping you.
• How often do you follow up with making requests? For example, do you ask for (and take) candid feedback?
• Are you ready to take action on what comes your way that is aligned with your goals?

Find Lisa's next stops on her tour here. I know for sure that she will be in Chicago, Fargo, Milwaukee and Minneapolis. I know a couple of you live in those places. So go out and meet Lisa -- she has passion and heart and your finding out how you can leap to breakthroughs is important to me. You can trust me on this one, I care. Thank you, Lisa.

Can Poetry Matter?

How could it not? Yesterday I met Dana Gioia, Chairman for the National Endowment for the Arts. And indeed it was a joy to be sitting among the audience at the Wharton Leadership forum and letting his verse enchant me along with 300 people. If anyone can tell a story with a poem it is Gioia.

The purpose of art is to bring people together, he said. Gioia sees the arts as an ecosystem that helps bring love into the conversation. If you follow the link above and read his biography, you will be impressed. He received a BA and an MBA from Stanford University and an MA in Comparative Literature from Harvard University. He also worked for 15 years in the corporate world, eventually becoming President of General Foods.

I must admit that the most endearing attribute to me is that he is of Italian and Mexican descent and can not only speak, but also translate from Italian, Latin, German and Romanian. He translated Eugenio Montale's Mottetti: Poems on Love (1990), probably my favorite Italian poet.

We often hear about the science part of marketing, we forget the art part. Yet if we do want to forge a deep emotional connection with the people we serve, if our desire is to listen to what people are saying, if we want to dance in the reinvention of this often pragmatic and 'just do it' business environment -- we would be smart to raise our daily actions into the realm of artistic excellence. My friend Constance Goodwin calls this Leadership as a Performing Art(R).

Montale, who received a Nobel-Prize for literature in 1975, wrote about a man's place -- and displacement -- in the natural world, about remembrance and loss, and about love. The strength of his poetry is direct, intuitive, forceful existential provocation, obtained with dry synthesis, with words and verses distilled to stern minimal syllables and signs: situations, feelings, fears and concepts precisely evoked with three, four words, two, three verses.

These are the things that life is made of. This poem, in a translation I cannot attribute at the moment, is one of my favorites:

[Maybe one morning walking in air of dry glass,

I'll turn and see the miracle occur --

nothingness at my shoulders, the void

behind me -- with a drunkard's terror.

Then, as on a screen, the usual illusion:

hills houses trees will suddenly reassemble,

but too late, and I'll quietly go my way,

with my secret, among men who don't look back.]

We should not try to read too much into it, I learned. It is easier to listen, to feel, and to understand. The poet's obscurity is the reader's liberty. Do you sense the hopeless yearning to relate our life to the life of the universe? The intuition that nothing could be at our shoulders? It is this intuition that produces his affectionate embrace of life, his careful attention to the small daily details and the burden of going with our secret, among people who don't look back.

We spent some time this week discussing a logo as art. Artistic excellence is an attitude, the availability to life, to the things we find important. We never know how long we have. Gioia demonstrated that we can put the heart back into business. Art allows us to see the small mundane details of life in the proper perspective, and by doing that, it makes us see that we matter. Love is a conversation.