Strands of Genius [BFTP]: Meritocracy is Bad, Brand Activism Framework by Ben & Jerry's, Pantone's Color of the Year
BLAST FROM THE PAST [DEC 2019]
WRITING FROM | Krabi, Thailand
WORKING ON | ~*taking a sabbatical*~
LOOKING AHEAD
Aug 24-?? | Thailand
October 1-22 | Japan
Oct 22-Nov 4 | Isla Mujeres, MX
Nov 4-Nov 12 | Nashville, TN
Nov 12-23 | Chattanooga, TN
Nov 24-Dec 5 | Isla Mujeres, MX
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
We’re taking some time away from our computers because Faris’ dad is visiting and we are celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary, but we didn’t want you to miss us too much!
This is a blast from the past, featuring content from December 2019.
OH AND BTW: we have a couple of unclaimed copies left of Eaon Pritchard’s delightful book available to subscribers - just hit reply and ask for one, first come etc.
THE WORD | THESE BRIEF BITS OF INBOX INSPIRATION BROUGHT TO YOU BY...
Dad&Janka, Jason&Nicole,Alex&Collin, Shankar&Liz&Bodhi[!], Jess, Charles, Laila, Fitz, Chef Tev, and all our lovelies who came out and joined us for a slightly disjointed celebration, for various reasons. Appreciate you.
WHAT WE'RE THINKING ABOUT | TAKING A BREAK
Some cultures are great at taking breaks -- whether it's through gap years, or naps, or even just prioritizing disconnecting. It's HARD to take a break when you work for yourself. You can always be working, and sometimes that "can" translates into a feeling of "should," even if we only have our own selves or standards to blame.
One of the things that's been most apparent to us from traveling is how much breaks -- small and large -- help us to be our best selves: as business partners, as spouses, as friends, and just as individuals being respectful to ourselves and our need to relax those cognitive functions every once in a while.
With that said, you'll hear from our last guest curator for the year on Thursday, and we've got one last edition planned for next Monday -- and then we'll be back in your inbox mid-January. We hope you're able to find time to give yourself a break too -- whether it's disconnecting from social media, work emails, or even just taking an extra long bubble bath!
"Although widely held, the belief that merit rather than luck determines success or failure in the world is demonstrably false. This is not least because merit itself is, in large part, the result of luck." - Clifton Mark
:: THE LINKS ::
Pantone's Color of the Year
#Artastic #Design #TrendsFTW
Pantone announced their pick for 2020's color of the year and it is... drumroll, please... CLASSIC BLUE. Not gonna lie, there's nothing that does it for me when it comes to classic blue. Cobalt? Absofreakinlutely. Neon blue? Sure. Pastel blue? I'm down. Turqouise? Yeah! But classic blue?! May as well be "boring blue." Womp womp. Then again, nothing could beat this year's "living coral." ::DEZEEN::
The 6Ps of Brand Activism
#Frameworks #ThinkOnTheseThings
Ben & Jerry’s Global Head of Integrated Marketing, Jay Curley, has shared a framework of thinking about brand activism — and spoiler alert, it’s more than just being purpose-driven. But even moreso than the framework itself, I love how Curley sets it up with a very important reminder: “At Ben & Jerry’s, we do not invent campaigns, issues, or causes. And we don’t parachute into a community with money. We take our lead from the activists and leaders of frontline and impacted communities. We ensure our work supports the strategies of leading progressive organizations driving these movements forward. We build our campaigns based on their goals and in support of their strategy. They are the experts in knowing what their communities need.” ::LINKEDIN::
A Belief in Meritocracy Is Not Only False, But Bad For You
#Behavior #Luck
While impartiality is the core of the appeal of meritocracy, it turns out that simply holding meritocracy as a value means you're more likely to promote discriminatory behavior, and act selfishly. This article dives into a number of relevant research studies -- on luck, on implementing meritocracy practices in private companies, showing that adopting meritocracy weirdly convinces subjects of *their own* moral bonafides, instead ot examining their behavior for prejudice. ::AEON::
Faris taking a very important phone call at the Flutter Experience in LA ;)
If we can ever be of help to you, even outside of a formal engagement, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Getting to meet like-minded folks is one of the best parts of living nomadically, so please let us know if you see if we'll be in a city near you :)
rockON,
faris & rosie & ashley | your friends over at geniussteals.co
@faris is always tweeting
@rosieyakob hangs out on instagram
@ashley also writes for deaf, tattooed & employed
Know someone who could use some inspiration in their inbox? Send ‘em our way!
It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)