Strands of Genius: Consider the Opposite Possibility, Reimagining the Consumer Journey in Post-COVID World, Changing Who Leads Will Transform How We Do Business
plus our thoughts on: constraints & time blocking
ASHLEY’S WRITING FROM | Los Angeles, CA
WORKING ON | SOSG - organizing some community meet ups and project prep work for when Rosie and Faris are back online
LOOKING AHEAD
April 26-May 9: Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic (Rosie & Faris)
May 9-May 31: Nashville, TN (vaccine trip! - Rosie & Faris)
May 9 - May 19: Dallas, TX (Ashley)
May 19 - May 24: Belize (Ashley)
May 24 - July ??: Dallas, TX (Ashley)
May 11 @ 12p ET / 4p GMT | Ebiquity Webinar: The Challenge of Attention moderated by Rosie (RSVP)
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
Rosie and Faris are still on their Soul Sabbatical. As for me (Ashley), I’m taking full advantage of the fewer calls to get some work-work done and even get ahead a little bit.
This week, I’m especially thankful for:
the wonderful weather here in LA, farmer’s markets being open again, a new free market opening nearby with a Jeni’s ice-cream, some more variety in my day, playing soccer again for the first time since ACL surgery last year, and the fascinating findings from a research project I’m working on.
EBIQUITY WEBINAR: The Challenge of Attention
On 11th May 2021, Ebiquity along with research partners Lumen and TVision are publishing a new paper – The Challenge of Attention – in which they set out details of a pioneering new currency of advertising attention: cost per thousand seconds of attention, or aCPM.
The paper will be presented during a webinar session moderated by Rosie. You can register to attend the session below:
The Challenge of Attention – USA launch event 11 May 12:00 PM EDT/ 05:00 PM BST
:: THE LINKS ::
BEFORE YOU ANSWER, CONSIDER THE OPPOSITE POSSIBILITY
Years ago, experimental psychologist John Ridley Stroop conducted research that required people to handle a group of identical-looking objects and rank them by weight. He asked them to come back and do the same thing again. The objects looked exactly the same so many returning participants did not remember their previous rankings. That said, each new estimate was independent of the earlier one. Stroop found that the average of the group was more accurate than individual estimates and that the same person’s average guess was better than each of his/her individual guesses. Since then, a body of research has established that individuals can increase the accuracy of judgments by accumulating their own different guesses which suggests that each of us has an inner crowd with a wisdom of its own.
So how can a wise inner crowd be cultivated? Psychologists have investigated various methods including some that harness the mind’s ability to inhabit different perspectives and look at a problem from more than one angle. One such technique is asking people to “consider the opposite” before giving a new answer.
This implies something crucial about the practice of making any judgment that hinges on a long list of uncertainties: “The more diverse and multivoiced we can make our inner dialogue, the better our thinking will be. The route to wisdom is to internalize and integrate a rich variety of contrasting viewpoints.” (The Atlantic)
HOW MARKETERS ARE REIMAGINING THE CONSUMER JOURNEY IN A POST-COVID WORLD
It’s no secret that the power of story is one of the most impactful ways to reach an audience. Technology and data has allowed premium content and brand messages to be delivered to consumers in a one-to-one or one-to-few manner. 2020, however, has since disrupted every category of business which means brands are having to reimagine the way they engage in each point in the consumer journey. Auto, Travel, and Consumer Packaged Goods are just a few verticals that are currently rethinking their audience approach. (AdAge)
CHANGING WHO LEADS WILL TRANSFORM HOW WE DO BUSINESS
"We must disrupt the crisis of conformity - with diversity from top to bottom - if we hope to ensure a better way of doing business that values people and planet alongside profit," writes Halla Tomasdottir, a cofounder and executive chairman of an investment firm who also ran for president in Iceland. In fact, an ongoing batch of research affirms the correlation between diversity in leadership and improved business performance. (Fortune)
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:: WHAT I’M THINKING ABOUT: CONSTRAINTS & TIME BLOCKING ::
I, like Rosie and Faris, have been nomadic for the last several years. An ACL surgery and the pandemic, however, has had me grounded in Los Angeles adopting a bit more of a 9 to 5 work schedule. Up until 2020, I thrived in not having a strict day to day schedule. I created structure in chaos, if that makes sense. Outside of set work calls, I got my work done based on what absolutely had to be done that day and what other life stuff was going on (soccer mid-day, a bike tour around Melbourne, etc.) rather than life being built around work 100% of the time as it’s been for me lately.
I do well with time constraints. I’m productive and efficient when I know I have somewhere else I want or need to be. But like most people, I thought having more time during Covid meant I would be more productive, and I’ve been feeling the societal pressures to get all the things done. Case in point as quoted in BBC:
We live in a society obsessed with productivity – increasing it, hacking it and pushing its limits. And, in ways, this push for productivity has gotten even worse since the onset of the pandemic as people fret over how they’re ‘making the most’ of their newfound time at home.
Recently, though, I’ve found myself working on a task and then staring at my screen forgetting what I was doing or opening another tab to start another task entirely without finishing the thing I was just working on.
I work with multiple clients who have multiple clients so sometimes my web feels very far stretched and keeping all the pieces streamlined can be a challenge.
In an effort to combat the wandering eye and brain farts, I’ve started to structure my day with some time blocking and time constraints, though more forced this go around than the more unforced feeling pre-pandemic. The todoist highlights some productive ways of doing this.
I’m really having to re-accept and believe the narrative that there will ALWAYS be things to do, and that’s okay, rather than getting overwhelmed or anxious for not getting to everything. Time truly has become a weird dysphoria during this whole thing.
To calm myself and decrease the panic moments, each day I sit down and outline the absolute must do tasks for each client plus some bonuses (tasks that would be great to get to but not urgent). And then I work in 90 minute blocks, taking at least a 10 minute break each 90 minutes to grab a snack, stretch, go for a walk, whatever. Allowing my brain and body to regroup and refresh is a small adjustment I didn’t know I needed.
Each of us has our own systems in which we function best in work and life in general. For some, working from home is an absolute disaster, for some it’s the greatest thing ever. And reimagining the constraints that allow us to be our best selves is no easy task!
:: TIME BLOCKING ::
Source: todoist
Let us know if you’re looking for inspirational talks, remote workshops, or consulting. We’d love to collaborate.
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
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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 :)