Strands of Genius: Projective Techniques, How to Let Your Mind Wander, Lil Nas X Chief Impact Officer at Taco Bell

plus our thoughts on: grief

Aug 31, 2021

WORKING ON | Designing a new workshop, on how to design better workshops #meta

LOOKING AHEAD

Aug 29-Sept 6 | Orlando, FL
Sept 6-23 | Aix-en-Provence, France
Sept 24-30 | Toulouse, France
Oct 1-31 | London, UK
Nov 1-20 | Mexico

:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::

I’ve been taking advantage of what seems to be a universal rest month for most of the world. Allowing myself to sleep more, to rest during the day, and to go on long walks giving space for free thinking. So… I’m feeling rejuvenated and inspired as we head into the last few months of the year, that sort of back to school mentality is kicking in (minus the new clothes because let’s be honest, we’re still wearing our sweats all day ;))!

This week, we’re especially thankful for:

Clean Your Dirty Face facial, sunset soccer with random neighborhood folks, US Open tennis, homemade turkey burgers with kalamata olives and feta, celebrating a friend’s do-over 30th, farmer’s market people watching, and quality family time.

:: THE LINKS ::

PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES

“Projective techniques are a key tool in qualitative market research for accessing sub-conscious needs, motivations, attitudes and perceptions.” This list from Mustard is specifically speaking with qualitative research in mind, but I find the techniques to be multi-use. For instance, try them out in team building, meeting icebreakers, workshop exercises, or even dinner party activities. (Mustard)

HOW TO LET YOUR MIND WANDER

Let your mind go free. You might be happier. Some research suggests that those with freely moving thoughts are happier. To do this, researchers say to “facilitate unconstrained thinking by engaging in an easy, repetitive activity like walking”. Studies have shown that when thinking freely, there is an increase in alpha waves in the brain’s frontal cortex. “This is the same region where scientists see alpha waves in people doing creative problem-solving.” (The New York Times)

LIL NAS AS TACO BELL’S FIRST CHIEF IMPACT OFFICER

Lil Nas X has been named Taco Bell’s first chief impact officer, a step up from his employee role at the chain 5 years ago. The move is another example of brands partnering up with candid and unrestrained voices. “Consumers are seeking out authenticity, driving brands to pair up with names who are honest and uninhibited, said Americus Reed II, professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.” Lil Nas X has been open about his music and sexuality with the 9.3 million people who follow him on Instagram and the 19.6 million who do so on TikTok. The partnership will focus on the rapper’s upcoming album “Montero” and new menu items. (NBC News)

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:: WHAT WE’RE THINKING ABOUT: GRIEF ::

Most people often associate grief or mourning to the loss of a person or living thing, but people can grieve in connection with a variety of losses throughout their lives like the end of a relationship or unemployment.

This past week marked 7 years since my sister passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. My parents and I have built this tradition of going to a water fountain nearby, and we each say something to her, and we talk together about our general thoughts and emotions of the day or just what’s on our mind in the moment. We talked a lot about how the concept of time is now measured “before Shelby” or “after Shelby” rather similar to how most calendars are measured on the “AD” or “BC” scale. And it had me thinking back on so many conversations recently where people have referred to things as in “pre-pandemic”, “during pandemic”, or “post pandemic”.

Whether we call it that or want to admit it, many of us have been grieving or struggling with the changes that have come as a result of the pandemic - loss of lifestyle, loss of a job, loss of a loved one, loss of routine, it goes on. And we’re associating time in conjunction with those pivotal moments.

The customs and traditions around loss are vastly different around the world. Brandy Shcillace, a medical-humanities historian talks about this in her book “Death’s Summer Coat: What the History of Death and Dying Teaches Us About Life and Living”.

She talks about the Black Death, a pandemic of such epic proportions that fractured the continent’s mourning customs. This certainly seems to be the case of what’s happening in our world now. Schillace goes on to talk about how grief culture has shifted and changed over time. For instance, during the Reformation and the Enlightenment, grief was more public, and as time went on, grief was considered personal, psychological, and even private. With the current pandemic and mental health becoming a more outwardly addressed topic, it seems as if we’re shifting more towards public grief again. It’s okay for us to talk about our grief as we’re all grieving someone or something right now.

And with that, I leave you with this quote from Andrea DenHoed in The New Yorker, “what a lack it is not to have some communal mark of mourning to give our grief some space in the world outside ourselves.”

:: GRIEF IS A PROCESS ::

If we can ever be of help to you, even outside of a formal engagement, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

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.

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Strands of Genius