Strands of Genius: Where is Your Self Worth, The Unsexy is Often the Bigger Winner, Ask Why at Least 5 Times

Guest curated by Mary Pillow Thompson

Aug 11, 2022

:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, MARY PILLOW THOMPSON ::

LOCATION: Nashville, TN

PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: foh&boh

Hi! I'm Mary Pillow (yep, you read that right-- that's Pillow, like you sleep on, and it's a double first name!). For starters, Rosie and I attended the same high school and recently connected at a Nashville event. I spend my days (and many nights) working alongside my incredible team building, foh&boh, a platform that seeks to be the most delightful, easiest, effective way for restaurants and hotels to hire staff. I am passionate about superior customer service (give me the agro-customer calls!) and creating a delightful experience for both the people who work to build our product and the people who use our product. Apart from my workday, I spend as much time as possible with my husband and our 2 boys, ages 10 and 11. You can find us outside in the backyard or at a sporting event of any kind!

Editor’s Note (Genius Steals): At a professional event where everyone was wearing suits and seeming a bit stuffy, Mary Pillow was colorful and kind - We immediately bonded! Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom, Mary Pillow! I hope we have the opportunity to connect again in person when we’re back in Nashville :)

:: THE LINKS ::

WHERE IS YOUR SELF WORTH?

For me, I am a 3 on the enneagram and as such, I am most comfortable "doing" and doing a lot, all the time, from the minute I wake up. At the end of the day, I seek validation from the world at ALL THE THINGS I accomplished in that 24 hour period. Mediation, or even just time to think, is like putting me in a straight jacket. And yet, this is the most important work that I am learning to do. It important for all of us to stop "doing" so that we can create and visualize something even greater, beyond the "weeds" of the work that steals this freedom of creativity from us. (Andy Johns & Katina Mountanos)

THE UNSEXY IS OFTEN THE BIGGER WINNER

I love the WhatsApp story. The Ukrainian-born founder was not willing to go along with what Silicon Valley wanted, what they considered to be unsexy. Instead, he relied on data and focused on an underserved, larger cohort of users (Nokia users!) to fuel the growth of the app. When building a business, there can be a sense of security to model a proven-path (i.e. an iPhone app) but what about those "unsexy" areas of our respective industries? What level of growth can we tap into by looking at a different cohort than everyone else? (Alan Trapulionis)

ASK WHY AT LEAST 5 TIMES

If you have heard of but are not familiar with First Principles Thinking, this is a well-written article. My biggest take-away is to ask Why and then ask why again and again and again and again, until you get an answer that is very different from where you started and probably much more enlightened. When I am in a product meetings with my team and we think that a Red Button will solve the problem, we continue to ask ourselves, Why. And many times, we discover that the real root of the problem is not solved by a Red Button, but something entirely different. Never stop asking Why. (Mental Models)

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:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::

:: Board Game :: Spades (cards)

:: City :: Paris, France

:: Podcast :: How I Built This

:: OUR HAPPY PLACE ::

Me and my family in our "happy place"... hiking, enjoying the fresh mountain air!

Cheers,

Mary Pillow Thompson

foh&boh | marypillow@fohandboh.com

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 :)

Strands of Genius