Strands of Genius: Zoom Backgrounds, Conversations, 'What If' Questions for Brands & Businesses

plus: using chatGPT to code a game, with no prior experience

Apr 04, 2023

WORKING ON | helping a brand team get to better work with their creative partners

LOOKING AHEAD

April 3-9 | Beersheba Springs, TN
April 9-11 | Dallas, TX
April 11-24 | Beersheba Springs, TN
May 1- June 9 | Seattle, WA

:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::

We had the most wonderful Saturday: We woke up leisurely, in the same house as two of our best friends, Erin and Eric, after a night of cooking Denver steaks (hadn’t heard of this cut) and playing Reminiscing (a vintage board game we found fully packaged and unopened at Eric’s parent’s house.) Faris cooked scrambled eggs with a parmesan cheddar blend, and roasted some cherry tomatoes, and made some bacon while I sliced a sourdough loaf and made coffee. We took our breakfast outside, and then we just never went back in. I mean, we did: for coffee refills, and water, and eventually sunscreen and wine. There were wind warnings, and we did end up getting hit in the head with a few branches, so the sound of the gusts became a game in and of itself: Do you look up for danger, or do you immediately shield yourself? But mostly, we just gabbed and hung out in the sun, enjoying the warm mid-70s weather and each other’s company until it was 6pm and some of us had sunburns (but not this freckled ginger over here!), and we decided to use our leftover Denver steak to make a Philly cheesesteak pizza, which was phenomenal. We left with our hearts full and feeling thankful for the lazy, unplanned days, which sometimes can offer you exactly what you need.

This week, we’re especially thankful for:

warm weather, Jason & Niki, Pucketts store, bougie cheese and fancy crackers, not getting sun burnt, spending the entire day outside, Eric&Erin, Lee&Lee, homemade Philly cheesesteak pizzas & YOU.

:: THE LINKS ::

ZOOM BACKGROUNDS FROM YOUR FAVORITE DESIGN STUDIOS

OK, so when we first stumbled upon this, we thought it meant that some awesome design studios were creating custom zoom backgrounds. Instead, the custom zoom backgrounds are OF the design studio offices themselves. I love the idea, and it’s always fun to snoop on well-designed offices, but in the end none of them tickled our fancy. (Officesss)

WHAT CONVERSATIONS CAN DO FOR US

As a conversation enthusiast myself, I loved this article, which is in defense of conversations. In defense of, because conversations are under attack - by politics, by our lack of willingness to listen, the general feelings of uncertainty, mediscapes that profit from dissent, even conformity of groupthink. Paula Marantz Cohen is the author of “Talking Cure: An Essay on the Civilizing Power of Conversation.” Summarizing some of her thoughts, Hua Hsu writes, “In its ideal form, [conversation] involves no audience or judge, just partners; no fixed agenda or goals, just process.” But we’ve let some of our conversation skills atrophy. Read this for more on the importance of conversations and how to cultivate them. (The New Yorker)

50 WHAT IF QUESTIONS TO IMAGINE THE FUTURE

These questions are designed specifically for teams to explore ‘what if’ scenarios that could help you re-imagine a different way forward. For example:
- What if you charged a fee for delivering bad customer service?
- What if your customers moved countries every week?
- What if you allowed external providers into your service?
- What if napping was allowed at your offices?
(Board of Innovation)

What’s your favorite “What if…” question to ask clients or colleagues?

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:: WITH ZERO CODING EXPERIENCE, THIS DUDE USED CHATGPT TO CODE HIS OWN VIDEO GAME ::

This is prettttty crazy cool, because the guy working with ChatGPT has no prior coding experience. None. Zip. Zero.

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 in Tennessee where our company is registered, our admin extraordinaire is based in Playa del Carmen, 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