Wednesday Words
To Go Where Your VisionPoints, a few inspiration points for you and your business.
Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility.
— Pablo Picasso
From a guy who must have looked the dangers of copying himself in the eye many, many times, the benefits of not being a success.
Originality. Willingness to try wild new paths. Innovation.
I knew there was something good about all the mistakes I make in business!
No matter where you are on the path to success, cheers to you. Keep innovating.
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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24 September 2008, 8:15 am
Oh, good advice! I’m sure this is an easy trap to fall into. Whatever works…
You see this a lot in the book publishing world. Authors produce only slight variations of their first success but because they’re popular, the books keep getting published. Still, who hasn’t heard about an author, “Meh, s/he’s all the same!”
steph’s last blog post…Magic in the Air
24 September 2008, 8:30 am
Steph,
In any field. Once-innovative car manufacturers who produce the same thing until the yawning from the public becomes audible in Detroit (but sales slip for years first). Logo designers whose work you can spot because it’s the same for everyone, not because they’re interpreting the client’s needs in their own flawless way. Movie producers. Definitely authors!
Meh is a very dangerous word from your audience. That’s the kiss of death!
Regards,
Kelly
24 September 2008, 10:40 am
Hmm… that goes a long way towards explaining things at a certain “factory”.
(thought process) “Hey, if it worked in 1956, it’s bound to work in 2008!”
Brett Legree’s last blog post…the thing that should not be.
24 September 2008, 11:41 am
“The man who is afraid of change, is the man who is afraid to grow.”
Euliprides (356 B.C).
Friar’s last blog post…Celebrating my Literary Ignorance: A List of Books I’ve Never Read
24 September 2008, 3:05 pm
Brett,
As I wrote this I was picturing what brought Picasso to say it… “I wonder if I should do more of that Blue Period stuff. That went over well….”
The kid says to me, “I don’t get it. Artists do new things all the time.”
I said, that’s because most artists are starving. He got recognition (tons!) while he was alive, so he must have had a lot of internal pressure to do the same thing over and over. To do new things all the time when you’re a giant is a lot harder.
To do new things when you’re a giant, lumbering factory… WHEW.
Somebody way at the top would have to have some out-of-body experience that involved a day at Apple or something.
Friar,
I can’t swear right now, because… well, I don’t swear in print, but you may trust me that I called you a nasty name, Mr. Quotation-Maker-Upper.
In the nicest way of course.
Until later,
Kelly
24 September 2008, 3:08 pm
Kelly,
Oh, I hear you… out of body experience – peyote, perhaps. I just laugh every time the lumbering factory execs tell us how we’re ‘cutting edge’.
No, cutting edge science is still happening in garages, where it always happened!
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…the thing that should not be.
24 September 2008, 3:23 pm
Brett,
Can you crush that into their Folgers?
24 September 2008, 3:24 pm
Kelly,
You. Are. A. Genius.
(*runs off to his secret garage laboratory*)
24 September 2008, 3:38 pm
“Aeck! AIEEE! AIEEE! AIEEE!”
- Bobo the Lab Chimp
(Expressing consternation, while unsuccesfully trying to copy the other monkey pressing the levers to get the banana pellet).
24 September 2008, 3:48 pm
Just fell off my chair laughing!
Bobo stole every thought I was going to put down… and that Bob Hoffman has me one maybe two clicks away from signing up for twitter….
24 September 2008, 4:06 pm
Janice,
Resist. It’s just the peyote in your Starbucks talkin’.
I’m engaged to… Bobo?
There must be some mistake.
Some BIG mistake. I married a Bobo the last time.
24 September 2008, 4:19 pm
“Hey, if it worked in 1956, it’s bound to work in 2008!”
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amy Derby’s last blog post…6 Obstacles to a 6-Figure Freelance Writing Income
24 September 2008, 4:24 pm
THAT must be the peyote talking too. Those Bobo’s, clever chimps they are. I am trying to resist….Going to divert myself with type font suggestions…thanks.
24 September 2008, 6:28 pm
Kelly,
For a serious blog, this sure ends up being a fun house! I love it!
steph’s last blog post…Magic in the Air
24 September 2008, 8:58 pm
Steph,
I was just thinking there must be a sign on my back that says “kick me” on Wednesdays.
Well, for Janice’s sake, I hope it’s in a beautiful typeface. Maybe one of my new favorites, Pablo.
Anybody remember if there was a point to this post?
Dear Clients, If you are reading this far down, you are hearty folk with a good sense of humor. Just the type I love to work with. Might as well chime in, then give us a call.
Later,
Kelly
24 September 2008, 11:26 pm
@Kelly
I forgot…what was today’s post about, in the first place?
Friar’s last blog post…Increasing your Traffic: Blog Posts that are Guaranteed Crowd-Pleasers.
24 September 2008, 11:28 pm
Friar — Probably something about experience design, whatever that means.
I’m just here to stalk Kelly.
Amy Derby’s last blog post…The Neighbor’s Whore, and Other Distractions
24 September 2008, 11:52 pm
@Amy
It’s your fault. Your recent post inspired me to quote Bobo the chimp!!!
Friar’s last blog post…Increasing your Traffic: Blog Posts that are Guaranteed Crowd-Pleasers.
24 September 2008, 11:54 pm
I don’t know Bobo the chimp. I know Bozo the clown.
Amy Derby’s last blog post…The Neighbor’s Whore, and Other Distractions
25 September 2008, 3:20 am
Yes, there’s a fine line between finding a good system and exploiting it and driving an idea into the ground. McDonald’s is a good example of doing everything the same way all the time and people liking that, but they are also a good example of innovation because their kitchens/labs are always coming up with new menu items that come and go (with the occasional one actually staying – anyone remember McDonald’s Pizzas?)
25 September 2008, 6:49 am
Alex,
Hahahaha. I was a manager at a McD’s when we made the pizzas. OMG that was a long time ago. I remember every detail of them. Too well!
They’re the company people love to hate, because they’re so cheap and common, but I’ve written about them a few times here because they do a lot right (for a big company) and they just keep trying new things as you say.
If the Widget Factory Brett and Friar work at (or the one your sister works at) had half the innovation planning in place that McDonald’s has, they’d have a lot more going for their customers, and a lot more to hold their incredibly bright staff in place, too.
I’m sure Friar never quotes chimps while making nuclear reactors more efficient or whatever the goodness he does, but if he had some real work to do keeping their processes from becoming stagnant, who knows what that creative brain could do for them!
Amy,
Thanks for the stalking, favor will be politely returned via The Netiquette Rules.
Until later,
Kelly
25 September 2008, 7:40 am
Kelly,
I’d just settle for the Factory being able to make a decent burger, consistently, at the cafeteria. And if it seems strange for me to hold up a Big Mac as a “decent burger” compared with Factory offerings, well, you’ve never enjoyed a “bread burger deluxe” here… mmm…
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…the thing that should not be.
25 September 2008, 8:40 am
@Kelly
Hah! I worked at McD’s as a lowly grunt (back in 1981). I actually remember when the McChicken first came out!
And Remember Mac Tonight (that stupid crescent moon with sunglasses?). That was so WRONG…..Thank God it died.
@Brett
Yeah, I like the “Bread Burger”. I know people put breadcrumbs in hamburger meat, but not CHUNKS OF BREAD.
Nothing like croutons grilled into soggy greasy meat. (Ewwwww).
And the repeatedly do this. On purpose.
It makes a Big Mac look like one of those $100 Truffle Burgers Kelly wrote about.
Friar’s last blog post…Increasing your Traffic: Blog Posts that are Guaranteed Crowd-Pleasers.
25 September 2008, 8:59 am
” I’m sure Friar never quotes chimps while making nuclear reactors more efficient or whatever the goodness he does”
Working on Reactors. AHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! Good one, Kelly,
How about, they’re going to dig a hole in the ground to store sewage sludge. (Literally, a sh*t pit).
I don’t even get to design the pit. I dont’ even do any of the constrution or supervision. I don’t actually do any engineering or hands-on-work.
But I fill in all the paperwork for the others that DO!!!..
Sigh.
(Oh well, it pays for my fishing vacation!)
Friar’s last blog post…Increasing your Traffic: Blog Posts that are Guaranteed Crowd-Pleasers.
25 September 2008, 1:50 pm
What a great quote Kelly! Funny, if you asked most people that know me they would say I live on the edge of new and fresh ideas, and I often feel that copy cat status quo. I think the adventure gets addicting!
25 September 2008, 4:04 pm
Brett,
I’m not a huge hamburger fan but if you’re going to pay for one it ought to taste better than McD’s. That’s a pretty low bar. Once again, I feel for you.
Friar,
Ah, yes, I remember it well. Proof that they keep trying, even when success eludes them. Big lesson there.
The other day when you mentioned the McDLT [somewhere], I had a flashback that peyote couldn’t compare to. I could smell the grease on my polyester polo, the whole nine yards. I had to walk away from the computer. A moment frozen in styrofoam time.
Cess pits? Whew. Why don’t you go on down to invade the Green Mountain State with Brett? Then you could fund your fishing trips and work on something your PhD was made for. ‘Cuz that ain’t right. Now the tale of woe is so sad I think I’ll cry for both of you.
Harmony,
The addictive potential of NOT copying yourself. Maybe I should write about that next!
Some folks I know are so all over the place that they don’t have a point of view, which is the opposite end of the spectrum, and holds them back. Hm, hmm.
Until later,
Kelly
25 September 2008, 4:46 pm
@Kelly
It was a choice…last year I was in a group that actually kinda sorta did PhD work.
But the people were so TOXIC and dysfunctional, I hadda bail out for my own health reasons.
Now, I’m pushing paper for a Sh*t Pit, but the people I work directly with are relatively normal.
Six of one, half a dozen of the other. Though I still think I’m better off (by default).
I’m kind of in a holding pattern, until I decide what to do (and/or) my book ideas take off. (Which,yes, I am currently working on!)
Friar’s last blog post…Increasing your Traffic: Blog Posts that are Guaranteed Crowd-Pleasers.
25 September 2008, 9:07 pm
Friar,
Much, much better to do work that keeps you sane. And it leaves you with plenty of mental energy for your other projects. Some folks would kill for that kind of job, seriously.
Yay, yay, Friar book ideas!
No friedscience.com, huh?
It’d be cool…
You see that picture up in the corner? Picture that chick ROFLOL in hysterics. All because I finished some work and hopped back over to Amy’s post. You’re probably off having Thursday beer night now, but I tell you, it sounded like the beer started early today.
When you’re a Cess Pit Master by day, I guess you have to be a little (?) goofy to get through it, eh?
Back to work for me.
Later,
Kelly
26 September 2008, 12:03 am
@Kelly
Fried science sounds like a great idea. Though there are only so many hours in a day…!!
Yes, I had beer tonight. (But I assure you I was totally sober before that, when visiting Amy).
Friar’s last blog post…Increasing your Traffic: Blog Posts that are Guaranteed Crowd-Pleasers.