Comments

Tom,

You need to make SAV a bumper sticker like the VT stickers that are all over. I LOVE IT!

Posted by Shannon Waite at August 26, 2008 10:17 AM

There is no better advice! Being the super curious person that I am, as I was growing up, others wondered if I would ever settle down. My mother had no concern at all. I'm grateful for her guidance. My life remains full after having screwed around vigorously. I remain the same.

Posted by Judith Ellis at August 26, 2008 11:13 AM

I like 'Screw Around Vigorously' although here in the UK it might have a slightly different meaning, sounds more like a College Motto!!

Good point re: curiosity Judith. In pursuit of writing my book 'Juggle', I've been interviewing a few people recently. One guy said he was 'driven purely by coffee and curiosity' which is not a bad mantra; yesterday I met Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi - another advocate of having curiosity to succeed...

Posted by Ian Sanders at August 27, 2008 6:09 AM

Yes, Ian, we here in the US know the other meaning for that College Motto as well. Best with the new book.

Posted by Judith Ellis at August 27, 2008 6:14 AM

Thanks Judith...!

Posted by Ian Sanders at August 27, 2008 6:52 AM

...Or, would it be "F___ Up Fast & Furiously?"

But seriously, one of the biggest barriers I see in entrepreneurial success isn't necessarily the fear of failure...after all, they've read all those great books and not-so-great books...and heard the Thomas Edison example about 10 gazillion times.

The biggest fear is - fear of looking silly. So, some scary smart idea generator leaps in, get a little funding...then does all the nice, safe, old marketing and biz dev. textbook plays. Then wonders why they don't succeed.

Posted by Mary Schmidt at August 27, 2008 8:50 AM

Hi Mary - hope you are well. Good to hear from you.

You are right - I stopped worrying about ‘looking silly’ a few years ago.

I remember very well in the corporate world when one was expected to nod at the right times in the right meetings when with the right people and how we all pretended we understood the crap that was being spoken. Then one day I must have grown up and realised all that stuff is just plain silliness.

I wouldn’t pretend for one nanosecond that I have been super successful since then. But one thing is certain. I’m now less stressed being outside such silly rat races and ‘keeping up with the Jones’s’ philosophy. Actually I now rather enjoy being called ‘silly’ or too simple or naïve.

Dare I suggest we need to discover the child in us a bit more ... I love the Sigmund Freud quote ‘What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant intelligence of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult.’

I’ll drink to that – bring back silliness!

Posted by Trevor Gay at August 27, 2008 12:18 PM

Amen to all of the above!

I empathise with you Trevor, bigtime! I too have done all the corporate, bureaucratic nonsense and after 3 years of S-ingAV out on my own (and being S-dAV-with by my public sector clients) I now work for a medium-sized company where I encourage my team to follow my example and SAV to the delight of our customers (and, sometimes, the intense frustration of our bosses)!
Result? Revenues greatly up on last year, a raft of internal promotions giving younger staff the opportunity to SAV in positions of influence, better customer facilities/services and a clutch of award nominations.

While on the subject of acronyms for action, I well remember having the opportunity to study customer experience & leadership at the Disney Institute - our (Scottish) very enthusiastic group somewhat bemused the Disney Trainer by adding a letter to 'JDI' (as in Just Do It!) The letter 'F' appeared in our mantra, i.e. JFDI! I think the trainer appreciated both our commitment and our frankness!

Posted by Stephen Spencer at August 29, 2008 3:44 AM

Stephen – congratulations for all your efforts – a man of my own heart. Keep rattling the cage for cutting the indecipherable crap and finding simple language

As an aside, I worked with Tony, a Consultant Dermatologist for a few years during my healthcare career. He is sadly no longer with us. He always hand wrote ‘JFDI’ on pathology test requests to the laboratory. What a fabulous character he was – very eccentric and ‘different.’ He was well loved by all in the hospital – even the pathology technicians.

Some people just ‘have it’ and some just don’t ‘have it’ …….. whatever ‘it’ is :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at August 29, 2008 12:17 PM

Hi Trevor and Mary
I agree with you wholeheartedly. Trevor, there is no BS in BBS. Bring Back Silliness. I love it! When we don't take ourselves so seriously we actually become more serious about success. And Mary to your point, I think one of the biggest fears is that we might just actually do something and become great. I find too often that we are afraid of the very thing we are pursuing and thus set up our own walls before getting there. Here's to everyone on this post finding their greatness even if it means finding their inner child in the process.

Posted by Kaplan Mobray, Author 10Ks of Personal Branding at August 30, 2008 10:42 PM