The Business of Grounding

Over the course of my professional life, I have met and worked with an amazing array of people, many of whom have been women. To me, the truly remarkable ones are those who are able to be steadfast in their focus on reaching a goal.

 

Image from www.pleasefund.us

They do this by remaining grounded in the facts and the reality around them.

They do this by carefully studying the situation.  

They do this by having a deep understanding of the characters at play.

Who makes up the project team? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Their likes and dislikes? Their prejudices and their proclivities?

Brand Chaos

The last month or so I have been reading about or have attended talks about speed and chaos: how ‘business unusual’ is the next wave.

Those who thrive in chaos and are able to embrace change; and those that allow a certain amount of creativity, are those that will have the competitive advantage.

Eminent British artist Cornelia Parker 's  'Cold, Dark Matter'. She had the British Army blow up this shed and its contents to create an installation piece now displayed at the Tate Modern in Britain.

It is chaos managed so that the viewer can discern method and beauty.  Even without the background knowledge that this suspended piece was once an actual shed, the viewer can see various components - a hammer head, a bicycle wheel spoke - that reveal this.  'Cold, Dark Matter: Exploded View' offers a new perspective - the idea that even something blown to bits makes sense if the chaos is handled with knowledge and creativity.

Cold, Dark Matter: Exploded view is one of the premier attractions at the Tate Modern

Four years ago I proposed a working brand essence based on this theory of managed chaos, as a platform for creativity and growth. This was for a destination brand, industry lingo for branding a town city or country. The consulting economist, who was with an international design and planning firm, looked at me in horror and said that no investor would look at a destination that enabled or encouraged chaos. 

How times have changed.