Too Long

'Ran too long' is about mismanaged expectations but only if it's a movie or meeting.

No such nonsense would be uttered after running on a trail. - Loud Tzu

Brand Culture Indicators

These two things tell you everything you need to know about a brand and its unspoken culture.

Our observation of silence is primal.

We can feel it and 'see' it like we can see and 'feel' eye contact ourselves and between others. When we pay attention to it, the observed silences of a brand and its people often say more than we have words to express.

Forgiveness on the other hand, is usually learned.

Forgiveness and the observation thereof is the result of socialization and requires the existence of an understood 'common good'.

When we pay attention, observed moments of forgiveness or blame say everything that needs to be said about the authenticity of the relationship one can expect to have with that brand and its reverence for a 'common good'.

The same can be said about true love.

That should be clue.

Say Something

This is part three of a three part series: Be something. Do Something. Say something. That is the story. There are three parts to every idea that exists in our conscious or subconscious. Maybe it's not a series, but more accurately a set. The order can certainly be debated.

Often times we are just 'being ourselves' and 'doing what we do' and then people 'say' stuff about us. If what they are saying doesn't match up to who we think we are, or how how we thought our behaviors would be perceived, then we have tension. Similarly if we start by saying something that inspires a behavior that doesn't match with who we are, then there is tension.

This tension happens in our personal lives in the same way it does with brands or political situations. If all three legs are not supporting the same story then there is instability that creates a lack of trust and leads to discomfort that we then attempt to avoid. Whether we are avoiding ourselves or others does not matter for this story, the result is the same and it's not good.

So where should we start? Should we first decide who we are and why we do what we do? This is Simon Sinek's observation: Start With Why. Should we just show up every day and start doing something as Seth Godin or Steven Pressfield in War of Art suggest? Or should we start by say something in the form of a goal as any great coach would advise and then work towards that?

In the course of reading this, and in the course of writing this we've already begun to think about the order and if you reflect upon what's going on you'll likely agree that there is no correct order. There is no fixed pattern. The three parts are always in flux.

However, what's not in flux is the undeniable reality that there are ALWAYS three parts: Being. Doing. Saying. If they are not in harmony then the 'idea' is hard to trust.

You are living the three legs right now even in the 5 seconds it took you to read this sentence. Think about it.