Month: February 2024

Happy Leap Day! Seize the bonus day by starting something new.

Happy Leap Day! February 29th is your lucky day. In fact, it’s luckier than a 5-leaf clover. And it’s rarer than a mooing steak. In fact, it is so rare that it only happens every 4 years. Like the Olympics, a Presidential election, or a J-Lo wedding.

Opportunity Day!

However, it is not the rarity of Leap Day that matters. It’s the opportunity. Today is a bonus day! Which means that today is the perfect day to do something extra. Like Michael Jackson said, today, ‘You got to be startin’ somethin. Or finishing somethin’. Or working hard on somethin’.

Take a few minutes to think about those things you can never seem to find the time to start, plan or complete. Take a leap and get rolling today.

Possible Leap Day Activities:

  • Exercise
  • Take a hike
  • Play a Game
  • Start a blog, vlog, slog, or drink Glogg
  • Start a business
  • Pick up a new hobby, or re-engage in an old hobby (like Holly)
  • Create a podcast
  • Play an instrument
  • Create a product
  • Start a book (reading or writing)
  • Paint
  • Marie Kondo your house
  • Volunteer, or sign up to volunteer
  • Go to church (or find a place of worship to go to this week)
  • Start a meetup
  • Join a club or worthy organization
  • Ask someone to be your mentor.
  • Call someone you haven’t talked to for too long
  • Find a Dentist
  • Find a Doctor
  • Find a nurse
  • Find a lady with an alligator purse
  • Start your taxes
  • Plan a vacation
  • Organize a girls’ night, or a guys’ night, or a Michael Knight
  • Make a career or life plan
  • Do something more you, because no one knows you better than you

Bonus Time Is Start Time

Me in my office. That leaf is what the original Adam was wearing when he got in trouble with God.

I started planning my own business, The Weaponry, during a little bonus time like you have today. Now we have been in business for nearly 8 years. We have 2 offices and clients from Quebec to California.

I started this blog during a little bit of free time. This is post number 966.

The pink and red countries are where my blog has been read. Crazy, right?

During the last leap year in 2020, I used the bonus free time provided by the COVID-19 lockdown to write my first book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say?

Today, will use some of my bonus time to work on my next book currently titled, Adam Albrecht’s Next Book. Catchy, I know.

The 3 Big Bs

My business, blog, and book represent the 3 biggest elective projects of my life. And they were all birthed during bonus time. It was time that I used wisely.

Now it’s your turn to do something meaningful. Don’t miss the opportunity today is offering You.

Key Takeaway

Time is your more precious resource. Use it wisely. Alchemize it into magic. And when you get a bonus day or a bonus hour, take advantage of it. Otherwise, when you come to the end of your time, you will wish you had.

Which begs the question: What will you do with your Leap Day?

Note: Happy Leap Day Birthday to my friend Jeff Hilimire, who turns 12 today.

IMG_20191105_143236
Jeff ‘The Leap Day’ Hilimire, shows us how big he was when he was born.

The resistance you are facing is a valuable gift.

Life isn’t easy. How could it be? You live on a planet with 8 billion people who are always getting in your way. Throw in gravity, the laws of physics and the constraints of time and space, and life on Earth becomes a gigantic obstacle course. It’s like Wipeout. Only everyone has to carry a coffee and a mobile phone.

But the obstacles are what make your adventure interesting. A video game is an intriguing challenge specifically because of the elements added to prevent you from reaching your goals. Your real life works the same way. Only here in the real world, when you die, you really die. Which means that we are all starring in our own horizontal version of Free Solo.

But don’t curse your challenges. They are a gift. The resistance makes the story. That injury you face is there for you to overcome and make your triumph even sweeter. The bad boss, the job you lost, the pitch you didn’t win, and the thing that broke are all setbacks that set you up for a great comeback.

It’s hard to look forward to adversity. We prefer smooth sailing. But when you reflect on your human experience, it’s easy to see that adversity creates advantages. The resistance builds strength. And friction summons resolve. Those are gifts that stay with you forever. Like luggage.

Key Takeaway

Resistance is a gift. It makes you stronger. More resourceful. More capable. And more confident. Right now, you are becoming a stronger machine. And your story keeps getting better.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

How to get more out of your reading every day.

I love to read.  Like most people, I was born highly uneducated. Reading has become an instrumental part of my master plan to overcome my early shortcomings. I love to learn and to become inspired. And if you are reading this I expect you do too.

I like reading classic literature because it makes me feel worldly. I liked reading the first three Harry Potter books because they made me feel magical. But then I realized my time is too scarce to read four more books about a fanciful wizard boy.

Today I read a lot of books on self-improvement, business, and biographies. I also read healthy portions of magazines like Fast Company and Inc. because I find them both creatively stimulating and educational. Plus I like the pictures.

Several years ago I read an interesting quote from Charlie “Tremendous” Jones that said, “You are the same today as you’ll be in five years except for two things: the books you read and the people you meet.” And this reading about reading encouraged Adam “Ordinary” Albrecht to read even more.

But there is also a potential danger in reading. And not just the threat of papercuts and eye strain. I have found that too much reading can lead to too little doing. If I fill all of my time with learning and inspiration I leave no time for action. Like the career student who seems to know everything but does nothing.

If you find that you are reading and learning, but not actually putting your learnings into action, follow this simple rule of thumb that influences my reading today:

Read just enough to learn something new and become inspired. Then act on it.

This simple rule has helped me accomplish more. I’ve wasted less time. And I’m more excited about my work.

I think of reading now like a pregame speech. One that I listen to just long enough to become properly motivated. And as soon as I am lathered up I jump to work, acting on the inspiration.

That’s when I start writing, planning, structuring, detailing, calling, creating, wizarding or potioning. When I have one hour available, instead of one hour of reading, I can do 10 or 15 minutes of reading. Then I can spend the rest of the hour implementing. Which means that the return on that one hour is significantly higher than it would be from reading alone.

I use my reading to prompt action. This approach has been vital to my experience as an entrepreneur and Founder of The Weaponry. It has empowered me to author What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? and my current writing projects. And it is the driving force that has inspired more than 960 blog posts. Because reading is not the goal. It is just the beginning.

Key Takeaway

Reading is a great way to learn and grow. But putting your new knowledge into action is far more valuable. For the next week, I encourage you to read enough each day to want to do something new and exciting. Then do it. Then repeat the process. And let me know how it works for you.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

6 Key lessons from the biggest days of my career.

I have been thinking a lot about my Pivotal Days lately. Last week I shared a post about the importance of knowing your Pivotal Days. These are the days that have the biggest impact on your career and your life. They are the days that alter your path and your trajectory. And perhaps your tax bracket, zip code and Wikipedia page. 

The reason it is so important to know your Pivotal Days is that they help you develop wisdom. Wisdom does not come from experience. It comes from reflecting on your experience. When you analyze your past you learn and grow. By reflecting on your most positively impactful days you learn how to create more of them. Because success leaves clues. Just like bad criminals. #BlackLeatherGlove

Reflecting on my Pivotal Days has taught me the following:

  1. Take action. My advertising career started when I literally got off the couch and made a phone call. I stopped overthinking and procrastinating. I dialed 10 numbers. And my life changed. Boom.
  2. Ask For What You Want. It’s a very simple premise. But it opens more doors than you can imagine. (Unless you have a really good imagination, in which case it opens all those doors that you can accurately imagine.)
  3. Prepare for your opportunities. Not all of the magic happens on the Pivotal Days. Preparation fuels dreams. In many cases, you have to do the hard work ahead of time. So when the opportunity arises on those big days, you are ready to shine bright like a diamond.
  4. Take Risks. Sometimes the gold is on the other side of the gap, and you have to risk the leap to get it. This happens when you take a new job, become an entrepreneur, make an investment, write a book or ask that special someone for a date. Especially when that special someone is a co-worker and it would be super awkward if it didn’t work out. (But it did work out.)
  5. Bet On Yourself. You have to believe that you are the pivot point. You are the secret ingredient. That you have the superpower. That you have the invisible key to unlock success. When you believe that you are the difference maker you should go all in on your abilities. There is no safer bet in the world than to bet on yourself. Because you can stack the deck in your favor through your hard work, determination and resiliency.
  6. Enthusiasm Matters. There have been several pivotal moments in my life and my career when my enthusiasm got others excited. They bought into a vision because I was so bought in. They believed that I had both the right vision and the energy to make the vision come true. Be that person. Energy is contagious. Like yawns. And giggles in church.

Key Takeaway

Know your pivotal days. Reflect on them. Understand what contributed to them. Because when you understand the causes of your pivotal days you can create more of them.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

The 10 Super Bowl commercials I loved!

Super Bowl LVIII is in the books. The game was good. Especially if you like overtime. And long field goals. Usher got a passing grade. But more importantly, there were plenty of good commercials for the Chiefs and 49ers to play football around.

Today there will be a lot of talk about what commercial was the best. Which is a silly debate. Because if you like a commercial you saw yesterday, remember it today, and are now considering purchasing something from that advertiser, they won. Although, it’s hard to purchase a Jesus.

So rather than pick one winner. Here is a set of 10 winning Super Bowl advertisers and their commercials that made me like their product, service or brand more today than I did before the game.

10 Commercials That Won Me OverDuring the Super Bowl

Reese’s: Yes! (Caramel)

This spot announcing that Reese’s now has peanut butter cups topped with caramel was amazing. The message was simple and compelling to people who like such things. (And I like such things.) The extreme reactions to the announcement was hilarious. At my house, we rewound the commercial to watch all of the reactions several times. We paused the spot to take in all that was happening within the featured living room. If you haven’t done the same, do it now. Great job offering a cool new SKU Reece’s. And thanks for the head through the wall, the hula-hooping dog, and the duct tape on the coffee table. I saw it all.

Google Pixel 8: Javier In Frame

This was a cool and compelling technology introduction. But it quickly became a great story about how technology can impact your life. It was a sweet love story that couldn’t have been captured on camera, until now. It’s always risky running a touching Super Bowl spot, rather than a can’t-miss football-to-the-groin commercial. But you pulled it off nicely Googs. And now I think that you are really trying to make the world a better place, not just selling me search terms.

Poppi Soda. The Future of Soda is Now

Soda pop has not been a growing market for years. Teas, waters and flavored seltzers have become more sensible replacements. But Poppi Soda has a new and refreshing take on the category. And they used the Super Bowl as a stage to say that soda pop doesn’t have to be what it once was, Pony Boy. I tried my first Poppi Soda yesterday, and I loved it. It was exactly what I wish soda pop was. Low sugar. But not no sugar. (Honey-honey.) We may look back at this Super Bowl as the catapult that launched a significant soda pop shift. If so, I hope this blog post makes it into the National Soda Pop History Museum, which I assume is in Minnesoda.

Etsy: Gift Mode

This spot looked the part of an epic period piece spoof. The commercial captured the moment when France sent The United States The Statue of Liberty. It was hilarious. The spot reveals that the recipients, Americans, now felt put out that they had to send a thank-you gift to France. But they found the perfect gift, a handmade cheeseboard, on Etsy, thanks to the new Gift Mode.They don’t fully explain how gift mode works. But I feel like I should check it out because France was sure happy with their gift.

Pluto TV: Couch Potato Farms

This commercial for Pluto TV was funny and attention-getting. It utilized the perfect Super Bowl commercial formula: simple premise + epic execution + humor = memoralikability. In this case, Pluto TV shared that they have so much great content, that they create perfect conditions for couch potatoes. Plus they dropped the line, ‘I like romantic murder.’ The writing, direction, acting and potato costumes were excellent. Pluto TV is now on my radar. 24 hours ago it wasn’t.

Verizon: Can’t B Broken with Beyoncé

This is a great message that while it is possible to break the internet, you can’t break the Verizon network. Even with Beyoncé. Or Bar Bey. And if she can’t break it, it can’t be broken. Now that’s reliabilité.

Uber Eats: Don’t Forget.

Uber Eats presents a fun and funny concept that if you want to remember that Uber Eats delivers practically anything, you need to forget something else. And when you do, hilarity ensues. But be warned, you just might forget your friends and your pants. This spot definitely helped me remember that Uber Eats can help me deliver a lotta stuff. Mission accomplished. However, now I have forgotten what punctuation I am supposed to use to end a sentence

Tacoma. Dareful Handle

The all-new 2024 Toyota Tacoma is more powerful and therefore more adventurous than ever. The Tacoma has done a good job of positioning itself as a badass truck, so that as an import, it can compete with our homegrown Chevys, Fords, GMCs and Rams. This spot does a nice job of conveying Tacoma’s performance by highlighting what I have always known as the ‘Oh Shit Handle’. The message came across loud, clear and funny: the Tacoma will really go. And you can scare the poo out of passengers with its performance. Yee Haw!

Disney Plus: Well Said.

This beautifully simple commercial didn’t cost much to make. In fact, your local insurance agent probably could have afforded to produce it. (The media buy is a whole different issue.) The spot shared the classic lines from content you will find on Disney+. It was a reminder that many of the best movies and the best lines that have become ingrained in our culture are found on Disney+. It’s also ironic that Disney, the greatest creator of epic entertainment in history, would create a Super Bowl commercial that could have been produced on a typewriter. Ding.

This clip wasn’t from the Super Bowl. But you get the idea.

Roller Skates. Usher.

While roller skates didn’t have an actual commercial during the Super Bowl, Usher rocking the rollers during the halftime show was a great ad for these icons of the 1970s and 80s. I bet Moon Boots are totally jelly right now. I’m going to look into skating next weekend. Maybe enter the limbo contest. And I’m going to couple skate with my wife Dawn under that disco ball while Madonna’s Crazy For You plays. (If you want to listen to my favorite roller skating songs of all time check out my Roller Skating Playlist on Spotify.) Thanks Usher. You remind me…

Key Takeaway

There wasn’t an individual commercial that won the Super Bowl. The win is having your commercial in front of 100 million people and having a huge part of the audience like your spot, understand what you are advertising, believe that it is relevant to them, and remember the brand the next day. That’s how advertising helps businesses grow every day. Even when your ads are not on the Super Bowl. Marketers should settle for nothing less.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

The Top 10 Super Bowl Commercials of All Time.

In the United States, there is no TV event bigger than the Super Bowl. With over 100 million viewers it has 5 times as many viewers as the Oscars, 6 times as many as the Grammys, and 25 times more than the Emmys. And with Taylor Swift playing cheerleader for the Kansas City Chiefs, this year’s game could draw even more viewers, as you know all too well.

No other American sporting event compares. While the NBA, NHL and MLB take up to 7 games to decide a winner, the Super Bowl is a one-punch champ. If you are going to have a purposeful wardrobe malfunction (and we all know it was purposeful, Janet) do it during the Super Bowl.

The Pricetag

This year a Super Bowl spot costs $7 million for 30 seconds. At first glance that seems like a lot of Cheddar Doritos. But as a must-see TV event, advertisers line up to get in front of this massive audience. With today’s extremely fragmented media landscape, the Super Bowl represents the best, if not only way to reach a huge audience without a Jenner or a Kardashian.

Pay For Attention

Even better than the size of the Super Bowl audience is their attentiveness. The big game is the one time when viewers make a point of actively watching the commercials. In fact, there are many viewers who don’t care about football or Taylor Swift. They tune in for the commercials and because of water cooler FOMO. (Or its modern cousin, Zoom banter FOMO.) This focused attention on the ads is worth a premium.

I Like Big Budgets And I Can Not Lie

Remember, These brands have huge budgets. Most of the brands advertising in the Super Bowl have massive marketing dollars to spend. I was once in a meeting with one of my clients, a very large brand, that everyone knows, when my client’s boss walked in and announced that he had just secured her a third of a billion-dollar marketing budget. In that context, $7 million is less cost-prohibitive.

The Big Reveal

15 years ago advertisers used to save the big reveal of their spots for the Super Bowl. No sneak peeks or leaks to the media. No shares to YouTube or Facebook. (You should also know that there was a time when the Super Bowl existed but YouTube and Facebook did not.)

Today, as prices have risen, more and more advertisers are sharing their commercials ahead of time.  This is a little like wearing your wedding dress before your wedding. It improves the return on your investment. But it ruins the surprise.

The Best Of The Big Game

I’m not here to spoil any surprises from the upcoming Super Bowl. I want to share 10 of my top Super Bowl commercials of all time. So let’s kick this thing off.

The Top 10 Super Bowl Commercials of All Time.

10. Coke: Mean Joe Greene 

This commercial proves that a Coke tastes so good it can even make Mean Joe Green smile. I was a little boy when this commercial first appeared. I was totally jelly of the young boy in the spot. I credit this commercial with me becoming a lifelong Coke drinker.

9. EDS: Cat Herders

This hilarious spot makes a very simple point about a complex tech company. If you haven’t seen it, watch it now.

8. Monster.com : When I grow Up… 

This commercial was packed with universal truths about bad jobs, and career aspirations gone sideways. Plus it was packed with classic lines like, I want to work my way up to middle management. I want to be a yes man. And I want to get paid less to do the same job.

7. Ram Trucks: God Created A Farmer

This shockingly simple spot didn’t use humor. It features a collection of simple images and still photographs and a sparse Paul Harvey narration. It was powerful. I come from a long line of farmers. So this really spoke to me.


6. McDonald’s: Showdown

You can’t help but love this spot featuring basketball’s biggest stars in the early 90s, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird, playing an extreme game of horse for a burger, and bragging rights.

5. Wendy’s: Where’s The Beef 

This was an amazing spot, with a killer catchphrase that caught America by storm. Wendy’s sales surged 31 percent that year.

4. Old Spice: The Man You Could Smell Like.

This was hilarious, surprisingly random, and fascinating. It made Old Spice relevant again. And we all started repeating the lines ‘I’m on a horse.’ And ‘Look at your man.’

3. Snicker’s: Betty White.  (You’re not you when you’re hungry.)

I get hangry. This spot really spoke to my hunger-induced split personality. We all started referencing lines from this spot and the ensuing campaign in everyday conversation.

2. Apple: 1984

This was epic. A pivotal moment. A rebellious moment in history that set the stage for all that Apple changed. Plus it featured a hammer thrower.

Wassup? Chillin, Watching the game. Having a Bud. This spot was fun, relatable, and funny. It offered multiple catchphrases that infiltrated everyday conversation and changed the way we greeted each other for the next year.

Key Takeaway

The greatest entertainment on Super Bowl Sunday doesn’t come from the game. Or the halftime show. Or even the Puppy Bowl. It’s the commercials that provide the big bang that make the Super Bowl a Must-See cultural event.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

Do you know the pivotal days of your career?

In the story of your life, some days matter more than others. A lot more. In fact, in most careers, there are ten days that make all the difference. The actions you take on those 10 pivotal days not only have an outsized impact on your career, but they also have a transformational impact on your life. These are the days that songs, books and movies are written about. These are the days that will help the actor playing you in the movie about your life win the big awards. So make sure to take good notes for them.

If you take a little time to reflect on your career it is not hard to find your 10 pivotal days. The days that changed the trajectory or accelerated the velocity of your career. The days that earned you new respect, new responsibility and made you more money. The days that you didn’t have vomit on your sweater. (Mom’s spaghetti.)

Here are my 10 Pivotal Days.

  1. The day I got off the couch and called Paul Counsell, The CEO of Cramer Krasselt, and asked for an informational interview. This was the first domino to fall in my career. I got an interview. It lasted 5 hours. I made people laugh. I got a job. Everything else happened because of this call.
  2. The first new business pitch I was in. The client started the meeting by telling our agency we had no chance of winning the account. But I had seen the movie The Secret of My Success. I knew I was the Michael J Fox character. And I had prepared as if this was the biggest moment of my career. Which it was. We won the account. Boom goes the dynamite.
  3. The day I met my wife Dawn. We met at work. The impact she has had on my career growth and entrepreneurial journey can’t be overstated. She is my greatest cheerleader. Like the Toni Basil to my Mickey.
  4. The day I accepted the job as the Creative Director at Engauge. Taking on a new job with new responsibilities in a new jack city with all new coworkers and clients turbocharged my growth and development. It changed my family’s lives too.
  5. The day of my first Nationwide TV commercial shoot. We filmed a Corvette doing donuts in a cul-de-sac in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 100-degree heat. The new clients that I met that day, the challenges of the shoot that we overcame together and the strong friendships I developed with them had a huge influence on me both professionally and personally. But this day was as important for what I didn’t do as it was for what I did do. (Which I know sounds like a lot of do-do.) I wrote a story about that day here.
  6. The day I became Chief Creative Officer of Engauge. The new level of responsibility and opportunity to impact an organization was monumental. My learning, exposure and influence increased tremendously. I was ready to leave Engauge for this kind of opportunity. So when it came to me, it felt like the end of the book The Alchemist. (Which you should read if you haven’t.)
  7. The day I was picked to be part of the pitch team when Engauge was being sold. Being part of the 4-person leadership team that met with all of our potential buyers offered me an advanced degree in business. That process taught me critical lessons that prepared me for my entrepreneurial journey. Like Jamal Malik in Slumdog Millionaire.
  8. The day I was encouraged to start my own agency. I got 2 calls the same day in August of 2015 from former clients. In both conversations, the callers talked about wanting to work with me, but not wanting to work with my current agency. Which led to a discussion of starting my own agency. All the other dominoes had led to this. (Except for the Domino’s that delivers pizza.)
  9. The day I left my job at Moxie to start The Weaponry. It is one thing to think about or talk about starting your own agency. It’s another thing to do it. I had been ramping up The Weaponry by doing night and weekend side work for 5 months. But jumping made everything different. Like Camp Randall Stadium before the 4th Quarter.
  10. The day that The Weaponry signed its first retainer client. The Weaponry had generated significant cash flow over its first year and a half. But it wasn’t predictable. Once we landed our first retainer client we had the stability to hire staff and lease an office. It was when we Pinocchioed from a startup to a real business. 

Key Takeaway

Know your pivotal days. They are valuable to identify. Because they provide clues to your success. They show you what mattered most along your career journey and your story. By knowing your pivotal days, you are also able to recognize when the next pivotal days come along. When you understand how situations and opportunities lead to transformation you better prepare to make sure those opportunities go your way.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

Why it’s important not just to plan but to create a backup plan.

I love to read. And I write a lot about reading. In January I wrote about both the 41 books I read in 2023 and the 24 books I have already picked out to read in 2024. I also like to read about writing. And I like woodchucks who could chuck wood.

I am currently reading a great book titled The Psychology of Money. Which I highly recommend to everyone. But you don’t have to take my word for it. The book has a 4.7 star rating on Amazon with 47,000 people weighing in. Which is more readers than there are people in the biggest city in Vermont, where I grew up. (Oh, but we had cows…)

The Psychology of Money is packed with rich insights and reminders related to wealth and happiness. Here is one of my favorite gems from the book.

Planning is important, but the most important part of every plan is to plan on the plan not going according to plan.

-Morgan Housel

This line really resonates with me. Because one of my core beliefs is that the secret to success is a good plan B.

Planning helps you get the most out of nearly every aspect of life. You should plan your career, investments, family, vacations, workouts, dates, and Me-time. (Note: You should read me-time as you-time, meaning the time you plan for you, not the time that you spend with me, Adam Albrecht.)

However, things go wrong in my life all the time. It’s almost as if Chaos Theory is using me as a test pilot. So I am always thinking about backup plans, contingencies and safety nets. And because I am already thinking of backup plans, I am not floored or ruined when my Plan A falls apart. I am just thankful that I have a Plan B, C and D. And you should too.

Key Takeaway

Develop great plans for all important aspects of your life. Plan on greatness, happiness, wealth and success. But also expect the unexpected. And plan for multiple ways forward. Variables will change. Adaptability and resilience must be your constants.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

Why you should be an Imperfectionist, like me.

A great business is simply a collection of great people running a great process. But what makes people great, and thus collectible, is certainly a topic of debate. I am sure you have your own trait that you think makes you a valuable addition to a team. You advertise this special trait in job interviews. You are organized. Or ENERGETIC! Or cReAtIve. Or not easily bored…

Throughout my career, I have spent a lot of time interviewing job candidates. And there’s one trait I have heard people brag about more than all others. I couldn’t possibly count how many times I’ve heard people proudly state, ‘I am a perfectionist.’ This proclamation makes me want to throw up. Because if you are looking for creative thinkers and problem solvers, perfection works against you.

That’s why I proudly consider myself an Imperfectionist. So what does that mean? It means I value progress in any form. I am quite comfortable dreaming up and then sharing half-baked ideas. Or writing a first draft and passing it around for a reaction. Why? Because unbaked and half-baked ideas are available faster than fully-baked ideas. And typically, a team simply needs a ‘for-instance’ to get moving in the right direction.

I enjoy sharing ideas that are still in a moldable state. (But not a moldy state.) Sharing wet-clay ideas enables others to help form, modify and improve them before they’re finished. As an Imperfectionist, I embrace the process of creating, testing, learning and improving.

Today, speed is king. In the advertising agency business, we need to act quickly to help our clients take advantage of short-lived opportunities and thwart threats. This puts a premium on quick thinking. It’s why I like swift action as much as Travis Kelce does.

We no longer live in an era that rewards you for sitting alone in your office, with your Swingline, making sure your ideas are bulletproof before you share them.

Now don’t get me wrong. Once our team has determined a direction and we move into the execution phase, every detail matters. (Because you hate to get an execution wrong…) I will question the kerning, analyze the delivery of a line, and poke at a transition in an edit until I’m convinced we have it right. There is a time and place for this type of scrutiny. And it’s at the end of the process.

Being an Imperfectionist is what enabled me to launch The Weaponry. It is what allowed me to start this blog. It was the key to writing my first book What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? And it is the great enabler behind all of my creative and business projects yet to come.

Key Takeaway

Be an Imperfectionist. Explore more. Fail fast. And improve faster. Share what you think are good ideas earlier in the process so that others can contribute their good ideas too. Imperfectionism is the difference between doing and dreaming. Action and inaction. It is the key to entrepreneurial thinking. And it has the power to change the world.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.