This whole book-writing thing is getting realer every day. I am close to publishing my first book called What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? with Ripples Media. And I am learning a lot in the process. It turns out that you can’t just throw 200 pieces of paper on a shelf and call it a book. To be ‘official’ you have to put a cover on it and bind the pages together. Rules…
So rather than try to disrupt the entire book publishing industry with an innovative loose-leaf style book, I have decided to cave in and create a cover for my book. Boring, I know. But you have to pick your battles.
Here are 5 book covers I am considering. Now, I’d love to have your help. Take a look and respond in the comments section with the book cover you prefer. You could either describe your favorite option in great detail, or simply use the letter that goes with the cover design. Your choice.
The Options:
A
A
B
B
C
C
D
D
E
E
Here they are at a glance.
What do you like?
Please share your favorite in the comments section. If your favorite cover gets chosen there is a big high five coming your way the next time I see you.
In 2015 my family and I spent Memorial Day weekend in Washington D.C. This is a must-do experience for all Americans. Spending Memorial Day at the famed Arlington National Cemetery, or exploring the war memorials, provides a profound perspective on this important American holiday. Because is shines a spotlight on the true cost of freedom. And there are more lives of American military personnel on the final invoice than you can fathom.
Ava’s Class Trip
My 13 year old daughter, Ava just returned from a 7th grade class trip to D.C. I wondered how much she would get out of this experience, because she had already been there twice with our family. When she got home I was eager to discuss her 4-day whirlwind tour, and hear about the new things she saw and learned. That’s when she shared an amazing story I hadn’t heard about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
One of the most challenging chapters in America’s military and political history was the Vietnam War. But the memorial honoring the fallen veterans of this war holds an important and inspiring story for us all.
The Young Designer
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was not designed by a world renowned architect, but by a young college student. Maya Ying Lin was a 21 year old senior at Yale when her memorial design was chosen. She was studying architecture. But didn’t yet have her undergraduate or overgraduate degrees. She didn’t have an apprenticeship with Mike Brady. She simply had a good idea.
There were two unique elements of her design. Most of the memorials in Washington are white. But Lin’s memorial is black. Which sets a very different, and more somber tone. The other unique feature of her design are the names. The Wall, as it is known, includes the names of all the veterans who fell during the war, in chronological order. Which means the wall tells the story of the Vietnam War, from beginning to end, in human lives.
Maya Ying Lin with her winning design.
Lin created her design and submitted it to the national design competition as a part of a college class. In her class at Yale the design only earned Lin a B. Yet in the national competition her design stood out above all others. Which means that despite her age, her lack of experience and the fact that she only got a B on the class project, she beat out 1,420 other designers. The best part of the story is that Lin’s college professor also submitted a design in the competition.
Key Takeaway
There is no age requirement, degree or title required to have a great idea. Never be afraid to share, submit or advocate for your own ideas. Remember that judges, teachers, coaches and bosses don’t always know best. Don’t let the gatekeepers, rule makers and final sayers diminish the inherent value in your great idea, creation or performance.
Never forget.
Thank You
Thank you to all who served our great country. To those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom, we owe more than we could ever repay. But the Vietnam Veterans Memorial comes the closest. By etching the names of all 58,318 fallen during the war in polished black granite it ensures that each and every one of them will play a permanent role in our nation’s story of freedom. Even a college student can see that.
One of my favorite picks of my 4 favorite people in one of my favorite places.
Designing an office space that fits your company culture is like creating a clubhouse. When we signed the lease on our new office space a year ago I couldn’t wait to give it a serious makeover.* The drab office we leased was move-in ready for a lobotomy clinic. That wasn’t quite the vibe we were going for at The Weaponry, the advertising and idea agency I launched the year before. So as soon as we got the keys to the office we began transforming the space to match our personality.
A Sign Of Things To Come.
One of my favorite features of our office is the large sign that now greets you when you first come in the door. The bright red and white, 5-foot by 5-foot sign invites you to, in no uncertain terms, Fight With Your Brain.
Business Is War
I love this statement. because at The Weaponry, we believe that business is war. To win the war of business you need to outthink the competition. You win with strategic thinking and creativity. You win by summoning your intelligence and accumulated knowledge. In fact, your brain is your most powerful weapon in any battle, whether you are talking about business, board games or back alleys.
The Double Entendre
As much as I love the obvious meaning of this statement, I love the second meaning even more. The next level message encourages you to fight against your brain. It is a call to resist your brain’s tendencies. It is a reminder to fight your brain whenever it attempts to follow a well-worn path. To default to habit. To think too small. To simply follow others. Or to delete the last sentence in a paragraph (phew, that was close).
Fight With Your Brain is a warning to resist the feeling that you think you already know the answer. It is a call to fight against assumptions. Fight the belief that there is only one right way to approach a problem.
We want you to fight with your brain when it wants to reject a new process, procedure or plan. Fight with your brain when it wants the old version of an app back (I know you know what I mean).
You must also fight against negative thinking. You need to fight self-doubt. Fight unwarranted feelings of insecurity. Fight against giving up. And fight your bad habits. In fact, you should fight against anything that limits your thinking. Except maybe city hall. Because come on, it’s city hall!
We have also created Fight With Your Brain pins. If you want one leave me a message in the comments section.
Key Takeaway
By fighting, while using your brain, you develop better strategies and ideas. By fighting, against your brain, you keep your thinking flexible and adaptable. You keep your emperor organ positive and prepared. It is the best way to keep new and valuable ideas flowing. Which is what makes the brain the most innovative research and development lab on Earth. So keep it cranking. Because when you fight with your brain you will be amazed at all the good you can produce.
*In 2017 I chronicled The Weaponry’s search for an office in a 3-part mini series that shares what the process of finding, negotiating and leasing office space is like for startups. My agent believes he can get the trilogy made into a movie series and have it distributed at every Blockbuster Video store in the country! Until then, you can find the story of our journey at these links:
I don’t have any tattoos. But each time we get a meaningful image or quote added to the walls of our new offices at The Weaponry, I feel as if an important statement has been tattooed on me. Of course our wall art is much larger and much less painful than a real tattoo. And I don’t have to hide the wall art from my Mom.
I’ve written about our wall statements before. But last week we had another quote tattooed to our office. Not only do I find this quote inspiring, it states a critical tenant of brand-building.
Our Latest Wall Quote:
“You are remembered for the rules you break.”
-General Douglas MacArthur
MacArthur hit the nail on the head, and sent it into concussion protocol with this line. In Nike Founder, Phil Knight’s book Shoe Dog, he references this quote several times. I find myself referencing it often too.
There are multiple ways to interpret this quote. But I see it in the most positive light possible. You are remembered for the norms the standards and the expectations you don’t follow. You are remembered for the parts of you that stick out. Not the ones that fit in. You are remembered like Frank Sinatra, for doing it your way.
Me and my cousin Brooks Albrecht and some 504 point type.
This is true of people, businesses, brands, products, services, plants, minerals and animals. Speaking of animals, consider mammals for a moment. They are warm-blooded and fur-bearing creatures. But the dolphins doesn’t seem like a mammal because it lives in the ocean. The bat doesn’t seem like a mammal because it frickin flies! And the platypus, well, it breaks so many rules I don’t even know what it was to start with.
Conformity
Conformity is the opposite of creativity. Conforming to every rule means you disappear. If you want to be remembered by your peers, in job interviews, or in customers’ minds, you have to break some rules.
Key Takeaway
Look for ways to be different. Break stupid rules. Break smart rules when you have an even smarter reason to do so. Rules were made to be broken. You were made to be remembered. You are not a sheep, or a cow. Don’t follow the flocking herd. Give them something to remember you by. Your Mom and Dad will eventually get over it. Trust me, I know.
Breathing life into an idea is my favorite thing in the world. Taking a vision that only existed in my head, making it real, and then showing it to the world, offers a healthy, natural high. Even Nancy Reagan would approve.
I thought about creating my advertising agency for a long time before I named it The Weaponry and declared it open for thinkness. In the summer of 2017 I shopped for a new office space. But when I first got tossed the keys the office was pretty bland. So we began putting our mark on the place.
Furniture
Furnishing our office has been a fun undertaking. I have written before about our custom-built surfboard coffee table. We had readers of this blog vote on their favorite surfboard designs. Then we shared the final result. The coffee table has been a great addition to the office, and a great conversation starter. Since then, we turned our attention to another room.
Yep, we’ve got one of these. Read all about it at the links above.
The Conference Room
The conference room at The Weaponry was the last room we furnished. We wanted to keep it simple. In fact, we only wanted four elements in the room:
Table
6-8 chairs
TV monitor
Whiteboard
Folding chairs and tape helped us determine the perfect table size and the number of chairs we could fit. In the end, we crumpled up this 4×8 foot table and tossed it in the trash.
Shopping For A Table
We looked at a lot of used conference room tables, and they all made me want to cry. Most of them felt like they would have been right at home on the set of the TV show, The Office. That would never do. We looked through catalogs. All the tables either looked too serious, too sterile or had no look at all.
Then something caught our eye. It wasn’t a traditional conference room table. It was a high top. The type of furniture designed for an active huddle space. Not the kind of table typically used to pacify you before a Powerpoint lobotomy.
When we inquired about the table we discovered it could be custom-made. Which meant we could choose the perfect length, width, height and color.
We had our 58 inch TV monitor, but we couldn’t install it until we had the table, so we knew how high to hang it. It was our version of the chicken and the egg.
Placing The Order
We custom-designed our table to fit our conference room space like a proverbial hand in glove. We chose both the leg style and the leg color. Then came the biggest, and most important choice of all: the color of the surface.
These six tall stools were anxious to rip their plastic off and meet some new butts.
Surfacing the Surface Color
We saw a model of our table with a white table top. It had a birch pattern to it, and it looked nice. But we picked out a few other color chips that might work as well. On the day we placed the final order I glanced at the sign in our office that says, Think like a rebel. I knew that white wasn’t right.
We were finally birthing our conference room. This is where the table began to crown.
Ta Da! Our high red top table is up and ready for thinkness.
We finally knew the right height to hang our TV. Here you can see the monitor is well hung. The dry erase board, not so much.
The whiteboard is now up. And we already have several chips on the table top. Potato chips that is.
All of the other rooms in our office have one red wall. It makes a bold statement and adds energy to each room. The ConFro (I just made that up) doesn’t have outside windows. We wanted to keep the walls white and bright to make the room feel bigger. So we used the bright red, high top table to make the room feel like the rest of the office.
Because our table is tall, you can use it in sitting mode, like Britt, or in standing mode, like me. Is your mind totally blown by this versatility?
The table feels active. The red color energizes the room. The height of the table means you can either perch on the high stools, and feel like you are leaning into a meeting, like at a bar. Or you can stand without looking any odder than you usually do. You can also easily switch between the two positions, if you have ants in your pants.
Conclusion
We love the way our conference room has come together. We love that it offers a great hub for active thinking. We love that we have a tall, red-headed 48 inch by 96 inch table. We love our giant dry erase board for ideating and illustrating. We love having a large TV monitor for presentations, and for watching Netflix while eating lunch. We look forward to adding a few embellishments to the walls. But most of all, we look forward to having your stop by for a think.
*To follow the story of The Weaponry, and to see how this perfect agency project grows and evolves, consider subscribing to this blog.
If you like shopping for furniture you should become an entrepreneur. Because one of the by-products of owning a growing business is you need to buy products like chairs and table for your team. The Weaponry, my advertising and idea agency, now owns 14 comfortable chairs, a couch, several tables, and one custom-made lamp. The lamp is probably considered lighting. But this is my blog and I’m calling it furniture.
The Coffee Table Quest
We quickly found options we liked for most of our office furniture needs. But there was one piece that we just couldn’t find in stores or online. We wanted a statement-making coffee table. In full disclosure, I don’t drink coffee. So I think of it as a chocolate milk table. But because the rest of the world knows these types of drink-stabilizing platforms as coffee tables, I will give in to peer pressure and act like I will enjoy coffee on them like everyone else.
Square Pegs.
Our office space is very square. The furniture in our casual seating area is very square too. So we needed a long table with a curvy figure to round out the room. A surfboard-shaped table would be perfect.
Desperately Seeking Surfboard.
Within 60 seconds of thinking, ‘A surfboard coffee table would to totally gnarly dude!’, I found a custom maker of surf furniture online. I was soon on the phone with Marker Six in North Carolina. Then the Weaponry whipped up six different design options and asked people to vote on their favorites. You can find the post ‘Surfing for a coffee table and we need your help.’ here.
If you didn’t play along then you can play now.
Pick your favorite (or remember your favorite from the first time you voted). Then check below to see if we have similar tastes.
The Votes Have Been Tallied
After we had sufficient feedback from our social networks we ordered our custom designed table. Then we waited.
It’s Here!
After about a month, and some unfortunate weather delays in the epoxification process and FedEx’s delivering-during-a-snowstorm process, our new table showed up yesterday.
The surfboard top came packaged like this. The box underneath it contained the legs. We didn’t read the instructions and thought this was how it should go together. #seesawtable
This is the revere angle of what our table top looked like covered with a cardboard prophylactic.
This is the cardboard cocoon our table emerged from. Its duty was heavy, but still medium.
Rick from Marker Six, the makers of our coffee table, was listening during the ‘Use Protection’ talk. He used layers of cardboard, pipe insulation, paper and styrofoam to protect the wood.
Ta Da! Number 3 is the winner! It’s a fun conversation piece. Even if I am just talking to myself. In the background you can also see our custom-made pen lamp from David Laro.
This is a great place to surf the web.
What’s Next?
The next step is for you to stop by to enjoy a tour of our office and a beverage on the board. Make The Weaponry part of your next swing through Wisconsin. If you live in Milwaukee, stop by and let’s have some chocolate milk, coffee, tea, beer or a juice box in our newly completed board room. We’re expecting you.
*To follow the good the bad and the gnarly of my entrepreneurial adventure please consider subscribing to this blog.
Adam Albrecht Blog 