Brains on Fire

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  The Power of Kindness.

  Posted on February 2nd, 2012 by Robbin and currently 4 commenting.

  
  Fresh flowers from Libby William’s Photoblog.

  The other day I got a note in the mail. The old fashion “ink on paper” kind. It started like this:

  Dearest Darling Robbin,
  
  Hmmmm.

  I have to tell you in the middle of my crazy, busy, over stimulated workday, those words stopped me dead in my tracks. I took a deep breath and smiled at the “over the top-ness” of this salutation. What came after that was nothing short of the kindest words anyone’s written to me in a long time. Just a couple of heartfelt observations mixed in with some wit and honesty.

  It was a nice gentle break from the tasks in front of me.

  This note was from a guy who I’ve known for sometime. We’re friends in the true sense of the word having lived as neighbors for a few years. But these days with our kids grown, we’re mostly business friends.

  I thought to myself. How simple it is to write a note of gratitude. To sit quietly for a little part of your day and write fearlessly from the heart without the worry of sounding silly or unprofessional.

  It was a nice reminder that kindness is underrated.

  Don’t you think?

  And you know what? Later that day, I found myself paying this unexpected kindness forward. Without even realizing it was happening really. Don’t you love how that works?

  How will you use the power of kindness today?

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  Tags: Kindness, Libby Williams
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  Popsicles, Sparklers and Creative Inspiration

  Posted on February 1st, 2012 by amy and currently 4 commenting.

  Life through the lens of our dear friend Libby Williams

  Last weekend the weather was delightfully warm here in Greenville. The sun was shining, the birds were singing – it felt like spring. On one of several strolls with my dog, I came across three little boys playing with a box in their front yard. As I watched them play, it was obvious the box was not just a box. It was a fort, a playhouse, a tank, an infinite number of possibilities limited only by their imaginations.

  My Saturday stroll was a good reminder of how differently we think as children. When kids look at a box, they don’t just see a box – they see possibilities. They see a box not as it is – but for everything it could be. Childhood is an infinite summer (even when it’s just a winter reprieve in late January.) As time marches on, we begin thinking more concretely. We see a box where we see a box. Our days cease to be defined by quickly melting popsicles and tire swings, bellyflops and neighborhood games of “Kick-the-Can.” We begin to mark our days and months with rituals of responsibility – bills paid, inboxes cleaned out, items marked off our TO DO list. Slowly, in a little boat for one, we allow the splishing and splashing of the tide to draw us out into the sea of adulthood, drifting further and further away from fun, imagination and possibility.

  For the creative adult, we spend most of our lives trying to find a way to return to the eternal summer of childhood. A place where the mind and imagination work in harmony – one challenging the other to be better, do more and dream bigger. A time when mistakes were nothing to be feared, just a spark for improvisation. A moment when night writing with wildly twinkling sparklers made all of us feel like the poet laureate of our front yard.

  Hemingway once said, “The thing is to become a master and in your old age to acquire the courage to do what children did when they knew nothing.” I am inclined to agree.

  Today I’m encouraging all of us to think differently. Tap into our imaginations. Change up the drive home. Stand on our heads. Challenge yourself to see something you’ve seen a thousand times before in a new light. Try to describe the taste of  a strawberry. Pick up a piece of sidewalk chalk and write a love letter to someone in your life. Practice seeing possibility instead of accepting reality. Find your inner child and give him/her a spin on the tire swing.

  It’s Wednesday, after all.

  ps: I stumbled across this video over the weekend. A look at well-known logos through the eyes of a 5-year-old. If you haven’t seen it – take a peek. And enjoy.

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  The Art of Black and White

  Posted on January 31st, 2012 by Eric Dodds and currently 3 commenting.

  Several weeks ago I needed to have a suit tailored. I contacted a gentlman who was recommended to me (1), and our conversation about my needs was very short:

  Me: “I need a suit tailored.”
  Bill: “I charge [x dollars]. It will be perfect.”

  I didn’t think much about it until a few days later, but when it did hit me, I realized how much impact his promise carried. It was the most starkly simple spoken promise I’d recieved as part of a purchase in a long time.

  To some extent, craftsman-type services afford you the ability to make that promise. They’re black and white. Either my suit fits perfectly, or it doesn’t. Either my car is running right, or it isn’t. Either my sinks and showers drain properly, or they don’t.

  I think that there’s something about ‘black and white’ things that we love as humans. It takes some of the guesswork out, and it can make meeting and fulfilling expectations a heck of a lot easer. Think about how nice it would be for a board to say to a CEO, “we need to increase sales by 10% next quarter,” and the leader’s response to be, “It will cost [x dollars] and sales will increase by 12.5%. I promise.”

  But that’s not always the world we live in. And that’s not always the world that craftsman live in either – we both live in a world where we interact with humans who desire beauty and creativity. Humans are less than predictable, and beauty and creativity are difficult to execute, and many times subjective.

  Nonetheless, the black-and-white art of tailoring my suit (which fits perfectly) led me to ask some great questions:

  • How can we make our services and their results more black and white?
  • Can we make measurement of our work more black and white?
  • How can I build my skills so that I can, like my tailor, make strong promises that I’m confident I can keep?
  • How can I instill confidence in clients?

  (1) If you live in the Greenville area and you need a suit tailored, contact Bill Mitchell of Billiam Jeans.

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  Tags: black and white, Clients, clothing, Expectations, perfect, suit, tailor
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  What are you doing with your minutes?

  Posted on January 30th, 2012 by Robbin and currently 0 commenting.

  2011 from hey_rabbit on Vimeo.

  I found this on GOOD. Oh MY. Have I told you how much I love almost every bit of content they produce and curate?

  This video is no exception. Seems that Madeline captured a bit of video everyday for a year of her life, then edited each video down to one second for each day.

  The random minutes of life collectively make up our life’s bigger story in such a magical way, don’t they?

  The other day Geno and I were talking about a CEO client we admire that takes over an hour to walk from the building entrance to her office. She takes the time to stop and talk to her employees and customers. Geno’s take on that: “People don’t realize that something magical can start just by asking a one employee or customer for a cup of coffee and listening to what they have to say.” Then doing it again and again and again.

  Word of mouth is at it’s core conversation and conversation is a powerful thing. It’s the collective conversations that unite and change organizations from the inside out.
  
  As a person and a marketer or a leader, how are you using your minutes? Are you heads down from one task to another, or are you sucking in all that each minute truly offers?

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  Tags: GOOD, MInutes, word of mouth marketing
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  Permission to love.

  Posted on January 26th, 2012 by Robbin and currently 3 commenting.

  
  This tiny little love note showed on my computer one afternoon. I keep it close by and still have no clue who wrote it.

  Some of our team has just returned from a long weekend of training for one of our clients. I love hearing the stories they bring back home from these experiences with our clients and their advocates. Alexis shared some of the emails she got when they returned today. After reading this amazing thread of heartfelt notes, Cordell sent me one of his classic one liners.

  It simply said:

  “It’s amazing what happens when you give people permission to love.”

  Our purpose at Brains on Fire is lofty, but real. We believe we are changing lives and one by one by one, we like to think we are changing the world. I believe with all my heart that Greg is right, we really do give people permission to love their customers, their employees, their purpose, their passions, their stories — simply by helping them find and shine a light on their true voice, spirit, soul, and meaning.
  
  Chime in. Do you give yourself permission to love? Have you seen that change and grow organizations for the better?

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  Tags: Love, Permission to Love