“Clarity of mind means clarity of passion, too.”
— Blaise Pascal
A Clear Eye.
On marketplace success
by Tom Asacker
“Clarity of mind means clarity of passion, too.”
— Blaise Pascal
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"Read fewer business books."
I pulled this verbatim from Tom Peters' blog. And I write business books!
"Sorry to be a bit off topic, but Im one of the freaks you all occaisionally talk about. As a job-hating, non-manager, non-business person.. one of my first impressions after reading over Tom's blog is that most products/services/businesses you laud as "wow" are not as cool as you all think. (That said, Apple computers & the ipod are fairly cool).
The bar for "wow" is considerably lower in the business world than it is outside it. I mean, I've had plenty of Wow experiences in my life... but can't recall a single one that relates to a business... and certainly never one that related to a J-O-B. I've been astounded by books, and poems, and movies. I've been inspired by people and relationships. I've been moved by art.
But business? Perhaps the problem is that business people communicate with too many business people and read too many business books. The rest of us... we don't care. We HATE jobs. We HATE bureaucracies. We are bored to death by so called "revolutionary products" (an HP printer???? Any printer??? Yawn).
People are moved by greatness... by madness,... by beauty and magic and love and terror. Perhaps business people should junk the language and thought patterns of business- and adopt the language of poetry. Instead of "building a profitable business" how about "creating a great beautiful & elegant works of art". Business as a collaborative art project.
Instead of developing your brand.. how about developing your genius (ala Thoreau). Instead of following a mission statement (ugh), why not follow your bliss.
Who knows, profit might even follow... though not necessarily. But the thing is, outside of a few banal individuals, its not really money that motivates most people anyway. We are human beings, not machines (though I realize this is a radical idea in the corporate world). Rather than being THE CENTRAL PURPOSE, shouldn't monetary profit be a BYPRODUCT of passion and greatness?
My suggestion. Read fewer business books."
Posted by AJ Hoge at February 12, 2005 03:29 AM
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» Branding or genius? from BrandShift
AJ Hoje suggestsPeople are moved by greatness... by madness,... by beauty and magic and love and terror. Perhaps business people should junk the language and thought patterns of business- and adopt the language of poetry. Instead of "building a profita... [Read More]
» Living The Poetry Of Exceptional Advertising from AdPulp
Tom Asacker points to a poignant comment left on Tom Peters' blog by AJ Hoge. "People are moved by greatness...by madness...by beauty and magic and love and terror. Perhaps business people should junk the language and thought patterns of business—and... [Read More]
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