Sunday, July 06, 2014


"Applause is the only appreciated interruption." Arnold Glascow

"To be nobody-but-yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody but yourself - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting." E.E. Cummings

"Fortune pays sometimes for the intensity of her favors by the shortness of their duration." Baltasar Gracian

Today's image: Morning light in the woods. By Fred Winston. Beautiful. Thank you for sharing.


Disruptive strategy:
zag when others zig

The Great American Dream Machine was a weekly magazine show on public television (1971-72). A mix of short features, sketches and song, it was both satire and documentary. It's acknowledged as seminal work, a precursor to Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show.

The show runners planned to launch the show with rotating weekly hosts but the brilliant Sheila Nevins, at the time, a producer on the show, had a better, original idea. Go without a host, use images and animation as bridges to connect the segments. Nevins' unconventional, fresh concept proved to be a masterstroke.

Let's remember the wise counsel of Gordon McLendon - "The Old Scotsman" 


Carefully study what every station in the market
 is doing, then do the opposite.

What's important is creating perceptible contrast. Nothing subtle whatsoever. Strive to be obvious, palpable, visceral. The marketing genius Dale Pon called this approach "high definition communication" (way back in the early 1980s). 

Do your homework. Know that, in most situations, there is more than one right answer. Follow the lead of Nevins, McLendon and Pon. Have the courage to zag when others zig.

ICYMI: Good reads

What does the Facebook experiment teach us? By danah boyd, here

This American Gamble. Ira Glass's 'This American Life' Leaves PRI. By Cara Buckleyhere 

11 Top Quotes on Complexity Plus a Startup Twist. By Margaret Molloy, here

Sharing and celebrating your favorite authors. By Seth Godin, here

Recommended: Shakespeare's Montaigne. Greenblatt and Platt. Classic. NYRB detail, here

Have fun. Make something happen! 

Thanks for stopping by. See you on the Twitter.