Category Archives: Society

How do you relate to memes?

A meme is defined as “an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture.” This could be anything from fauhawks, to LOL Cats to how you practice religion or whether or not you recycle. We often unconsciously make decisions on how we relate to these memes. We can easily consume and be …

October 21, 2011 – 7:00 am | By DUST!N | Posted in memes, Persuasion, Society | Comments (0)

On Being Patronizing

I rented and watched the movie The Soloist the other day. I want to buy it now. My wife asked me if I really thought we would watch the film enough to justify buying it. I don’t. I just want to support a good film and have it as a reminder of its message. This …

June 10, 2010 – 6:45 am | By DUST!N | Posted in human spirit, Seth Godin, Society, Word of Mouth | Comments (0)

Write Your Name in The Margin

The world continues to move at ever-increasing speed. Twitter is not going to slow down for you to catch your breath. Not only is work filling your day, but so are non-profits. Even consumer marketing seems to be vying for your time (“Visit our website.” “Fill out this survey.” “Engage in these conversations.”) instead of …

April 16, 2010 – 11:58 am | By DUST!N | Posted in brand you, Personal Brand, Professional Development, Society, Success | Comments (0)

180° Ideas

Here’s a quick brainstorming tip. Next time you’re stuck on predictible, unoriginal ideas, try this: Think 180°. Ask yourself, “What is the LAST thing I would do in this situation?” or “What is an idea opposite of these?” Make a list of the ideas that come to mind. Read over the list and evaluate WHY …

September 9, 2009 – 7:43 am | By DUST!N | Posted in brainstorming, Ideas, Society | Comments (1)

Living Among Critics

Last night, I attended a meeting held by my daughter’s teacher. She was explaining the structure of the class and led us through some sample exercises she uses with the students. Occasionally, she called upon us parents for volunteers to read or give answers. I was stunned by the silence and awkward glances downward. The …

October 10, 2008 – 2:25 pm | By DUST!N | Posted in brand you, human spirit, Personal Brand, Persuasion, Professional Development, Society | Comments (3)

The Independence Myth

Financial Independence. The Declaration of Independence. An Independent Spirit. We esteem independence. Our society celebrates freedom. As we should. But, do we miss the point? We’re not seeking absolute independence. Well, we may be seeking it, but we won’t find it. It cannot be obtained. We want to free ourselves of dependency on foreign oil. …

April 11, 2008 – 9:25 am | By DUST!N | Posted in human spirit, Society | Comments (3)

The Art of Finding Beauty

Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God: But only he who sees, takes off his shoes, The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries… Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh A friend shared the poem above with me recently. I had heard it before. In fact, I had memorized it. Still, I …

March 28, 2008 – 1:45 pm | By DUST!N | Posted in Creativity, Society, Spirituality | Comments (4)

Scars

One of our children broke an arm two weeks ago (hence the missing post that Friday). As people found out about it, I heard many stories about how they or their children had similar experiences. After having these stories shared with me, I felt a sense of fraternity with a new group of people. It …

August 3, 2007 – 8:59 am | By DUST!N | Posted in Personal/Family, Purpose, Society | Comments (0)

Battling the Generic Brand

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried I’ve had my fill, my share of losing And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing To think I did all that And may I say, not in a shy way, “Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way“ – Frank Sinatra, My …

July 13, 2007 – 11:04 am | By DUST!N | Posted in Branding, Personal Brand, Professional Development, Purpose, Society | Comments (2)

eDissonance?

I was doing research on an upcoming project recently. While looking for examples of the eHarmony.com ads, I came across this post on Adfreak. Maybe I’m naive, but I had no idea people found the eHarmony ads so offensive/repulsive. Here’s a comment from a viewer YouTube: They are annoying beyond belief. The people in them …

June 22, 2007 – 9:25 am | By DUST!N | Posted in Advertising, Society | Comments (5)

Business as Usual

I missed blogging last week. There’s a story behind that. I play basketball at 5:45 AM every Tuesday and Thursday. It may sound crazy to play basketball that early, but it allows me to do something I enjoy without interferring with my family time in the evenings. Last Thursday I didn’t feel very well after …

December 15, 2006 – 11:09 am | By DUST!N | Posted in Human Resources, Society | Comments (1)

The Old Old is the New New

I’ve grown quite fond of my old-style hats. I have a fedora and a willis hat. When I wear theses hats I get comments from people (and sometimes stares). Yet, these were the hats everyone used to wear. Now, it seems like a very new thing to do. Of course trends come and go and …

December 1, 2006 – 11:15 am | By DUST!N | Posted in Marketing, Purpose, Seth Godin, Society, Unconventional Marketing | Comments (2)

7 Business Lessons of the Prodigal Son

You’ve probably heard of the prodigal son, and you probably also know it originates from a story Jesus told. (you can read it here) What you probably don’t think about is how it relates to your company. Oh boy, does it. Here are lessons from this story that we can apply to business today: 1. …

October 27, 2006 – 9:33 am | By DUST!N | Posted in Human Resources, Professional Development, Society, Spirituality | Comments (2)

Don’t Forget the Change

People are rarely, if ever, satisfied. We’re not satisfied with fast food customer service, politicians, football officials, nor the price of gas. Most of all, we’re not satisfied with ourselves. Not with our weight, our salaries, our homes and cars. We’re not satisfied with the time we have for exercise, for fun, for friendships and …

October 13, 2006 – 9:17 am | By DUST!N | Posted in Product Management, Society | Comments (0)

Redeem or Replace?

We love stories of redemption. I think it is something wired within us. It is something we all inherently yearn for. We love the idea of something new. I think it is something we’ve been trained to desire. New is sexy and mysterious. New is full of potential. New has no scorecard of history to …

September 1, 2006 – 1:03 pm | By DUST!N | Posted in Creativity, Purpose, Society, Uncategorized | Comments (0)