3 MICHELIN STAR’S AND AN ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE MAN LAV

I recently had the privilege and opportunity to dine at chef Gordon Ramsay’s 3 Michelin Star Restaurant on Old Hospital Road, London. Both the food and the personal service were world-class, faultless, and outstanding. In fact everything you’d expect from Chef Ramsay. I was particularly taken by the seamless interaction of house staff and their down-to-earth connection with the guests. They were experts in their area of service, but as friendly and kind-hearted as a good friend. A spectacular experience, and absolutely no doubt I will return on my next trip to London.

Having watched Ramsay’s role as a passionate and colorful television personality, I’ve always respected his ability to accurately critique, break down, and rebuild underperforming or poorly positioned restaurants with his signature blunt critique and the standards at which he holds others. You don’t get 3 stars without fanatical attention to excellence.

While dining for four hours I had reason to visit the lav on two occasions, and while standing reflecting on the whole experience, something didn’t quite sit right with me. As I often do, I was thinking about every part of the experience, the front of house was near perfection. The Maître D invited us to tour the kitchen, how could I not be impressed. But on my two visits to the restroom I noticed a lack of attention to excellence in the details. While the bathroom was spotlessly clean, the wallpaper was peeling at the base of the skirting boards, paint was sloppy around the urinal tiles, the sink was bog standard, and the marble countertop unspectacular at best. I have no doubt every other bloke goes in, urinates, and leaves but I couldn’t help thinking about Ramsay’s fanaticism for detail and excellence, and how these details got past his eagle eye. Bathrooms say everything about a restaurant, so it made me wonder, when was the last time he was here, when was the last time he looked at his own establishment the same way he does at others? This is his flagship. I think it’s time for a bog remodel Gordon.

On the 4th, 11th, and 18th of December, speakers following in the footsteps of Karl Marx and George Orwell will make their mark in the shadow of the new One Hyde Park building. Starting as a rallying point for worker’s protests and gaining a legal license to allow sizable meetings in 1872, Speaker’s Corner has been the home of free speech since the 1700′s. Cross the road from Mayfair and step into a world of political protest, Bible-bashing, and often plain craziness. Standing up for what one believes in, and expressing one’s informed and passionate point of view, no matter whether it’s at work, in a relationship or in the world at large should be exercised at every opportunity.

1. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they’re out of office.

2. Congress (past, present, and future) participates in Social Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 1/1/2012. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women.

Congressmen/women made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

This is how you fix congress—don’t you think it’s time?

–Author Unknown

AN UNCOMMON SENSE GUIDE TO EXPERIENCING YOUR BRAND THROUGH YOUR CONSUMERS’ EYES (AND BOTTOM)

The challenging economy has forced everyone to look at cutting unnecessary costs. From airlines charging for every bag, to restaurants not serving bread or table water unless asked, small cuts can have a deep-lasting effect. It’s easy for senior executives to lose touch with what’s important (or frustrating) to their consumers, especially when it comes to the small and important details that really affect customer perception of brand experience and value.

Get out of your office and into the real world
It should be mandatory for every senior executive in a company to experience their brand from the same perspective that the “people” do. It’s imperative to get out of the corner office and mingle among the people you serve. ‘Easier said than done,’ you may think, ‘Who possibly has the time to get out to the stores, into the restaurants, or on a plane?’ Make the time. It’s an investment in understanding what is really important to your consumers. Research presentations and statistics never paint the complete picture, and oftentimes not the right one.

Get out of your comfort zone and onto the toilet
At the start of a recent strategic brand refresh program with a national restaurant chain, we challenged the CEO and the entire executive team to go out into their restaurants. We told them to take a good friend, order lunch and midway through go to the bathroom with a camera, to sit on the toilet and to take photos. We told them to ask their friend to do the same thing (without the camera) and then talk about their observations over lunch. Yum. We then asked them to come to our kick-off workshop with their photos and their stories. Needless to say, the toilet-talk was revealing.

Get real, and in doing so, get on the same page
The executive team opened their eyes, dropped their pants and got real about their brand—experiencing it the way their customers do, not just looking at it from a distance. While it was uncomfortable for them, it set the tone for our relationship where candor and brutal honesty are not only welcome, but expected. With the truth at the center of every challenge, unity and momentum can be created among a team to solve almost any challenge.

Get everyone on the inside to experience your brand outside
Since the bathroom experience, we’ve been guiding the development and operationalization of a new brand strategy where we are engaging their entire 3,000 person organization. We’re using the same eye-opening, pant-dropping approach so everyone experiences the brand in real time. In doing this, Bulldog has created meaningful and relevant context for bringing their mission to life. And, by helping each department understand and define their role in delivering on the brand promise, and bringing it to life throughout the entire customer experience, there is absolute focus on unified execution. The results show the company experiencing a double digit increase in all of its key business indicators since they pulled their pants down.

People who seem to have that spark, who are passionate about what they do and how they live their lives are fantastic to be around, and they seem to make what they do look so easy. It’s not a new thought, but doing what you love seems to be an elusive concept for most. We spend more of our waking hours at work than anywhere else, so loving how we spend that time, and what we do, should be a high priority for every one of us. Dee McLaughlin, the CMO at Country Music Television, is a person passionate about life and music. Through the following five uncommon sense ideas, you’ll learn about how Dee has combined her love of music with her career.

1. When you were a kid, work and fun were opposites, so, as an adult, it actually takes a lot of time to combine the two. Don’t feel bad if you haven’t succeeded yet. In fact, if you admit to yourself that you’re dissatisfied, you’re a step ahead of most people. 

Dee grew up in Ireland and was surrounded by live music from a young age, and one of her first memories was looking at the musical symbols and instruments on the bedroom wallpaper as a baby. Maybe the fact that the Irish are the only country to have a musical instrument as their national symbol has something to do with her passion for music.

2. Look to other people for ideas. The more possibilities you find, the more likely your chances of finding your true passions are. People are more than willing to give advice.

“Whether you are Jack Welch or the Dalai Lama, it is dangerous not to do what you love,” Dee says, quoting the book, Built to Last, and goes on, “If you don’t have a level of passion that drives your thinking about what you’re doing day in and day out, there will be others out there who are passionate who will overtake and outrun you. People who care will take the initiative away from those who are half-hearted. So loving what you do is a competitive imperative, not simply a nice thing to have.”

3. Doing what you love will make you feel fulfilled. But you don’t need to get paid for it. 

Music is so important to society at large because it’s a universal language. Dee loves that it inspires common feelings and bridges gaps between cultures that spoken languages cannot. The fact that many religions use music to help express spirituality speaks volumes. Music creates ambiance, and she uses it to liven up a party or to create a romantic atmosphere. It’s a simple pleasure that can inspire people and influence emotions. All it takes is your ears and some imagination. Dee’s mood can change with the selection of the right track and a hit of the play button.

4. Have patience. Everything won’t come all at once. 

“I’ve always been really driven to succeed in my career so it was a no brainer to stir my love for music into it. I’ve always tried to keep music in my working life, whether as a journalist or as a marketer.”

5. A job doesn’t make your life great, family and friends do that.

While Dee does what she loves, she admits it’s complicated. “We’re all multifaceted, multilayered people, and most of us don’t love just one thing—so the idea that there is just one passion for your life, and when you know what it is you’ll be happy, is rarely true.” For Dee, her secret is that she concentrates on what’s of the greatest importance to her. Dee surrounds herself with passionate people, and her rule is she never employs anyone who isn’t passionate about the work they’d be doing, because passionate people stay on top of trends, keep morale and motivation high and take pride in the outcome of their work.

Motivated by her multiple passions, Dee has a burning desire to see things through to the end. Driven, even in times when she’s tired and frustrated, she believes passion can be found in most situations. Passion manifests itself in the enthusiasm she brings to the tasks at hand because she loves what she does. “I get into a flow where I’m energized, positive and aligned with the project”.

Every day is a gift and we don’t get to do it over again, so we should strive to be doing what we love, understanding where our natural talents and our passions collide.

In the competitive space of philanthropy and philanthrocapitalism, how do you break through the clutter and get people engaged in an issue that isn’t the tug-on-your-heart-strings norm?

This week, The Paradigm Project hopes to do just that by starting a conversation about fuel-efficient cook stoves. They hope to bring to light the issues that women in many parts of Africa face each day walking up to 15 miles to find wood to cook food, with their live WoodWalk campaign. It’s a 10-day walk from San Diego to Los Angeles (October 4–13, 2011) during which a team of founders, staff, partners, and volunteers are carrying 50-pound bundles of wood on their backs replicating the trials and challenges of the women they’re working to help. At the finish line in Los Angeles on October 13th, they will construct an “African cooking experience” complete with a traditional Kenyan hut that they’ll also be cooking in along the way. Visitors will have an opportunity to step inside and experience the smoky hut, which is equal to smoking 40 cigarettes per day.

The Paradigm Project is utilizing five uncommon sense principles to get in front of the people whose help they need to create permanent change:

1. Seek the truth first. 

About 3 billion people around the world are subject to open-fire cooking every day, which means forests are disappearing, women and children are dying from smoke inhalation, and families are spending vast amounts of time and money just to cook. Open fire cooking causes respiratory disease, economic instability, and immeasurable destruction of natural resources.

The problem is obvious, but the solution is not. It may seem easiest to start a charity and collect donations to then donate stoves to the women in need. But the founders of The Paradigm Project studied other organizations who had pursued that path and saw issues with the lack of business and infrastructure to support the continued use of these stoves, as well as the lack of commitment from owners if the product was donated, versus being purchased at a subsidized rate. Instead, they have carefully crafted a business model that sells clean-burning and efficient “rocket stoves” that are connected to the carbon markets. The use of efficient cook stoves reduces emissions, which in turn generates carbon credits that are sold through European and U.S.-based carbon markets. Proceeds from these sales create a self-sustaining mechanism that ultimately eliminates the need for continued outside funding. Surplus proceeds support other community projects such as clean water, health clinics, and schools at the discretion of the community.

2. Operate courageously and with conviction.

From the time the idea for The Paradigm Project originated more than five years ago to today, the founders have put their lives on the line numerous times and have literally blown their comfort zone out the window. They mapped out their goals (5 million stoves by 2020), the benchmarks they needed to reach to get there, and then they got to work. Greg Spencer Sr. and Greg Spencer Jr., two of the founders, traveled to Kenya to experience and document the daily habits of the women there and were ridiculed by men who couldn’t fathom why these two men were doing “women’s work.” Fast-forward to this week, they are risking their health, cartilage, and spines carrying 50-pound bundles of wood for 10 straight days along the Southern California coast to bring the issue to life at the doorsteps of those who can help make change. Armed with a clear vision of the change they are going to make in the world, their commitment and optimism never waver.

3. Remember, people change the world.

While our society tends to rate stoves lower on the list of issues that are important to support, smoke inhalation kills more than 1.6 million people every year, with women and children in the disproportionate majority, and is the number one killer of children under the age of five (more than AIDS, malaria, malnutrition, and water-borne disease). This is a problem that isn’t going to solve itself, and The Paradigm Project has boldly stepped up to tackle the issue. In their first year of business, they were projected to implement 10,000 stoves by the end of the 2011, but have already more than tripled that target and are slated to reach 60,000 stoves this year.

4. Bold is admirable, but humility is sexy.

Greg Spencer Jr. had a bold vision for the WoodWalk, and attacked the problem with confidence and humility, which is exemplified in his blog post from the second day of the WoodWalk,

“It’s all about perspective. We have a choice in doing this WoodWalk, we have a choice to eat where we want to and spend time doing what we want to with the people we want to. The reality for so many people in the developing world is that they have no choice. They didn’t choose to be born into poverty, or disease, or orphanage and many don’t even get to choose whether or not they go to school. But this shouldn’t cause guilt or pity for the people that don’t have choice, it should cause compassion and empathy and respect because most of us here have no idea what it’s like to not have choice. I’m not here to preach, but to try and share the story of what women go through all around the world just to cook and what we at The Paradigm Project are working to do to change that.”

5. Results count. 

The Paradigm Project has made its mission to create a compelling experience with the WoodWalk, while engaging the local community to take action and assist in raising funds as the organization develops their work in East Africa. With these necessary elements, The Paradigm Project hopes to end open-fire cooking for 25 million people by implementing more than 5 million fuel-efficient rocket stoves before 2020.

You can learn more about the issue and The Paradigm Project’s proposed solution, which has been recognized twice by the Clinton Global Initiative, here. You can also learn more about the WoodWalk or find out how to get involved here.

Unlock the power of values to mobilize your company and build your brand.

Every crisis presents opportunities for innovation and new thinking. While the world seems to be facing a fresh crisis every day, whether man-made or by a force of nature, there is one crisis that presents an opportunity that every company should explore: the crisis of values. This is not a theological or political rant; there will be no commentary on America being greedy, self-obsessed, overweight and overdrawn, or post-colonial England being looted and set on fire by soccer thugs and 12 year-olds, or the Greeks refusing to raise their retirement age, but expecting the Germans to bail them out. This is not a critique of government leadership, foreign, fiscal, welfare or educational policies—all of which require radical new thinking. Rather, this addresses one simple challenge to corporations and their leaders: Examine your values and what you believe in, make them meaningful, then put them to work inside and outside of your company because you have a responsibility and a significant opportunity to impact positive and meaningful change.

Have you defined what you believe in? Examine and define your values as a company so that they are meaningful, memorable, and support your purpose.

The vision articulates the change a company hopes to make in the world, the mission is how it plans to get there, and the values define the character of an organization and act as the principles that direct behavior during the journey. After paying the price for an explosive growth strategy, Starbucks lost its way and ended up in a serious crisis. One of the first things Howard Schultz did on his return as CEO was to re-examine the company’s soul and its reason for being. He made sure the mission and the values were refreshed and brought back to life. When Bono spoke at an all-company meeting to announce the roll-out in New Orleans, he said, “Some people say, markets are not about morals, they are about profits. That’s old thinking and false advice. Great companies will be the ones that find a way to have, and hold on to, their values while chasing their profits. Brand value will converge to create a new business model that unites commerce and compassion, the heart, and the wallet.” Today the company is refocused and refreshed with its share price at an all-time high, and everything it does ladders back to its’ mission and is guided by living and meaningful values.

Engage your team by sharing the values with every department in the company to build ownership and engagement. 

Like countries, companies with unclear values leave the engagement of their people to chance, whereas values-driven companies are organic and function with passion and focus. As individuals, we are what we believe in and companies are what their people believe in. Values that live on a wall in a conference room are often lengthy and forgettable, but shared values that are alive and authentic drive conviction, consistency, and clarity. Integrating values and a connection to human needs into a company’s business model, and throughout each department, presents significant opportunities for innovation. Values connect and motivate people, and can supercharge teams with energy and commitment in tough times. They are the lifeblood of a culture, and are what brings a company to life. Do you know your company and brand values? Have you shared the values your company lives by?

Operationalize your values in every department to challenge them to develop action-based plans.

Having a clear set of values provides a common communications platform and a set of routines that help connect all departments and reduce organizational complexity. It gives people a basis for collaboration—a common vocabulary, a common language, and a common set of principles for decision-making. While the world might be changing, values that remain constant provide a foundation for stability and growth. Values people care about inspire them to look for new problems to solve and to keep anticipating change. Have you shared your values with each department in the company and asked them to develop plans to bring them to life?

Develop simple methods to measure the impact of living values and find appropriate ways to celebrate them regularly.

We know that when people buy products they build emotional connections with brands. For brands to make connections they have to express meaningful values. Like the dynamics of a deep and lasting friendship, these connections are made stronger when common values are clear and present. Values are people-centered beliefs that connect people and groups inside of a company with different skills in different departments as well as consumers outside with the brand. Shared values that are demonstrated in choices and behaviors from a company create opportunities to engage and inspire people inside and outside of the organization. Have you celebrated your values and the impact they have on the company’s culture and its performance?

Senior executives are layers removed from the people who buy their products everyday and it’s not uncommon to find a significant number of senior executives lacking a current and well-rounded understanding of the needs and behaviors of the people they’re in business to serve. Executives often pay little attention to annual research presentations (that cost millions of dollars a year) and often don’t act on the information they’re given. They operate from significant misconceptions, dated information, personal bias and long-held myths about consumers. This big disconnect can lead to poorly informed strategic planning, misfires on product development and investment allocation. Executive team members can benefit significantly in their individual functional areas by putting their consumers first and getting to know them in a deeper and more dimensional way.

1. Move research from ignored to inspired

Elevate the importance of research and ensure it is a business intelligence function that informs all areas of your business. Ban PowerPoint and insist on dynamic and interactive conversations rather than presentations.  Insist that content for presentations are informative, inspiring, engaging and action-oriented with insights, implications and ideas that can fuel decision-making.

2. Move research from analytical to directional 

Research is often overlooked or quickly forgotten because the presentations are data-driven and dry. Research always tells a story so insist that all forms of research are delivered with data-driven insights presented with the clear implications and provocative questions to inspire new thinking.

3. Move from research that only illustrates statistics to stories that profile real people 

Bring your consumer to life in a way that people can understand and relate to. Insist that deep personifications of each of your consumers are created to show them as real people, with all facets of their lives clearly illustrated to help connect your company to the way your consumers live their lives.

4. Move from static to dynamic research

With amazing research design, technology and a clear directional brief, research should be dynamic and inspiring. Ensure you have an active portfolio of research methodologies that provide you with regular and directionally informative updates about the needs, wants, opinions, behaviors, habits and concerns of the people who buy your products and services and the trends that impact the world they live in.

5. Research that moves from data to business intelligence 

Develop a dashboard model that connects all of your data so it tells a story and becomes a predictive tool that models scenarios for business performance, business decisions and strategy development. The model should connect sales and traffic performance data, category, economic, environmental, financial and emotional indicators that are combined to help you understand the directional changes of consumers