community dynamic.

For those of you unfamiliar with how illegally downloading things (films, music, television shows, books, and every assorted media you can think of ) has survived for so long, let me give you a brief summary of how something so prevalent and in-your-face can last.
It's a community.
A very strong community.

The moment someone uploads a file that has "trackers" in it, that file is immediately red flagged by as many people as see the first red flag.
The moment someone uploads a file that contains "malware" or a "virus", the same thing happens.
No one downloads a brand-new file that hasn't been reviewed yet by individuals in the community, save for a few intrepid souls.

The same goes for the overwhelming majority of all organized crime. There are a few key individuals that play important roles, but their success and the successes of anyone who will ever benefit from their actions is entirely dependent on the people that surround them.
Community simply brings more eyes, more ears, and more minds together under a common purpose.

Each person in your company, your crew, or your team is a part of the community. They bring a unique set of perspectives and experiences to the table that when tapped, can affect your bottom line. Are you using them?
Have you asked each individual what they think they could do to strengthen your business?

intentionally create real value, don't stop at offering a product or service.

I've been wrong before. Many times in fact. However, I'm going to go out on a limb here, and risk being wrong again. 
I would venture to say 12 Years A Slave will win the Academy award for Best Picture this year, for one simple reason: it told the best story. 
Each year a hobby of mine is to watch  most of the Academy nominated pictures, and this year I enjoyed most of the selections that were listed.  12 Years A Slave is not funny, it is not easy to watch and was just short of agonizing to sit through at parts. In exchange, I highly doubt most viewers will ever forget the experience of how they felt during the movie. The Atlantic seems to think the filmmakers did a great job representing not only the majority of the Autobiography it was based on, but the time in history it portrayed.

Ty Montague writes: "In a world of abundance, what your product does for your customers is important, but not nearly as important as what your product means to them." In this case the product was the film, and the meaning was one man's struggle to survive an often terrifying series of circumstances.

12 Years A Slave is a triumph not merely because of the story that it tells (the filmmakers weren't so shallow as to stop there) but what that story means to the viewer. It communicates not just that slavery was/is wrong, but that each individual has a purpose, intrinsic value, and regardless of their situation every human will battle at one point or another with their own identity. We are in life together, and we must choose who we are each step of the way.
Tell me that isn't award-winning storytelling. 

Again, Ty Montague: "Back in the summer of 2006, New York Times Magazine columnist Rob Walker was mulling the question of what makes one object more valuable than another. What makes one pair of shoes more valuable than another pair if they both deliver on the functional basics of comfort, durability, and protection? Why does one piece of art cost $8,000,000 and another, $100? What makes one toaster worth $20 and another worth nearly $400 if they both make toast? As Walker turned these questions over in his mind he concluded that it is not the objects themselves, but the context, the provenance of the objects, that generates value. In other words, the value isn’t contained in the objects themselves, but in the story or the meaning that the objects represent to the owner.

Walker decided to test this conclusion in a simple and direct way. With the help of a friend, he began buying random, worthless, or low-value objects at tag sales and thrift shops. The cost of the objects ranged from one to four dollars. An old wooden mallet. A lost hotel room key. A plastic banana. These were true castoffs with little or no intrinsic worth.

Next, Walker asked some unknown writers to each write a short story that contained one of the objects. The stories weren’t about the objects, per se; but they helped to place them in a human context, to give them new meaning.

When Walker put the objects, along with their accompanying stories, up for sale on eBay, the results were astonishing. On average, the value of the objects rose 2,700%. That’s not a typo: 2,700%. A miniature jar of mayonnaise he had purchased for less than a dollar sold for $51.00. A cracked ceramic horse head purchased for $1.29 sold for $46.00. The value of these formerly abandoned or forsaken objects suddenly and mysteriously skyrocketed when they were accompanied by a story.

The project was so successful (and so interesting) that they have now repeated it 5 times and put all the results up on the web. It is also a book.

Walker’s experiment reminds us in a clear and extremely tangible way how the concept of value works in the human brain: a can opener is a can opener is a can opener until it is a can opener designed by Michael Graves and a part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. A shoe is a shoe is a shoe until it is a pair of TOMS shoes. For every pair that I buy a child who has never been able to afford shoes gets a free pair as well. Suddenly, these objects are part of an inspiring narrative — one that I can use to reveal something meaningful about myself to others. That’s something I am willing to pay for."

What story are you trying to tell? Do you have the ability to communicate so persuasively that people remember how they feel when you were telling them your story? 

If not, how do you get there?

What are you walking into the room with?

In a study done by two psychologists in November it was hypothesized that "the psychological states individuals bring into newly formed groups can produce meaningful differences in status attainment." The tests conducted studied the effects of triggering three approach-based psychological states: promotion focus (defined as a focus on aspirations and goals), happiness, and a feeling of power.
In other words, what mindset did you walk into the room with?

The side of the brain activated by thinking certain ways resulted in neurological, hormonal, and psychological effects that lead to behavioral changes: "For example, people primed to feel powerful are more likely to take action such as turning off an annoying fan, while those primed to focus on promotion and happiness offer more ideas in brainstorming and guessing tasks. In our studies, we wanted to know whether these mind-sets would make people more proactive—and thus boost their status—in live, face-to-face group interactions."

The effects were clear. People made to feel promotion-focused, powerful, or happy before the group task behaved more proactively and achieved significantly higher status than those in other states. For example, in one experiment, 60% of those primed with an approach orientation were described by at least one teammate as the “leader of the group”—nearly double the rate expected by chance. 

The researchers concluded "it’s pretty easy to push yourself into the kind of proactivity that marks you as a person worthy of respect—someone others want to follow."
Further testing showed "the temporary mind-set that you bring to an initial group meeting can have a lasting impact on your status and influence with your teammates."

But what if you made the decision before you entered the team or group meeting room to be the most servant-like? The most humble? Listen more than anyone else? Be the most encouraging?

Read the full study here.

boost the boosts.

"Market leaders today are those that define what performance means in their respective categories:

Volvo sets the bar on safety, shaping customers' expectations for features from seat belts to airbags to side-impact protection systems and active pedestrian protection; Febreeze redefined the way customers perceive a clean house; Nike made customers believe in themselves." -HBR

When you look at brands you truly care about and why those companies stand out, chances are it's not because of how sexy their products look or even a great experience you had with their organizations. Brands who communicate real, transferable values do more than just create profits, they ensure that returns will continue.

Before you dive forward with something that has the potential to grow you or your business fast, make sure that it happens on your terms. It's your values that are communicated. Everything that comes out of or is associated with you and your company should point at the same message every time.

The hook, the virality of the surprisingly effective marketing ploy you're endlessly seeking will undoubtedly produce profit if you gain that delicious spike in sales. But do you have the structure and the commitment to a singular message behind that power boost to ensure the returns will continue until long after the buzz has died? 

why?

The major shareholder in an investment firm with an annual funding of over $20 million, Permjot defined with unmistaken clarity a pivotal moment in their company's future. He said he'd been at a conference in Canada and sharing their vision for growth there, and afterwards a man he'd read about, seen speak, and respected greatly approached him. He greeted Permjot, then looked at him and calmly asked "why Canada?" 

Then he allowed the ensuing silence to run it's course as Permjot struggled through the limitless volumes of answers he could give but he knew wouldn't be enough.

The firm went on to invest in 33 companies a around the world in 4 continents.

My wife read to me from a case study in her grad program tonight. "When you answer a question you ask your students, you cheat them out of the discussion that follows unanswered questions."

Jerold Panas wrote in his book about how to successfully raise money that it is of the highest importance after the question is posed to the constituent if they would like to give, to not fill the silence that follows. The potential donor MUST be the first one to speak afterwards. This allows them a chance to ponder the decision as long as they need and be fully responsible for their answer, not simply made to feel comfortable and become blanketed by voiced assumptions about their feelings. 

In a world increasingly filled with ambient white noise and distractions, silence has become even that much more paramount to our decision-making processes. Allow yourself to do more than just react all the time. Maybe you'll find something in those pauses you hadn't seen yet, or may have missed otherwise.

William Benson.

November 22nd, 1963, John F. Kennedy was shot while riding in the back of car with his wife.

That afternoon, as the events unfolded on the television, a man by the name of Warren Benson was writing an orchestra piece for stringed and woodwind instruments. Stricken by the abrupt loss of America's leader, he rewrote the last movement of the song to incorporate the gentle, strained, yet unmistakable chord progression of the hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God."
The composer of more than a hundred works, this honest and sorrowful work titled "The Leaves Are Falling" became the most notable of his career.

Your job isn't just your job. What part of you is allowed to affect your performance?
How can you translate that into work that becomes the most notable of your career?

forgiveness builds.

Below is a excerpt from an award-winning article by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, titled "How Great Companies Think Differently"
This story exemplifies the power behind processing each disagreement or conflict with emotional intelligence, identifying the core issues rather than heated emotions being the forefront of leaders' priorities.

Read the anecdote below and try NOT learning anything. Good luck.

"In South Korea, after the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, Shinhan Bank set out to acquire Chohung Bank, a larger and older bank that the government had bailed out. The moment the acquisition was announced, 3,500 male employees of a Chohung Bank union, whose ranks extended to management levels, shaved their heads in protest and piled the hair in front of Shinhan’s headquarters in downtown Seoul. The acquirer then had to decide whether to go ahead with the acquisition and, if it did so, what it ought to do about Chohung’s employees.

Shinhan’s leaders applied institutional logic. They negotiated an agreement with the Chohung union, deferring formal integration for three years, giving equal representation to both Shinhan and Chohung managers on a new management committee, and increasing the salary of Chohung employees to match the higher wages of Shinhan employees. The acquirer also handed out 3,500 caps to cover the heads of the protestors. Shinhan invested heavily in what it called “emotional integration,” holding a series of retreats and conferences intended not only to spread strategic and operational information but also to foster social bonding and a feeling of being “one bank.” According to financial logic, the acquirer was wasting money. In terms of Shinhan’s institutional logic, the investments were an essential part of securing the future.

The result: Within 18 months, Shinhan had grown both banks’ customer bases, and the Chohung union was having a hard time fomenting discontent against the benign acquirer. Although a formal merger wouldn’t occur for another year and a half, Shinhan and Chohung employees were working together on task forces and discussing best practices, and ideas were spreading that began to make the branches look more similar. Employees were, in essence, self-organizing. By the third year, when formal integration took place, Shinhan was outperforming not only the banking industry but also the South Korean stock market."

http://hbr.org/2011/11/how-great-companies-think-differently/ar/1