The Rabbit Way's Blog

A Way of Life

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 01:08:00 +0000

"There are many things in life that will capture your eye, but only a few will capture your heart....pursue those."
Michael Nolan

Someone recently asked my a simple question: what The Rabbit Way is all about. Well, to put it simply The Rabbit Way is a way of life and it's based on three simple pillars:

Three Portuguese words meaning Amor=Love; Família=Family; Coragem=Courage.

Those three words are hand-written by me and my wife on a painting displayed at our house entrance to remind us who we are, why we exist and why we do what we do. However, if you truly want to understand the meaning of these three words, I need to tell you a true story: mine.

How it all started

Meet young Bruno Coelho. By the way, Coelho is the Portuguese word for Rabbit.

I was 10 years old and in the 5th grade!

It was my first day in a new school.

I still remember staring petrified at the cold school's gates. It was the first time that I was going to leave my family to discover the World. My family gave me no special guidelines to follow except what I already witness until that moment: "above all else... be yourself and remember that Love conquers all!".

Simple words. Simple but, just like I was about to realize, powerful words.

My school was no easy place to be.Kids can be very brutal to each other. And I'm not talking about only physical violence (also known as bullying) but also about psychological violence. Just like everyone else, I simply wanted to fit in and to have a great time with everybody but that was not an easy task.

My fellow 5th grade colleagues. Introducing, in the last row, next to the jumping kid, Bruno; Caipira and Alvaro. I'm wearing a yellow shirt on the first row (3rd from the right).

Looking at my photo and notice how I looked like. I could be literally eaten alive. To survive I couldn't rely on brute force because I didn't have any. Then I figured out that, if I wanted to survive, I needed to rely on what I do best: positive persuasion.

I looked for the most tough guys of the whole school and gave them a reason to like me and protect me from everyone else. I will never forget their names: Bruno, Alvaro e Caipira.
I invite you to look at my photo once again and imagine that kid talking to the most brutally tough kids on the block about how they wanted to protect him from everyone else. They just didn't know it yet.

I mean, why would they want to do that?

The answer is shockingly simple. Until that moment they saw no point in school or everyone else for that matter. The only way they knew how to live was through pain and suffering. Until I entered their lives, they didn't have nothing to lose. Everyone one around them had give up on them. They all said that they were losers and unworthy of being successful.

I showed them another way to live. I showed them that the only way to lose is if they gave up trying. They could prove everybody wrong. I gave them something they couldn't afford to lose and that is why they protected me above everyone else. I showed them that success is a choice between bullying the World around them or changing it for the better!

I showed them what teachers at the time had give up trying: the value of what they were learning in school and how it should matter to them. I helped them build up the courage to pull an apparent impossible stunt like this.

We started studying together and I taught them how to turn complex things into simple ones. And you know what: we did it! Without cheating! They tried to copy my answers but I didn't let them do it or it would ruin the whole point I was trying to make: they could be winners if they worked hard enough and had faith in themselves!

Result: for the first time ever they didn't fail the tests!

Our teachers couldn't believe what was going on and I, for the first time ever, experienced something incredible. Incredible enough to pursue for the rest of my life: helping other people find their inner strengths and help them succeed!

So you can have an idea of the powerful positive effect of this experience, more than 15 years later I met Alvaro, who's working as a pizza delivery guy, and he still remembered me and all that we did back then!

Why should you care?

Since my early days as a student through my professional career path, I've met many people like my three fifth grade friends: a ton of wasted potential trapped in, what I like to call, The Ugly Duckling Paradox!

You should care about this because we're living on the most competitive times ever. Greed mixed with ineptitude from the financial system has destroyed the dreams and lives of millions of people around the World.
The ugly truth is this: everybody knows how we got here but nobody knows how to get out of here! So many time wasted talking about the problem and so little talking about solutions! And if we don't unite and do something about it... no one else will. You can't afford not to do it!

I want you to be successful!

The Rabbit Way's mission is to help YOU escape "The Ugly Duckling Paradox", unleash your innovation and inspire you to change the World!

The Ugly Duckling Paradox is a system that shapes you into the same format as everyone else. It's a duck factory. Starting when we're just born, our society surrounds us with written and unwritten rules and concepts of what's possible and impossible. What's right and wrong. What you should do and what you shouldn't. This powerful suggestions are stored deep in our conscious and unconscious mind.

The bad joke is that after YEARS and years of living in this duck factory system you ask a very important question:

"How am I going to be successful?"

And what's the answer from the gurus and all the articles that you relentless read every day and night in search for the answer? They answer: just think different; just do it; differentiate or die!

But how are you supposed to do this if ALL your life you were told that you're a duck? Well... are you? I guess not! The Ugly Duckling Paradox is this system that raises you to be a duck when you're something else: a swan or, in my case, a rabbit!

The reason The Rabbit Way exists is to help you discover what makes you unique and empower you to be yourself! When you understand how to leverage your unique strengths and manage your weakness you become much more successful! When you realize where your heart is and create an action plan to make it happen, you'll become much more happier and passionate about your life!

How am I going to make this happen?

The Rabbit Way does this in fundamentally three ways: raising awareness and our persuasion services.

Raising awareness by democratizing knowledge

We raise awareness to things that might pass unnoticed but that you should pay attention to.

We help you see things the way they are and see them the way they could be.

Our blog articles and live presentations are written & designed to give you a fresh new perspective of what could make the difference between being good and great!

The Rabbit Way of Persuasion

"Not brute force but only persuasion and faith are the kings of this world."
Thomas Carlyle

It doesn't matter how you good you really are if your audience doesn't see you as great! That's the role of persuasion and that's also why I'm launching a scientific investigation that will show you how persuasion really works online at TheRabbitWay.com. The goal of this investigation is to study the science behind the art of persuasion!

The Rabbit Way of Persuasion is a presentation production platform that helps you write meaningful content, design memorable presentations, train your speaking skills and deliver persuasive presentations. We are partners of Sliderocket, a tech company that reinvented how presentations should be made on the web.

One of the most interesting things about of this platform is the mix of my 6 years of software engeniring in the web development business with my wife's experience in the neuropsychology field. All this to give only what professional experience and true scientific research can deliver: results.

Conclusion

Above all else, The Rabbit Way is a way of life based on three things called: Love, Family and Courage.

Love is the reason The Rabbit Way was born. It's love what makes us dedicated to serve our clients with enthusiasm. We believe that without love it's impossible to be truly great at one's art.

Family represents the foundations of The Rabbit Way. We believe that good family relationships influence great results. Therefore, we are dedicated to turn our visitors into clients and, finally, to become part of The Rabbit Way family.

Courage to never settle with what we achieved but always challenge the status quo through innovation. Courage to accept that we will make mistakes but we're continuously looking to learn from each and every one of them.

This is The Rabbit Way.

What's yours?

The Rite of Innovation

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Igor Stravinsky via Wikipedia

Let me introduce to you a man who revolutionized the world of ballet & music: Mr. Igor Stravinsky.

I want to show you what you can learn from him, use it to innovate and change the World!

It was 1913. The world of ballet was dominated by works like Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty. Beautiful melodies and graceful dancing. But to Stravinsky this was a rather narrow view of music. He wanted to explore the boundaries of what an orchestra could do and how it could influence an audience feelings. He also wanted to take music back to it's primitive origins, into a world without imposed rules and without prejudice about beauty. Who gets to decide what's beautiful and what's not?

Being a Russian, Stravinsky's quest took him to the primitive pagan rituals of ancient Russia. But oddly enough, 1913 Russia wasn't to interested into Russian sounds. It was in France (Paris) that Stravinsky found an audience willing to hear his latest masterpiece: "The Rite of Spring".

As you start to hear and see "The Rite of Spring", just allow yourself to relax and completely focus on the sounds and the dancing and let your mind wander...

I don't know what did you feel while listening to Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" (I would love to read about it in the comments area!) but on May 29 1913, the audience of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris started a RIOT!

"Opposition to Stravinsky's work literally happened within the first few minutes of the piece as members of the audience booed loudly in response to the inharmonic notes accompanying the unrecognizable bassoon's opening solo.
[...]
As the ballet progressed, so did the audience's discomfort. Those in favor of Stravinksy's work argued with those in opposition. The arguments eventually turned to brawls and police had to be notified. They arrived at intermission and successfully calmed the angry crowd (yes, the show wasn't even half way over before people were throwing punches). As the second half commenced, police were unable to keep the audience under control and rioting resumed."

Just like happens with all who are ahead of their time, people in 1913 were not ready to hear and see Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring". However, in spite of the what happened in 1913 "today, it is considered to be a milestone in the history of ballet. It has become a regular work in many ballet companies' repertoires. The music has been used extensively, as in Disney's Fantasia. It has also inspired composers like John Williams (Star Wars) and Jerry Goldsmith (Outland)." [1]

What does this mean to you?

And why should you care about some guy in 1913 that produced some crazy sounds and imagined a funny ballet?

YOU should care if you're serious about innovation! If you're in the "ME TOO" business I'm sorry to have wasted your time. But if you're in the innovation business as I know you are, you should care about this work.

Innovation is not about making something better or faster or anything that ends in "er" for that matter.
Innovation is not something that you do at the end of your product lifespan. Innovation starts before the product even exists. It starts when you have a vision about something so revolutionary that people won't forget it.

Innovation is about changing the World! And that's exactly what Stravinsky did and so should you!

Who are you making angry?

No one? I'm sorry but you're not innovating. Doesn't mean that you can't be successful. Probably you're competing on price, it's a margin pressure tactic, and maybe you're doing fine but... you're not innovating and most certainly: you're not changing the World!

Innovation makes the the status quo very angry because the status quo hates change! So, if you don't hear any complaints about what you're doing... that's a strong sign that you're not changing the game. You're playing it.

Don't be afraid to polarize people! Great products polarize people all the time. Not everyone believes that the iPad is the best technology product ever. And that's OK because Steve Jobs doesn't want to please everybody. He wants to please Apple's fans!

Don't try to please everybody because it's impossible! Make your fans happy and let them tell the World how great your brand is!

Blow expectations away!

"Harvard University Professor Thomas Kelly suggests that one of the reasons that the Paris premiere of "The Rite of Spring" created such a furor was that it shattered everyone's expectations." [2]

Not everyone can look at things the way they are and see them the way they could be. That's why sometimes someone comes and blows our expectations away.

Don't create something that we can already see it happen or, even worse, that we already have. We want you to be successful so give us something that we didn't know it could exist but we need it. In fact, we want it!

Another important thing: you don't need anyone's permission to do it! Just get going!
Don't expect to talk about something revolutionary and hear people say "Yes! That's a great idea! You're a genius!". That's not going to happen! What's probably going to happen is this: they'll tell you that you're crazy and you're better off doing what everybody else is doing. What are you expecting from the status quo?

Here's some examples about the status quo advice about innovation:

I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.
~Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.

The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys.
~ Sir William Preece, chief engineer of the British Post Office, 1876.

So we went to Atari and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we’ll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we’ll come work for you.’ And they said, ‘No.’ So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, ‘Hey, we don’t need you. You haven’t got through college yet.’
~Apple’s founder Steve Jobs tries to get Atari and HP interested in the Machintosh.

We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.
~Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

Conclusion

Great visionaries are ahead of their time.

They look at things the way they are and see them the way they could be.

They don't want to please everybody. In fact, they don't care if their innovations are making some people angry. They just do it.

They blow expectations way by changing the World as we know it.

I hope that this article inspires you to use your creativity and change the World because we really need you to do it!

GO!

"God gave Artists the gift of making us dream while awake"
Anonymous

References:
[1] Green, A.(2011). The Rite of The Spring Riot, 1913. Retrieved June 19, 2011 from http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/20thcenturymusic/qt/rite-of-spring.htm

[2] Kelly, T. (1999). Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of The Spring". Retrieved June 19, 2011 from
http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/milestones/991110.motm.riteofspring.html

Books on my mind

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 22:11:00 +0000

Those are some of the books that are a part of who I am.

It's interesting to notice how it shows my evolution from pure software development to the world business, marketing and presentations.

I guess that you can tell a lot about a person by the books on the person's bookshelf.

And what about you? Any books on your mind?

Next financial crisis October 2011?

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 10:43:00 +0000

Since 2008 that the World is facing one of the most brutal crisis in recent History. It started as a financial crisis, turned into an economic crisis and finnaly a social crisis.

But is it over? I don't think so.

If you follow the currency exchange markets you'll see that, if things keep up at this pace, we will reach the same tipping point of 2008 around October 2011.

EUR/USD since 2008 until today from Yahoo Finance

The strength of the US Dollar and it's role as the reserve currency of the world economy is at record lows. The two rounds of quantitive easing, performed by the FED, have strongly depreciated the USD.

"A lot of countries and investors rely on the dollar as a store of value for their assets because it has the Reserve Currency Status. It can be weak, but if global investors start to have legitimate doubts about the safety of their assets parked and backed by the US Dollar, then we have a much bigger problem than just a slow recovery. We could end up in a currency crisis that takes down the entire global economy, thus sending us right back to where we were in the depths of the financial crisis."

Guest Commentary: QE2 is Damaging the Economy and Reducing GDP Growth on DailyFx 28 April 2011

But not only that. The biggest banks, the ones that were too big to fail, are even bigger than before.

"Paris-based BNP Paribas, the world’s biggest bank by assets, increased its balance sheet by 59 percent to 2.29 trillion euros ($3.5 trillion) since the beginning of 2007, an amount equal to 117 percent of France’s gross domestic product. Assets at London-based Barclays jumped 55 percent to 1.55 trillion pounds ($2.6 trillion), or 108 percent of U.K. GDP. Santander’s rose 30 percent to 1.08 trillion euros, about the size of Spain’s GDP."

Quoted from a Bloomberg article called European Banks Growing Bigger ‘Sowing the Seeds’ of Next Crisis by By Andrew MacAskill and Jon Menon - December 1, 2009

And what about their performance?

"Bailed-out banks are the nine worst performers in the 64- member Bloomberg European Banks Index since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 15, 2008. RBS plunged 85 percent for the biggest decline. Lloyds dropped 63 percent, Commerzbank 58 percent and Dexia 43 percent, compared with the 18 percent decline in the index."

Quoted from a Bloomberg article called European Banks Growing Bigger ‘Sowing the Seeds’ of Next Crisis by By Andrew MacAskill and Jon Menon - December 1, 2009

But not only that. Oil prices are going through the roof as we approach the 2008 high of 150$.

OIL prices since 2008 until today from XTB trading platform

Stay alert and watch the signals from the markets and by October 2011 we'll see what happens.

P.S (30-04-2011): It seems that I'm not alone on this forecast. Here's other articles, wrote well before this one, that point to the same conclusion...

"Bill Achtmeyer, my long-time partner and Chairman and Managing Partner of the Parthenon Group, agrees that macroeconomics eventually win out and we should carefully brace ourselves for what might loom ahead — the next crisis in 2011."

Source: Harvard Business Review The Next Crisis: Coming in 2011 on Monday September 28, 2009.

"The second half of 2011 will mark the point in time when all the world’s financial operators will finally understand that the West will not repay in full a significant portion of the loans advanced over the last two decades. For LEAP/E2020 it is, in effect, around October 2011"

Source: The Coming Economic Crisis in 2011 on December 16, 2010.

"Central banks and official bodies have parked record sums of dollars at the US Federal Reserve for safe-keeping, indicating a clear loss of trust in commercial banks. "

UK

Source: By Andrew Trotman, and Szu Ping Chan on September 1, 2011

"The banks have again lost confidence and so lend less to each other. The situation is not as bad as in 2008-2009, but you see that it is going little by little in this direction."

Source: ECB's Coene: Crisis Heading to 2008/9 Level on September 2, 2011

"There is some hope here that stronger domestic demand can help buffer the shock from exports. But make no mistake, if the drawdown from exports is as big as in 2008, there will inevitably be an impact on local demand as well..."

Source: Asia's Similarities to 2008 'Striking': Economist on October 4, 2011

Portugal, a Geração à Rasca e a Crise - Parte 2

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 00:17:00 +0000

O comentário após a manifestação da "Geração à Rasca", fechando a visão que apresentei em "Portugal, a Geração à Rasca e a Crise"

Milhares de pessoas a manifestar o seu direito a comer do mesmo "tacho" que culpam o governo de se orientar, junto com os seus lobbies!

Manifestam o seu direito a um emprego porque têm um curso, a um contracto por recibos verdes são precários e a um salário acima da média porque 500€ não chega para sair da casa dos pais e comprar um carro novo pah!

Enquanto eles, esperam que o governo os "desenrasque"... eu.. em casa a trabalhar e a inovar novas maneiras de transformar o meu conhecimento em ouro...

...como diriam os Deolinda: "Que parvo que sou..."

Portugal, a Geração à Rasca e a Crise

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 16:49:00 +0000

Neste texto pretendo apresentar a minha visão sobre como um curso não é garantia de emprego, a relação entre a "geração à rasca" e a precariedade e outro ponto de vista sobre os Homens da Luta.

Antes de continuar o alguns pontos relevantes sobre mim:
- tenho 27 anos
- sou empreendedor
- não pertenço a nenhum partido político nem religião porque não apoio a divisão é promovida por estas organizações
- não voto porque não acredito neste sistema

a) Direito ao Emprego

Desde quando é que o emprego é um direito? O emprego só existe porque existem empresas. E estas só existem porque há pessoas (clientes ou consumidores) que estão dispostas a trocar dinheiro por serviços ou produtos. Este negócio só acontece quando os clientes verificam que o preço que pagam é menor ou igual ao valor que recebem.
Da mesma forma, o emprego não é um direito. O emprego existe quando há mercado suficiente para justificar o investimento associado a ter um colaborador e quando o valor que este entrega é superior ao seu custo fixo.

Se fazem uma manifestação pelo direito ao emprego, eu convoco todos os empreendedores a fazerem uma manifestação pelo direito aos clientes e consumidores!

b) Precariedade

Antes de analisarmos esta questão é relevante perceber e analisar o contexto empresarial Português.

Segundo o INE (2008), existem em Portugal 1.096.255 empresas. 1.089.221 (99,3%) representam micro, pequenas e médias empresas. A juntar a este cenário temos também a competitividade dos mercados globais onde países como a China, usam a desvalorização da moeda, trabalho (este sim) realmente escravo e um desrespeito generalizado pela dignidade humana para conseguirem crescer economicamente.

Neste cenário, a precariedade é uma realidade. Isto pode ser uma notícia chocante mas o velho racional do emprego estável para a vida inteira acabou! Querem obrigar 99% do tecido empresarial a acabar com os recibos verdes, fazer contractos e a aumentar os seus custos fixos de forma insustentável?

A era industrial acabou! Os trabalhos "mão-de-obra" intensivos estão a ser realizados por outros países. Nós temos de inovar ou morrer! Estão à espera que o Governos milagrosamente vos dê um emprego só porque têm um curso? Se isto é o melhor que conseguem, a geração "casinha-dos-pais" é bom que fique mesmo pela casinha dos pais enquanto os outros trabalham duro para fazer com que o país siga em frente!

Um curso não é sinónimo de emprego. O que é sinónimo de emprego é conseguirem transformar o vosso conhecimento em valor que possa ser capitalizado!

Para terminar o tema da precariedade, gostaria de partilhar dois factos para ponderarmos:
i) metade da população mundial vive com $2.5 por dia
ii) segundo a Unicef, 22.000 crianças morrem por dia de fome

c) "Homens da Luta" - a outra visão

Os "Homens da Luta" são muito acarinhados pela auto intitulada "geração à rasca" porque representam na perfeição a sua atitude. A luta pelo fim da precariedade e das desigualdades é concretizado através da partilha dos célebres tachos donde comem os "privilegiados" e os "lobbies".

Enquanto que a verdadeira luta que culminou no 25 de Abril tinha como objectivo a Liberdade, esta nova "luta" tem como objectivo "comprar um carro novo, pá!"

Esta geração acha que tem direito a tudo e que tudo "cai do céu" porque o governo andou na escola de Hogwarts com o Harry Potter e vai fazer com que todos tenhamos emprego, casa e carro! Fantástico. A classe politica dos últimos anos também andou na mesma escola e pensou que o crédito era o feitiço eterno para os nossos problemas. Estamos a pagar esse erro agora.

CONCLUSÃO

Este tipo de manifestações fazem lembrar as birras que algumas crianças fazem quando os pais não lhes dão aquilo que querem... Por isso chorem. Gritem. Queixem-se muito.

Enquanto uns sonham que o sucesso cai do céu... outros trabalham diariamente para o atingir.

A nossa História prova que, unidos, sempre fomos capazes de ultrapassar grandes desafios através da nossa capacidade de inovar. Enquanto uns choravam, gritavam e queixavam-se outros faziam-se ao mar na descoberta do novo Mundo.

Hoje estamos novamente a passar por um momento histórico. Um momento de enormes dificuldades.
Hoje temos uma decisão importante a tomar: queixar-mo-nos dos problemas ou fazer algo produtivo para sairmos deles.

Pista: ninguém nos vai tirar desta trapalhada por nós.

Esta mensagem é para os que têm a coragem de lutar contra tudo e fazer com que todos tenhamos a esperança da vinda de dias melhores.

Discover your ideal customer

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 01:49:00 +0000

If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there. - Lewis Carrol

Do you know who your ideal customer is?

You should. Why?Otherwise, how can you create something that can benefit someone that you don't know? How do you know their needs? Their wants?

Answering everyone is trying to please everybody. It's an impossible mission.
If you try to please everyone you'll undermine the very thing that makes your product unique. Or worse, you'll create mediocrity. Even if you're trying to save the planet: you won't please everyone. There's always someone that won't like what you're doing.

I can hear you say: "In this though economy, my ideal customer is everyone who is willing to pay for my product!"

Take Patek Philippe's example. Patek Philippe is a premium watch brand with the following customer slogan:

The pictures in this article are an example of Patek Philippe's advertising. The ads clearly show that they know who their ideal customer is: family oriented wealthy man with a desire to create a legacy. Sure, even if you're not a family oriented wealthy man with a desire to create a legacy, you can still buy a Patek Philippe watch, if you have the money. However, it would be a lot more difficult for a family oriented wealthy man with a desire to create a legacy to buy just one more regular watch that is the cheapest in the market, is occasionally on-time and even saves dolphins.

Just like Patek Philippe, it's YOU who decide who your customer is.
It's only after making this important decision that you can adapt every marketing variable to fit your ideal customer's profile.
It's only after knowing their problems that you can find ways to help them succeed!
It's only after knowing their needs that you can show them how your product can benefit them!
It's only after knowing who they are that you can write a presentation that can really persuade them and motivate them to do business with you!

If you can see your ideal customer, take a moment and listen to them. Get to know them. And then find ways to be helpful. Money is the applause you get at the end.

That's The Rabbit Way.

What's yours?

Escaping the Crisis using Innovation

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 14:00:00 +0000

We’re living one of the most serious challenges of recent History.

The financial crisis created an economic crisis and, finally, a social crisis that shook the foundations of the World economy. Greed mixed with ineptitude from the financial system has destroyed the dreams and lives of millions of people around the World.

In spite of everything that History taught us about previous economic crisis and depressions, the truth is: no one really knows how to successfully solve this mess! Cutting monetary stimulus too soon and preventing new bailouts could result in a new recession. Cutting it too late could cause dependence. And while we’re here talking about our economic meltdown, emerging economies are working at full business speed, surpassing us every day on their road to success.

One thing is for sure: we need a new plan that points to a sustainable solution! And we need it now!

Read the rest of the article at the OnInnovation Blog.

NOW!

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 23:37:00 +0000

Shallow people believe in luck. Wise and strong people believe in cause and effect.—Ralph Waldo Emerson

NOW!

Now, is the time to cause our ideas to born! For too long we've afford to let them inside our brains. But not anymore.

Now is the time to, together, combine our strengths and leverage the power of open innovation.

Now is the time to, together, let go of our fears and let the World know who we are and why should they care.

NOW!

Mistakes and what to do about them

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 23:18:00 +0000

No matter what you do, you're going to make some mistakes. But making mistakes per se won't lead you to failure because everyone makes mistakes. Your competition, your customers and your employees. It's just part of being human.

What leads to a failure or to a success is what you do once you make a mistake!

Recently, after 6 months of investing time and money working on a design & development of a project, I realized that the solution that I've come up with had a couple of critical mistakes.

It was tough to realize and accept that I've only noticed those mistakes after 6 months of work. What was even tougher to do, curiously, was to let go the solution that I've been working on. I always thought that, eventually, when I would run into some mistakes I would learn from them and carry on. Well... it's not so easy as it sounds.

Here's what I've learned from making mistakes:

Who wants to make mistakes? No one! If we could just be successful, we would be a lot happier. However, mistakes are a part of life and a part of business. As soon as you accept this, learn from your mistakes and get going, the better!
Realizing that you've made a mistake, sometimes, isn't as easy as it seems. So if you did noticed that your plan, written 6 months ago, isn't going to succeed, it's better to start working on a new one than to insist on a plan that it's doomed to fail. That would be two mistakes in a row!
Fight you EGO! You're worst enemy is yourself. It's hard to admit that you're wrong. But if you want to succeed I suggest that you start focusing on solving your mess than focusing on satisfying your EGO!
Just make sure that you've decided to work on a different direction because you've found a mistake and not for fear of shipping your product. Don't make up mistakes because you're afraid that your launch will be a failure.

That's the rabbit way.

What's yours?

Introducing The Startup Diary

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 00:09:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

If you're a reader of The Rabbit Way or my guest posts on the OnInnovation blog or if you follow me on Twitter, you know that I'm a big believer in the power of sharing knowledge! That's what makes us go beyond our own limitations and beyond our own individualities. That's what makes us evolve to the next level!

Successful entrepreneurs know that one can't succeed alone.

As an entrepreneur myself, I'm always looking forward to learn something new every day! However, I've always found that it would be great if I could see what other entrepreneurs were doing. It would be a fantastic way to motivate and inspire each other while learning from our different experiences.

That's why I've created The Startup Diary.

The Startup Diary exists to connect entrepreneurs from around the World and share their experiences.

Through videos, pictures and posts from brave entrepreneurs around the World, we will show you what entrepreneurship is all about and, hopefully, inspire you to change the World!

It's going to be a phenomenal journey and you're invited to join us at The Startup Diary!

Thank you.

Best regards,
Bruno Coelho

Inside the fighting ring

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:21:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia
When you're outside the ring, is easy to criticize the athletes performance. It's simple to know what would be the best attack or the best defense while you're comfortably seated in your chair.

But you're outside the ring! And there's a good reason for it. You know that it takes courage, hard work, passion and discipline to be inside that ring.

The fighters that you see inside the ring made a choice. They've chosen to train as hard as they can to be the best fighters they can be. But not only that. They've chosen to compete against other fighters that have the same goal in mind. But not only that. They've chosen to expose themselves by competing live on a public fighting ring. They understand that competition gives you the opportunity to improve both your strengths and weaknesses.

The same thing applies to business and entrepreneurship. As soon as someone tries to change the status quo and introduces something new to the World, soon enough, comfortably standing outside the "business" ring, the critics appear to do what they do best: tell you why you'll fail. Some people find fault like there's a reward for it. Here's some of the best historic critics prediction quotes:

I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. ~Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.

The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys. ~ Sir William Preece, chief engineer of the British Post Office, 1876.

We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out. ~Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

Inside the fighting ring just as in business you have to:

Understand that the real fight begins with hard training. If you're not sweating, not bleeding and without any pain then you're not training. Remember the old saying "The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle"? It's absolutely true and you should start implementing it today!
Learn to take a hit. No businessman and no fighter will become a champion without taking a hit. The question is: how will you react after being hit. Some of them will hurt you a little bit and some of them will leave you KO. However, above all things: never give up! Only losers quit.
Focus on the battle at hand. Ask any fighter if they hear anything when they're inside the ring. When the bell rings, they stop listening the crowd and the critics. They are extremely focused on winning that fight one punch at a time. And so should you.
Look for your opponent weaknesses. As tall, as strong and as big your opponent can be, he has weaknesses. Your job is to find them and leverage them with your strengths.

Being inside the ring is a choice.

Think about this and, hopefully, I'll see you next time, inside the business ring!

Brand addiction

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 22:37:00 +0000

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

What makes us addicted to an experience?

What makes us want to repeat it? Over and over again?

What makes us take the never ending quest in search of the same first time feeling?

The answer lies inside the brain pleasure and reward system.
Think about powerful addictions like games, drugs and sex. What do they have in common?
Three key characteristics: they are repetitive, high-emotion, high-frequency experiences.

Think how you can add these elements into your brand's customer experience, and you'll have your customers addicted to your brand!

More about the brain's pleasure systems at http://www.addictionscience.net/ASNreport01.htm

Want Innovation? Don't read this!

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 09:41:00 +0000

This is the title for my latest article on the OnInnovation blog. Despite the title, if you still want to read it follow this link.

Your feedback is deeply appreciated!

Thank you for your time.

Leadership is about building leaders

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:00:00 +0000

photo via cdn.sheknows.com
Multi-billion dollar business genius Donald Trump and two of his sons that are being coached by The Donald himself to become great leaders of The Trump organization.

As a leader you are constantly challenged with important decisions to make. The most important decisions are the ones that involve your followers.

Your success as a leader is measured by the results of those you lead. Thus, planning for successors is one of the most critical things you can do to ensure your company's ongoing success.

So the question is: are you building leaders?

Building leaders is about making daily choices. Here's a simple sample:

You can choose to keep all your knowledge to yourself or share it with those you trust.
You can choose to let them work with their current skills or empower them with the tools they need to succeed.
You can choose to tell them what to do and disappear or you can be the example of the leader you want them to be.
You can choose to let them be ducks that all they do is quack about problems to their superiors or you can make them become eagles focused on finding solutions to the customer.

The main reason that so many leaders don't build successors is because they think that leadership is about power. They think that leadership is about what's written in their business card. With this mindset a successor is seen as a potential threat.

Great leaders understand that they leadership isn't about power. It's about serving the right people and achieving great results. It's not about what's written in their business card but it's about they influence others with their leadership point of view.

How can you build a platform for building leaders?

Leadership starts with leading yourself. It begins by answering three simple questions:

who you are?
whose you are?
are you the example?

Then, it evolves into one-on-one leadership. It's about sharing your leadership point of view with one person at a time. It's about knowing them. Their strengths and weaknesses. However, always remember that it's their choice to follow your vision or not.

After you've build a relationship based on trust and on you leadership culture, you go to the next level: team leadership. In this stage you combine each team member's strengths and weaknesses to build a high performance team. You set clear & measurable goals, praise them when they achieve them and redirect them when they go off track.

The last stage is combining different teams into an organizational structure that is prepared for growth because each team is a platform for building leaders.

If you aren't building great leaders you're not really leading.

Solitude - A leadership habit

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:33:00 +0000

Image by khalid almasoud via Flickr

TV. Books. Blogs. E-mail. RSS. Podcasts. YouTube. Twitter. Instant messaging. Facebook.

These are a sample of inputs that you expose your mind on a daily basis. With so many many sources of unlimited information flow it's so easy to get overloaded with information to process. Technology breakthroughs and the Globalization phenomenon made Information Overload one of the top issues today's executive face.

But it gets worse than that. Besides getting a severe case of "information overload", you're so busy processing new information that you don't have time to think for yourself. You don't have time to make your own opinions. You don't have time to set a new vision for the future.

Solitude can the most important habits that you can choose to embrace.

Solitude gives you a time and a place where you can process all the things that you exposed your mind to, turn information into knowledge and see new paths to walk. New products to launch. New solutions to old problems.

Consider this:

Just because you have access to information, it doesn't mean that you should access it in the first place.
Exposing yourself to all information channels it's your choice! You still have the power to filter them.
You need time to hear yourself! How can you expect to do this with everybody screaming for your attention?

Today's business world is more competitive than ever. Now is the time to make yourself stand out from the crowd or become irrelevant. To do this you need to understand who you are, whose you are and what you stand for. The only way you can do this is if you choose to make solitude one of your habits as a leader.

The final choice is up to you.

And early in the morning, while it was still dark, he [Jesus] rose up and went outside and left for a lonely place, and there he began praying. - Mark 1:35

First time

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 09:40:00 +0000

Image by ntr23 via Flickr

When was the last time that did something for the first time?

Heard an awesome new song that gave you chills for the first time? Saw a new inspirational presentation? Read an article that change the way you look at something? Experienced a new product that made your life more fun? More simple? More happy?

We are constantly searching for the "first time" feeling. That's why you check your e-mail every time. Or your rss feed. Or your twitter account. You want to experience that feeling again!

Now, imagine that you could add that feeling to your product or service.

Every customer interaction would make them relive that feeling again.

How do you think you could make them feel?

What do you think it would happen?

Magic in Business

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:33:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Have you ever told a friend something like this: "Yesterday I went to dinner in this regular restaurant. The customer service was regular and the food was normal! Yes. It was a nice experience."

We don't share normal or regular experiences. The moments that we share the most are the magical ones. The ones that fascinate us. The ones that blow our expectations away. If you're in business, any business, from the C-level executive to the doorman, your mission is to make magic happen.

Image by Express Monorail via Flickr

Magic is the art of defying reality.

But what is real? Isn't real our perception of what we experience? If this is true, if you target your customer's perception of your brand, you will make magic happen! Think about Disney. They are in the Happiness and Magic business. Their goal is to make every interaction with them a magical moment!

How can you make magic in business?

Here's some ideas:

Make your customer's pain disappear.
Transform your customer support focus from finding who's to blame to finding the solution.
Instead of crying for your customers attention try to listen to them first and deliver that extra unexpected touch that will make the difference.
Make every customer visit to your shop unique and memorable.
Remember that we have 5 senses. Use all of them in your customer experience

Think how you can deliver a magical customer experience and you'll turn your customers into fans!

And you? How do you make magic happen?

Captain Jack Sparrow's Lessons on Innovation

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 09:07:00 +0000

Recently, I've had the honor of being invited to write an article for one of the top websites dedicated to innovation: OnInnovation.com, powered by The Henry Ford Museum which is devoted to innovation promotion.

The article is entitled "Captain Jack Sparrow's Lessons on Innovation" and presents 5 very important lessons about what innovation is all about, from the Pirates of the Caribbean main character - Jack Sparrow.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated! But above all, I hope that you take the 5 lessons on innovation with you and change the World!

"Captain Jack Sparrow's Lessons on Innovation"

Thank you for your time.

Best regards,
Bruno Coelho

Be yourself and change the world

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 00:52:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

You want to stand out from the crowd. You want to differentiate yourself from your competition. You want to drive your competition crazy! You want everybody to understand your value!
But how?
All previous sentences were focused on your competition. Well... I believe that, in order to beat your competition, you have to focus on yourself first.
Be yourself!

Let me introduce to you a legendary artist: Max Cavalera. At an early age Max wanted to change the world as an musician. His mom had an advice for him: "Go ahead son! I wish you all the luck in the world. But remember... if this venture goes wrong don't come running back home crying!"

This is a very important advice that I follow close to my heart. In everything that I do... I do it like there was no turning back. I go for it with all my heart and with all my strengths. If I'm going down... there's no more glory that to "die" in the battle field. All you have to do is to learn from your mistakes and try to make better options in the future. If I succeed... I try to understand what exactly I did right, in order to repeat it in the future.

Max wrote a song about this called: "Refuse Resist".

The music industry is a very competitive industry. It's a though game to win because the supply of artists is much greater that the demand for them. Max knew this. Marilyn Manson also knew this. Max knew that in order to differentiate himself from this competition he had to give the audience something unique. And what is more unique than ones personality and culture. What's more unique than yourself?

When Max founded Sepultura, he added all the Brazilian culture and sounds into his music. He also added all the things that made Max what he is.

However to be yourself you have to be courageous, because the easiest path is to be just like everyone wants you to be. To be like your friends want you to be. Like your parents want you to be. Like your teachers want you to be. Like the TV want you to be. It's the Ugly Duckling Paradox!

In this music "Refuse Resist", Max is speaking to everyone that have the courage to be themselves! I know that it's easier to decide what you want to be than discovering who you really are. However, just like Max, you have to understand who you are, what you stand for, acknowledge your weaknesses and leverage your strengths!

In a world where everyone is trying to please the status quo, if you have the courage to be yourself, break the silence that means death, stand on your feet and conquer your inner fears... you will be a true leader and change the world!

This is the Rabbit way!

What's yours?

The NBA Way to Success

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:36:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Success.

You know what it looks like, right? It's when the clouds clear, the sun shines and the angels start singing... it's a beautiful thing to witness. It happens when you finally reach the goal you worked so much for.

The problem is: it's not going to be easy because, in any game, you're not the only one that's trying to win. There will be the ones that will try to break the rules and put you out of the game. Others will try to break you. Others though, will help you.

NBA players know a lot about this. Their goal? Wining the championship by scoring as much points as possible while preventing the other team to do the same. Their problem? There's a total of 30 teams, each one with 15 players on their roster, making a total of 450 players competing for the same thing: wining!

The question is: how they succeed?

Here's the first set of clues: Determination, Heart and Discipline.

Determination

The definition of determination is the quality of being determined to do or achieve something.

So first, in order to be determined, you have to know what you're trying to achieve. This can be understood as common sense but often, I've watched people trying to succeed with no idea of what they want to achieve. This reminds me something from Alice in Wonderland.

Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to
Alice: I don't much care where.
The Cat: Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.

You have to have a clear vision of what you're trying to achieve. It has to be so clear that you can almost touch your goal! Then you have to got the determination to walk the path that leads to your goal, because it's going to be hard path to walk.

Jesus, the greatest leader of all times said something about being determined to walk the path that leads to success:
"Go in through the narrow gate; because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are the ones going in through it; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it." - Matthew 7:13

Be determined to hold on to your values because, in the end, that's all you've got. Your values define who you are!

Heart

There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart...pursue those. - Michael Nolan

They say that there's two important days in your life. One is when you're born. The other is when you discover why.

Ask yourself these questions: What do I love? What is the thing that I love most in this world? That's where your heart is. That's what can drive you to success!

Doing something that you love makes all the difference. When you love something, it's easier to get through the challenging hard times. It makes it easier to work and turn your skills into perfection.

There will be times that reason says that something is impossible to do. In those times, your heart will be the key to make the impossible happen. When you put all your heart into your actions you'll discover new strengths. When you love something so much you won't let it go without a fight. You'll fight for it until you run out of strengths. Then you'll reach for your heart to run that extra mile!

In the end, what's the point of living life with no heart and no passion? If you don't pursue the dreams that you love and are passionate about, with bother getting up from bed? That's why we have hope. We hope that one day... one day will be the day that we succeed!

Discipline

"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." - Tim Notke

Hard work is just that. Hard. But it needs to be done.

Discipline is what makes you do the hard work that needs to be done in order to be prepared when opportunity finally comes. Discipline makes you focus on reaching your goal and your plan to get there. It makes handle the pain of training. It makes you stronger! Faster! Better!

The important thing to remember is: nobody else will force you to follow and focus on your game plan. That's all up to you. Additionally, you're the only person in the world that can use your ability (Zig Ziglar). Using your unique skills in a way that gives you a competitive advantage and makes meaning in the world, is up to you too.

In this global competitive world, chances are great that in order to succeed you need the help of others. NBA players need each other to win the game.
In order to lead a team to success you have to first lead yourself. Discover who you are and what you're trying to accomplish. This takes discipline to do but is critical to discover your strengths and your purpose!

This next final clue can be seen as a paradox:

Embrace failure

In your path to success you will eventually fail in the process.

That's OK though. You have to accept failure in your path to success and don't give up. However when you do fail: accept the consequences, understand why you've failed and design a plan to cover that issue.

Remember that failure is part of life's learning experience and it's reserved only for those who have the courage to dare to succeed! People like entrepreneurs who dare to defy the status quo and change the world. You have my respect.

No article that talks about NBA should be complete without talking about Michael Jordan. Let's listen to what Michael Jordan has to say about failure:

Conclusions

There's no recipe for success. However, there's some critical keys that you must remember in order to succeed:

Determination - know what you want to achieve and let no one tell you that you won't make it!

Heart - choose something that you love! It will help you find new strengths and get through thought times

Discipline - you're the only one that can use your ability and the only one that can work hard to be even better

Embrace failure - eventually you will fail in your path to success. Our evolution is a series of failures and some successes. Accept it, learn from it and create a plan so they tend to decrease.

If you're still reading this, chances are great that you're already on your way to success! I believe in you!

That's the Rabbit way.

What's yours?

Innovation and The Ugly Duckling Paradox

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:19:00 +0000

Cover of The Ugly Duckling

Since the day you were born, you were told how to see, hear, touch, smell, feel the world around you. Our society's culture teach us how to think and behave in "right" way.

It all starts with the Parents. "Don't do this or else... Say that or else..."

Then, the Television, one of the main characters in modern education model, shows you some more rules. "If you don't buy this brand no one will talk to you. If don't buy that brand no girls will like you. If you don't have that car no one will like you. If you don't buy that, you won't succeed."

Enter School. If you don't like the same games that all the other kids like, no one will be your friend. If you don't have good grades, you'll die miserable and poor.

Enter the Job market. If you don't do what your boss says, you'll be fired. If you try to do a task in an improved way, your team will think that you're trying to make them look bad.

They've raised you surrounded by a message of fear for you to fit in. Why? Because when you're afraid it's easier to control you. It's easier to make you become just like everyone else. One more number in a statistic.

Now, you are an adult. It's your responsibility to succeed! After all you were raised to succeed, right?

Wrong! If you were raised surround by an endless set of conscious and unconscious set of rules and "truths", how can you be different from your competition?

Now, after years and years of this brainwash, suddenly you're supposed to:

"Think different!"
"Be like Coca-Cola!"
"Differentiate or die!"

Enter the Ugly Duckling Paradox.
11 November 1843.

Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen wrote a fairy tale about this. It's a story of a homely little bird born in a barnyard who suffers abuse from his neighbors until, much to his delight (and to the surprise of others), he matures into a graceful swan, the most beautiful bird of all (more info).

How can you apply this concept in business?

The Ugly Duckling Paradox is to be raised to be like a duck when you're something else. How do you expect to differentiate yourself from your competition if you were raised to fit in and just be... normal?

But there's good news!

Just like the ugly duckling you have two choices. One choice is to try your hardest to fit in and live a "normal" life.

The other choice, is to choose not to. Here's how:

1. BE YOURSELF!

No one is like you! You are unique! You're the only person in the world that can use your ability! (Zig Ziglar)

This YOUR competitive advantage!

I know that it's far more easy to decide what you want to become than to discover who you are. However, once you discover who you are and what you want to become, there is no limit to what you can achieve.

2. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

Once you've discovered who you are and what you want to achieve, it's time to believe that you can do it.

Chances are great that you can't walk the path to success alone, so you have to persuade others to join your quest. But, if you don't believe in yourself, who will? If you don't believe that you'll reach your goals, why bother?

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. - Seneca

Prepare yourself with the tools that you need to reach your goals and believe that the time will come for your opportunity to appear. Just be ready when it finally appears!

There will be times that you'll want to just be like the other ducks. Why bother? Because how can you afford not to? How can you afford quitting your dreams? For what? For a life like a ugly duck? Not for you.

Silence means death. Stand on your feet. Inner fear. Your worst enemy. Refuse/resist. - Max Cavalera

3. FREE YOUR MIND!

Amazing things happen when you're not afraid anymore. Free your mind to find innovative ways to use your creativity to reach your goals.

Don't be just like everyone else.

You're just too unique to do that.

I believe in you.

That's the Rabbit way.

What's yours?

Image by Kolika

P.S: This article is dedicated to the most beautiful swan: the love of my life - Carla!

Analog vs Digital Business Management

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:54:00 +0000

Image by geekologie.com
We're living surround by an ever growing digital world.

Analog activities are becoming less relevant and replaced by their digital counterparts. The ultimate example of this is letters being replaced by e-mail. With 90 trillion emails sent on the Internet in 2009, who still writes a letter these days?

Why is analog still relevant and how can we leverage it to become more competitive?

1. We are analog

In spite of all this, we still process and react to analog signals using our five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.

Writing a hand written note to a customer is a proof that you value their importance and it's a unique way to differentiate your business from your competitors.

Image by phototram via Flickr

Yesterday, I've went to dinner with my wife at Block House, a steak restaurant. The first thing the waiter did was to sign a card that said: "Your happiness is the reason I exist".

The analog unique signature represented that this person truly cared about us. Although the restaurant was at full capacity he still took the time to sign the card. Additionally, this employee knew his role inside the company. How many businesses can be proud of this?

2. Digital is overrated

Everyone can copy your digital signal but your analog signal is unique. This means that every "analog" interaction that you have with your customers is unique, so take advantage of it and engage your customers.

At the end of our dinner the waiter wrote a hand written note saying how important was our visit to the restaurant and he also invited us to show up again. This is what I call customer service and turning your customers into fans. Yes, it involves time and effort but simple things like this can make all the difference. How can you afford not to do this?

3. Back to the primitive

We're all desperate to be unique. Yet we use mass marketing promotion tools. Yet we use mass product distribution. Yet we use the same signature on all of our e-mails.

Think about this: if you send the same message to every client. If you treat every client the same how can you expect to be unique? Sometimes it's as easy as personalizing your customer service to treat every customer as an individual with specific concerns and features.
Image via CrunchBase

The industrial era is over. We're living the personalization era. You have to be global but still able to personalize your product or service. Think about Amazon. They've implemented a global operation that uses technology to understand each client specific needs to deliver target promotion campaigns.

I hope that you include analog approaches into your business and change the world.

This is Rabbit way!

What's yours?

Business lessons from Marylin Manson

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:04:00 +0000

Love him or hate him. Marilyn Manson is without doubt one of the most controversial and inspiring leaders in the music industry.

The music industry is one of the most competitive and challenging markets to be in business. There's plenty of competition and a dying business model that makes the path to success a hard walk.

However, Marilyn Manson did succeed! Millions of records sold. Sold out concerts around the globe.

So, what lessons can we learn and apply into our business?

1. "It's always about being yourself"

What's one of the major questions that CEOs in any business are trying to answer?

How can my business stand out in the crowd?

Marilyn Manson faced the same challenge in the crowded music industry. How did he answered it? By being himself!

You're the only person in the world that can use your ability (Zig Ziglar). What better way to stand out in the crowd than being yourself?
I know that is far more easy to decide what you want to become than discovering who you are, but once you do it you'll become unique.

For me, it's all about taking my imagination and creativity, my love for sharing knowledge and apply it in business to make the world a better place to live.

What about you?

2. "Not being ashamed of being different and thinking different"

This is all wonderful when you're thinking about it but being yourself in the real world takes courage.

Being a teenager is no easy task. In that age you want to belong to something. This feeling goes along with us for the rest of our lives. Nobody wants to be alone.

When I was a teenager I started to get curious about what was the Bible's message and who's God? Soon after I started to study the Bible with Jehovah's Witnesses who aren't a especial popular religion. But my love for God and his message sent me door after door talking to all kinds of people. Sharing what I've learn to them.
I remember that I was really scared that any of my friends found that I was a Jehovah's witness. Years later, not only because of that, but because I wasn't living the message 100%: i decided to leave Jehovah's Witness. But not God.

Then I discovered Marilyn Manson. This guy wasn't afraid to do and believe what he felt it was right, and let the World know what he was. Just like Jesus. Two different leaders but with one thing in common: both had the courage to let the world know who they are.

What about you?

3. "Take everyone's ideas and common morals, flip around, and make people look at them differently and question them"

This is the innovator's corner stone. Taking your creativity and transforming your ideas into something of great value to someone. That's what innovation is all about.

I have a wide array of interests and activities that I'm good at: technology, music, painting, writing, marketing. My challenge is to combine them into something the world has yet to see.

What about you?

4. "Not take things for granted"

That's my version of being aware. If you ignore market changes your uniqueness will become less relevant.

Marlyn Manson certainly knew this. In each record he added, what we call in the business world, an incremental innovation. Something that his fans and music customers didn't expect.

5. "Everybody's got a presentation... look in a certain way to make people listen to you in a certain way"

Marilyn Manson knew that what being yourself isn't enough. Just like Coca-Cola. In the beginning Coca-Cola was a medicinal product but it wasn't making an impact. However, when Coca-Cola built a bottle which a person could recognize even if they felt it in the dark, and so shaped that, even if broken, a person could tell at a glance what it was, it started making an impact in the World.

Being a great product or a great business isn't enough. You have to add a great image with the purpose of communicating what makes you different to really change the World.

I hope that you've enjoyed this business lessons from Marlyn Manson.

That's the Rabbit way. What's yours?

Thank you for reading.

Best regards,
Bruno Coelho

P.S: John Maeda & Becky Bermont wrote a great article on blogs.hbr.org called "Why Business Leaders Should Act More like Artists". It's an excellent read about the artist-business leader concept.

Beat the Odds

noreply@blogger.com (BCoelho2000) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 06:08:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

In this highly competitive world of business it's easy to say that the odds are against you. In fact, when people say that they want to talk things over with their friends and family, they really want is to be talked out of their idea.

The truth is: there's always someone that's better than you. The question is: what are you gonna do about it?

In my point of view, you have to believe in your self and don't fear the odds.

Chris Moneymaker is a poker player that has win millions. But it wasn't always like that. In this video, Chris shares his story about how he beat the odds.

And what about you? What do you do when the odds are against you?

Stay strong,
Bruno Coelho