Jesus is a Purple Cow

As I celebrated Easter this year, I spent Good Friday morning watching Mel Gibson's, "Passion of the Christ" with my friend Jens. I can't say that I enjoyed the movie, but it really helped me to reflect on what Christ did for us. (As tough as it was to watch, it is something that you should see if you haven't seen it yet.) I spent some time reading these accounts in the Bible this weekend and was reminded once again of our historic passion for money and power. From my perspective it usually gets in the way of everything. But from God's perspective it was just part of the plan.

Everybody was giddy and blown away by Jesus, His knowledge of the scriptures, His miracles...there was a buzz in the air. I always hear people talk about change, and their sincere desire to make change...until you mess with their money or their power. The same thing was going on thousands of years ago. The existence of Jesus threatened the power and stability of the Sanhedrin, and the abuse of power and money lived on as the story unfolded.

Leading up to His death, he had performed some remarkable feats. He walked on water, He healed people, He foretold the future, He healed the blind, and raised the dead. No PR machine, no iPhone, no agency, He just did amazing things that people talked about (and still talk about). That is what author Seth Godin might call a Purple Cow (I would certainly call it that). Don't get these stories confused with a Disney movie or a Greek myth. Jesus was a real person. He did not perform the ridiculous, He performed the remarkable. He is the red thread that ties the entire Bible together. It wasn't a storyboard by Pixar, but a plan from God. That red thread was foreshadowed and concealed in the old testament and then later revealed through the gospels in the new testament. A good friend shared it to me this way, "the old testament of the Bible is the new testament concealed, and the new testament of the Bible is the old testament revealed." —What a plan!

A virgin birth, a life with temptation but without sin—a brutal punishment, and crucifixion, coupled with darkness an earthquake and a mass of bodies rising from their graves as Christ died on the cross, and arose from the grave three days later. Not for money and not for power—and not because we deserved anything, but because He loved us...Now that is a Purple Cow!

News Bummer

I am a conservative guy, with a pretty conservative viewpoint, but I have had it with the news media. It is no longer news but spin. Spin for ratings and personal agendas. It is a joke. I am so tired of the combination of entertainment / political spin. Just give me the news and keep your personal feelings to yourself. I don't want entertainment, I don't want feel good about my viewpoint, I don't want propaganda—I just want the news! I am tired of Fox and flipped over to MSNBC, and got the same crap from a different angle. What a bummer.

I love staying informed—but I am done with TV news. If these guys were musicians, I'd say, "shut up and sing"! (I am not a big fan of musicians spewing their politics either.)

Signals

Signals provide us with a clue of what is to come. A signal is a transmission used to relay information or instructions. Over the past twenty years or so, due to my background in design, I have been extremely tuned in to the visual signals that exist and what impact they play specifically in the area of market positioning. Many clients I have worked with over the years have had the right stuff, but lacked the ability to provide the appropriate signal to the market. Companies that had great ideas, great products, people and expertise—provided signals that were contrasting their exceptional capabilities. It happens. It happens all the time in fact. What starts out as a perception problem often blossoms into full dysfunction.

Companies will surge and grow regardless of the poor signals they send. Besides, most of these companies and organizations aren't communication companies, they sell widgets, and build bridges—signals and communications aren't important—just widgets and bridges...or whatever it is they hock for a buck. But what happens is they grow into big companies and their small signal / perception issue becomes a gargantuan communication problem. Now we don't have 33 people sending the wrong signals, we have 33,000 people degrading a brand. You can see where this could get a little messy (and expensive).

Let's look at a turn signal (on a car) for an example. You might take it for granted but consistency, frequency, and standardization have really helped this simple little signal communicate with clarity and connect with people at the highest level. Misunderstanding about this minuscule little light could have grave consequences. Just think if some people tapped the brake 3 times for left and 2 times for right. Or, what if others honked their horn, or waved a hand to indicate or signal which direction they were turning. With over 250 million automobiles on the road in the U.S. it would be devastating not to have our signals jive up with our actions.

What signals are you sending? What signals do we send as parents? What signals do we send to our spouse? What signals do we send as a church? What signals do we send as a business. What signals do we send as a state—or as a nation? Are we sending the right signals?

I plan to write a series on this topic, and hope that these posts will inspire you to stop, refocus, and look at things from a new perspective. Why does it matter? —Stay tuned.

Remembering the Purple Dragon

"Purple Cow" is a book by Seth Godin based on a concept of being remarkable and different. In his book Seth discusses the reaction one would have if they were driving through cattle country, and came upon a purple cow. He says we would definitely take notice. We might stop and take pictures, call some friends, knock on some doors, call a reporter...It would just be a freak circumstance that would definitely be worthy of conversation.

Purple Dragon is the studio my old friend used to own in Atlanta. It is also the tattoo that he revealed after pulling his pants down in a conference room full of people. That was definitely a meeting worthy of conversation. Over the years, I came to love this friend. His love of life, his love for his family and his love for the people he met—he really loved life (maybe a little too much). His life stories and experiences were over the top, some of the things he shared with me were beyond belief.

He came from a culture that was totally foreign to me. I don't think I can recall a time that he didn't arrive or leave without a manly embrace, and a kiss on the side of my cheek. His entrance and exit was that of a rock star. Loud, boisterous, usually trailed by several expletives and his signature-"ROCK N' (F'N') ROLL! He was a true character, but he was genuine. The purple dragon was definitely a purple cow. Maybe somewhat crazy, but definitely remarkable.

This guy had done everything everywhere. His life was unbelievable, but unfortunately his death was not. He had everything and he had nothing. I know that nothing was left unsaid between the two of us, and I hope that nothing was left undone. I ran out of time, and so did he.

I'll miss him greatly.

Be Nice Have Balls and Dream

This entry is in response to a comment I made on Facebook. After spending the morning at a conference about leadership, I heard some fantastic stories. I thought the speakers, the setting, and everything was great! However, I guess I am getting somewhat cynical in my old age...in the half day that I attended, there was not much, if any reference to faith, or God's role in the success of these leaders. Great analogies for sure. Linda..."think small-be nice--(it can come back to you)", John..."Dream" (a safe book to write), Kevin..."follow your passion" (Red Rubber Balls), and Tony..."Look to yourself" (?). Again, I was just their for a half day--but what was the focus? Teaching points for us to learn from the pros on leadership? (If so, from the part I heard, there was not much acknowledgement of the role faith played.)

Listen. I am growing but guilty of the same thing. I don't stand for my brand as well as I should. I hope God sees me as a work in progress--and I certainly can not cast any stones. I just think that we as people and as a country are missing the focus. At our office we try to practice an idea we call "absolute function". Absolute function is something that works--all components work together and no one part fails the test. In the ad business we can design a great ad, have it on- time, and on-budget, but show the client's phone number wrong and "we fail". We could have the best ad copy, everything could be correct, on-time and on-budget, but the design is not creative enough to stop the reader and grab their attention...and guess what - "we fail".

All I am saying is in the world we live in today we better get back to Jesus. We can still use the balls, the dreams and the stories, but will only get true success when the focus is on Christ, and the order puts Christ first. I know, I know, I know--this may sound deep and extreme--but it is the simple fact. If the measuring stick for Maximum Impact was selling seats and promoting books, I would say it was a great success.

Please don't take this the wrong way. I am just a regular guy (without a book deal) sharing his feelings....and that's all.

Peace. & Thanks!

Burger Kings and Queens

A good friend of mine (Ed Jackson) always says if you want to be King, you need to treat your wife like a Queen. Sounds like pretty good advice. I think the same could apply with Burger King in general, "if you want to be the Burger "King", treat your customers as if they were the Queen. "How you are", defines "who you are". Make good food and treat people right, and you will be the "King". Get greedy and deceptive and you're likely to lose your throne.

This weekend I noticed that when you order a small coffee at Burger King you are actually getting a medium...and a medium is actually the large. Their small is "the 12 oz" coffee. So, naturally people communicating their request for a small coffee are getting duped and up-sold without their knowledge. Pretty disappointing, but I guess I am not surprised.

I can remember our President (Clinton) defining the definition of "is". Banks define the definition of "Totally Free Checking" (which is not really free), and now Burger King (and probably others) are redefining "small coffee". All for a few extra coins...

Can't we just say what we mean, and mean what we say anymore? A man can't even buy a simple cup of coffee without getting screwed by another man trying to make a few more pennies. What have we done to ourselves?

I hope you get two things from this entry. 1. Treat people how you want to be treated, and 2. when you want a small coffee at Burger King ask for the "12oz coffee" (it will save you a few pennies).

Nashville

Nashville seems to be a great city. We did a lot of walking, people watching, picture-taking, and eating (oh, I spent a day learning as well). It was a great trip to learn about managing creatives...but I think someone must have got the wrong idea concerning my L.A. Blog entry :(

Creative directors are truly a unique group of characters. I guess I should mention that I was attending a seminar by David Baker entitled "Managing Creatives".