ashes and snow
Ashes and Snow
http://ashesandsnow.com
disruptive talent: lebron james... what we can learn.
Let me start of by saying that I am not a Sports Fan. I seldom ever watch sports. Not because I do not like the thrill of competition, but I seldom have the time to consume sports, so I do not indulge. Over the past 24 hours however; I can not help but be overwhelmed by the amount of media surrounding the decision of Basketball Star LeBron James. What I am about to say may be a little controversial or even "disruptive" BUT I would not be doing anybody a service by not saying it... It needs to be said...
The Foundation
LeBron James born December 30th 1984, Nicknamed "King James", which is important for us to understand, if for NO OTHER REASON than to grasp the fact that LeBron belongs to what is affectionately known as Generation Y, those born between 1982 and June 1995. This small, discreet, yet relevant fact gives us a deeper context to the decision(s) that this young Basketball Star is making at this point of his career.
Generation Y, or "Echo Boomers", have been the topic of MUCH discussion in the Corporate world for many years. Here are some facts about this intriguing generation...
- 48% of them believe in God, yet 23% of those polled do not claim a religious denomination
- Also known as the "Boomerang Generation" many of them pro-long leaving the nest
- Most define adulthood by their "abilities" and "characteristics" -vs- traditional "rights of passage"
- This is the communication generation, the rise of social interactions makes this generation more "connected" than generations prior
- The heightened need for social interaction inherit of this generation makes them more "peer-oriented"
- Expression and acceptance is rated VERY HIGH on the social barometer for this generation
- Technology is at the center of this generation, 97% of students own computers and 94% own cell phones
These are all interesting facts about the Echo Boomers, however; as it pertains to the recent decision made by James, I find these facts to be even MORE interesting than the ones above...
"Echo Boomers like to shape their work environments to match their lifestyles -vs- shaping their lifestyles to match their work..."
- Unemployment among Echo Boomers is high all over the world
- This generation is often called the "Trophy Generation" or "Trophy Kids" and this derives for their involvement in competitive sports
- No one loses and everyone gets a "thanks for participating" trophy which symbolizes "entitlement"
- Echo Boomers like to shape their work environments to match their lifestyles -vs- shaping lifestyles to match their work
This generation is one of the most dynamic generations we have ever seen in my opinion. The high rate of unemployment as it pertains to this generation is stapled to this generations vigor as it pertains to settling. The Millennials, Generation Y'ers, Echo Boomers do not settle, they would most rather shape their destinies -vs- having their destinies shaped for them, and they will "shape" at all cost EVEN if it means staying home with Mom and Dad until this "shaping" is complete. They are connected to one another, and their peers have a lot of influence in their happiness. This generation is a generation of "winners", heck, they always win!! Even if they don't score as many goals or hit as many buckets as the team they are competing with, they still get a trophy.
We have to understand that LeBron James, though the media has totally hyped his decision making process up to epic proportions, he is only 25 years of age, no fault against him, but it is a reality... He is in-fact a Millennial. LeBron is not one to settle, he wants to win, and it's shown in his gameplay. Since drafted in 2003, by the Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron has been an aggressive contributor to not only the Cleveland Cavaliers but he has been an aggressive contributor to the game of Basketball and the NBA. Averaging 29.1 points per game, 9.3 rebounds and 7.6 assist, LeBron is a proven Contender.
The Disruption
Fans have known LeBron James as a Competitor and the people of Cleveland have always known him as a Hero, however; they have never seen him as a Disruptive Talent, and this is where I get passionate...
LeBron James, in my mind, is the classic case of a Disrutptor or Disruptive Talent, the breed of talent that I rave about. The type of talent that changes the course of things forever. In a very non-traditional way LeBron broke the mold. In the history of Basketball we have never seen a player step down from a throne to join forces with his/her peers for one common goal... The art of winning. A writer in the Indianapolis Star Bob Kravitz says this...
"He can never be Michael Jordan now. He can never be Kobe Bryant, or Larry Bird, or Magic Jonson or Tim Duncan or any of those players around whom franchises built championship teams..."
Well I say this...
NOPE, he won't be.
BUT he will be LeBron James, a player that broke the rules, took destiny in his hands, designed a tremendous value proposition based on HIS desired outcomes, all while stepping out of the box. I don't know a LOT about basketball, but I do know this... In the history of the game, or at least to MY knowledge, no other player has done what he is doing. Taking a lesser paycheck, teaming with would TRADITIONALLY be "foes", building "allies" and designing a team optimized for one thing... Winning. THIS IS DISRUPTIVE. This changes the game forever. AND as we travel into the future of the sport, unless the powers to be write contacts and make rules to keep it from happening again, this "peer-to-peer team design" model might be the evolution of a very competitive sport. And who will be noted as the "Game Changer"? The "Disruptive Talent"? LeBron James, NOT Michael Jordan, NOT Larry Bird, NOT Kobe Bryant or any other... It was LeBron James that headed a revolution that will go down in history.
So, maybe LeBron will not be what the traditional Basketball Players before him were, and perhaps he is the seed for a new paradigm... We will see. We CAN say that he SHOULD have had more "LOYALTY" , but this generation has not seen much of that at all. From the Corporation to the Basketball floor, loyalty on BOTH ends of the spectrum has been compromised, so in that - I admire this generation for having the discernment to see that organization to individual loyalty is dead. In-fact if you go to the Cavaliers site on NBA.com you will clearly see that Dan Gilbert showed HIS loyalty to his former "King". Provided that LeBron made a choice more "in-line" with HIS wishes, I can bet we would be reading a totally different letter...
The corporate world has been going through Disruption for quite some time... The emergence of the Creative Economy has shaken the very fibers of how we do business and the NBA is not immune. LeBron James is showing us this, right here and right now. LeBron James designed a solution with two other players Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh that would project him to a better outcome, one that he is envisioning. This is highly, creative and very disruptive.
What can we learn...
You are in fact a "Free-Agent" just like LeBron James, a Linchpin. You have the ability to disrupt the market you are in. Rather you are a Conformist OR a Disruptor hinges on your ability to make the tough decisions in the face of tradition, and status quo. LeBron could have stayed in Cleveland, and played into the wants and the needs of those around him, OR he could have done what he did... Challenge the tradition, break the rules, design for success, and start making a map that unfolds as he goes along -vs- following the one that Cleveland laid out for him...
inner most thoughts... coded...
If you have been following me for some time on Twitter (http://twitter.com/vincenthunt), Facebook (http://facebook.com/vincenthunt) or any other social platform, you would know by now that I am usually dropping thoughts in the form of short rants that may be one paragraph or even less, in-fact they could possible be just a quote.
Well there are thoughts that I have that I don't share "out loud", and these thoughts are still recorded. Up until now, I have always kept these thoughts in my Moleskine or in some random notebook somewhere... Well, I found StickyBits (http://stickybits.com), an online barcode system that utilizes a pretty jazzy application called RedLaser (http://redlaser.com) ...
Here is the deal, here is my little gift to you...
If you scan this barcode with your iPhone or Android device using the really cool StickyBits app, you can track my inner most thoughts... Free.
Enjoi.
Vincent Hunt
Creator, Beyond Pretty Things
success today
the power of ambiance and the brand
Over the past couple of years I have observed something in the brand space that I feel is going to have a major impact on the art of branding as it pertains to the personal brand.
When personal branding started being recognized as one of the dynamics of the branding experience, we, as designers and brand builders looked at the development process much the same way as we did the corporate brand. In essence we have spent the past 5 - 10 years consulting and designing brands for the personal brand just as we did for the brick and mortar counterparts, and I feel this was and is the wrong approach.
Martin Lindstrom and his agency Brand Sense enlightened us to the ideas of 5D branding. His ideals re-shaped how viewed the branding experience very early on on my career. His approach was far more dynamic than the 2D branding that I had been exposed to prior. The idea is simple... Most brand appeal to one of our senses, sight, which leaves a great deal of the senses out of the equation, and we all know that we are shifted in our thinking and actions not only by the incorporation of one of our sense, but all 5.
This is where I struggled. While in the trench's creating brands, I always knew that I wanted to appeal to more than just the "eyes" of my audience and I wanted to in-fact go deeper. I wanted to build brand experiences in a fresh new way that appealed to the 5 senses that we have at our disposal. When looking at this from a brick and mortar context, the projects had to be really big, and really well funded to accomplish the task at hand. In the realm of Brick and Mortar brand experience it almost always started off with the hieroglyphics, the symbols that told the companies story. The hieroglyphics would, of course, range through the iconic representation of the brand (logo mark) to the colors and typography (keeping things simple), then we would venture into the environment or the culture of the brand, bringing form to space, and again... Telling the brand story visually. From time to time we would run into the client that would take this process a step further and dive into the auditory range of the brand, and we would find ourselves building the melodic compositions that would be played in the lobby's of our clients environments, and we would have some idea of branding beyond the visual space.
Personal branding came on the scene, and the art of brand building changed, however; because we, as designers continued to build brands the same way we did for brick and mortar brand champions, we approached the process the same, NOT REALIZING that we had a lot more to work with. AND though subtle as they may be, the personal brand, the HUMAN has a lot more to offer in the terms of branding experience than the brick and mortar identity. The HUMAN has ambiance, or a "mood" a "feeling" that can be translated through the brand. When looked at correctly, the ambiance of the personal brand becomes far more powerful than the hieroglyphics associated with the brand.
SO this raised a question... Does the personal brand NEED a symbolic representation? DO we need to be creating logo marks for the presonal brand OR is the ambiance of the brand the actual brand language of the personal brand?
When I think about personal brands.. Tom Peters, Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk, Chris Brogan, BK Mac Daddy, John Lusher, Staci J. Shelton, Hajj Flemings and Jim Hunt, I have NO CLUE of what their hieroglyphics look like, in fact, I am not even sure if they have them, BUT what I do know is this... Each of them evoke feelings in me. The ambiance of each of these brands move me. Gary Vaynerchuk brings energy, Tom Peters brings power and curiosity, John Lusher brings solid surety, and I could go on... BUT I think you get the idea.
As "makers" and "creators" of brands, we need to think dynamically different about the brand experience as it pertains to humans. We have to be able to get out of our desire to create hieroglyphics, and we need to really start thinking about the totality of the brand experience. The 5D approach to branding is at our doorstep, and it's time to really start investigating it...



