Month: October 2014

Here is a great Halloween themed spot from Ikea (Singapore) that pays homage to a famous scene from the horror film, The Shining. The similarities between the scene from the film and the zig zag path that is in every Ikea (along with the kid’s imagination) makes this spot work especially well. Happy Halloween!

In Greg McKeown’s recent book, he explores that idea that often when we become successful, we start to pursue more and more things, watering down our time and energy (what Jim Collin’s calls “The undisciplined pursuit of more”). The antidote to this is the “disciplined pursuit of less, but better.”

The path to doing this is: #1. Discovering the things we want to pursue, #2. Eliminating the rest, and #3. Building a platform for effortless execution. This means saying no to a lot of good ideas or projects so that you can narrow your focus and really excel in a few areas.

I think it’s a great message and certainly one that I’ve tried to incorporate into my everyday work life. I have so many ideas and things I want to pursue but very few of them actually get done. Recently, I’ve delegated a few of my responsibilities away to other members on my team, collaborated on other projects (rather then trying to work on them by myself), and eliminated other unimportant projects altogether. I’ve seen a big difference in what I’ve been able to accomplish and the impact I am making in the organization because I’m able to focus my efforts better and actually get things done.

Check out this video of Greg explaining the concepts in his book:

In addition to my marketing duties, I am also a member of my company’s “Fun Committee.” We recently came up with a company wide challenge to be more healthy. Instead of focusing on the output (results like losing pounds), we decided to focus on the input and came up with a scorecard that rewarded effort. Employees earned points by exercising, going to sleep at a decent hour, avoiding junk food, drinking enough water and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. We had weekly check-ins through a shared Google Doc spreadsheet and rewarded those that scored well or simply just participated. The big rewards came after 5 weeks, where we awarded 3 Fit bit bracelets and other cash prizes. Over 75% of the company participated and it was a great success in helping push everyone towards achieving their health and fitness goals.

B.J. Novak, best known from his role on the Office, recently came out with an interesting children’s book. The concept is that, although there are no pictures, the person reading it has to say whatever is on the page, no matter how wacky it is. Besides having an interesting twist on a kid’s book, they did a great job in this video of demonstrating the reactions you can expect when you read it to a kid. I’m sold.