When it comes to wiping our mouths and dirty hands, most of us don’t really put too much thought into the napkins we use. Like most of us, I look for napkins that are clean. The other day, I noticed a couple napkins in my car that I had taken when I visited a local Caribou Coffee shop. One had a thought-provoking question: What Do You Stay Awake For? The other napkin offered a writing prompt inviting us to write a really short novel…
I found these napkins amusing, clever and thought-provoking. For me coffee shops are a place where I can come up with ideas under the influence of the ever-almighty caffeine. These napkins offer me the opportunity to get some ideas flowing…provided that I look close enough to read the napkins.
It’s interesting to note that there are books devoted to things scribbled and drawn on napkins. I’m thinking specifically about Dan Roam’s The Back of the Napkin, where the book jacket goes on to say…”Used properly, a simple drawing on a humble napkin is more powerful than Excel or PowerPoint. It can help us crystallize ideas, think outside the box, and communicate in a way that other people simply get.”
How about you…have you written or drawn anything interesting on a napkin recently?
For the second year in a row, last week I watched my favorite part of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game: the pre-game show. I’ve always been a sucker for watching all of the players get introduced and seeing them tip their hats to the cameras and the crowd. Tucked into this pre-game ceremony was People Magazine’s All-Stars Among Us, a great example of sponsorship activation in action.
The following is an inspiring video that was played just after the players were introduced. Truth be told, it brought a tear to my eye (shh…don’t tell anyone!) and gave me a deep sense of admiration. It also made me realize that the real all-stars are not the ones playing on the field…they’re the everyday people that go out of their way to make a difference in the lives of others. This video is on the long side, but it’s worth a view…
As I worked in my Franklin Covey planner last week, I stumbled upon a quote that hit me with it’s wisdom and simplicity:
“We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.”
Ryan Knorr has been churning out cover tunes that are as good or better than the original tunes for a few years now. This cover version of City and Colour’s “Sensible Heart” is another example of a song that falls into that category. You might remember that I featured his original tune “What About Me” on [...]
When I found out that this month’s RAOKA topic was wisdom, I felt moved to write because, well, I really love to learn. First to get things straight…in my humble opinion it is possible to learn, but not necessarily be wise. A great deal of learning in an academic setting involves memorizing facts in order [...]
At a time when our society worships multi-millionaire pro athletes, celebrities and rock stars it was refreshing to see Time Magazine’s profile of an American rock star, Thomas Edison, in its annual history issue. If you live in the United States, chances are you pay your electricity bills to the company named after Edison. Chances [...]
When we think of strategic partnerships, we think of more than one brand or group partnering with each other for their mutual success. This video is the latest example of a creative strategic partnership – between YouTube and The Guggenheim Museum in New York. For the Guggenheim, YouTube can make their museum and name a [...]
Last week, I had the good fortune of attending my first ticker-tape Stanley Cup victory parade along with approximately 2 million of my closest friends. It was a celebration of an amazing 2010 hockey season by the Chicago Blackhawks. In the middle of the sea of humanity, I came to a realization: no matter what [...]
99 year old former UCLA coach John Wooden passed away Friday. While most of his greatest accomplishments occurred before I was born, I have a deep appreciation for what he stood for. In a world where “winning at all costs” is a mantra taught to amateur and professional athletes alike, Wooden preached something different: giving [...]
