Simply Said

Hmmm…. the weather…. and business.

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How do these two apparently separate categories relate? And, how does the weather tie-into a blog post reflection on inspiration, innovation, and creativity?

The weather can of course provide us with an always-safe entry-point topic when we find ourselves at a networking meeting; when we are chatting with a potential customer; or, perhaps, when we need a buffer conversation before a meeting begins.

Actually though, the weather is a lot like business … and life.

Weather is global and multi-demographic. In fact, weather is possibly one of the purest examples of a multi-dimensional product. Weather transcends language, cultures, generational differences, sex, intellectual abilities, academic degrees, professions, left and right brains, and even Myers-Briggs personalities.

But, for a moment, I’d like to go one step deeper and explore how the weather resembles the challenges – and the rewards – of our own creative paths.

Would you agree that we all have droughts of energy, inspiration, motivation and direction?

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And, then there are rainy days – or worse yet, a complete rainy week. These weather elements can indeed tax our patience and drain our creative juices.

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On the flip-side though – if we think positively – these same rainy days can also offer a sense of quiet, rhythm, and calm that can be perfect for nurturing new life, new ideas, and fresh buds of creativity.

Can you recall one of those exciting, don’t-happen-often moments when you had a lightening-bolt, aha brainstorm thought. Or, better yet, a lightening-storm moment.

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Seconds like that stand out in each of our memories. If we can capture the power of these episodes, they could perhaps result in the launching of an innovative new product, defining a new campaign, and even determining our own future.

No doubt too, we can all relate to those mornings that we walk outside to start our day and we abruptly face a sea of fog.

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These days are not totally unlike those mornings when our brains seem filled with their own mental haze and, try as we may, we too have zero visibility and little direction. We persist though, knowing that we have to find a way to work through the grey mist. We’ll quickly grab an extra cup of cappucino with a dab of cinnamon and nutmeg, or (foregoing any diet resolutions) we munch on a rich, chewy, double-chocolate brownie before our first meeting (and yes, it is ok to have a brownie for breakfast.)

Then, there are of course rainbows – and rainbow moments.

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Have you ever been in a meeting when the ideas start percolating and then one suggestion literally feeds off the one before it? The energy can be so positive, that we could almost swear that we can taste ‘it’. Allowing and encouraging a full-color-spectrum of original ideas can, in fact, add to the very color of our company. Absolutely, creativity and positive energy is contagious. We can experience our own multi-colored, panoramic, inspired – and inspiring – creative phenomenon.

Many of us can relate as well, to those days when it seems that we have been dealt with a hurricane-force workload. We can begin our day with an organized, quiet schedule that then, quite literally, blows apart with unexpected tasks and must-do’s. We’re then confronting a tornadic force that needs to be reckoned with immediately.

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We can be beaten-down by the forces of the winds upon us – or, we can choose to see these times as opportunities for more creative approaches to weathering the storm.

There are occasions, too, that I can remember in my own career and life where I ended the day with a complete brick wall – and, at the same time that I needed to be thinking of a ‘new and awesome idea’ for a client’s Marketing Plan. My brain cells might have been churning, but I was only ending up with a grey, blank night sky. However, after some sleep and brain cell ‘rest’, I would wake up at 4 a.m. with my own sunrise – fresh thoughts and new ideas.

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Literally, it was a new day – filled with energy, vibrancy, and color. These sunrise mornings are a good reminder too – for business, and for life – that outstanding sunrises often follow dark, dreary evenings.

And, likewise, if we can continue to think positive, even bitter winter days filled with ice and snow don’t have to be negative, dead, non-motivated days. Instead, winter weather actually adds a crispness to our thinking.

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Cold, challenging days demand an extra sharpness to our routine. They force us to tread carefully, to plan thoughtfully, and rise to the challenge.

So… how do you weather your own weather challenges? How have you encouraged creativity in yourself and your team despite the gray periods – the cloudy weeks? How has a storm within your own life resulted in new insights?

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box below.

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Today’s Simply Said blog post is dedicated to B and R.