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Top of Mind Thursday Memo Archive
Top of Mind Thursday – February 23, 2023: An Anniversary No One Is Celebrating
Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of Russian troops invading Ukraine in an effort to re-integrate the country into Mother Russia.
No one expected things would go the way they have. Not Vladamir Putin, who thought the conflict would last a few days or weeks at most. Not the US or NATO. Not even the Ukrainians, who likely underestimated their own ability to persevere under the leadership of President Zelenskyy.
No one expected the conflict to cause worldwide disruptions in grain supply from Ukraine, or gas and oil pumped from Russia to Europe. Nor did we expect the global inflation that resulted from these disruptions.
Certainly, Putin never expected his actions would unite the Western World in a way we haven’t seen since World War II. Not only have the NATO nations strengthened their resolve, but Sweden and Finland have asked to join the alliance–as has Ukraine.
Through the bombings and the artillery attacks, the Ukrainian people have continued to hold fast. The damage has been devastating–both in terms of the loss of human life, but also towns and cities destroyed, bridges blown up, and families displaced.
Yet the Ukrainians are determined to hold fast, and the conflict has even resulted in bipartisan support in the US–something that’s in short supply these days. It’s hard to complain about every day inconveniences, when looking at what an average Ukrainian family is dealing with on a day-to day basis.
There’s a lesson for the rest of us: People can accomplish amazing things when our backs are against the wall and we face annihilation. Freedom and self-determination are always worth fighting for, and we can do incredible things when we collaborate and work together–in spite of our differences.
No one is happy about tomorrow’s one year anniversary. Let’s hope on this day in 2024 we are celebrating peace, not continued bloodshed.
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – February 16, 2023: Bursting the Bubble
Nearly two weeks ago, the US military shot down a presumed Chinese spy balloon over water after it crossed North America.
Since then, American forces have shot down three more unidentified flying objects–all of them smaller than the first, and none immediately identifiable.
Do we have a new flurry of foreign surveillance? Could these be alien or extra terrestrial in nature? Is there a new threat to our existence or way of life?
Or, might we just be finding more of these things because we’re now looking for them?
At least one of the most recent objects may turn out to be one of our own weather balloons. Whoops.
Here’s what happens when you focus your attention on a specific thing: you start to notice all of those things in your environment. If we talked about big black SUVs, you’d likely start to notice all of the big black SUVs you pass while driving. That doesn’t mean there are more of them–just that you are noticing them.
This is a serious concern with medical imaging. Better technology means radiologists see more anomalies on a scan–but that doesn’t mean they detect more malignancies. Most of these are benign and may have been there forever–we just didn’t used to be able to see them.
The key to staying sane through this is to have a good process to separate out what might be a critical piece of data that requires action–and what is just noise that is distracting and might need to unnecessary or even dangerous actions.
In your business, do you know how to identify the critical information that shows you action is needed? Or are you spending too much time chasing down stray balloons?
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – February 9, 2023: From the Rubble
Early Monday morning, a set of intense earthquakes struck southern Turkey and Syria. Over 20,000 people are known dead, thousands more are missing, and significant aftershocks continue.
The images from this tragic event are horrifying: Entire city blocks leveled. Parents holding on to the hand of a child buried in the rubble. Family members unsure if they will ever learn the fate of loved ones buried under the debris.
But amidst all this devastation, there was an image I found extremely inspiring: a photograph of three rescue vehicles parked together at a location near the quake’s epicenter. One was from Iran, the second from the Palestinian Authority, and the third from Israel.
These three entities have no love for each other. In fact, they are often involved in deadly conflicts with the others–and with Syria, too. Yet, when a natural disaster of this magnitude struck, they all moved quickly to provide humanitarian aid to their neighbors in distress.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if sworn enemies could come together when it is the fate of their own people at stake? If they can work together in times of disaster, why not in other times as well? What if countries in conflict could start from a point of unity and agreement, rather than from animosity and hatred?
In our own lives and businesses, where can we work together to do the right thing with those with whom we disagree? Do we need to wait till a massive disaster strikes?
From the depths of the rubble, is there a glimmer of hope we can nurture for the future?
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – February 2, 2023: Groundhog Day Again
Today is Groundhog Day–the day when Punxsutawney Phil supposedly comes out of hiding and predicts whether or not we’ll have 6 more weeks of winter (Spoiler alert: He saw his shadow, more winter coming.).
It’s also the title of the 1993 film with Bill Murray, who goes to Punxsutawney and gets stuck in a time loop where he is doomed to repeat the day over and over again, till he chooses the right actions to break the spell.
It’s unfortunately the perfect metaphor for some of the issues we see occurring in our lives.
Over and over again, we see needless deaths from gun violence–including three separate incidents in California in the last week or so. In Memphis, another young Black man was beaten to death by police officers in an encounter that seemed like a replay of the 2020 George Floyd murder. In Congress, there is yet another stalemate about funding the federal government.
What breaks Bill Murray free of the Groundhog Day curse is finally figuring out exactly what course of action will cause a different result.
We are doomed to stay in the loops of gun violence, police misconduct, and governmental stalemate until we figure out what changes must be made.
In your business, what negative situations seem to occur on a regular basis? What can you do to break the cycle? What changes to the status quo need to be made to move forward?
The Groundhog Day movie was less than two hours; Phil’s prediction of winter is six weeks. Our own doom loop could last much longer and be much more destructive.
Check out our marketing thought leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com