The Art of Brilliance Blog

Let me tell you some stuff that you already know.

Blue whales are HUGE. Their hearts are the size of a VW Beetle and their tongues are eight feet long! Because of their size, they turn around very slowly. Apparently it takes them up to three minutes to change direction.

So what?

Let’s compare them to sardines – specifically a school of sardines – which has the same or even a greater mass than the whale. A school of millions of silvery sardines can turn almost instantly. But how? How can millions of fish turn in an instant without creating havoc?

The answer is a rather satisfying combination of the simple and the complex. If you take a careful look at a school of sardines, you’ll notice that although the fish all appear to be swimming in the same direction, in reality, at any time, there will be a small group of sardines swimming in a different direction. These brave creatures are swimming against the flow, against conventional wisdom. And as they swim in another direction, they cause conflict, they cause friction, and this causes discomfort for the rest of the school.

But finally, when a critical mass of truly committed sardines is reached – not a huge number like 50 per cent or 80 per cent of the school, but 15 to 20 per cent who are truly committed to a new direction – the rest of the school suddenly turns and goes with them – almost instantaneously!

Look here folks, we only let intelligent people subscribe to this blog, so we’ll let you work it out for yourselves. But we can’t help thinking that this might actually be about real schools and realbusinesses. And 2%ers?

Or maybe it’s just about fish?

Waddayathink?

Andy x

True(ish) story, stolen from Jack Canfield and embellished by Andy Cope.

Thailand. If you’ll allow me to stereotype, land of sunshine, beaches, sex tourism and Buddha. And, of course, the marvellously named capital, ‘Bangkok’.

In one of the temples sits a golden Buddha. As you know, Buddha is a hefty chap and this statue is no exception. It’s a 10 foot tall, solid gold sumo guy. And next to Buddha is an interesting exhibit that attracts much less attention. It’s a two feet thick lump of clay. The exhibits are linked, their story going back thousands of years…

The original gold statue was housed in an ancient monastery. The monks heard there was a plan afoot to raid the monastery and steal the art and antiques, so they hid the gold Buddha in two feet of clay. They hoped the robbers would ignore a clay Buddha, worthless as it seems. Good news and bad news. The good news is that the monks’ idea worked and the Buddha was ignored. Bad news, the monks were slaughtered. Not good.

A few thousand years later a bunch of archaeologists came across the derelict abbey, saw the giant clay Buddha and thought it would look good in their museum. So they created a wagon and started wheeling it through the jungle. It’s a heavy piece of kit and one of the wagon wheels gave way, cracking the clay ever so slightly. The team rested for the night while the rain pelted down. One of the guys got up in the night to check on the clay Buddha. He shone his torch and something glinted back at him. You’ve guessed it, they spent the next day chipping off the two feet thickness of clay to reveal the shiny fella in all his 25 carat glory. Cool story, which I think is mostly true.

And the bleedin’ obvious point? I think we are all a bit like the gold statue. Over the years we get weighed down by responsibility. Life adds layers to us. We’ve got to be a great parent, a world class employee, a decent friend. We go on courses that tell us how to behave, how to treat customers and how to ask the right questions at interviews. Layer upon layer is added until, do you know what, we’ve almost buried our brilliance. There’s gold inside folks, but the outside can become heavy and dull.

Part of the 2%ers ethos is to chip away at the stuff that weighs us down. And to reveal our sparkly, shiny, world class inner selves. Shine people, shine!

Recently, ‘The Art of Being Brilliant‘ got its first one-star Amazon review. In case you’re not familiar with the review system, five stars is a roller-coaster of a book crammed with sizzling gypsies. One star is, well, dire.

But, in the true spirit of positivity, I thought I’d share some of the, ahem, highlights of this extra-ordinarily bad review:

“Don’t buy this… It contains, well, almost nothing. The first few chapters read like a very long introduction to… “we’re not going to tell you anything useful or give any practical tips at all”.”

The reviewer goes on to imply that Andy and I speak in a “positive psychology, happy happy joy joy” kind of way.

I’m not going to agree or disagree with the reviewer. She’s absolutely right. There’s a basic rule of life stating that you get what you focus on. I suspect that her stinging review says more about her than it does about myself or my book.

And the point? Throughout evolutionary history, ‘bad’ weighs more than ‘good’. That means one awkward customer will ruin your day. One bad driver will ruin your journey to work. One negative email will live with you all day. One bad Amazon review can cause you to question your whole future as an author!

Be careful what you tune into. There’s plenty of good out there folks.

I am currently re-reading the 67 five-star reviews.

Thank you x

I came across ‘14 simple tests before you decide to have children’ the other day on www.jubed.com. I laughed out loud at some of them! Here are a couple of my favourites:

Test 8: Shopping

1. Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can find to a pre-school child – a fully grown goat is excellent. If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
2. Do your weekly shop without letting the goat(s) out of your sight.
3. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.

Test 9: Feeding a one year-old

1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend the melon from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy cornflakes and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon while pretending to be an aeroplane.
5. Continue until half the cornflakes are gone.
6. Tip the rest into your lap, making sure that a lot of it falls on the floor.

Those of you who have had small children will know that this isn’t all that far from the truth!

‘Try before you buy’ is a concept that doesn’t work particularly well when it comes to having kids. The good news is that’s not the case for everything.

Our Personal Leadership Programme has the potential to completely transform your organisation. Seriously. But how will you know if it is any good? Rather than taking our word for it, because we are obviously going to be biased (who ever thinks that their baby is ugly!?) or jumping in with both feet without knowing what you are committing your organisation to, why not come or send someone along to one of our open programmes to see for yourself?

Our March Personal Leadership Programme is nearly full and the June programme was almost half booked before we released the dates!

The June dates have just gone on the website – they are 4, 5 and 25 June 2014 and the programme is planned for the midlands area.

One organisation sent a small group of senior managers to our first programme, and some of their comments can be found on the three generals blog. They have already booked even more spaces!

Would you like to join us in June? As demand is increasing it is becoming harder to justify early booking offers, but if you book before midnight on Friday 7 March 2014 then we will be pleased to give you a reduction of £200 off one place or £500 (total) off two.

If you are interested please contact me, Peter Anderton, email peter@artofbrilliance.co.uk or tel 01530 229639. We’re always happy to chat so please get in touch today!

Three generals are about to go into battle. After the final plan has been agreed they sit quietly until one of them asks “If we are shot down today and breathe our last, what would you like people to say about you when they stand over your coffin at your funeral?” He then adds “I would like them to say that I was the greatest leader they had ever met.”

The second general replies, “I would like them to say that I was the best father and husband in the world.”

Finally, the last one replies, “I would like them to say… look, he’s moving!”

The question “what will people say about us when we’ve gone?” is an old chestnut. So, what will people say about you when you’ve gone? Not necessarily after you have pegged it, but after you head off for ‘pastures new’?

We believe that the mark of an outstanding leader is not just how good a leader you are, but how many leaders you develop. If you are a brilliant leader then when you step out of the picture things won’t fall apart, they will continue to go from strength to strength.

Just imagine what you would see around you if your leaders and teams made a deliberate and conscious choice to focus on the positive. Imagine what could be achieved if your leaders and teams took 100% personal responsibility for success in every aspect of their working life. Imagine what it would feel like if your leaders and teams understood their impact and applied this understanding to bring out the best in everyone.

Want some? That’s exactly what our Personal Leadership Programme is about. We have just finished our first ‘wave’ and are delighted to say that from our feedback sheets overall satisfaction with the programme was 98%! Here’s just some extracts from what people have said:

“Thought provoking”
“An eye opener to leadership”
“A truly insightful three days which all leaders should attend… especially the ones who think they’re already great leaders!”
“Puts you back in control and helps you refocus”
“It’s already made a very positive difference to my work and home life”
“Totally transforming and inspiring”
“An exceptional programme that will change your life”
“A fabulous course. Thank you very, very much!”

We are so delighted with the response that we have already scheduled another session. If you are interested please contact me, Peter Anderton, email peter@artofbrilliance.co.uk or tel 01530 229639.

Spaces are limited to give the best possible learning, so get in quick!

Mystic Andy predicts your 2014.

(Andy Cope, with tea-towel around his head, hands swirling over a crystal ball).

“I can see your future. 2014 is laid out before me. You are a 2%er. You are making an effort to be your best self. Everything is goooood. You are happy. And you are having a magnificent impact on your family and work colleagues. Goooood.

“But wait. Who is this? A negative person. Bad face. Surely a mood hoover. Your spouse or your boss perhaps?

“They are moaning about something. The weather, I think? Or work? Or the news?

“And you look like you’re going to join in?

“But, nooooo! You have remained positive. You have challenged the mood hoover and turned them around. They are smiling! How unusual.

“And you are walking away, your sanity intact, a grin on your face. You are going to win many battles this year. It will be challenging but it will be your best year. It will be goooood.”

Everyone needs a HUGG.

If you want to be like everyone else, set yourself a ‘SMART’ New Year’s resolution. I doubt there isn’t anyone who hasn’t had SMART objectives hammered into them. Specific, measurable, achievable (yawn), realistic, (head lolling in near slumber) and time-bound (snore).

If you’re a 2%er you’ll want to avoid slipping into a world of mediocrity and blandness – so we’re recommending a New Year’s HUGG. Set yourself a Huge Unbelievable Great Goal that stretches and inspires you. HUGGs are eye-wateringly exciting and can only be achieved by creativity, passion, innovative thinking and sustained action.

‘Giving up smoking’ is sooooo last millennium. ‘Using the money I’ve saved from giving up smoking to enter the New York marathon’ is where it’s at. That folks, is a HUGG!

There will of course be the naysayers, who think HUGGs are ‘too big’ or ‘directionless’ or just plain ‘unachievable’. To counter this just remind them that you’re a long time dead and let their vacant expression make your point for you.

Buzz Lightyear had it pretty much spot on folks.

Until next time

Andy

Christmas in our house is summed up in three words: family, food and prezzies. I really hope you’ve managed to hang on to the religious meaning of Christmas which was lost in our family generations ago. My daughter thinks it’s an amazing coincidence that Jesus was born on Christmas day! “Amazing to think that that tiny baby grew up to be whiskery old Santa Claus.”

My top 2%er tip for Christmas is ‘enthusiasm’. Remember when you were seven? You just couldn’t wait to see what Santa had brought. And it almost didn’t matter what you received… the magic was that ‘he’d been’. And he always left a trail of evidence… few crumbs of mince pie, a half-eaten carrot, a drop of sherry left in the glass. It was all the proof you needed!

So, be as enthusiastic as you were when you were seven. Because the best thing of all is that emotions are contagious and enthusiasm will spread like wildfire. Sure, miserable Aunt Edna might be more of a slow burner, but the kids will catch it for sure! They’ll be burning brightly.

I’ve already challenged my kids to a game of Monopoly on Christmas day. And I don’t even like Monopoly (neither do my kids. Ollie calls it a ‘bored game’ which I always think it actually quite clever). Can the power of enthusiasm win over a couple of teenagers? Can I engineer just the right amount of enthusiasm to make it the best game of Monopoly ever, without overdoing it and the kids thinking I’ve been guzzling the eggnog?

One thing’s for sure, it’s going to be good fun trying!

Happy Christmas to you and yours

A x

If you’re of a certain age (like me) the likelihood is that your grandparents had a ‘job for life’. It’s also quite likely that this applied to your grandpa but your grandma didn’t work (not in the paid sense, at least). Work provided certainty and security in a ‘steady as you go’ kind of way.

Your parents might have had a couple of jobs? They probably both worked and the chances are they had a career change along the way. It was a bit less steady.

You’ve probably had several jobs with a career trajectory that has been slightly upwards but often (in recent times) sideways or downwards? And, right now, the ship’s not feeling very steady at all. In fact, it’s all a bit wobbly.

Your kids are born into a world where there is no career path. To stretch the sailing metaphor just a little too far, they will be white water rafting! Success will depend on constant investment in themselves and re-invention of what they do. It’s likely they’ll experience temporary contracts and/or periods of unemployment. Their career path will be haphazard at best.

So what’s this got to do with The Art of Being Brilliant? The short answer is ‘everything’. In a world of manic upheaval, everything’s changed, including the ‘rules’.

While ‘experience’ and ‘qualifications’ are still important, the modern world means that you are your own brand. In simple terms, you need to add more value than other candidates. ‘Fitting in’ is no longer the game. You absolutely have to stand out.

This is the age of the 2%er. Welcome to your world.

As well as delivering The Art of Being Brilliant, I also moonlight as a children’s author. That means I get to visit loads of primary schools.

I always choose to park around the corner, and walk. It’s awesome.

Because as soon as I step out of the car I can hear the buzz. And as I get closer, the noise builds. There’s excited screaming as well as peals of squealing, yelling, laughter and unbridled joy. (Let me add that the excitement’s nothing to do with me. It happens every day, in every school, author visit or no author visit.)

As I arrive at the school gates I sometimes stand and watch. (Yes, yes, I know. You’re not supposed to do that kind of thing in the modern era, but I do). The energy and excitement generated by 300 kids is something to behold. They’re playing, skipping and jumping around. There’s always an awful lot of running. And hopscotch is alive and well. I have to say, it’s a joy.

And the following day, I’m booted and suited, for a meeting in a company. It feels all business-like and professional. There’s no screaming or excitement. Nobody’s ever invited me to play hopscotch. There’s hardly any skipping and, if I’m being honest, very little unbridled joy.

Children (particularly of primary school age) are a wonderful example of our natural state of being – playful, delirious, curious, fun, joyful and excitable.

So what happened? At what point did we become dull, grumpy and negative? At what point did we stop jumping in puddles? When did hopscotch become a bad idea?

Maybe it’s ‘life’? Maybe it’s ‘responsibility’? Or ‘stress’ or ‘routine’ or the ‘dullness’ that life can become? But here’s a thought. Could it be that we’re happy, positive and curious by default, but somehow we just… forgot?

In which case, please think of our workshops and booksas a gentle reminder.

Andy C

The Art of Being Brilliant trainers are happiness ninjas. And to keep in tip top ninja mode, we have to read loads of books. It comes with the territory.

A particular fave of mine is ‘The Happiness Project’ by Gretchen Ruben. It’s simple, honest and brill. And, rather like The Art of Being Brilliant, it isn’t really about work. It’s about home.

Here’s a lovely top tip for busy parents. Gretchen suggests that plenty of households are a bit crazy at bedtime. The kids have been tucked up but there still plenty to do… packing lunchboxes, organising their bags, ironing school shirts, etc.

Instead of rushing around, headless chicken style, before you go to bed, treat yourself to a bit of what Gretchen calls ‘gazing lovingly’. It was Gretchen’s husband who first suggested it. ‘Gazing lovingly’ is when you go and peek at your sleeping children.

It’s so simple. And such a treat.

Just a couple of words of advice from the Art of Brill team:

• Firstly, make sure you only do this with your own kids (breaking into the house next door and ‘gazing lovingly’ at their kids is never a good idea).
• And secondly, don’t enter your 14-year-old son’s bedroom and expect to do this. In fact, probably best not to enter his bedroom at all, at least not after dark.

Until next time…

Not so much a blog, more of a quote. Get your kids, grandkids, nephews and nieces to read it…

“Always we hear the cry from teenagers, “Where can we go, what can we do?”

“My answer is this: go home, mow the lawn, wash the windows, learn to cook, build a raft, get a job, visit the sick, study your lessons and after you’ve finished, read a book.

“Your town does not owe you recreational facilities and your parents do not owe you fun. The world does not owe you a living. You owe the world something. You owe it your time, energy and talent…

“In other words, grow-up, stop being a cry baby, get out of your dream world and develop a backbone instead of a wishbone. Start behaving like a responsible person. You are important and you are needed. It’s too late to sit around and wait for somebody to do something, someday. Someday is now and that somebody is you.”

John Tepene

And then ask them what it means.

Have a fab day

Andy