Great buildings, the ones that leave a lasting impression while serving a functional purpose, begin with a solid blueprint, based on information assembled by the architectural team. In the marketing world we often hear the term “Brand Architecture” (registered Trademark of Plunkett Communications Inc.) and it’s an accurate term when it is properly understood. The dictionary defines an architect as somebody whose job it is to design buildings. That’s a little bland for my liking—sort of like calling the Beatles “a band.”

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“At some point somebody has to sell something”… Let’s make it sooner! This opening line of Chapter 6 of The 90% Rule resonates that much louder during challenging times.

This point is made in the first part of the book because, all too often, successful companies become order takers. They have been wooed by the good times in which the phone would ring and now they sit and stare at it aimlessly, forgetting that, yes, it can dial out, too.

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I was particularly disturbed and confused by the front cover of the July 19th edition of Canadian Business that boldly proclaims, “How brainstorming kills good ideas”.

Disturbed and confused at least until I got to what I will call the moment of truth (on page 91), “…people in groups examined a more limited range of suggestions. The reason, according to Kohn, is fixation.  That is, as soon as one member of the group offers an idea, the others get stuck on it and conform their own thinking to the suggestion.  Creativity, in effect, is stifled. In many cases, we may not even be aware that fixation is occurring”.

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