Mandatory inspiration

To most French people who have a career and are independant in their professional choices, observing and learning from the Americans' way of doing things is "the next step" in their professional evolution. I'm talking about business men, designers, actors, writers, CEOs...

Yes, Americans have a reputation of doers, a proved one.

And I think that what makes them work better or faster or bigger, is their great sense of community. Teams.

Of course, everyone has personal interests but the important understanding from Americans is that it's only through the community, the strengths put together, that their own interests are satisfied and that the results they get can go beyond their expectations because no one should underestimate the power of people working together with the same goal.

There's also the notion of being part of something...

Makes me remember of the making of the movie "The Lord of the Rings". I was so amazed by all these people working so hard on a specific domain, so accurately, being perfectionists because they're part of it, because without one of them, it can collapse, because it's worth it. And all that with so much enthusiasm even though they almost had no sleep or the day was stormy and the shooting schedule had changed.

Americans believe more than us French in challenge and in what it brings to them and to the group. To surpass oneself.

Besides, it's interesting to notice that in French when we want to motivate people or ourselves to start doing something, we always use "Let's go", "Let's do it", because it gives us the extra-energy we miss, sometimes the illusion of it, but it can push people to take action now, to generate that mood, to see challenges as opportunities to do better and strengthen their team.

And yes, I definitely think that this difference has something to do with the notion of individual and his place. In France, we cultivate individualism because we don't see the value and power of being part of a group to achieve things. We don't want to be the cog in the wheel. Of course if it's of someone else's mechanism, it's normal to want more. But to me, Americans know how worthy it is to add quality people to your team and feel that you're at the right place at the right moment because you're working on something important for you and the people with you.

It's a great lesson. Every French people who ever went to the US to work or watch people work say so. There are some here who have adopted that way of doing things but because they don't find many people like them they do something I would do...

...They move to the United States to live not a dream but an effective reality.

Being here

Some of you may think that I'm distancing myself from my main topic, business inspiration, with posts like this one or the last 3 ones but I think not. I think that being successful, achieving goals and reaching the life style you want implies being here with all the things you're made of.

Being here to me means stop thinking our life in a compartmentalized way. I feel this very strongly in France and it's a restraint because it feels like you don't have the right to mix too many things, to try to be good at sports and business, and art, and what you want.

Here's an example. One of the first thing someone asks you when you just meet this person is :

"What do you do for a living ?". This is the illusion, thinking you can know someone just by knowing his job. This is a social judgment, satisfying for many.

It reminds me of Timothy Ferriss who didn't know what to answer when he was actually selling memory optimizer pills online and had enough money and time to be champion of tango, to travel and have fun. Tired of people asking the same question over and over again, thinking he had to justify the reason of his wealth with a job title, he finally decided to answer with a serious tone of voice "Oh, well, I'm a drug dealer", which stopped discussions right away as you can guess !

I already posted an entry about Timothy Ferriss and for me he really is someone who knows how to "be here", who made this choice. Present time matters and when you give yourself the freedom to really be here, magical things happen.

I'd like to share a beautiful video with you of a 14-year old pianist doing an improvisation based on 5 random notes someone else picked for her at a TED conference. The video is long but you can jump to the improvisation part (16:38).

When I watched it the first time I got goose bumps (every time actually) and knew this pianist was "there", entirely.

It makes me want to cry and I don't know why. She creates this melody, we're listening to it simultaneously and it's dying almost instantly... I don't know if I'm clear here but it doesn't really matter if what you'll hear touches you.

Seth Godin, of course.

No need to explain who Seth Godin is I guess. If so, read this and come back.

There's something very special about him. He's considered as a marketing guru because of his ideas and the way he talks and writes and shares and teaches.

His vision of marketing is simple. He adds the human side to it and always pushes people to think their business communication differently and to seek quality more than quantity. It may sounds like a well-known statement but it actually is something companies tend to lose because of how apparently easy it can be to reach many potential customers through the internet.

Seth Godin fights this marketing scheme of a product advertised through mass media again and again and again until customers buy it. Customers today have a need to claim their identity and have a perfect medium to do it. They think they deserve more than average products and services and they are right to think so.

They matter and we need to do better each day and never stop questioning ourselves and our decisions. I like this vision. His vision.

I don't exactly know why but I'm sure Seth Godin is a very loyal and faithful friend. He's brilliant, he really is, and it's mostly because he believes in honesty and human values in business. He puts a finger on the essential.

My advice : follow his blog, right here. You have no idea how useful and powerful his posts are. I mean it. No surprise he's a great blogger. One post per day at least to really say something and make readers move forward with new tools and strong ideas.

Seth Godin helps me to DARE and build my own Purple Cow with ethic and originality.

He'll probably never read this but I'd like to say thanks to him.

Here is one of his precious talks at the TED conference. Inspiring.

American Express inspires me !

Six months ago I was looking for a business idea, for inspiration, for something, someone, to bring out my entrepreuneurial mind and push me to transform thoughts into action.

I googled many things in French. I found one book, blogs, forums, official website of the Chamber of Commerce... I must admit that I am easily tired of the French business approach because it never goes beyond what I expect. It never reaches the point where, seated in front of my laptop, an uncontrolable smile on my face, I think out loud "YES !".

So I searched in English and I discovered two precious websites :

http://www.coolbusinessideas.com/ and http://www.entrepreneur.com/.

About the first website, everything is in the title ! As for entrepreneur.com, there also are business ideas sorted by industry, interest or profession. They also mention the startup costs and if franchises are available.

Precious.

Their newsletters are brilliant, the information is clear and inventive. I always look forward to receive them.

But things really changed for me the day I found the Open forum by American Express.

This website is what I was looking for without knowing it. The website itself, its structure, is easy to use and pleasant. You can watch videos, read business stories, follow the blog. And you can sort all this by topic: finance, marketing, innovation, leadership, management.

Through the short videos that I watched on this Open forum, I met the american way of thinking business. I watched people talk with passion and faith and simplicity about their business, about ideas, solutions, advices, services, company's ethic, and so on.

What I realised then was this simple fact :

Business is about people first.

Here is a very short video about blogging with Seth Godin and Tom Peters.

Enjoy.

By the way, Seth Godin will be the subject of a forthcoming post. Come back soon or follow this blog !