Here's what we're giving out for Hallowe'en over at Surprise Central:
They're called Washington Walnuts, a classic tactical use of the Time-Bombing tactic explained so eloquently in my oft-mentioned Pow! book. Each real shell contains a folded up dollar bill, mixes undetected into a bag of regular walnuts, and pays off to a lucky Surprisee once cracked...sort of a positive spin on the ol' razor-blade-in-the-apple or needle-in-the candy Hallowe'en tricks of yore.
They sell for a somewhat steep $15 per bag of three; such is the cost for ingenuity and painstaking labor, I suppose. You can get yours for yours online from the Shopsin's General Store.
And now, off to answer the first of many knocks at the front door...
Well. once again, the denizens of Airborne Mobile have gone far beyond the boundaries of creativity and decency with their costumes at our annual lunch. This is one of our great traditions, one that mixes the Surprise of seeing "What Will They Think of Next?" with a sense of camaraderie and team-building.
Here are a couple of costumes that I can show you without being arrested, sued...or beseeched by job applicants (names and identities withheld to protect the guilty):
New this year, thanks to rookie HR Manager Trish Maharaj, was a 30-minute team pumpkin-carving contest, which featured this somewhat violent homage to yours truly and his managerial style:
The ultimate winner showed a little more decorum with this Tim Burton-esque creation:
The end result? Well, a little mess and a whole lot of come-together fun. The trick is doing things like this. Always well-appreciated. The treat is who we do it for.
Times may be tough, and the business climate always challenging, but it's days like this that make me appreciate coming to work with those who come to work with me.
Add yet another member to the Pow! Astonishing Business Card Club. Embodiment of the Second Great Surprise Theory, namely "Little Things Mean A Lot,"(read the book for the other three) these relatively puny pieces of paper (or plastic, or metal, or what have you) produce results, generate oodles of word-of-mouth, and perform other feats of marketing magic on a dramatically disproportionate level.
That said, check this one out:
Comes from a place called "Gotstyle," which is perhaps the hippest men's store in all of eastern Canada. (So many menswear shops purport to be a "lifestyle" boutique or "full experience," but this hidden gem is the real deal. Check 'em out here...but back to their card.)
Now, every well-dressed man knows the value of a proper collar stay (this blogger even has his own set of multi-length brass ones in a leather pouch...which would sound perverse if I weren't talking about collar stays...but I digress), and what happens when one goes missing. Not that you'll ever put this card into action, but the fact that you could if you need to makes it efficient, Pow!-worthy and fun. (Truth be told, these things make a nice little weapon if you need to poke someone's eye out...but I digress once again.)
Before you dismiss this idea as a bit of harmless (well, almost) fluff, consider that the Gotstyle card is one of many made by a company called Collar Card, which includes such sartorial superstars as Saks 5th Avenue,Nordstrom and Brooks Brothers as clients for its patented product, one their website describes as "the perfect product for the traveling businessman or any contemporary man on the go."
So where would I be without these faithful, creative FOPs? Well, without a post today, frankly. This one's from my son Aidan, who perhaps sent this along as a hint for a gift for his upcoming birthday...
Very reminiscent of the Something Store I profiled in the Pow! book, the Hipstery is a t-shirt site that's way more about selling the element of you-know-what than merely selling a decorated cotton fashion item. The "About" section is more entertaining that most humour sites (particularly their Return Policy, well worth scrolling down to), and obviously, I'm particularly enamored with their philosophy, which goes:
"We believe, in a world increasingly losing mystery through rampaging
technological advancement, we're forgetting how to enjoy the unknown, to
take a chance. The Hipstery is our response."
So, how does it work? There's a simple, three-step process (listed below, illustrated above) that connects you to your bounty. As they put it:
STEP 1 Pick a size, then take the checkout quiz to tell us about yourself.
STEP 2 Our t-shirt scientists select the perfect t-shirt for you.
STEP 3 You receive your mystery shirt, liking it so much you weep with happiness!
Great idea, even greater spirit. Check 'em out here.
Gives the folks at Surprise Central another reason to keep fighting the fight.
Got this recently from another most generous and enthusiastic reader, Robleh Jama.
RJ here.
I'm a Torontonian slash web entrepreneur (sold my baby sneakerplay.com
- a social network for sneaker heads earlier this year) - and the guy
who tweeted about your book a couple of days ago.
I recently purchased
your book and I only read the first chapter before my brain was flooded
with cool ideas on how to surprise and delight customers...I will
definitely be applying this to the project I work on in the
future....and am looking forward to reading the rest of the book on
flight I'm going on later this evening.
(Okay Andy, enough ego-stroking...get to the point!)
I just had to share this really creative application of
"Surprise" service from a cafe in Japan that I came across via PSFK.
It's about a mystery cafe called Ogori:
"In a nutshell, you get what the person before you ordered, and the next
person gets what you ordered. Thus, if you’re in on the game, you can
choose to be either a generous benefactor, and treat those that come
after you – or try your luck at being cheap. Either way, it’s an
interesting experiment that explores surprise, kindness and encourages
interactions." (See photo below.)
How cool, and exciting, and scary, is this? Gives a new meaning to "Uh, I'll have what she's having," doesn't it? Check out the full story here.
So...why do this? Well, one of the four main theories of creating Surprise is "Sometimes, There IS No Reason." There's a lot to say about the Karma you're puttin' out by playing the game, and it indeed DOES get people talking more than they would about your average Japanese corner snackbar. To quote Cabel Saasser, who sent the story into the PSFK blog, "It was SO worth it."
One of the questions I am most frequently asked is:
"How's the Pow! book going?"
My answer usually is this:
"Dan Brown or Malcolm Gladwell ain't shaking in their boots, but what I lack in sales power...I make up in impact."
What I've discovered is that Surprise is an acquired taste...like Maker's Mark bourbon, or Tom Waits (essentially, the same thing, but I digress). I suppose if I can borrow a slogan from Alexander Keith's Pale Ale:
"Those who like it, like it a lot."
Case in point is this email I got from Matthew Aligaen-Cua, an entrepreneur and student of Applied Chemistry at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. I've cut it down a bit, but tried to leave in his unbridled enthusiasm (so please excuse his intermittent grammar miscues, as it doesn't seem that English is his mother tongue) :
Hi Andy,
After months of search your book here in
the Philippines I finally got hold of it ! Woohoo ! And I'm blown away
by your book. I must say this is one of the rare books that stops me to
reach out for a pen and paper to write down stuff and ideas that is
coming into my brain !
I
just turned 21 and about to graduate from college and pretty much went
all in loaning $30,000 to start a new company, everyone is pretty
shocked to know what I did. WTH Matthew! is something that I keep on
hearing and well sometimes it gets to you and thanks to your book I
feel energized again.
I usually come up with crazy ideas and often apply
it like start free photocopying for
students (and actually making money out of it). Your book made what I
did make sense even more and your book also gave me a few tips on how
to create more POWS! and actually implementing it.
Cheers,
Matthew
Below is a picture of Matthew, a kid who has pride in his country and is busting butt to succeed within some less-than-ideal parameters there. And check out the free photocopying business he launched. (But baseball cap with a suit? We need a wardrobe consult, my friend!)
So no, I ain't no Gladwell or Dan Brown or Tom Peters.
But it's stuff like this that makes writing the book more than worthwhile.
Love this for many reasons, not the least of 'em being that it was sent from my son Hayes over the weekend from Chicago.
You've seen this in high-faultin' restaurants, haven't ya? (You know, the ones where you don't use words like "high-falutin'" and "ya.") Where the '84 Napa Cav is paired with the sauteed duck, and the Brunello is paired with the veal paillard?
Well, this from the cuisines of Burger King and the cellars of Coca-Cola:
If you can't read it, Coke is described as "Real, full-bodied taste with a refreshing bubbly finish" and pairs well with Whoppers. Sprite has a "Crisp and full body with a whole lotta character" and pairs well with BK Chicken Fries (of course!), The Angus and Tendercrisp, while Dr, Pepper, whose "23 fruity flavors give it pep" pairs well with all of BK's Stackers.
Uh, where was I last year when this was all the rage? Rip Van Winkin' perhaps? Jeez, I could've used this as a prime example for the Pow! book...
If you haven't already seen this (and if I missed it, chances are...), take a look at a most ingenious campaign for the next wave in all-inclusive mobile devices. Who needs an Apple iPhone when you can have a Pomegranate MePhone?
Don't want to blow it for those of you who will see it for the first time (click on the link above or the picture), but given the truly inspired approach, I can forgive the somewhat contrived connection between the device and the reason for its creation.
Once you get there, and get it, think of all the other ways--boats, lobsters, fish--the client could've TRIED to get your attention.
And think about what you've done that is STILL getting attention one year later.
Too late for the book indeed. But definitely an add to the Pow! speeches.
So, I get a call from my friend Scott Kavanagh, who runs a nice, tight little ship called The Art of Productions, a management training event company.
Scott wanted to tell me about his upcoming Art of Management event in Toronto next week, and asked if perhaps you FOPs would be interested in learning a bit about it.
I've done some work for Scott in the past, speaking at his Toronto and Vancouver events, but despite that, this blog has to maintain its integrity, and not degenerate into some sort of free-for-all plug-fest...so I ask him what makes it Pow!-worthy.
"Well, it stars Tom Peters and Marcus Buckingham." he says.
Thunder and lightning indeed, yes. Two of the most legendary names in the management field. Magna-selling authors and rockstar stage presence both.
But no Surprise.
"It also stars David Allen," he continues.
David Allen! A mentor, the guru of Getting Things Done, and the guy who wrote the afterword to my oft-mentioned Pow! book. A great speaker, every word a jewel...but I'm actually having lunch with him next week, so again, no Surprise here.
I could almost hear the beads of sweat forming on Scott's brow when he counters "How about this--Jeff Jarvis can't make it, and is being replaced by Mitch Joel."
Equally as impressive, a fearsome foursome, and Scott couldn't have found a better pinch-hitter for Jeff than the lava-hot Mitch. But there's a tinge of sadness here, as Jeff is recovering from a pretty serious surgery. Again, a nice new item, a little unexpected, but no whopping Surprise.
And then Scott unloaded his cannon.
"Not only is Mitch replacing Jeff, but he'll be wearing the same outfit Lady GaGa wore on Saturday Night Live last week!" (see below)
Holy Jeez! The Man In Black resplendent in ebony two-piece and goggle-shades, surrounded by Saturn-like rings? Scalpers are already lining up.
Now you're talking, Scott! Too bad I'm booked at a McGill University event that day, or I would be front row.
But that shouldn't stop you folks reading this. Those in or around the Toronto area next Friday, there hasn't been a better foursome since Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (ask your parents).
