We’d be forced to identify and extract the underlying principle behind examples obtained from real life experiences, textbooks or teachers. We knew we couldn’t possibly learn and retain every example. So we had to grasp the principles so we could apply them to future problems. We would have to recall our learned list of principles to discover how they might apply to a new problem that we had never seen before. We used these principles like tools that could be adjusted to resolve challenges and problems we experienced.

Instant Access at Our Fingertips

But, why go through all that trouble if you could instantly access every example on Google or YouTube? So much for looking for the principle and retaining it. MacGyver R.I.P.!

We have friends who have thousands of books downloaded on their reading devices. When we ask, “Why do you have all those books when you know you will never read them?” They say, “Just having them makes me feel like I have sort of read them. I have access to them and that’s a step closer to reading them!” So much for feeling obligated to read a book you bought.

It’s interesting that so many folks are worried that robots will take away their jobs when they already think their “work” is simply to find an example, cut and paste. No problem solving is required for that. Simply oversimplify a challenge, copy a pre-existing solution, and paste a one-size-fits-all “solution.” Isn’t that what robots already do?

Instead of solving the challenge using principles, you might just say, “Like What? Like What? Like What?” expecting and demanding that there is an exact example you can copy and paste. If only someone, usually your boss, would just tell you.  It’s so much easier to not have to reason it out! It’s so much easier to not have to remember things! Besides, why bother when it’s all right there at the end of your arm?

And that’s just the problem, isn’t it? Today’s tech natives are born with a crutch on the end of their arm that it can threaten their memory and cognitive abilities. Parts of the brain we used to depend upon are getting used less and less. As we become more dependent on technology, we rely less on our own cognitive abilities.

Learning from Stories

Our friend and business namesake, Marilyn Barefoot, writes a compelling and well-researched post on this subject. She reports on growing warnings about how dependence on tech can decrease our attention span, make us more easily distracted, impair our social interaction, and well, get us downright addicted.

Marilyn is an expert on brainstorming and story as a form of learning. In her post “Your Brain on Stories,” she examines how researchers have actually measured the parts of the brain that are activated and the rewarding chemicals released when we listen to a story. It’s fascinating! And it’s hopeful.

People learn from listening to stories. When you create the scene being described together in your mind, you are pulling the props, colors, and moods out of your memory and imagination. Then, you are attaching the action to that creation. Because you are participating in the reception of the story, you have an investment in it. Now you are more likely to recall the principles that the story demonstrated later when you need them.

Experiential Learning Through a Business Audiobook

This is the kind of experiential learning experience we are aiming for in our new Audio Theater Business Book. We’ve taken our NYTs Bestseller, The Barefoot Spirit and actually had it theatrically performed for you, not just read to you. It is a series of short stories in which professional actors play the characters. And we have added an original musical score and sound effects.  We hope to engage your imagination in a true-life business adventure that will entertain and demonstrate time-tested principles that will be at the ready for you to easily recall and apply to your own life and business.

We that dramatic business story-telling just might be the redemption for the technical crutch at the end of your arm! It is a wonderful way to activate your brain while being entertained.

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Dependence on Tech Crutches Threatens our Cognitive Abilities appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

But now, it’s Spring already, and before long, the year will be half over. Spring is nature’s “new year.” This is when it’s obvious to everyone that life is returning, and it’s time to grow again. Isn’t it time we renew some important relationships that might have fallen by the wayside in our struggle to grow our businesses? It is so important that we all stay connected, really connected, with our friends who mean the most to us. Let’s call them now!

Old Folks. When was the last time you spoke to the oldest living members of your family? A word from you can make their day! Many seniors feel alone and forgotten. Letting them know that they are important to you can actually improve their attitude, and their health. Sure, they’re unplugged, and technology has passed them by, but that’s all the more reason to reconnect with a personal phone call to make them feel like they’re still part of your life.

New Folks. What about those new folks you met that you liked so much – that you haven’t spoken to since? Take a look at your calendar. Identify the guests you have had, or visitors you have met on the trips you’ve taken in the past year. There is still time to cement those relationships with a friendly call or note reminding them of the good times you shared and that you are happy to have met them.

Old Customers. What about those former customers you are no longer doing business with? Take a look at your accounts over the past year or even two years. Look for clients and customers with whom you have already concluded business. Now is a great time to reach out and say hello. You want them to know that they were more than just a customer. Ask them how they’re doing and what their challenges are today. You may be surprised they can provide leads to even more business.

Foreigners. How about the friends that live in another part of the world you haven’t seen for a year or so? Think about the trips you’ve taken in the past few years to other countries. You met foreign nationals and American tourists. Whatever happened to them? You have that wonderful experience in common with them. They would love to hear from you again. We found that especially with foreign nationals, they can become friends for life if you just stay in touch.

Disabled. Who do you know who’s had an injury you can check up on? Who do you know who had a serious illness or underwent an operation requiring therapy and recovery? While you have been focused on your business, these people were taken out of the action in their businesses for a period of time. Some of them may still be recovering. They feel somewhat isolated themselves knowing that the world is spinning on without them. Spring is a great time to call these folks, wish them well, and tell them you are hoping for their speedy recovery.

As we come out of winter and into spring with the promise of new growth, new opportunities, and new friends, this is a great time to secure the important relationships we already have. Don’t let them drift away or become part of the past.

A simple telephone call or even a short note right now can keep those relationships alive and healthy. These folks will be so glad to hear from you and catch up. Don’t try to do it on Facebook or with a once a year summary letter. It’s too impersonal. Communicate just with them and just for them. Show them you care and still intend to include them in your life. It will mean the world to them!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post 5 People to Call Right Now! appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

You’re starting to get bored with the same old stuff that you get in your food box every week. There’s nothing new in there and since you’ve stopped shopping at your grocery store you’re no longer exposed to new branded products. It’s too much trouble to even change your order now because you wouldn’t know how to change it anyway. And so, you resign yourself to getting more of the same. You’ve sacrificed variety for convenience.

Sound a little far-fetched? It’s not as far away as you think. As more and more grocery stores promise speedy home delivery to save you the trip to the store, your choices are being reduced by the very technology that enables the ordering process. One of the ways this technology is dumbing down your shopping experience is with the assumption that you’ve already chosen the brands you like, and, unspoken but implied, that you will never change! This is especially true once you start reordering your “same as last time” purchases.

Sure, online grocery shopping will certainly attempt to account for this in a very profitable way. They will charge producers for pop-up ads that target the types of previous purchases you’ve made. They will also tell you what other products were purchased by people who have bought similar branded products. But in order to see these pop-ups you must be on their site every week. Not very likely.

What will happen in fact is that many people will not even go back to the site once they’ve set up their initial order. They will simply give the store permission to deliver the same order with the same brands as last time. But viewing the store visit as strictly an act of replenishment, collection, or delivery to replace your larder is forgetting something very important. Discovery! Not to mention, Entertainment!

When you go into a physical store you enjoy what some psychologists call “retail therapy.” The act of setting time aside, making yourself presentable, changing your scenery by physically going to a store, interacting with other people in real time, asking for and receiving suggestions, being exposed to a variety of choices in every category, and stumbling upon that new, impulse, notion buy, all add to revitalization and discovery.

Stumbling upon that new, impulse, notion buy doesn’t really happen online. So the last brand choices you made before you started getting your “regular reorders” are generally the ones you’re stuck with.

And what about new CPG brand producers? Their challenge of building a new CPG brand just got a whole lot tougher! With Walmart adding to the ever-growing list of retail grocery stores offering online delivery, impulse buys are going to become a thing of the past. The growth of online ordering with home delivery will inadvertently create repeat customers who want “more of the same!”

The brands that are already established will benefit greatly from this change because it’s too disconcerting to shop for new brands in the first place. There’s always the anxiety that the new brand you choose will not perform as expected. There’s always the worry that you will have to choose yet another new brand, and another and another until you find a satisfactory replacement. This is hard enough to do with the store visit. Imagine how hard it’s going to be without tactile comparison and displays of new brands that you stumble upon when in a physical store. May as well stick with the old brand even if it’s not performing…

Once again, we see technology that’s being sold to us as improving our efficiency really just dumbing us down to the point where we are willing to accept less choices. To save a little time, will we give up discovery? Will we let the improvement in our food brand choices end with the last trip we made to the grocery store right before we started re-ordering the “same as last time?” Sounds pretty boring, doesn’t it?

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Are We Sacrificing Choices Just to Save a Little Time? appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.