Looking in from the balcony
Last Tuesday evening the barefoot mountain guide and I were home doing nothing particularly out of the ordinary since, like most South Africans I think, we’re in the post World Cup slump – all cheered out and budgets blown completely. He was cooking supper for us and I was hovering unhelpfully in the kitchen as I do. For some context, I am now not allowed in the kitchen unsupervised since I routinely come close to setting things alight at the gas stove; cutting off a finger with a knife or grating something that should not be in the cheese. So hovering and maybe pouring wine is pretty much all I’m allowed to do in the kitchen now. And make tea, naturally.
The very strong onions were already sizzling in the huge cast iron pot that is the barefooted chefs preference when I got a little close to the pot as he was about to add spices and chilli and other tear-inducing ingredients to it resulting in a loud “Careful!” health & safety warning to me. But also probably for the sake of the kitchen and our supper. In order to ensure that I (and by implication the kitchen and supper) survived the sizzling onslaught, I exited the open-plan kitchen / lounge via the closest escape route – the open folding glass doors onto our balcony. It was surprisingly still warm outside, despite the foggy rain that had started about an hour before (CT really has not had what amounts to a winter yet), and I looked out at the softly gathering fog for a few seconds and then turned around to watch the goings on in the kitchen that I had just evacuated. I stood behind the one remaining closed glass panel of the folding door (the others were folded to one side in their open position) so that the vicious spicy onion fumes would not assault me, and watched as the pasta sauce evolved under the barefoot chef’s ministrations.
And then with no real warning or cause, I gained that most valuable thing: perspective. Standing there, watching the attentive cooking process in the warmly lit kitchen of our flat through the glass, I saw my new life as if for the first time. I saw it as you would see someone else’s life, or even as you watch a movie – I actually saw the detail and the whole instead of flashing past it and filling in what details I know to be there from memory. And it was such a moving thing – to watch the beauty of this ordinary day in my daily life and realise that I love it. I love everything about it – the wonderful barefoot man, the small space we call home, the couch, the copy of “Where the Wild Things Are” on the coffee table, even the neighbours cat who has adopted us. I love it. And in that moment I loved it with an unexpected ardour and a rush of emotion that actually took my breath away for a second.
And I realised, as I stood there on the balcony and watched my life for a few minutes more, that it’s so easy to lose perspective when you’re missing your friends; figuring out a new way of being; struggling to find new clients and time to do a yoga class. The daily grind strips away perspective like paint-thinners, thinning all your joy and hope in what you’re building with it.
It’s so easy to lose, but actually I think also so easy to get back if you take a second and step onto the balcony of your life. I can recommend it, really – go do it now! And I don’t mean imagine it – I mean actually go outside and look at your life or your job or your relationship through a window or an open door or a gap in the fence – you might be surprised by what you find.
And I think it’s also a good thing to do for your brand. Regain some perspective every now and then….
#1 When you’ve made a lot of changes and you’re still figuring out the details
I have a little experience on the topic of “change” in the last year, but the other day I watched as the barefoot chef taught his beautiful blonde 5 year old daughter to use the laptops’ built-in mouse pad to move the mouse around the screen and click on what she’d like to see and within minutes she had mastered the technique, assimilated the skill into her life and was happily choosing the next Hannah Montana video she wanted to watch from the YouTube list. I was utterly amazed at how quickly she learnt this whole new world of skill, but also at how little trauma was involved. Children’s entire existence is built on change simply because they haven’t encountered most of what we take for granted yet. And when they do, they take on the stuff they need and then – and here is the trick, I think – they sit back and watch it and enjoy it for a while!
It seems that once we as adults start making changes it can become a habit. Making changes in your life or on a brand can become the norm and you just seem to keep making changes because you’re not sure what to do if you’re not. The best FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) example is packaging – it often seems to me that brand people change packaging when they run out of other ideas, and that’s not always what the brand really needs. Especially if it’s just had it’s packaging changed and it (and it’s consumers) are barely used to the current iteration. So if you’ve made a whole lot of changes, step back. Stop and take a really good look at where things are now – how have the changes impacted everything else? How are others feeling about the changes? How does it look from the shop floor or the pavement or the car window? Instead of focusing on getting every last minute detail right and then moving swiftly on to the next thing to fix or to change, step back and get some perspective on the new landscape you’ve created – you might find it’s pretty good as it is and maybe even worth celebrating a little!
#2 When you’ve invested a lot
On Saturday I joined a “Worldwide Photo Walk” with a super-organiser photographer friend around the Green Point area of Cape Town. The purpose was to take a look at what is there, what has changed, how are things now that the stadium is up, the World Cup is over and life is starting to get back to normal. And it was really fascinating – much the same as standing on my balcony, the perspective you gain from behind the lense of a camera is wonderful! I think it’s because you’re forced to – once again – see what is actually there and not just gloss by it. Another option, I think, for seeing stuff properly – take some pictures, put them all on a wall and then step back and really look at them!
But on to my point here – taking pictures of the expensive new stadium and what that means in the normal everydayness of Cape Town now was a great reminder that another really good time to step back and regain some perspective on your brand is after you’ve invested a lot in it. Whether that investment be money or time or energy or all these and more, investing in something means you have – unavoidably – created a vested interest in its outcome. And vested interests rob us of perspective – so sometimes we don’t make the best choices just because we want it to work so much! When you invest a lot, get some perspective and make sure you’re making the best decisions – not the ones clouded by your fierce passion for that which you’re vested & invested in.
#3 When nothing is going on and it’s an ordinary Tuesday
And thirdly, like my balcony epiphany last week, the best time to gain great perspective on what’s going on is when nothing specific is going on! In the Christian liturgical calendar the year is divided into themes like Advent, Easter and so forth. I remember once looking up what theme I was born during and being really offended that June is considered part of “Ordinary Time” and not something more impressive or lofty. But I’ve come to realise that Ordinary Time (in my definition, not necessarily the liturgical one) is that most elusive of creatures: a time in which all things in my life have come to a resting point and are at ease with themselves and each other. To me Ordinary Time is the goal now, the wonderful peaceful moment when everything in my life is ok and I can rest in it for a little while.
And this, I think, is also when it’s easiest to regain your perspective on things. When everything is calm, step outside and have a look at the wonder of your life.
Or your brand . Step outside and really look at what your brand looks like on an ordinary day to your customers. Really look at it in the real world. Take pictures of it on shelf. Google it. Phone it. Buy it. Use it. Remind yourself what the truth of your brand is and you’ll be amazed how that helps reignite your passion for it, and also how many simple, easy to implement and really useful ideas about making it better pop into your head seemingly unsummoned.
And that, really, is the magic of perspective gained from looking in from the outside for a second, and really seeing what is there: it almost always looks better than you expected!
[ps. Last 3 photos from the Worldwide Photo Walk on Saturday 24th July – have a look at their website or at the Flickr group here.]