Fundamental Provocation » Want

You can achieve the unachievable

Ajay Matharu — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:59:22 +0000

Firstly, you need to aim beyond what you are capable of. You must develop a complete disregard for where your abilities end. Try to do the things that you’re incapable of.

If you think you’re unable to work for the best company in its sphere, make it your aim.

If you think you’re incapable of running a company, make that your aim.

If you think you’re unable to be on the cover of Time magazine, make it your business to be there.

Make your vision of where you want to be a reality.

Nothing is impossible.

Become whoever you want to be

Ajay Matharu — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:35:41 +0000

All of us want to be good at our jobs, but how good do we really want to be?

Quite good.

Good.

Very Good.

The best in our field.

Or the best in the world?

Talent helps, but it won’t take you as far as ambition. Everybody wants to be good, but not many are prepared to make the sacrifices it takes to be great.

To many people, being nice in order to be liked is more important. There’s equal merit in that, but you must not confuse being good with being liked.

Most people are looking for a solution, a way to become good. There is no instant solution, the only way to learn is through experience and mistakes.

You will become whoever you want to be.

I want to be as famous as “Persil Automatic”

Ajay Matharu — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:22:59 +0000

As a teenager, Victoria Beckham’s ambition was not just to be better than her mates or even a famous singer but to become a world brand. She not only dreamed about it, but wanted it enough to go about getting it. That in itself makes her different from most of us.

It’s not how good she was that mattered, it’s how good she wanted to be. What is interesting in her quote is that she didn’t compare herself with George Michael or Mariah Carey, rather she saw the fame of Persil Automatic as her yardstick.

Laugh at it as you may, it’s this highly original imagination that got her where she is today.

Don’t look for the next opportunity. The one you have in hand is the opportunity

Ajay Matharu — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:33:25 +0000

We are always waiting for the perfect brief from the perfect client. It almost never happens. You’re probably working on a job or project right now and saying, ‘This is boring, let’s just deal with it and get it over with. We’ll make the next one good.’

Whatever is on your desk right now, that’s the one. Make it the best you possibly can. It may not be great, but at least you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you did the best you possibly could, and you may learn something from it. And you’re always free to do an alternative that does satisfy your creative standards.

Good briefs don’t just come along. That’s true, even if you’ve earned a reputation for doing good work. Successful solutions are often made by people rebelling against the bad briefs.

Don’t promise what you can’t deliver

Ajay Matharu — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:30:51 +0000

When selling our ideas, we tend to overpromise in our enthusiasm for our creation. In our vision of how we hope it will be, we leave no room for failure. The result will probably be disappointing. Not disastrous, but a little less than expected.

No one will say anything, they just won’t trust you quite as much next time. Basically you’ve blown it. If instead you undersell, pointing out the possible weaknesses and how to resolve them, should they occur, you are not only building a trusting relationship with your client but you’re able to solve any problems. And if it does turn out the way you hoped, it is a bonus.

Have you noticed how the cleverest people at school are not those who make it in life?

Ajay Matharu — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:13:17 +0000

What you learn at school are facts, known facts. Your job at school is to accumulate and remember facts. The more you can remember, the better you do. Thos who fail at school are not interested in facts; or maybe the facts are not put to them in a way they find interesting.

Some people simply don’t have a great faculty for memory. It doesn’t mean they are stupid. It means their imagination hasn’t been fired up by academic tuition. People who are conventionally clever get jobs on their qualifications, not their desire to succeed.

Very simply, they get overtaken by those who continually strive to be better than they are. As long as the goal is there, there is no limit to anyone’s achievement.

What do you do when your client won’t buy?

Ajay Matharu — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 07:02:55 +0000

A client often has a fair idea of what he wants. If you show him what you want and not what he wants he’ll say that’s not what he asked for. If, however you show him what he wants first, he is then relaxed and is prepared to look at what you want to sell him.

You’ve allowed him to become magnanimous instead of putting him in a corner. Give him what he wants and he may well give you what you want. There is also possibility that he may be right.

When it can’t be done do it. If you don’t do it, it doesn’t exist

Ajay Matharu — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 04:25:58 +0000

A new idea can be either unfamiliar or silly or both. It can’t be judged by description. It needs to be done to exist. It is unlikely that anyone will sanction the cost of something they don’t understand; therefore you have no choice but to do it yourself. At whatever cost.

You may have to beg, steal and borrow to get it done. But that’s for you to work out how you do it. It’s exiting, it’s difficult and it’s fun. If it was easy anyone could do it.

The film Citizen Kane is a very good example. It was stolen not sanctioned. Orson Welles could not find any backers, but he did raise a small sum for casting. He begged, borrowed and cajoled people into building sets and shooting full-blown screen tests which eventually formed a third of the film. It existed. Backers could see what they were getting he got the money. Without him doing it when it supposedly couldn’t be done, it would be another in the endless list of ideas that never happened.

Know your clients aim

Ajay Matharu — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:54:38 +0000

Most clients are corporate people protecting their mortgages. They mistakenly see ideas as a risk rather than an advancement to their careers. Therefore their motivation may be quite different from their brief to you.

Find out what the client’s real objective is. All clients aspire to status. It may be their desire to become member of the New Your Yacht or the Jockey Club. To be chairman of the company, Owner of the football club.

How you can make your company great

Ajay Matharu — Sat, 23 May 2009 15:28:29 +0000

We all want to be proud of the company we work for. It enhances our reputation, makes us look good, feel good and gives us access to the best people. The majority of us want to work for companies with glamorous reputations. If you work for one of these companies, you are probably working for them for what they can do for you.

But not everybody is fortunate enough to be able to work for the outfit that is currently flavoured. So, given that not everyone in your company is an idiot, what are you personally going to do to make it company of the year?

Start by taking it up. Begin thinking and behaving like a winner. It will stop the rot. It will temporarily halt negative thinking and a defeatist attitude. If you find people talking it down, take issue with them, tell others about them. If it persists, get them fired or, fight somebody for talking disparagingly about the company you work for. People will soon get the idea.

Don’t expect top management to lead the way. They are too busy running the company. Decide you are going to make the company great; at least decide you are going to make the difference. Observe that the organization’s reputation is usually built on one or two key accounts. Then pick the ground on which to make your assault.

Realize that companies’ reputations are also built on one or two people. Aim to be that person or one of them. You are halfway there. You have made the decision to do it. Now all you have is your wits, your talent, and your guts.

You are on your own. Just do it. Better.