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Shave your feet and primp yourself into proper mating condition

The traditional view of the employer/employee relationship has historically been a binary.

As soon as you start use those kinds of terms, the power dynamic establishes, where one person has control over the other.

No wonder people are so cynical about organizations. Myself included.

My friend used to work for a pharmaceutical chain, and here’s how he described his years of experience there:

Working here is a continuous cycle in which one would think the organization would reconsider their work model, but they just keep on treating employees horrible, because they know there will be another innocent person looking for a job and fall into the slave trap, and work until the company burns them out and they leave.

Man, I’m not cosigning her jaundiced view of work, but I do understand where they’re coming from.

Maybe what we need is a new public rating system. Some kind of formal quantification of organizational humanity based on the philosophical tenets of human wellbeing.

Because as of right now, there are several review websites where current and former employees can anonymously review companies.

I appreciate that the averages are alongside the reviews people made of the management and culture of the companies they worked for.

I appreciate knowing what scores each company receives on categories like diversity and inclusion, work life balance, compensation and executive approval.

But frankly, what I’m most interested in knowing is how human these organizations are. That’s why my logo above has a typo 😉

Where’s the rating system for that? How can we help job seekers make more existentially informed decisions about which companies to spend a third of their lives?

My idea is to take the finest document written in the past century, the universal declaration of human rights, and reverse engineer its framework into a software product that collects and correlates the ratings of companies by employees.

Now, if you’re not familiar with this project, the declaration consists of thirty articles detailing an individual’s basic rights and fundamental freedoms and affirming their universal character as inherent, inalienable, and applicable to all human beings. Roosevelt’s first lady initially created it after the great war.

Which is no surprise, from a timing standpoint. But it’s considered to be a milestone document for its universalist language, as it makes no reference to any one particular culture, political system, or religion.

My plan is to leverage algorithms to corporatize it for the betterment of the modern workforce. We’ll call it the human index, or The HIX for branding purposes. Let’s delve into several key articles through the lens of the employer/employee relationship.

Article four states nobody shall be held in slavery or servitude, and slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

We’ll quantify that principle by the amount of breaks people are taking each day. If your company insists that you spend eleven consecutive hours in front of a screen until you get blurred vision, burning eyes, headaches and disrupted sleep, then your HIX plummets.

Article five says no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

This means if your staff is working their fingers to the bone without seeing their families or friends for months at a time, once again, the HIX score decreases significantly.

However, if you adhere to article twelve by practicing nobody at your company ever having to share another piece of personal information about their private life again, your HIX skyrockets.

Congrats on being human!

Another piece of the declaration I love is article sixteen, which says everyone over the legal age has the right to marry and to found a family.

How are we going to quantify this universal human right in the workplace? Simple. If you have a date during the week, human resources officially grants you HIX permission to leave the office two hours hour early to fix your hair, shave your feet and primp yourself into proper mating condition to increase the statistical likelihood of falling in love. Go get em, tiger.

For a final article that factors into my HIX rating system, let’s talk a little politics.

The universal declaration states that everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

Cool. Now here’s the catch. If your company is willing to instate a policy forbidding any and all societal and political discussions via email and internal forms for the purposes of eliminating contentious distractions, your HIX score immediately skyrockets to the ninetieth percentile.

Now, this may seem counterintuitive, but it’s not about restricting people’s freedom of expression. It’s about loving your employees enough to keep them protected from the toxicity of talking about our shamefully racist society fueled by crass consumerism, narcissism and petty tribalism that has been circling the drain since the eighties.

Wow, can you imagine what would happen if we held organizations accountable to that standard of employee experience?

HIX’s formal quantification of organizational humanity based on the key tenets of human wellbeing could transform the modern workforce.

Michelin did the same for restaurants, and now it’s time to take that classification and apply to where it’s most needed.

Your employees almost won’t know how to react when they are treated like human beings with ideas and feelings and dreams.

What’s the most inhuman organization you ever worked for?

Episode 204: Liposuction For A Cause || Carrie, Donna, Bruce

What if cars had lockboxes to store cell phones while driving? What if we used dogs instead of towels after showering? What if religions subsidized hover boards for unpopular teenagers? What if we repurposed unsightly cellulite as soap for third world countries?

In this episode of Steal Scott’s Ideas, Carrie, Donna and Bruce gather in St. Louis for some execution in public.

**Sponsored by Bother Box


Execution Lesson 204: Bear witness to your invisible streams

Building momentum in the creative process is simple, but not easy.

Here’s the way you have to think about it. All momentum really needs to get started, is a moment.

Nothing complex and detailed. Just something that adds energy to the system. Now for most creators, that means sitting down and giving it their best shot, every day. Even if that session only lasts an hour. Even if that session only lasts twenty minutes.

The intoxication of flexing their intellectual muscles for that daily burst is a glorious feeling, and because of the potent halflife of creativity, that feeling will lasts until the next day when they sit down and get to do the work again.

And on that next day, they will have a little more momentum that before. Which will make them not want to break that chain.

That’s the simple part. Next, let’s talk about why this strategy is hard to execute.

First, because it requires deep intention. That requires making the daily negotiation of deciding how much meaning you need to make in order earn that feeling. It’s going to be different for every creator. Some use page quotas, some use time quotas, some use emotional quotas, and so on. Figure out what your critical number is ahead of time and stick to it no matter what. In my opinion, this is the hardest part of the process. It’s all mental.

Not to be overshadowed by the second hard part, which is the actual, physical labor of creating. It’s true, making our ideas real takes consistent and persistent application of energy toward those ideas. And if we can’t train ourselves to commit to trying, working hard, and giving it our all, then there is no hope for us.

The final hurdle that many creators struggle to overcome is the results piece. Because so much of the artistic battle is accepting the cold fact that we won’t know what the outcome will be, if any. We might spend the whole day creating shit work, or worse yet, staring at the screen creating no work.

Fortunately, there is a quiet glory of merely making things. And if we can learn to love that process despite the fruit it produces, then momentum will never elude us. If we can learn to bear witness to the invisible streams that move through us every day, and actually feel the things inside of is that needs to come out, then after a number of days, we will gain so much momentum that will become easy to succeed.

But it all begins with that moment. Something that adds energy to the system.

When will you grab yours?

Episode 203: The Big Daddy Society || Mark, Jane, Brittany

What if shoes became chewing gum disposals? What if mirrors took a picture of you to eliminate turkey neck? What if women bought tickets to watch hunks work out? What if sex rugs were self cleaning? What if we opened a gym that charged you every time you didn’t show up?

In this episode of Steal Scott’s Ideas, Mark, Jane and Brittany gather in Brooklyn for some execution in public.

**Sponsored by The Fart Slog Music Festival


Execution Lesson 203: And you memorized that instead of doing what?

Intellectual patent attorneys have a the most fascinating job. Every week, they are exposed to the outrageous ideas of complete strangers. Every deadbeat within a twenty mile radius shows up to pester them with their idiotic brain waves. And each of these inventions, of course, is guaranteed to make millions of dollars.

You just don’t understand. This is not merely a great idea, but a dream of a whole new life for me that’s lightyears away from my current reality. Our new golden dinglehopper will revolutionize the entire personal care industry.

And yet, speak with any patent attorney, and they will tell you just how many people waste their time, money and energy filling out paperwork for some idea that will ultimately be rejected or ignored. For many reasons, but mostly because the inventions don’t meet something called novelty requirement. Meaning, the idea is not new and therefore not patentable. Contemporaries in the field would not consider it to be nonobvious. The idea lacks what the legal system calls the nirvana of newness, and the nadir of knownness.

Reminds me of a corporate consulting program that my company launched years ago. Brandtag, in my opinion, was the greatest thing since the invention of printing. And so, it felt like the diligent thing to do to ask a patent attorney if it was legally protectable. Which I did. And it was. But the lawyer took me aside and said, look, this seems like a novel idea, and our firm can certainly trademark it for you. But that process will be expensive and labor intensive. Are you sure this is the smartest use of your time, money and energy at this early stage of your business? Perhaps you would be better off investing your resources in making the product as good as it can be first.

She was right. My desire to trademark the idea wasn’t coming from a place of lucid business judgement, but from an immature posture of fear, scarcity and ego. My patent was never registered. It didn’t need to be. What mattered more was acquiring actual paying clients, and then executing great work. Not going blind filling out paperwork to appease my own notions of paranoid grandiosity.

Look, every entrepreneur worries that someone will steal their idea. And there are enough cases of idea theft to make even the most trusting and optimistic creator paranoid. But before you get dragged down some expensive legal rabbit hole, honestly ask yourself what the best use of your financial and emotional capital would truly be.

Would you rather feel safe, broke and time poor; or alive, useful and lean?

 

 

Episode 202: Chads Begging For Change || Christian, Rosie, Rick

What if coworkers never tried to sell you crap at the office anymore? What if cat nostrils were the secret path to public sanitation? What if bros were placed in businesses that truly need them? What sorts of coughs occur below the waist? What if you sterilized all the stupid people who lived in Montana?

In this episode of Steal Scott’s Ideas, Christian, Rick and Rosie gather in Brooklyn for some execution in public.

**Sponsored by Blipido


Execution Lesson 202: Alright, well, that one was for me.

Drucker writes that workmanship counts, not just because it makes such a difference in the quality of the job done, but because it makes such a difference in the person doing the job.

My mentor used to say something similar. First you write the book, then the book writes you.

This universal law can bring us peace along our creative journey. Because although end user of whatever it is we’re working probably won’t appreciate or reward or even notice our diligence, we certainly will. That soothing sense of fulfillment we gain from the experience is something that nobody can take away from us.

It’s like when a comedian, who is secure enough in their talent and material, takes the risk to make a joke that doesn’t get a laugh. They look out at the audience and say, alright, well, that one was for me.

This is the level of okayness with self that all of us can aspire to. We trust that if our tree in the forest falls and nobody is around to hear it, then it still makes a sound, even if only in our own hearts. Besides, we’re not going to kill ourselves over the possibility of unperceived existence. We perceive it, and if that’s the best we can do, then so be it.

Can you imagine if that was enough for us? What if we all could validate ourselves instead of seeking it in arbitrary things? What if we were no longer making things, but making ourselves?

Leaving the entrepreneur life and becoming a corporate employee gave me no choice but to embrace this concept. Because working the agency and startup worlds, more than half of the projects assigned to me never even made it across the finish line. They were sunsetted, as the buzzword says. We’d spend months slaving away over this once great idea, only to have the unsophisticated client or the impatient company executive have a sudden change of heart and kill the idea on a moment’s notice.

When that happens, you better believe in the power of workmanship. Otherwise you will beat yourself up for wasting your time trying to peddle somebody else’s dream machine.

Nobody is going to notice our workmanship anyway, so we may as well say, alright, well, that one was for me.

Are you obsessing over the aftermath of your work because of your primal need for validation?

Episode 201: Life Without Good || Jacob, Eli, Dirk

What if communal ownership could help people grow? What if you give children speed in utero? What if accountants had their own dating app? What if children could be professional abducted to learn their lesson?

In this episode of Steal Scott’s Ideas, Jacob, Eli and Dirk gather in Brooklyn for some execution in public.

**Sponsored by Casual Evil Music Festival

Go to www.stealscottsideas.com to join our community of innovators


Execution Lesson 201: Achieve failure by efficiently building the wrong thing.

To be an artist is to take our precious time and create something that nobody needs, wants or even likes. In many cases, to spend real stretches of time on projects that are fundamentally irrational and might not work. And yet, we do this because we love the process. We love showing up and metabolizing our feelings into tangible works that bring our humanity to the surface that, if we’re fortunate enough, make a connection with, or make a change to, another person.

This process is romantic and rebellious and deeply rewarding. Every project another frisbee thrown out the window, and that’s totally fine with us. We trust the process. The tricky part is, what happens when it’s no longer just the lone artist? What if we start working with a team who has time constraints, tight budgets, group dynamics, office politics and hierarchical structures? Can the idealistic, process oriented artist still take initiative and execute meaningful work on an organizational scale?

Absolutely. That person simply needs stronger filters. Empathetic spot checks to bring their artistic heart out of the cold and into the world of other people. Because while everything real in business comes from initiating something new, we also don’t want to start something amazing that nobody wants or needs or even uses.

Reis, the great pioneer of the lean startup movement, puts it perfectly. It’s easy to achieve failure by efficiently building the wrong thing. Doing something efficiently that nobody wants done is another form of waste. And an even worse outcome than shipping a bad product is building something that nobody wants.

Reminds me of almost every job I’ve held. All that frustration of spending my precious time on yet another initiative with minimal or no impact. Kind of makes me never want to start something new ever again. Which brings us to the stronger filter.

Here are some questions I’ve started asking myself during the initiation process.

Have you stopped to ask yourself if this thing is useful? Is anyone else actually excited about this besides you? Does your new project solve real, expensive, urgent and pervasive problems for people?

If so, onward. If not, pivot. And if we can’t pivot, scrap it. The last thing we need to is a failure by efficiently building the wrong thing.

After you take the risk that you might make someone upset with your initiative, how will you keep your artistic spirit accountable to the group?

Episode 113: Season 1 Greatest Hits

In this episode of Steal Scott’s Ideas, Scott shares his favorite moments from season one.

Miss any of the episodes? No problem. Here’s a list of the innovations we discussed…


SOFTWARE

Shit happens, but you want my coworkers to know that you’re late for good reason and actually believe your story. Introducing Be Right There…

An image based messaging app for stressed out people running late to alert colleagues in an honest, open and helpful way

Be Right There
Justify tardiness creatively

# # #

Don’t you wish there was a perfect song or movie to match how you feel right now? Check out Moodia…

A recommendation engine that allows users to type in their mood and it will suggest movies, books, shows and other media to compliment or heal their emotional state.

Moodia
Every feeling needs a friend

# # #

As an actor, there are too many auditions to keep up with and you’re missing opportunities because you’re too busy managing your schedule. Try out Callback…

A content organization and project management system that helps actors keep track of their auditions in an efficient way

Callback
Manage the art, get the part

# # #

Why should job interviews be any different than sports games? Every candidate needs to get pumped up for the big gig. Say hello to Game Face…

A music, image and quotation based app that curates playlists and other media to help job hunters get into the zone before interviews

Game Face
Get fired up, get hired up

# # #

There are people who don’t know jack about sports who fear judgment, ridicule and physical harm from macho assholes who do. You need Good Sport…

A geolocation app that gives you key sports history facts, rituals and inside jokes of whatever city you’re in, to make sure you don’t say the wrong thing in public and get your ass kicked.

Good Sport
Never put your cleat in your mouth

# # #

You want the world to know about your job, life or relationship transition, but you’re not sure how to tell that story. Head over to Upnext…

A personal press release service that helps people making major life transitions to clarify, broadcast, own and share their story of change in the world.

Upnext
Public relations for personal transformation

# # #

You don’t see your friends as often as you’d like, but you still want to get up to speed on their lives before you meet so you don’t feel dumb. Download Dossier…

A social media aggregator that uses people’s various online profiles to create a snapshot of their recent activity, giving you just in time context about their lives.

Dossier
Playing digital catchup

# # #

Food is in your house, but you can’t figure out how to make it into something for dinner. Sign up for Recipiece…

An app that takes a visual inventory of your kitchen ingredients and gives you ideas for meals, in addition to other items you would need to make it complete. Included photo uploading function to share your results.

Recipiece
There’s never nothing for dinner anymore

# # #

Nothing makes customers angrier than when a company takes their favorite products off the shelf. They should get Obsoluchus…

A crowd funding platform that helps brings discontinued products back to the marketplace for sixty days at a time.

Obsoluchus
Living in the past, today

# # #

CONSUMER GOODS

Men hate cleaning up around the house, unless there’s a way to make it feel like a real cool, manly job that matters. Check out Chorester…

A kit for helping men rationalize house chores with a jumpsuit, hat, cool tools and other accessories to connect role playing into a mundane process.

Chorester
Be the man of the house

# # #

We need a simple way to reduce out trash output in this country. How about Trash Talk…

A wastebasket that literally insults you every time you throw something into it, shaming you into more sustainable waste management practices.

Trash Talk
Garbage in, garbage out

# # #

Before you start dating this guy, you want to know what you’re getting yourself into first. Thank heavens for Heads Up…

A warning label bracelet that alerts people about the physical and emotional risks associated with the interaction or relationship with that person.

Heads Up
Don’t just manage expectations, master them

# # #

Friends want to share their condolences for difficult life situations, but nobody knows what to say or how to say it. You need Congrats I’m Sorry…

A gift basket service that sends random things to people going through painful breakups, even though you don’t know what to say to make them feel better.

Congrats I’m Sorry
Special treats for speechless moments

# # #

People deserve to be complimented, but it’s hard to do so without making them feel uncomfortable or calling human resources or the police. Check out Rando Love…

A series of anonymous business cards that pay strangers compliments without the awkwardness or expectation of reciprocity.

Rando Love
Kindness without strings

# # #

Every day, people are walking around with itchy, poorly wiped assholes. It’s offensive and uncomfortable for us and them. Somebody needs Reflectum…

A small toilet mirror that helps users assure a clean wipe without wasting paper and getting frustrating.

Reflectum
End your streak

# # #

Privacy has gone the way of the dodo bird, and children should be able to have secrets in a healthy, safe way. What about Secondiary…

A decoy diary that kids can keep in conspicuous locations to deceive parents and other nosy family members, only revealing what they need to see to not freak out.

Secondiary
Pry no more

# # #

INDUSTRIAL GOODS

Workplace communication issues often stem from an inability to gauge another person’s mood and emotional context. Tell your boss to get Mood Seat…

An office chair that uses your body heat and energies to create a small light of various colors, alerting coworkers of your current dominant emotion.

Mood Seat
Approachability through transparency

# # # #

Why can’t you get the experience of being in basic training without actually enlisting and risking your life for pointless wars? Check in to Hoorah Hotel…

A military themed hotel for travelers who want to be treated like grunts

Hoorah Hotel
Stay the night as a soldier

# # #

You need fans to build momentum, but you need momentum to get fans. You might like to try Hamletter…

A stationary service that sends real fan letters to new artists who need a boost of confidence and momentum in their careers

Hamletter
Every performer needs a push

# # #

You can’t afford to travel abroad, but you still want pictures to convince people that you are worldly and experienced. Your destination is Fay Kay…

A printing and design service that professionally crops your image into pictures of exotic locations to convince the world that you’re cultured and traveled

Fay Kay
Superimpose the memories, save the money

# # #

Haven’t you ever wished you could just have access to one part of your lover’s body without the necessity of the entire package? Try Empathighs…

A silicone casting service that makes molds of your spouse’s body parts that you can fondle when they’re not around

Empathighs
One hand in my pocket

# # #

Stepping on a scale never makes you feel better about yourself. Unless you use Beauty Scale…

A numberless bathroom scale whose screen shows positive body image affirmations instead of the number of pounds you weigh.

Beauty Scale
Measuring what really matters

# # #

Nachos, pizza and chicken wings are delicious, but you need some help with your stomach in public situations. Perhaps install Tummy Buddy…

An antacid dispenser for restaurants whose patrons want extra gastrointestinal protection

Tummy Buddy
Eat spicy, digest happy

# # #

SERVICE BUSINESSES

You wish there was a way to shut up those annoying retail customers without sounding like an asshole. Maybe you need Chattie…

A buzzer system to help busy employees get out of annoying, boundaryless conversation with long winded customers.

Chattie
Never let a customer keep you from doing your job

# # #

Spending too much time on the toilet can lead to leg pain and hemorrhoids. It’s about time for Numb Butt…

A toilet timer that goes off twenty minutes after you sit down to help prevent numbness and other ailments.

Numb Butt
It’s only a splatter of time

# # #

Our customers say amazing things, and we should use them in our internal communications to motivate employees. Tell your boss about Emptorium…

A special order art studio that converts your company’s favorite customer feedback into beautiful, inspiring, conversation starting art pieces for the office

Emptorium
The delighting’s on the wall

# # #

Taking children into big box retailers is a nightmare. Parents just need fifteen minutes alone for one. They should use Kinder Car…

A valet babysitting service for big box retailers where retired grandparents watch your kids in the car while you run into the store.

Kinder Car
Fast shopping, safe parking

# # #

If you don’t get out of this meeting now, somebody in this office is getting punched. Blow off some steam with Rage Cage…

A padded, portable closet sized shed where office workers can privately process and purge their angry feels.

Rage Cage
Shed your anger safely

# # #

As a freelancer, you’re super productive, but broke as hell, and you need coffee. Is there a way to transact with another currency? Only at Café Perago…

A coffee shop where you’re charged by the hour to work there, but instead of money, you pay with productivity.

Café Perago
Drink up, work hard, repeat

# # #

Why are resumes only for successes? Employers want to know you’ve messed up so you appear human, experienced and coachable. Try out Resumeh…

A curriculum vitae service that helps professionals create beautiful resumes of their history of failures and what they learned from those experiences.

Resumeh
Own your past, claim your future

# # #

Fat looks bad on me, but once it’s off, it might help somebody else. How about Gordo…

A charity program where overweight people can donate excess body fat to third world countries for whom soap is an essential public health necessity.

Gordo
You get thin, they get clean

# # #

Being single is like being a project manager. How can your organize it like a business to date more efficiently? Now you can try Polygameet…

A relationship management dashboard that helps you keep track of your various romantic partners.

Polygameet
Stay on top of your dates

# # #

Our faith community is new, and needs some help growing, otherwise god is going to be pissed. Thank the lord for Church Plants…

A placebo service that pays people to attend services at new congregations to help preserve the illusion of community, growth and spiritual momentum.

Church Plants
Looking for a pew good men

# # #

Your man has so many hairs and zits that you just want to sit down and attack him. Head over to Hubby Spa…

A do it yourself beauty spa where couples can go together and use professional tools to prune, pluck and primp each other. It’s byob, bring your own boyfriend.

Hubby Spa
Restore beauty with your beloved

# #

The death of a company can be just as hard as the death of a person, but business executives need help with the grieving process. Now they can use Done & Done…

A grief counseling program for company executives who need to close down shop after years of successful business.

Done & Done
The corporate happy ending

Episode 112: Blue Jumbo Hobos || Brittany, Jennifer, Katie

What if we publicly shamed inconsiderate parkers? What if your face could convince coworkers that you’re actually healthy? What if we fried fresh fruit for breakfast? What if you took a supplement that brings out your dinosaur tendencies? What if rich people shoveled cow shit as a meditation?

In this episode of Steal Scott’s Ideas, Brittany, Jennifer and Katie gather in Brooklyn for some execution in public.

**Sponsored by Punchly


Execution Lesson: Creating the company that houses your own art.

We get work when we decide to work whether we are working or not.

That’s how working works. It’s not whether we are good, although talent certainly helps, it’s whether we are moving.

Because while opportunity is attracted to talent, it’s also mesmerized by momentum. And the best entrepreneurs have both.

Instead of patiently suckling the pink teat of institutional permission, they hire themselves and get to work. Whether or not their work is even going to work.

Howard Roark, the mythological architect who refused to compromise with an architectural establishment unwilling to accept innovation, once said that the question is not who’s going to let us, but who’s going to stop us?

Nobody, that’s who. Not a goddamn person. It’s actually quite surprising the first time we taste this flavor of freedom. We start working and realize, oh damn, not only are people not stopping me, they’re actually supporting me.

That’s momentum. It works.

Lesson learned, new work opportunities find us through the attraction of working, not the arrogance of waiting.

If you are hoping to get more work, just remember this. Not working is not working. It’s not enough to making work, we also have to create the opportunity to make it.

Master than, and you will soon learn that you are much freer than you allow yourself to imagine.

How could you build the house where your freedom resides?

Episode 111: Vomit Or Nap? || Matt, Sol, Eli

What if we could broadcast our pretentious reading choices publicly? What if restaurant guests could choose between vomiting or napping? What if we sustainably repurposed soiled gym mats as placebo dumb bells? What if eyeball bleeding was not only encouraged, but incentivized? What if we tapped into the nostalgia food market by selling stale snacks?

In this episode of Steal Scott’s Ideas, Matt, Sol & Eli gather in Manhattan for some execution in public.

**Sponsored by The Friendly Chemicals Music Festival


Execution Lesson 111: Start backing up the dump truck of compromise

Woody once said that whenever he started to write his films, in his bedroom, he would think they were going to be the greatest things ever made.

But then, once production was a go, he would start backing up the dump truck of compromise. And by the end, when the movie was about to be released, he would hope and pray that he wasn’t massively humiliated.

Because you can’t vouch for the final product, he warns. You can hope people talk about it, but you can’t promise that they’ll like it.

Proof positive, that everything we create has two births. First, as an idea in our head, where it’s flawless and foolproof and innocent. Second, as the real and tangible output of that idea in the world, where it’s powerlessly exposed to the harsh, raw light of reality.

The challenge is surrendering to that gap. Accepting that whatever is in our brains cannot be fully and perfectly realized on screen, on the page or on the stage. And remembering that the work never comes out quite the way we think it will.

But at the same time, not beating ourselves up for making compromises and managing expectations and ceasing to engage in meaningless battles. I used to come down hard on myself when my book and music and film projects looked differently in the real world than they did inside my heads. But I’m learning to accept that as the purchase price of producing things.

Because there’s always something lost in translation. Losing the full subtlety of meaning when we move from conception to execution is part of the creative process.

And in fact, that’s a good thing. It teaches us not to be so damn precious about everything. It helps us pass beyond the limits of the tiny island universe of our minds.

Are you able to forgive yourself for backing up the dump truck of compromise?

Episode 110: Gamified Laser Butt Wiping || Ben, Danielle, Brittany

What if we deployed nano technology solutions for kitchen crunchies? What if sports arenas hired crowd profanity police? What if complaining made your pants fit better? What if people who wore eye patches had their own baths? What if we operationalized primal grooming?

In this episode of Steal Scott’s Ideas, Ben, Danielle & Brittany gather in Brooklyn for some execution in public.

**Sponsored by Baggit


Execution Lesson 110: When we dash away from ideas too fast

It’s true that language is a powerful lever for changing the world around us.

But it’s also true that words can be twisted to match any desire we have, and interpreted to justify any action we take.

In fact, many of our greatest revelations occur in speechless moments when we perceive things greater and beyond the sum total of all words.

That’s one of the great joys of songwriting. People feel our music before they listen to it. Unlike prose or poetry or other types of one dimensional compositions, our medium of song isn’t under as much pressure to make sense or prove anything or even mean anything.

Because it has layers. It relies on the rhythm and melody to do most of the heavy emotional lifting. That’s where the real magic comes from. The words are almost pedestrian at that point.

Hell, the best songwriter in rock history famously used the word scrambled eggs as his working title to hold the music and phrasing in place until he found a suitable replacement. And once he substituted it with the word yesterday, it became the most covered song of all time.

Think of it this way. Ever realized that you have been singing the wrong words to a popular song your whole life? Once you learned the correct lyric, did you change the way you sang it?

Of course not. Because all that mattered was how the song made you feel while you sang it.

Remember, words are chewed gum. Don’t allow yourself to get trapped in a language with too little imagination.

Release the grip of neurons on all your small thoughts. And excuse me while I kiss this guy.

Do you have the strength and the love to sit in the silence that goes beyond words?

Episode 109: Seaweed International Ophthalmology || Kyle, Brittany, Scott

What if every hotel room came with their own animal? What if a scanner shamed people who didn’t wash their hands? What if we installed finger print activated porch safety boxes to ensure package delivery? What if we averaged the age of toddlers and geezers? What if bathroom scales gave body positive compliments instead of numbers?

In this episode of Steal Scott’s Ideas, Kyle, Brittany & Scott gather in Brooklyn for some execution in public.

**Sponsored by The Meaty Nights Music Festival


When we dash away from ideas too fast

In the first year of wearing a nametag twenty four seven, there wasn’t single day where quitting didn’t cross my mind.

But something inside told me to stick with it. Not sure why. It just didn’t seem fair to dash away from this idea too quickly. There was just too much juice there. My experiment needed some room to breathe before it told me what it was supposed to become.

Sure enough, two years into the project, not only did my nametag go viral on campus, it also went viral online. Which transformed my life forever. That was almost twenty years ago. And since then, one of the lessons that still sticks with me is this.

People abandon things far too quickly. And they assume it’s because of impatience, distraction, fear, anxiety, doubt or even discernment.

But it’s really just the mathematics of ignorance. The reason people give up because they simply haven’t put in enough time to accrue enough volume to earn enough insight to know how they should proceed.

It’s like those old school placements tests. Every few pages, there would be a trick question that went something like this. A book costs four dollars and a pen cost two dollars. Can the woman buy three of each?

Smart test takers would realize, wait a sec, there is no way to tell. It depends how much money the woman has. Which means the right answer is, not enough information to solve this problem.

This is the key moment in the execution process. Instead of abandoning things too quickly, we stick around and try to collect more data. We try and reach the point of statistical significance in our experiment.

During high school, my english teacher used to joke, you haven’t written enough to know what kind of writer you are.

Meaning, each creator has to keep working toward this thing that is not quite yet a reality. Only through the process of doing will they understand what doing actually means for them. That how they get enough information to solve this problem.

Look, if you are willing start small and trust the path to illuminate itself, eventually, you will have deeper understanding of the destination.

Don’t try to move too quickly, because you’re only new once.

Commit and create, and don’t worry, there will plenty of time to give up on yourself later.

Are you willing to contract a case of the humbles to find where you’re going next?