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A
challenge for you this week: ask 20 people to speak aloud the name of a
famous architect, other than
Frank Lloyd Wright. If your results are the same as mine, you will be
hard-pressed to find anyone who can. Why? Why is Frank
Lloyd Wright's name remembered when others are not? Was he a self-
marketing genius? Was he born into fame? No, it was his craft: his
innovation in architecture.
In this
Quote of the Week issue,
we reveal the flint that sparked Wright's creative genius and explore the
means to light those same fires that lie — usually untapped! — within all of us.
Ric Moxley — Editor
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An
idea is salvation by imagination.
— Frank
Lloyd Wright, Architect
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Key Point
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People give up. We try something the way it is supposed to
work, but, if it doesn't give us the desired results, we lose heart.
What then can we do to keep going? Frank Lloyd Wright's answer,
revealed in this quote, tells us how he did it; use imagination to
generate ideas that can carry you through to a solution. In times of
frustration, all is not lost; all is not as dark as it may seem at the
moment, if, as Wright
advises, we stoke the fires of that incredible, innate human
characteristic: Imagination.
To
use one's imagination is to think beyond what is, to what could be.
"What if . . ." is one of the most powerful phrases in our language. It opens doors and generates new synaptic
connections in the brain. Remember: It is imagination that produces an
idea. Beware of statements like; "it can't work," or "we
can't do that," or "it's no use." These words douse hope
and extinguish the creativity that sparks great ideas. Imagination is
all you need to generate the new idea that may very well save you, your
team, or your business from fizzling out or giving up.
Imagine that.
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Marketing
Value
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Ideas are the grist in the mill of success for marketers
and salespeople, trying to stand out above the competition. Ideas are
why advertising agencies are beneficial to a company; the agency lives
outside the confines of the company's de facto procedures and thinking.
Thus, thinking "outside the box" is the only way agencies can
function!
When
you are struggling to devise some means of making an outstanding
impression with your promotional message, do what agencies do: put
heads together and brainstorm! Involve the imaginative powers of
others: people with different educational, skill-level, experiential,
or social backgrounds from your own. Bounce the ideas around, but don't
throw out any too quickly. Sometimes the ideas that sound the craziest
often prove ultimately to be the winning concept.
Need an example?
Have you seen the U.S. Army's latest marketing approach? The Department
of Defense needed to increase recruitment interest among today's
ever-increasing number of teens who live out most of their adventures
competing in online, multiplayer games. However, it was clear that the
standard recruitment approaches wouldn't be effective with this
segment. Instead, the Army created its own online game called America's Army: Operations,
a tactical, multiplayer battlefield simulation easily rivaling the
quality and game experience of any commercial product on the market. In
this interactive environment, designed to simulate real-life army
infantry doctrine and tactics, military recruiters capture the minds of
teens, piquing their interest in an Army career. Do you think this
"Hooah" public relations idea came
about without some serious, imaginative brainstorming? Think again.
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In
Speaking . . .
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To acknowledge what appears to be a brick wall — an
apparently hopeless situation from which your team or project must be
saved — imparts empathy. Frank Lloyd Wright's statement does this and
more; it recognizes that deliverance is needed, then
offers the means to overcome it. And it does all this with just six
simple words! "An idea is salvation by imagination."
Imagine
the impact you can achieve in speaking if you employ this quote where hope
is needed or where confidence is lacking. The statement tells your
listener that you haven't given up yet. It may even generate sparks of
renewed imagining where apathy or despondency had set in.
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In Writing . . .
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W Frank Lloyd Wright's words offer a solution to
overcoming "writer's block" — the term writers use to
describe that blank stare they sometimes get when sitting before the
computer, unable to start the great literary masterpiece locked
somewhere inside their heads. As you know, writer's block can happen in
business writing too: when attempting to assemble a challenging
proposal or when writing up annual employee evaluations, for example.
If you are staring blankly at your PC, struggling to get
started with a critical document, it probably means you're in a rut or
paralyzed with fear. Either way, take Wright's
advice and find your salvation in imagination. Think of the most
bizarre approaches: the crazier, the better. No, really! Many called
Frank Lloyd Wright crazy too, so you're in good company. Yet look at
what he designed; his architecture was so staggeringly unique as to
ridicule conventional practices. Do you think he generated his ideas
for architectural masterpieces without lighting the fires of
imagination within himself and his employees? Likewise, don't give up
on finding the perfect approach and structure to your writing project
until you've done some imaginative brainstorming.
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Beyond the
Workplace . . .
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Imagination, as Norman Vincent Peale puts it, is "the
true magic carpet." In Man's
Search for Meaning, author and psychiatrist Victor Fankl tells how he and other survivors of the Nazi
death camps of World War II tapped into the powers of their imagination
to overcome impossible odds; how he used detailed remembrances of his
wife and home as a means of escaping the daily horrors of his
surroundings. With his resulting "logotherapy"
approach to psychoanalysis, Frankl explains
how to use imagination to find meaning and purpose — even to overcome
the paralysis of fear and depression. Frankl
and Peale deliver insight on the same success principle instilled by
Frank Lloyd Wright; employ imagination to generate ideas that lead to
salvation.
I
heartily recommend Man's Search
for Meaning. In this book, you find Frankl's
detailed, page-turning story of triumph under trial. When you need to
break through a stone wall, employ the advice of Frankl,
Peale, and Wright — tap into the imagination.
To find
out more on Victor Frankl, purchase Man's
Search for Meaning.
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What is
Your Favorite Quote?
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Is there a quote that has either served you
inspirationally in the workplace or has been valuable in your speech or
in writing? Write and tell us about
it. We may feature your quote in a future issue to
inspire others.
Also, please write and tell us how our weekly
quotes have enhanced your writing and speaking. Your feedback helps us
tailor our quote selections to your needs and often inspires others as
well.
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Let
WriteWorks Help
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Are you searching for the right turn of phrase and not
sure if you've got it? For a speech or for written communication, call
on WriteWorks when your words need to count. We wordsmith proposals,
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