After more than a decade at innovation agency ?What If!, working with major companies all over the world, he founded his own agency, Upping Your Elvis, two years ago. (The name came from the fact that whenever Bono goes into an organisation on his mission to eradicate Third World debt, he tries to find the one person who really makes things happen by asking, "Who's Elvis around here?") He is also the author of How to Have Kick-Ass Ideas and the soon-to-be-published Shine: How to Survive and Thrive at Work.
I joined the army at 16 — I went to the army sixth form — but I soon realised I was more of a lover than a fighter. You learn a lot about perspective in the army. You can have people screaming at you, you're freezing cold, soaking wet and you haven't eaten for a day and you can still choose to be cheerful, you can still choose to find it entertaining.
When I left university I joined Bass Brewers. I started in sales and moved to marketing and we were doing some really exciting stuff. Then I got to that stage that happens to a lot of people in their mid to late twenties. You get the first job that you really want and that you're good at and then you think, do I want to do this for ever? Marketing felt very cyclical. You do the same thing at the beginning of every year and largely all that changes is that you get a bigger car. I decided I didn't want to do that but I had no idea what I wanted to do.
I went travelling and I read everything I could on personal development and creativity and innovation — all the stuff that I love today — and the reason was that I needed to come up with some inspiring possibility for my life. I travelled for a year or so and that gave me a perspective about who I wanted to be, how I wanted to add value in this world, and what it was that I felt I was good at and that I loved. If you can get those two things happening for you every day — do something that you love and you're good at — life becomes really easy.
I decided I was good at people. I think a lot of people have amazing qualities that never really get expressed and I'm good at finding those and helping them see them. If you're not enjoying your work and you're not truly being who you can be, it's such a terrible waste of life. It's a huge part of who you are, not just in terms of time but in terms of energy and it dictates the big decisions you take in life such as where you live and who your friends are. If you're not really living through your work, then you're not really living.
I joined ?What If!, an innovation agency that was in its infancy. My job was to teach clients how to solve challenges and make problem-solving part of their capability. I was there for 11 years working with all sorts of big brands around the world. It was about getting people confident enough to be able to do that on a daily basis and actually have it locked into the culture, because everyone can do it on an awayday. I know so many clients who keep creativity for special occasions. To make it a part of who you are, so you're always thinking about it, is a challenge. Obviously every culture's different, so you have to experiment a bit.
To some people creativity is dangerous, because if you're truly being creative, things will not work all the time. But you have to take that on the chin. I fundamentally believe that the ideas that do work pay for the ones that don't a thousand times over but you have to take a portfolio approach. You have to realise that business is just an experiment, it's not a science. Therefore all you can possibly do is try some stuff out and learn from it and adapt your approach next time. And creativity is the fuel for making that happen.
I set up my own company, Upping Your Elvis, two years ago. I have a fundamental belief that the approaches that help innovation to happen in a business are appropriate to everyone in the business, not just to the innovators. So I wanted to take what I'd learnt and make it much more far-reaching.
When I'm on a flight, I never work after the meal. It's a time when you can be in a little cocoon and really let your mind wander. I think you're emotionally more sensitive when you're in the air, so you tend to be more attracted to things that are important to you. It's a wonderful time when people don't phone you, you can't do email, you can just ponder on the things that mean something to you. It's served me very well and I know some people who have booked business flights just because they need to think about things.
The idea of saving for a rainy day is complete rubbish. The number of people who defer their gratification! The classic line used to be "When we retire..." At which point we're old and can't do half the things we want to do anyway. Or it's "When we've got more money" or "When the kids are a bit older". This whole idea of delaying things just doesn't make any sense because there is only now. Your next promotion isn't going to change who you are. Ultimately you have a very big opportunity in front of you, which is today. Make the most of it.
Beware of anaesthetics. A lot of people in business just power themselves to keep going as opposed to being on peak performance. I'm talking about the ten cups of coffee, the doughnuts, the few pints after work, lots of email — that's another anaesthetic — these are all things they do to numb themselves as opposed to what they could do, which is take time out to make sure they're on absolutely top form. They should actually do a bit less but make sure the stuff that they do is to a higher level.
Every day when you wake up, there's a split second when you remember who you are. It's almost as if you wake up without an identity and then you put it back on again. I think there's real power in saying, "Who do I want to be today?" rather than "Who have I been and will carry on being?" You can choose to be different. We get focused on paying our mortgages and just thinking about what's in front of us today. I believe that if you work for a living you have to feel as if you don't have to work in that job. The day that you feel you have to have that job is the day that you stop taking risks and you stop being everything that you could be.
Shine: How To Survive and Thrive at Work by Chris Barez-Brown is published by Portfolio Penguin next month, £9.99.
blog comments powered by
