Be brave. Be transparent. Embrace Radical Transparency.

Be brave.  Be transparent.  

Agencies are especially guilty of being more about "smoke and mirrors" with clients than being transparent with them and I would argue this leads to losing clients and employees. 

(Watch Carolyn Kopprasch talk about transparency)

Carolyn Kopprasch, Chief Happiness Officer of Buffer, shares how transparency in a business and in life translates into empathy.

To paraphrase Carolyn, building strong client relationships, sharing pricing structure and profit, making the right hires, being internally transparent with salaries, equity and especially self-improvement all have a magical effect on relationships promoting empathy between people inside and out of the company.

I believe in the power of empathy. I wonder how I can be more transparent with my partners and clients.

It's 2016, why are you still going to the office?

Seriously, why do so many brands that consider themselves leading edge still subscribe to the office environment?  While there are pros and cons to "office" or "not to office" the option to "not office" opens up a world of new possibilities.  

(click here for a great article summarizing the pros and cons and tools for working remotely)

Time is currency and one of the chief rewards of working remotely is time. It's like giving people a bonus.  When you give people time back in life to spend it on whatever makes them happy you get happier people.  This fundamental truth can then yield higher quality outputs.

I've worked remotely most of my life and can say for sure that 4 hours on my own is the equivalent to 8 hours in the office.  It has made me become feverishly focused on "the work" and intolerant of office politics, office gossip and cultural issues that distract teams from focusing on what matters most.  When people are empowered to use their time in a way that serves all aspects of their life they have less time to complain and more time to be productive.  

When I started working from home I did not have the tools we have today. We are lucky to be able to explore this new frontier where work meets life empowering us to enjoy a better balance and be happier people.

Store Closings. Doom and gloom or the next wave of possibilities?

While stores closing and downsizing is a painful short term reality there lies opportunity.  Kenneth Cole will close nearly all of its stores, 63 in total to focus on his online business.  It looks like he will keep flagship stores in NYC and Arlington, Virginia.  As hard as it might seem for those of us in the retail world, it makes sense. The reality is, Kenneth Cole will still have a need to connect with his fans in the real world, just not through an expensive fixed retail store format.  He will also still have a need to sell his product in the real world, just not at his outlet store format anymore.  So we can bemoan another round of store closings or we can get cracking on what is next for these brands.  How can we repurpose physical retail space to be more nimble and temporary? What are other real world formats that will put him in touch with his fans without the long term investment of a store?  How are we making it easy for brands to pop-up across the nation without signing a 10 year store lease?  As retail designers and developers are we dreaming big enough and are we moving fast enough?

Brands interested in humanity and being real should look to transparency.

"Poet and fiction writer Benjamin Brindise will take us on a quest for transparency in an attempt to find the truth inside the lie."  Creative Mornings.

Benjamin talks about his journey to being vulnerable and truthful on stage and how that has liberated him and changed his work to be honest, real and transparent.  Overcoming his fear has gained him an audience, support and success.  People are interested in the truth. Brands seeking honest and human relationships can learn from Benjamin's lesson on transparency.  Being vulnerable and facing their fear of not being perfect will be an honest and transparent voice on stage that people are looking for and will respect. 

Benjamin Brindise (born 1987) is an American writer of fiction and poetry as well as a Teaching Artist at the Just Buffalo Literary Center.