Nudges from Nature

Last Thursday I sat down with my wife and admitted things were dire.  Four years ago I started my own marketing strategy and execution practice. I got off to a good start, signing a major deal to run a short series of events for a growing startup. It would pay our bills for six months, and leave me plenty of time for other projects. I signed that deal on March 2, 2019. Two days later on March 4, Governor Newsom declared a State of Emergency in California due to Covid. Needless to say, all events were off. It was a harsh reminder to include a kill fee clause in my contracts. I scraped by. I adapted. I won engagements with digital transformation projects. After years of kicking the can down the road on having a digital-first strategy, suddenly everyone needed to adjust fast, or go out of business. But things had to be scrappy. Budgets were tight and tough to win. Two and a half years later, I had depleted our savings. As we emerged into the post-Covid era, contracts were flush again. I s

 "To he who is in fear everything rustles" - Sophocles (497-406 BC) Fight or flight? Those are the two commonly attributed responses to fear. But there are two more: freeze and faint. Faint? That's a big one. Have you ever felt so much fear that you lose consciousness? Freeze is perhaps a bit more common and is the one I associate with Sophocles's quote above. When hearing it recently, I pictured a rabbit in the woods, spooked and startled briefly by something, ears perked up tall, eyes sharp. Suddenly the entire forest is rustling. As the omniscient observer, I see there is no real threat. The rabbit is alone. But to the rabbit, entrenched in fear. Everything could be a threat. And until every potential imaginary threat is ruled out...everything rustles. When you encounter something scary -- in today's world perhaps it's a larger than expected energy bill or a layoff notice -- do you fight or flee? Freeze? I don't know about faint, but perhaps a wave of e