Project Distinct with Scott McKain

This morning at church, the message was on the “Parable of the Talents” from the book of Matthew.

If you’re unfamiliar with the story, Jesus relates of a master who gives one servant five “talents,” another two talents, and one servant only one talent.  The master then goes on a lengthy journey.  When he returns, the first servant has doubled the five talents…the second servant has doubled his two…but the third servant buried his sole talent, out of fear it might be lost.

Frankly, I had always assumed the purpose of the parable was telling us not to “bury our talents,” but to use them, instead.  Our minister, however, had an additional perspective.

His view of the story is the parable is to help us understand that in order to grow, we must take a risk.  The servants who doubled their talents were the ones who didn’t just play it safe.

As I sat down to write this…it made me think about the risk of being distinctive in the marketplace.  We’ve all heard about “the turtle that sticks its neck out can get it chopped off” type of story…and, we are so conditioned as children not to take risks – especially in today’s culture — we may assume that to hunker down and not draw any unnecessary attention to our efforts will keep us in the game.

But, when competitor’s products and services are now available even on the smartphones in your customer’s pockets, that’s not a viable business plan any more.

My grandmother always said, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”  I think that’s part of what Jesus was suggesting in His story, as well.

What will YOU risk this week…in order to become more distinctive?

The “Ebert Effect” and distinction

May 19, 2012

Here is the link for my new video explaining the “Ebert Effect.” I’ve posted this on my other blog, McKainViewpoint.com, as well — however, here’s the critical point regarding distinction: As mentioned on the video, in today’s hyper-competitive world…to be considered “average” — you have to be great. To be considered “superior” — you have [...]

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Great message from a distinctive writer

May 18, 2012

Oscar winning writer Aaron Sorkin (“A Few Good Men,” “The Social Network”) gave the commencement speech at Syracuse University, and kottke.org provide a couple of provocative quotes that bear repeating and sharing: “Aaron Sorkin recently gave the commencement address at Syracuse University. Make no mistake about it, you are dumb. You’re a group of incredibly well-educated [...]

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Enterprising distinction

May 17, 2012

Go to the Enterprise website of the legendary car rental company, and you’ll find the simple philosophy that Jack Taylor used to start the business in the lower level of the old St. Louis car dealership in 1957: “Take care of your customers and employees first, and profits will follow.”  Here’s an interesting exercise:  Pick up [...]

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Distinctive, “deep soul” connections with customers

May 16, 2012

Reveries.com released a study a few years ago written by Dori Molitor on increasing loyalty by creating “deep-soul” connections that are distinctive in the marketplace. “A deep-soul connection is not the exclusive purview of ostensibly ‘sexy’ brands like Harley and Nike, nor does it require spending enormous sums of money. It is about transcending those kinds of considerations [...]

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