Failure Coach XXIV

Where in the world?

Alan Edgewater, Author, Failure Coach and all around impresario is in St. Louis having coffee by himself in the Starbucks next to the Dierberg’s Grocery in the west county suburb of Chesterfield. He is worried about his reputation and his brand while two agencies are taking credit for his initial successes.

Tony Blank, Ambrosia Account Director is making some notes prior to his account group meeting in New York. He wants to rally the group, even as several team members are worried they will lose their jobs or be asked to relocate to St. Louis, although that isn’t a certainty. Several key staffers are officially not moving. Julie Chase and Grace will be available for continuity on the Alan Edgewater business. Both are willing to travel as necessary in the interim. Julie and Grace, project manager and public relations tactician, are “go to” players.

Daniel Bluestone and Jan Abbeshire have become strange bedfellows as it were. Once they came together in a merger of equals that still allowed Jan to run the business they started seeing each other socially. Through Theater, Art and fine-dining they began to enjoy each other’s company. Jan is a single mother of three girls and Dan is managing the final stages of a messy divorce. His wife and step daughter are not making things easy. Abbeshire & Bluestone is becoming something of a hot shop with more energy behind the creative process, thanks to Dan. They have yet to declare themselves officially a couple but because so much of their time together includes business associates and clients it just seems natural for them to be together. 

Robert Siena, the former high school football coach and lottery winner, is still working on a retainer for Sazerac Rye Whiskey, for whom he travels a fair bit (within his Midwestern territory mostly). He and his wife are trying to maintain a status quo in Red Bud, Illinios. His riff with Alan over the Johnny Appleseed arrest news, while not exactly a “non-event” is now being handled by a capable attorney in Miami. An ad hoc crisis communications team on loan from Fleishman-Hillard was offered by Ambrosia but Alan decided in favor of Jan Abbeshire who agreed to personally supervise all message strategy as an incremental rider to the agreement they already have in place for the Failure First Scholarship Fund publicity. Joseph Fontenot is pleased with the level of incremental activity in the Midwest because of Coach Siena, particularly since he is not interfering with established relationships. When the coach comes up with an idea, he is careful to work within the framework of the organization when necessary. When no relationship exists with a potential customer, Coach Siena isn’t afraid to forge one.  

Johnny Appleseed is working harder on his studies although he has yet to select an official major of study. He expects to finish enough credit hours to declare himself an English major and maybe take advantage of a semester abroad. However, his recent legal trouble could jeopardize this plan.

Andrew Valentine is still shopping schools in Ohio with his parents, neither of whom are college graduates. Andy is hoping he can announce his preference at the Missouri Athletic Club along with a few remarks. He’s been rehearsing his acceptance speech with his High School drama and public speaking teacher.

Bob Caster is getting more comfortable managing young lawyers and para-legals. His practice is growing slowly but surely around small to midsize businesses. Labor law, licensing, incorporation, patents and liability cases are keeping him busy.

Alan at work in his home office thinking about the next book and the concept of negative space. He enjoys the tinkering with post it notes and a dry-erase board that was part of his process. He has some notes off to the side about Hall of Famers (Rock & Roll and Football). He wants to devote chapters to artists who used negative space including some that play with the optics of positive and negative. He notes op art and surrealism as areas for further study. He wants to gather information on how musicians use orchestral accompaniments. He thinks about landscapers. He thinks about color theory. Illusions and Magicians. How professionals use time off and vacations to recharge. He wants to explore examples of athletes in their respective off seasons. The post-it notes are filling his board. He knows that, at this stage, like in brainstorming sessions, it was best not to rule things out. He notes personality testing and learning styles. How can people complement each other in organizations? Would it be helpful to structure this book as a workbook with team building exercises? The time passes and as the early daylight savings time darkness falls he works a few more hours. He looks at his board, now full of post-it notes. He wants to sleep on it, but he was confident there is a strong idea in all of this.

ROCK & ROLL, FOOTBALL, ATHLETES, HOW ARTISTS USE NEGATIVE SPACE, OP ART, VICTOR VASARELY, SURREALISM, DALI, M.C.ESCHER, ILLUSIONISTS, OPTICAL, LIGHT/DARK, PERSPECTIVE, MUSIC, ORCHESTRA, CHORUS, MELODY, HARMONY, ATHLETES OFF SEASON, VACATIONS, LEARNING STYLES, PERSONALITY TESTS, HOW PEOPLE LEARN, WORKBOOK/TEAM BUILDING, POSITIVE, NEGATIVE, BRAINSTORMING WITHOUT JUDGEMENT, COLOR THEORY, REVERSE TYPE, YIN YANG, CHINESE PHILOSPHY, CUT PAPER, THE ROAD NOT TAKEN, THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN CAREERS. HOME AND AWAY WIN/LOSS RECORDS, PACKAGE DESIGN IMPACT ON PURCHASE INTENT, LEFT/RIGHT BRAIN, RETAIL MERCHANDISING, RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE, HEREDITY/ENVIRONMENT, LINEAR THINKERS/CREATIVE THINKERS, STRUCTURE/FREE ASSOCIATION, VISUAL, NUMBERS ORIENTED, TYPOGRAPHY THEORY, REVERSE TYPE, SALES CYCLE, REACH AND FREQUENCY/FLIGHTING, PUZZLES, MATH/INTEGERS, CLUES/QUIZZES PERSUASION…