Book Report: Brains On Fire

by Sue Thiemann, Director of First Impressions, Boomer Consulting, Inc.

Book: Brains On Fire

Authors: Robbin Phillips, Greg Cordell, Geno Church & Spike Jones

Overview

A very inspiring read, Brains on Fire builds a fantastic case on how to create a movement vs. marketing your firm. Many of the key points have been discussed and followed at BCI.  Brains on Fire is about creating powerful and sustainable movements based on people, peer-to-peer relationships, shared passion… with a few key ignite lessons shared! To clarify and manage expectations, this is not a book about social media; it’s a book about connecting people in communities built around a conversation. Brains on Fire
argument is that 90% of this happens face-to-face, in real life.

Top 5 Points

1. It’s about people.   It comes down to trust. And people don’t trust your company; people trust people.  People they know. People whose opinions and recommendations they seek out and have faith in. The book begins by differentiating between marketing campaigns vs. movements.  Campaigns have a beginning and end. Movements go on as long a kindred spirits are involved. They rely on word of mouth. Campaigns are you talking about yourself.  Movements are others talking about you. Movements are like a volume dial that goes to 11. (10 being the standard maximum.) Campaigns embrace an us-versus-them mentality. Movements say, “We’re all in this together.”
2. The Passion Conversation – It’s passion that separates a sustainable movement from a short-term campaign. Building movements requires us to understand not only what people are saying about your products and services but also how your offerings allow customers to do what they love, or do it better. So find the passion you share with your customers and support it.  It gives your customers a reason to love you that the competition cannot easily supersede, because it’s not about a product feature that can be replicated.
3. Movements have inspirational leadership. Influence can be made but passion cannot. Passion is an intense emotion compelling feeling, enthusiasm or desire for anything and often requiring action. Passion and not influence should be the main driver behind the people companies choose to be internal or external leaders. Passionate leaders re-energize the team over and over.
4. Movements empower people with knowledge. “It's about building community. It is about learning from each other. It is about inspiring people to try something new. It is about friendship.”
5. Traditional branding vs. movements: “The role of traditional branding is to influence behavior. The difference with movements is to inspire behavior. So don’t try to influence; get out of that business. Now is the time to inspire. People don’t want to be influenced.”

How is this book applicable to our industry?

Brains On Fire inspired me to think outside the box in viewing BCI’s services and processes and procedures. I am ready and looking forward to our annual Strategic Planning in December. The testimonials and real life stories were well stated and quite applicable in managing a firm.  Every one of the eleven lessons contained usable key principles and practical advice to apply in every firm.  This would be a very good book for the CEO or Leadership Academy groups.