2018 StratLab Inspirational Hero Poster Series

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”

-The Alchemist

We love to inspire people. The look on someone’s face when they take one of your stickers and says “this just gets me, thanks for making this.” The first time it happened was in Melville, I was presenting at a Chamber of Commerce event. Afterwards, a lady came up to me, grabbed the Pink Sheep sticker (that said “Weird = Awesome”) we once printed, looked me in the eye and said, “this sticker was made for me!” She was so genuine, so different, you could see in her eyes she was truly grateful.

Ever since then I’ve alway wanted to ensure we have things in the office to give away. Like my Grandparents house when I was a kid. You never left Grandma and Grandpas empty handed, as soon as you got there you could go down stairs to grab a “pop”. That was pretty special to me. I believe that’s how we should treat you at StratLab, but instead of sugary soda we give you stickers, postcards, and posters.

You can’t put a price on inspiration. Up until now we’ve never sold a sticker, shirt, poster or anything really. I say up until now because the response we got from these posters was, well, awesome! We want to make more! (Donations accepted!)

If you find a poster below speaks to you, leave a comment, we regularly send out inspiration to people! Who knows, next month we may pick you!

Remember to remain focused…just like Sabrina

She’s never had a boy friend, social media accounts, or even a cell phone. But she has found what she loves! When you find your “thing” nothing else will matter. We look up to Sabrina for having the courage to stay that focused.

Remember to stand your ground…just like Rosa

She will be remembered in history as the someone who stood her ground when it came to something serious like ones beliefs on equality. Rosa Parks gives us power to standup for what we believe in.

Will you do the right thing…just like Barbara?

Barbara Lee was a United States Congress person when the tragic events of September 11, 2001 took place. Three days later Congress went to a vote for the Authorization to use Military Force to rid the world of the terrorist that were a part of the September 11th attacks. Of the 420 congress people, 419 voted in favour of the AUMF bill, the only person to vote “no” was Barbara Lee.

In a podcast by RadioLab title 60 words, tells the story of why Barbara Lee was right. She was sent over 40,000 hate mail letters, people called her all kinds of names including traitor, and terrorist, but Barbara Lee stayed on for another term as congress person.

It’s an interesting story to learn why Barbara voted against the AUMF bill. Ream more here.

I look up to Barbara because she reminds me to do the right thing, even if everyone in Congress disagrees with you.

Will you have the courage to do something you believe in with your life…just like J.K.?

She wrote the first Harry Potter book as a single mother on well-fare. 12 publishers turned J.K. down before one agreed to publish the book. 12 companies didn’t think the “now one of the most popular” book series in history would be financially worth it. Sometimes you need to take a risk on something, it’s going to take courage, you’re going to get turned down, just don’t lose your faith.

Instead of talking will you play…just like Plato?

Talk is cheap, Plato knew that. Social media communication is cheap, and you rarely can tell “who” someone is based on that. What you need to do is encourage people to play during their day. That is the moment you’re going to understand who they actually are.

Do you avoid “playing”? What are you afraid of? Board games will work, sports work, Ping Pong if you’re in the Strategy Lab office, internal games to get people working together are all positives things that will benefit your culture. The next time you want to get to know someone, challenge them to a game of Tennis or Pinball or a Dance off, I bet you’ll learn much more about each other.

Will you regularly use your imagination…just like Einstein?

As we grow up using your imagination seems to happen less and less. We don’t dream like we did when we were kids, we don’t have fantasy dress-up parties where we were Rockstars or famous Actors! At one point reality sets in and we forget that using our imaginations was fun, it helped us see what we wanted in the future, it helped create a vision.

How will you stay sharp in your old age? How are you going to keep the creative juices flowing? You must practice using that imagination of yours no matter what age you are.

Will not be afraid of being wrong…just like Sir Richard?

One of my personal favourites. We get so caught up in being right all the time we forget about what’s important. Being right means nothing outside of the classroom. Being right is what worries people in their careers, perfectionism leads to anxiety of always trying to perform at 100%, something that’s just not attainable consistently.

Richard Branson isn’t afraid of being wrong. He knows it’s not a reflection of his brain power but a sign of his humanity and humility. The fact that a billionaire is able to admit he doesn’t know the difference between the accounting terms “net” and “gross” is remarkable. Very few people at his level would be willing to admit that.

When we show weakness, apologize, or fail at something it shows we’re vulnerable, one of the most underrated characteristics in business and life. We have a natural tendency to avoid moments of vulnerability, we think showing weakness lower others peoples’ perceptions of us when in fact it does just the opposite. Showing you’re fallible is one of the greatest ways to humanize yourself, and when it comes down to people, the more human they are the more we can relate to them.

Don’t be afraid of being wrong, be afraid of not admitting to it.

Will you give more dams than everyone else…just like Mr. Ohanian?

The small website he co-founded is reddit. If you haven’t heard about it, it’s only the 6th most visited website in the world as of this writing. Alexis also wrote a book I enjoyed called Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century Will Be Made Not Managed. The quote is from the book.

He definitely is a person who gave more dams then most. And he’s on the forefront of the next internet and how people will access it. Being a big part of the Net Neutrality fight to keep open internet access, Alexis seems more of a freedom fighter than developer.

Some of my other favourite quotes from the book:

“Growing up, I had the words LIVES REMAINING: 0 written on the wall of my room. If life were a video game, that’s how it’d indicate this is the only chance left.”

“After all, to paraphrase LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, if you’re not a little embarrassed by what you’ve launched, you waited too long.”

“The one thing they all have in common is that they’ve “pivoted” at some point. At least, that’s the popular euphemism for “failed and adapted” these days.”

“You cannot succeed with a broken team, so hire wisely and fire quickly.”