Proof That Making A Stand Works (A Story About A Business Competition)
We can’t wait around for a hierarchy to pick us, there is proof that making a stand works.
To most people we strive throughout our lives to be picked or conform to how others want us to behave. It goes back to the days of school and lining up against the wall and waiting to be picked by others during lunchtime games. Fast forward through our lives into adulthood and the job interview and fitting in with a way that a company wants you to operate.
It is in us all to accept that we have to wait to get picked and it does take a long wait. The other approach is to accept the skill sets that you have to help solve problems for others and with the tools that you are armed with you can make a change. When you realise that you don’t need permission from someone else to step forward, you have a wealth of opportunity to take advantage of.
A Story From A Recent Business Competition
A prime example of this is the recent Design Week Awards. A huge annual event celebrating creativity and design within the UK with some notable winners such as ITV, Nissan, Apple and The Princes Trust.
Good friends of The ID Group, Michael Grubb Studio entered the ‘Exhibition Design’ category for the ‘Lost Light. Gardens Of Light Festival’ held in Bournemouth gardens during December 2013 where beach huts were brought to life within the confines of the gardens for the public to interact and be part of. The other names in the category included more notable presentations such as David Bowie’s Victoria & Albert exhibition.
Michael Grubb Studio won the award and whilst this is not an article to reference those we work with, it’s all about the idea when a company makes a stand, invests time and acknowledges it’s strengths to create better places for people to interact with and have the courage to step forward, even if it means alongside more established names.
The all round credibility to the business and the accolades received was down to the team identifying national awards (and their respective categories) that were scheduled throughout the year and making a commitment to enter the awards and discipline in proposing a solid proposal.
Making That Stand & Contributing
By making a stand such as making a commitment to entering a business competition and acknowledging that you can make a difference is contrasted to the many businesses that make no contribution to the work they produce and live in obscurity, when there are opportunities to seek a path to be recognised.
Those who once had the power to pick are slowly losing the grip they once had. The democratisation of the media is seeing a more fragmented landscape where there are now way more offerings and choices then we have ever had to be part of. The once approved write up in the local newspaper doesn’t have the same gravitas as it once had. Companies now have the choice of spaces that they want to be part of and stand tall in that arena, rather than waiting patiently for a moment to arrive.
When having the confidence for the work that you produce and spend time making sure your efforts are rewarded, the end result is your work amplifies awareness by highlighting a problem solved or an opportunity created.
Even a tactic as effective as entering a business competition, it’s not a case of someone else choosing you, but confidence that you have already delivered and recognition on a wider scale for what you believe in and strive for.
