Today’s interview is with Stan Phelps and Dave Rendall, co-authors of Pink Goldfish 2.0: Defy Normal and Exploit Imperfection. They join me today to talk about flaws, imperfections, portmanteaus and how we make our imperfections work for us and help us stand out.

This interview follows on from my recent interview – Playing your way to a stand out customer experience – Interview with Sirte Pihlaja — and is number 399 in the series of interviews with authors and business leaders that are doing great things, providing valuable insights, helping businesses innovate and delivering great service and experience to both their customers and their employees.

Here’s the highlights of my chat with Stan and Dave:

• The world conspires to tell us that we need to be more perfect and more well balanced and well rounded and we need to hide and fix our flaws. But, that’s not true. We should be flaunting our flaws.
• The number of companies who are really differentiated is depressingly small.
• That’s probably to do with the connection between being different, trying something new that might not work and weakness.
• Wabi-sabi, a Japanese term, is the idea that nature is beautiful, but nature is imperfect and its imperfection is the thing that makes it beautiful.
• The book uses a portmanteau Flawsome, a combination of flawed and awesome, which it turns into an acronym: F.L.A.W.S.O.M.E.
• Each letter stands for a different type of flaw that you can leverage to your advantage:
  • Flaunting
  • Lopsiding
  • Antagonizing
  • Withholding
  • Swerving
  • Opposing
  • Micro-Weirding
  • Exposing
• For example, Flaunting is not about fixing a flaw, it’s about being so proud of it that you can actually brag about it.
• The book goes into detail for each one and provides lots of stories and examples to bring all of these to life.
• Great story about the power of poor reviews.
• Also, Amber Share found that every national park in the United States has, at least, one 1-star review and she creates beautiful art with them.
  • Here’s a classic example that she found: one visitor to the Grand Canyon gave it a 1-star review and wrote:
    • “A HOLE. A VERY, VERY LARGE HOLE.”
• Only 3% of individuals or businesses have the ability to become extra ordinary or extraordinary.
• The remaining 97% are constrained by the norms of their industry.
• Your weakness is already a strength. You’re just not seeing it that way.And, you’re also not seeing that a strength of a competitor is a weakness.
• Stella Artois: Reassuringly expensive.
• Guinness: Good things come to those who wait.
• Punk CX words: Flawsome, Flaunting.
• Punk CX brand: dbrand.

About Stan

Stan Phelps is a Forbes Contributor, TEDx Speaker, IBM Futurist, Certified Speaking Professional, and best-selling author of the Goldfish Series. He is an Instructor for the ANA School of Marketing and Rutgers Business School.

A show and tell speaker, Stan empowers audiences to take action that delivers bottom-line impact. He strives to change the paradigm of marketing by encouraging audiences to focus on experiences as the ultimate competitive differentiator. He believes purposeful DX wins the hearts of employees and customers, and differentiation ultimately boosts loyalty, retention, referrals, and results.

A masterful storyteller who quickly connects with audiences, Stan has delivered keynotes and workshops for Fortune 100 brands including IBM, Target, and more. He works directly with you to customize content that matches your audience and your goals to create a memorable and meaningful experience every time. Count on Stan to show up early, arrive prepared, and disrupt the all-work-and- no-play methodology with his sharp wit and trademark showmanship. He makes it his mission to exceed expectations and inspire audiences in ways they just can’t help but talk about — and won’t soon forget.

About Dave

During the last fifteen years, David Rendall has spoken to audiences on every inhabited continent. His clients include the US Air Force, Australian Government, and Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, AT&T, United Health Group, Fannie Mae, and State Farm Insurance.

Prior to becoming a speaker, he was a leadership professor and stand-up comedian. He also managed nonprofit enterprises that provided employment for people with disabilities.

In between presentations, David competes in ultramarathons and Ironman triathlons.

David has a doctor of management degree in organizational leadership, as well as a graduate degree in psychology. He is the author of four books:

• Pink Goldfish
• The Four Factors of Effective Leadership
• The Freak Factor
• The Freak Factor for Kids

Find out more about Stan at StanPhelpsSpeaks.com and Dave at drendall.com. Say Hi to him on them on Twitter @StanPhelpsPG and @daverendall. Connect with them on LinkedIn here and here, and don’t forget to grab a copy of the book: Pink Goldfish 2.0: Defy Normal and Exploit Imperfection.

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay