From Beach to Brand

I am lazy. But not in the sit-around kind of way. I’m lazy in the I-don’t-want-to-waste-my-time kind of way. I simply have other things I’d rather be doing. In my journey toward ultimate laziness, I’ve stumbled upon a concept I believe is universal, and one that guides the decisions we make in business.

The truth is, none of us want to do more than we need to, especially when the task produces limited value. I call this the Principle of Efficiency: the desire to be efficient while still being effective. I see it at home when I carry 20 items from the car to the house in one trip, or when I set routines like Sunday laundry so I don’t have to think about it during the week. At work, it shows up as prudence: helping clients get the job done without getting in the way, yet still doing it right. Seeing these patterns has given me new insight into how they function and how to put them to use. Efficiency is powerful. It drives us to do what needs to be done while using as few resources as possible. Many of our clients face the same need. With limited resources for product launches, campaigns, or pressing problems, they’re trying to be efficient, and so are we.

There is nothing wrong with this kind of work. It’s natural, normal, and part of company life, just like Sunday laundry. “We need to get this done, and we want it to be as painless as possible.” In cases like this, we’ve found it best to communicate with clients in a way that makes it clear we understand their situation, and to share that clarity with our team. Efficiency is a mindset, and even with limited resources, it can produce impressive results. But if we’re honest, those results may not always be the most rewarding.

Finding meaningful results often requires a different mindset: the Principle of Enrichment. Whereas efficiency seeks to accomplish a goal with minimal resources, enrichment seeks to generate more value than what went in. In my life, these are the events that produce extraordinary results: the day at the beach, the family vacation, the book I read. In these cases, the results far outweigh the effort, though the outcome is less predictable.

The same applies to our work. Purpose Market Fit and Promise Market Fit are frameworks that focus on enrichment. In some ways, the results are a mystery, but we’ve never been disappointed. In fact, they often exceed what we thought possible. For our clients, enrichment means finding clarity in what they’re meant to do, or discovering how to keep doing what they do well, but with more intention. Does it require resources? Yes. But the multiplying effect is clear to everyone.

Not every company can focus entirely on enrichment and remain productive, just as no one can make every day a beach day. Balance is essential. Too much efficiency, and work and life become hollow. Too much enrichment, and the world fills with ideas that never reach their potential.

Much like the Chinese concept of Yin and Yang, both are separate, but each contains a dot of the other, and that balance is what matters. Even when focused on efficiency, it’s key to remain open to enrichment. What unexpected opportunities might be hidden in the effort? What small step could increase the return beyond the expected? Likewise, in enrichment, efficiency is key. What practical steps can make an idea real? What commitments can we take on to bring it to life?

For our clients, we strike the same balance. Websites on tight deadlines still get some brand strategy love. Open-ended branding assignments still include product launch ideas. We’ve worked this way for years, but now we do it with intention. Does that make us lazy? Yes, but in the best possible way.