3/28/12

The Results Are In...

Lucky (Part 11)


Last week we launched a short survey to answer seven simple questions about the music you like to listen to or perhaps use in business. It all started off with the post – I’ve Got the Music in Me. The survey was a fun one which asked seven questions about music and three about demographics.

The environment of our business and personal lives is personalized by what we know through our senses. Unconsciously, we are bombarded by a sensory assault in our own environments as well as the environments of others we enter. That environment may create a perception, condition our approach, actions and receptiveness to the other person, company or place. Consciously, we use our senses to help us.

Think about the last new place you visited. What did you see as you walked in? What demanded your attention? What did you smell? If the scent was strong, you may have also tasted the air. If you were served anything, how did it look, smell, and taste. When you touched things in the environment, did your touch make you appreciate and interpret the choices? What did you hear in the foreground and the background?

Throughout this series, we have talked about opportunity and timing being aligned. The ability to impact luck in the perception is greatly influenced by what we perceive or are delivered through our senses.

We chose to illustrate this a bit through our survey on music. Each of our questions has a purpose and sensory triggers.

1. What song or music really makes you smile when you hear it?
(a) Those taking the survey, whether they realized it or not, probably smiled as their memory delivered potential songs as the answer to the question.
(b) Many of you played potential songs to use in the answer.
(c) You probably thought of where you were and the circumstances related to the time in which you heard the song and it made you smile.
(d) Your memory bank stored that positive element to be recalled with the right trigger.
(e) If someone entered your environment about the time you were thinking of a song or playing it, you probably had a smile on your face and they felt there was a positive reception.

2. What music or song really makes you move? (clapping, dancing, tapping etc.)
(a) If we had been able to see you when you answered this question, you most likely had a smile on your face.
(b) You were probably making something a percussion instrument to the beat of the song playing in your head.
(c) If the song was last heard at a happy occasion and you had a picture handy from that time, you probably looked at the picture adding to the memories that were playing in your head.
(d) What music or song would you select to motivate a group?
(e) This question probably started several potential different paths within your memory such as the last time you were someplace, perhaps a convention, a meeting, a sporting event or church and the music assisted you in following its lead to the purpose intended.
(f) Or maybe you thought of the groups you work with and what songs would serve your purposes in motivating them. The groups may have been related to work, teams you coach, people you influence, social groups where you host or plan an event and certainly civic groups.
(g) The memory of a song that you found motivating may have caused you to do more than you would have without the memory.

3. What is your celebration song?
(a) Everyone has a number of celebration songs that are brought forward from memory for specific occasions including birthdays, holidays, team wins and more. Celebrations are a part of locking the memory of jubilation or success and giving us a better opportunity to repeat the event.
(b) All of us have seen the dance of a favorite player when a play is made, the salute given in honor, the high fives and more. Seldom are these in silence. Songs that remind us of celebrated success are positive conditioning.

4. What is most often playing in the background when you work?
(a)You have the opportunity to control your environment and set the stage for interaction of those who enter. What might be playing in the background could predispose the outcome.
(b) Many of us who work in an environment where there is little physical interaction with others have background music whether or not we have selected it. Whether it is the hum of the technology that surrounds you, a TV in the background or music, the environment you create either enhances your work or serves as a distraction.

5. If you were to choose an anthem for you personally, your company or business - what would it be?
(a) An anthem, while not necessarily a formalized anthem is like a logo. It says something about you. It might make someone remember you and may help them remember your product or service.
(b) Not all anthems are musical, some are spoken but all convey feeling, trigger memories and often help us build our own strength or character.

6. What is your favorite song or piece of music?
(a) Most of us do not have a singular favorite. We have many favorites for a lot of reasons and others that are moments in time. All of these are important because they are triggers.
(b) Having playlists of different types of favorites help when mood and environment adjustments are needed.

7. What is your favorite song or piece of music?
(a) Most of us do not have a singular favorite. We have many favorites for a lot of reasons and others that are moments in time. All of these are important because they are triggers.
(b) Having playlists of different types of favorites help when mood and environment adjustments are needed.

Yes, we are lucky to be able to control, influence and impact others through sensory triggers. We just have to take the opportunity and use it with the right timing. For results from the survey, go to http://www.soltys-inc.com/patmusic.htm.

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