When building a thing to bring out to the world, we face “marketing.” Some of us who have had to put this on their to-do list may well have had a similar response to me, which is a rather complex mess of emotions perhaps summarized by:
“Ugh”
The whole enterprise can touch off feelings of selfishness, manipulation, and more. Here’s a thing. Gimme money.
“Ugh"
Some time ago, I learned of Billy Broas’ work in marketing, joined a course he’d put together, and was duly impressed by how he focused on honoring a person’s agency, that ability for a person to decide for themselves.
As agency is truly the centerpiece of the work I do, whether as a therapist or as a productivity talking head, I invited Billy onto the Rhythms of Focus.
In this episode, Rhythms of Focus S01 Episode 52 - Agency, Story, And Symbols with Guest Billy Broas, we wander this way and that, true to the name of the show.
We get into the ideas of:
- Marketing as argument
- People’s inherent dignity in decision-making
- The importance of story, and how it is is about consciousness, attention, and meaning, not just chronology.
- and much more
I hope you give it a listen and let me know what you think!
You can also learn more about Billy at his website, BillyBroas.com
Check out Billy's book, Simple Marketing for Smart People
And find his manifesto at marketingisanargument.com
Chapters:
[00:01:24] Introduction
[00:03:35] The Problem with Manipulative Marketing
[00:06:29] Humans as Machines — The Reductionist View
[00:09:14] Ontology, Dignity, and a Different Starting Point
[00:14:10] Story, Meaning, and the Limits of Facts
[00:15:11] Heaven, Earth, and the Architecture of Meaning
[00:23:33] The Masculine, the Feminine, and Creative Wandering
[00:25:15] Purpose, Worship, and What We Sacrifice To
[00:28:24] Pausing, Routine, and the Practice of Reflection
[00:34:02] The Hero's Journey and the Chiasmus
[00:37:10] Thoughts as Messengers, Not Masters
[00:39:41] Artificial Scarcity and the Theft of Agency
[00:40:51] Philosophy Over Psychology — Enhancing vs. Removing Agency
[00:45:32] Trust, Love, and the Voluntary Transaction
[00:47:54] Where to Find Billy
