Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái
Wishing you happiness and prosperity in the year of the Pig
They say that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sows’ ear.
But they are wrong.
In 1921 Arthur D. Little, Inc., of Cambridge, Massachusetts (of its time,one of the largest and most diversified consultancies in the world), did just that. The idea was to prove that something said to be impossible was, with sufficient effort, money and ingenuity, attainable.
By studying the glue-like extrusion of the silk worm, they turned 100 Lbs of sow’s ears into 10 Lbs of gelatin by adding chrome alum and acetone. This was filtered under pressure through a spinneret, soaked in glycerin to make the thread less brittle and more ‘silky’, then dyed and spun into cloth to make, two ‘silk’ purses.
Although not practical to produce, the purses proved to be a great marketing tool, showing their inventiveness and enterprise. Read the whole story here
The moral
Self limiting beliefs, or accepted beliefs, are
‘poisons to progress. The only way to get ahead is to dig in, to study, to find out, to reason out theories, to test them…’ (Arthur Dehon Little (1863-1935))
Are you a Pig?
You are if you were born in 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995. You are calm in a crisis, diligent, compassionate and generous. You are a goal setter and achiever. You are trusting. You are a finisher.
And if you are a Pig – according to the Chinese Zodiac, it just so happens that we will get along pretty well, because I am a Rat!
Find out what Chinese animal you are …and what the future holds!
Something for the weekend?
Why not embrace Asian culture and join in the spirit of the New Year with 1.38 billion other people? There’s fun to be had at the fabulous New Year parade in Chinatown this weekend. It’s the biggest of its kind outside Asia, and a fabulous spectacle.
Design is not for philosophy, it’s for life – Issey Miyake
#brandingbuddy #designersmakeiteasy