Bruce Lee : A Change Agent?

The great Bruce Lee once said ‘Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.’

Watch his interview :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO3sBulXpVw&feature=related

I think we all know Bruce Lee. But how can he be regarded as a change agent?

He is widely regarded as the most influential martial artist of the twentieth century and a cultural icon. His films elevated the traditional Hong Kong martial arts films to a new level of popularity and acclaim, and sparked the first major surge of interest in Chinese martial arts in the West.

Lee became an iconic figure particularly to the Chinese around the world, as he portrayed Chinese national pride and Chinese nationalism in his movies, which inspired the careers of today’s top kung fu actors like Jacky Chan and Jet Li.

In the context of change, he took on Hollywood at the time when Asian actors were mostly relegated to minor roles by adapting his style to suit a Western environment. When he wasn’t happy with the current forms of martial arts that existed during his days, he pioneered his own fighting style in the form of the Jeet Kune Do. The rest they say is film-making history.

Were it not for his ability to adapt to changes in his environment, it is suffice to note that the world would not have known Bruce Lee and perhaps Jacky Chan would still be performing with the Beijing Acrobatics.

In the same breath, Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is a fundamental force of nature, where only species that adapt (like water which can take many forms) according to the change in their environment will thrive, while those that don’t will die.

Water doesn’t die, it changes its shape and form according to the changes in its environment. We need to allow this natural force to be unleashed into our bloodstream, in relation to how we want to connect with the new consumers.

In our own context, digital is our new environment. New Marketing is our new genetic code. The sooner we eliminate the anti-change reflex that's genetically coded into all of us, we are much more likely to evolve into New Marketing specialists.

Don’t do it for your company, do it for yourself. Mindshare will evolve whether you are going to or not. But take advantage of the change platforms Mindshare has created. No other agency is taking this as seriously as Mindshare.

We can evolve our approach to marketing the same way nature evolves species or the way Bruce Lee adapted his approach in marketing himself to Hollywood.

Whether the market is up or down, whether technology is hot or not, whether you get a promotion or not, the organic approach to change will allow you to outperform the competition to yourself, your company and your clients’ brands.

Be water, my friends.

Contributed by :
Jimmy Lim
Mindshare Singapore