Erika – This post is one of the reasons your blog is one of the few I am going to get in my email. Too many people are way too scared of actually being themselves and saying exactly what is on their minds. Thanks for not being one of those uptight buttheads.

BTW, great to finally meet you in Chicago this weekend at SOBCon.

Thanks, Grant – and it was great to meet you, too! Come to think of it, I owe you a drink or something for grabbing the cab ride in from Midway. Put it on my tab

An acquaintance of mine once left a community magazine he was editing, to start his own weekly news digest. His inaugural editorial stressed that his new publication would take a safe, middling stance and would do its best to respect all viewpoints and avoid offending anyone.

I found that in itself to be *very* offensive. In any walk of life, but especially if you're editing a publication? HAVE AN OPINION. I may not agree with it. I may even be pissed off by it. But I'll respect you (the general, collective “you”) for having convictions and for standing by them.

It was so great to meet you, BTW. You're one of the “realest” persons I've ever known, and that reality-based outlook comes across even stronger in person.

Thx for the affirmation, Red. Disruptive thinking is the soul of change and change hurts and is scary. No wonder the sheep are offended…

You're a gem, Malcolm. Thanks for stopping by today

As the ol' Oracle at Delphi once said, “Know thyself.” Thanks for the reminder.

Alright, success again. We're all sitting here coworking (well the others are working, I'm getting my daily dose of internet awesome) and I read out loud to @caligater, @creativekatrina and @juliesutter “Suze Orman is a waste of tits” and we all choked a little on our lattes. Well done, m'dear!

And isn't it strange that knowing thyself is the one thing in business we seem to forget FIRST?

For a short while in my college career back in the 80s I was planning to be a teacher and took a few education classes. I became an academic advisor and not a teacher, so I've remembered one of the main concepts from those classes all these years: Real learning happens best when the learner is challenged.

In other words, I'm not sure one has to “offend” folks to get them to think about what you are telling them (whether it is your branding or you are trying to teach them something), but I'd wager that messages are ingrained more deeply when the receiver has to fire a few more neurons to process it. So, yeah, say something that your audience is going to feel at least a little challenged by (and even possibly offended by) so they are engaged with your message and not just passive receptacles. With luck this will encourage thoughtful dialogue and challenging conversation.

I firmly believe I need to piss people off more. I'm too nicey nicey sometimes, afraid to step on toes. So I walk on eggshells. Screw it.

I admire the lactose tolerant. I truly do…

Indeed, m'dear. I'll have a real, MEDIUM latte every time. Screw Starbucks and their vernacular, I say! I WANT A DAMN MEDIUM!

Who made swearing offensive?

I'd like travel back in time just so I could kick each one of those people in the balls or the vagina. I like to swear. No, take that back, I fuckin' looooove swearing.

I'm guessing it was the same group of nerds with embarrassingly low levels of self esteem that made talking about sex in public a taboo… embarrassed women for having an equal or greater sexual appetite than men and coined the word “SLUT” to fuck with their heads… then, used the LAW of marriage to handcuff women to them in an effort to keep the ladies from only banging the cool guys for whom they felt genuine attraction for, and in the shortage of truly awesome males, resorting to shacking up with the dweebs for security. But studies prove to this very day that when a nerd forces a woman's hand with social pressure and the institution of marriage, he STILL ends up raising the stud's kids an eerie percentage of the time.

I'm glad the tides are turning though and the “Moral Majority” is losing their grip on the ring in society's nose. 10-20 years ago it would've been almost impossible to find an author that endorses offending people in print, of whom you don't wish to fraternize with. The Internets with it's infinite ability to publish WITHOUT censorship has knocked the righteous, repressed and religious for a loop of which they are reeling from.

And the heathen in me rejoices in it.

Great post Erika. Keep the jaws of men and women dropping while strutting around town bra-less in your t-shirt. And keep frying the circuits of the prudes by talking about how much you L-O-V-E the dick.

Love your voice, talk soon,
Mariano Franco

Leon-

Damn, I love that accent and it's always welcome here. I've never
received a complaint about using Disqus as my comments engine,
however. What's your beef? That you have to scroll past Related Posts
to get to it? Do tell.

I so agree with that. I refuse to say venti or whatever it's called and always ask for a medium or large.

I think that's actually too easy to offend online – I've had people get angry, stop following me, abandoning me on Facebook for seemingly innocent remarks. One guy got all pissed off because I thought we should devote more time and money into renewable sources of energy. And because I'm a vegetarian, which I never shove down anyone's throat, people get all defensive and like to start arguments with me.

I do find, however, that I tend to be nicer online than I am in person. I've wondered about that and I think part of it is that I find it more difficult to be sarcastic through the written word.

Wasting tits is *never* a good thing. I agree. They're delightful.

G'Day from down under. Very good read first thing in the morning, got the brain ticking over bright and early. Always believed in the saying “Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream”. I think your post puts a new light on the subject and might get a few thinking about the questions you pose as to who am I? What do I believe? Which I believe will be a good thing. Might upset a few apple carts, but so what.
Be who you are, say what you believe & feel, then you and no one else will be in doubt as to who you are.
Well done.
Take Care
Steven )
P.S. I also like Avocado's and cheese

I wonder how many voices out there with something worthwhile to say are never heard simply due to the fact that they fear speaking in a manner with the conviction and (excuse the male only reference) balls to potentially offend.

You certainly are aware that I give a fuck less if someone is offended by my opinions. My advice in business is very much the same. I live by some very solid rules, I keep my mouth shut and my ears open when I am learning. I stand my ground and speak my mind freely when I have been contracted to fix your team. If you didn't know you needed me to begin with, you would not have hired me, now it is time to shut the fuck up and listen to the painful truth of your fuck ups.

I wonder how many voices out there with something worthwhile to say are never heard simply due to the fact that they fear speaking in a manner with the conviction and (excuse the male only reference) balls to potentially offend.

You certainly are aware that I give a fuck less if someone is offended by my opinions. My advice in business is very much the same. I live by some very solid rules, I keep my mouth shut and my ears open when I am learning. I stand my ground and speak my mind freely when I have been contracted to fix your team. If you didn't know you needed me to begin with, you would not have hired me, now it is time to shut the fuck up and listen to the painful truth of your fuck ups.