One of my core beliefs around work is that it shouldn’t suck. And when it does suck, you need to move somewhere else. Perhaps in the same field, perhaps to something completely different. I didn’t have a term for it until I read Brian Marick’s Ease and Joy.

Doing your job should be an act of joy.

Armed with a label for the concept I am starting to see it more and more. Like on the back page of today’s newspaper.

BMW Canada (and maybe internationally) has a new ad campaign called simply ‘Joy’. Here is the copy from the ad.

JOY.
On the back of this three-letter word, we build a company.
Independent in spirit, philosophy, and practice.
Accountable to no one but the driver.
We do not build cars.
We are the creators of emotions.
We are the guardians of exhilaration, thrills, and chills.
We are the Joy of Driving.
No car company can rival our history.
Replicate our passion.
See our vision.
Innovation is our backbone, but Joy is our heart.
We will not stray from out three-letter purpose. We will nurture it.
We will make Joy smarter. We will push it, test it, break it – then build it again.
More efficient, more dynamic.
We will give the world the keys to Joy and they will take it for a ride.
And while others try to promise everything, we promise one thing.
The most personal, cherished, and human of all emotions.
This is the story of BMW.
This is the story of Joy.

AWESOME!

BMW just laid claim to Joy! That’s pretty bold. Bigger, stronger, faster. Sure, they could have taken up those attributes, but no, they chose Joy which I think wins. And wins big.

Could your company even begin to start saying it stood for Joy? Very few can. Too often it is a different three-letter word: MEH. Meh does not win. Meh doesn’t even get to the finish lie.

Or how about LIE. Very often companies that build with that as a basic attribute look amazing in the warmups, but when it really counts they trip and skin their knees when leaving the starting blocks.

Now I’m not naive enough to think that they have rebuilt the company around Joy. This is marketing after all and Joy is a fantastic idea for a campaign. That doesn’t mean you can’t actually build your company (or team) around it. You owe it to yourself, your employees and your customers.

Now go watch this little video that introduces the campaign. Here is the spoken bits.

We are a car company.
But we don’t just make cars; we make time machines, build snowplows and works of art.
We inspire fans and fan clubs.
We realized a long time ago that what you make people feel is just as important was what you make.
Joy is BMW.

The second last line is the most important one.

We realized a long time ago that what you make people feel is just as important was what you make.

I’m now thinking that Joy is directly tied to Awesome. See almost anything Kathy Sierra has been talking about for a couple years ago. Like this Ignite from here called Better Is Better

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Here’s your homework:

  • How are you increasing Joy? For yourself? Your team? Your company? For your customers?
  • How are you enabling Awesome?