Nouns and verbs

I had two great seminars in my office this week. Not only do cool people show up, but it pushes me to think hard about new ways to talk about things that work.

Today, we talked about nouns and verbs.

Investments are a noun. Investing is a verb.
Paint is a noun. Painting is a verb.
A gift is a noun. Shopping for or giving one is a verb.

People care much more about verbs than nouns. They care about things that move, that are happening, that change. They care about experiences and events and the way things make us feel.

Nouns just sit there, inanimate lumps. Verbs are about wants and desires and wishes.

Is your website a noun or a verb?
What about your management style or the services you offer?

A few years ago, the rage was to turn products into services. Then it was to turn services into products.

I think the next big thing is to turn nouns into verbs.