Why we call it “The Sheet.”

The Sting is just about my favorite movie in the world.

I learn things every time I watch it.

Things I use every day.

If you've ever worked with me, you'll know The Sheet.

We do a two hour story session to dig down into the questions that matter most to the people who matter most to you, and then we use that to create...

... your brand story...

... in modular, memorable format...

... on one sheet. Front and back.

And what does that have to do with The Sting, you ask?

Well...

There's a scene that I always remember.

In the section of the movie called "The Hook," Kid Twist ducks into Duke Budreau's bar to recruit the best long-con men he can find in Chicago.

And Duke has a way of finding them right then and there. "Lacey! Get me the sheet," he says.

And Lacey goes out to get a clipboard with a page of names from behind the bar.

It's the sheet listing all the best men in town looking to get in on a con. All the resources by name and reputation that Twist needs right there on one page.

And that's what I created for Nymblesmith. To help businesses get all the language they use when they describe themselves in one place.

Easy to use.

Simple to remember. 

So everyone in your organization can tell the same tale, the same way, to everybody. A simple, memorable message that your people can remember and repeat and use to teach others, teach by repetition, to carry your message forward.

So while your sales guys are out there like Henry Gondorf on the Century Limited from New York to Chicago setting the hook in a fixed poker game, you can be back at Duke's telling the tale. Ensuring that your customers are all in on same story. The story that means most to them.

The story that makes them loyal to your brand. The story that makes them connect with you. The story that they tell other people when they ask "where'd you get that?"

And that's where The Sheet gets its name.

And its power.

And why movies are important.

Why we all should have one. A favorite.

It may not be the best movie ever made (The Godfather) or the most important movie ever made (Citizen Cane, Casablanca) or the best movie as told by my 14-year-old son (Star Wars - though he agrees with me that Rogue One is pretty awesome, too). There are great bad movies (Caddyshack), and fantastic artsy movies (The Seven Samurai, anything by Bergman), and cult movies you can't get out of your head (The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai across the 8th dimension).

Then, there are the favorite movies. The movies you want to watch at least once a year. The movies that when you spot them running on whatever channel you're spinning through, you stick with 'em 'til the end.

The movies that teach you things.

That's The Sting for me. 

If you haven't ever seen it, drop what you're doing now, and go fire up the ragtime. You're in for a treat.

And a list of lessons you can use.

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