π£ Thinking is like the sun
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I spotted this last week at Droga5's offices. And you know what, it's great advice. Especially for the over-thinkers out there (HI!). Those of us who show up with a rattlebag of:
(Latest for me is "category entry points".) And yet, there is a danger of being so good at thinking. We over-think things. And as a result overload others that work with us. Not a very good place to be. We don't get the results we want or need from others either. We confuse them instead of clarifying them. We've all done it. We leave the meeting feeling that was a hell of a good performance. And inevitably the team email you two days later asking what the focus of the brief was again. A great source of wisdom here has actually been the best creative directors i've ever worked with. The ones who can discuss strategy with me. But also who can clarify the logic flow of a strategic argument in non-strategist words. Another way i like to think about this: being book smart vs being street smart. In the past, i've bonded with fellow strategists precisely because we didn't share the typical academic credentials. In short, we were less interesting in sounding smart, and more in being smart. Street smart strategy is probably a good definition of that ambition. It's learning as much from Tony Soprano as we do from Tom Peters. It's absorbing as much from Oswald Cobb (watch The Penguin) as we do from Ogilvy. It's appreciating that Margaret Heffernan has tons to offer our minds, but so does Marty McFly. Thinking, in that sense, is like the sun. Don't do enough of it, we don't generate heat. But get too close to it, and we might get burnt along the way. Or at least burn others out with our desire to be clever, when the job is to always be clear. "I need time to think about it" is almost always the correct answer to complex problems. But maybe put a timer on how much time is enough to get going.
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Salmon Theory
Helping savvy strategists swim upstream.
Hey friend β Rob here. Do you worry about things? Or at all? My suspicion is that you worry far too much about everything. But don't worry, so do i. I think it's part of what makes strategists minimally good at the job. We are always wondering what else we might be missing. It's not a point of advantage, but it's definitely a point of parity. Worrying means we don't take anything for granted. And that's the first ingredient you need to challenge preconceptions about a problem. However. As you...
Hey friend β Rob here. A few months ago i kicked off a video interview series, starting with Chris Rawlinson, founder of 42courses. You can watch it here. It was genuinely one of those wide ranging conversations where you start on point A and finish on point 37.1. And if that structure makes no sense, it's by design. I love randomness in exchanges. Anyway, there's tons of wisdom that i got out of Chris's brain, and some good lessons to help us all grow with a greater sense of compassion,...
Hey friend β Rob here. At its peak, Crispin Porter + Bogusky lived and died by a thought: βDon't write the idea, write the news headline.β This is true for creatives, but should also be true for our briefs. Sure β back them up, add context, explain where weβre coming from. But never lose sight of the headline of what you're asking. Friedrich Nietzsche once said: "I want to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book." How often do you see briefs that are comprehensive, but not clear?...