🍣 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, by Rob Estreitinho
Helping savvy strategists swim upstream.
Hey friend – Rob here. This is the last newsletter of the year, and goodness me what a year it's been. I was made redundant. I started a business. I lost my mother. I had my best year ever in terms of cash and confidence building. Ebbs and flows, eh? I hope you have a chance to take a break, genuinely turn off those notifications, and sleep in if you feel like it. I bring below 3x articles i wrote recently, and an event we're running in January. See you in 2025, and thanks for supporting...
Hey friend – Rob here. Here's what's been swimming around our brains lately: Synthesis-as-a-Service 5 things i’ve learned from Theophilus Wells IV The question i ask whenever i open a book [Bonus!] Social strategy, deconstructed Grab a cup of caramel tea, and let's get into it. Synthesis-as-a-Service And why it may be an underrated use case for hiring independent strategists. 5 things i’ve learned from Theophilus Wells IV Including directness, self-definition and why impostor syndrome is a...
Hey friend – 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...