The Old Ones Are..... The Best

Remember that old joke about the light bulb, and how many people it takes to change it?

There must have been about a thousand variations of it

(three of them were even funny).

I’d like to propose an update.

How many people does it take to have a brainstorm?

Actually, that’s not a joke, it’s a serious question.

Creativity is something we all want to be a part of.

And everyone has something to bring to the party.

But running a brainstorm with ten or twelve people is a little like herding cats.

Its hard work, almost impossible to control and leaves everyone feeling frustrated.

The loudest voices in the room tend to dominate.

Whilst the quiet ones feel intimidated.
Worst of all, the energy reserves run out after about half an hour.

There’s a reason why agencies pair two creatives together.

The smaller the group, the more intense the process, and the stronger the ideas.

Call it the three C’s:

The contribution you make

The confidence to go it alone

The communication to the wider team, once you’ve got your ideas.

Nothing kills the process of ideation like democracy.

Sometimes it pays to be a dictator.

Miss Smith take a letter.......

Pop Quiz

So often in life, we're faced with just two choices.
Hot or cold

Sweet or sour

In or out.
Every time we have to make a decision or solve a problem, the assumption is that there is a right and a wrong answer.
But sometimes, there's no wrong answer.
More importantly, there's often more than one right answer.
Too many great ideas fall by the wayside because we're afraid to succeed..... more than once.
If you have three solutions, have the confidence to share them.
Your clients will thank you for it.
It tells them that they wrote a great brief, and reminds them just how great your team is.
That's what they call an embarrassment of riches.
Throwing away good ideas because there's only room for one?
That's just an embarrassment.

Testing Times

Have I mentioned my son before?

No, not Fox, I know he's been here
before.
My other son Ted is one of the smartest people I've ever met.

And he's only sixteen.
He's currently studying for his GCSEs and today he had to take one of
his exams.
That meant he spent most of the weekend preparing.
As he practiced his presentation, I remembered the words of Marshall
McLuhan, who famously said that we learn through experience.
The thing is, I can't teach Ted - he already knows far more about his
subjects than I ever will.
But that doesn't mean I can't help him.
This weekend, the task was helping him to realise that
knowing your subject is only half the story.
It's all about finding a way of telling your story so that the
audience will be able to share it with those around them

(and above them)
You have to get out there and figure out how to portray yourself in
the best possible light.
Every pitch is an exercise in sales, not showing them how much time
you spent working things out.
Of course, expect all this to change when Ted starts to coach his Dad on how to dance

at a family wedding

Poetry In Motion

Johnny Tillotson (ask your parents) sang about poetry in motion being a lovely girl who didn't need improvement.
"She's much too nice to rearrange".
For me, poetry in motion is when everyone brings their best play.
It's a week like this one.
There's a palpable energy when the agency swings into action.
And it's heartening to see.
We're delivering here.
Proposing there.
Pitching hither and yon
(ask your grandparents).
That's precisely the kind of week we've had and it's beautiful to behold.
For those of us who sometimes feel like we're pushing a peanut uphill with our nose, this is what it feels like when a plan comes together.
Anyone need the A-Team?

We Shall Fight Them On The Beaches

OK, it’s time for me to get all Monty on you.

Consider this a battle cry.

We’ve been besieged by the economy, so we need to suit up and soldier on.

Remember I talked about those wartime consiglieres?

Well, it’s not just our clients who need them.

Every business needs one.

Every business has made cutbacks – we’re as lean as we can be.

If we want to stay in business, we need to grow, we need to sell.

Instead of being shell-shocked or battle-weary, we need to toughen up.

If the business has hit a wall, we’re gonna have to smash out way through it.

Sell more.

“I can’t!” you cry.

Until we can claim 100% market share in our industry, there’s still work to be done.

Start thinking soldier...

Where Does Greatness Come From?

I wonder whether young John Lennon,

growing up in the village of Woolton, ever worried that his humble beginnings

might impede his development as one of the world's greatest songwriters.
How did Nelson Mandela know he had what it would take to lead a
troubled nation through the most momentous period in its history?
They didn't look for permission to achieve greatness.
They just got on with it.
We can all sit and worry about the obstacles, limitations and
disadvantages we face in our daily lives.
Or we can just get on with being great.
Have we done this kind of thing before?
Maybe not, but who's to say we can't?
We all have what it takes to be remarkable.
If only we could stop getting in our own way.
Next time you're in a brainstorm or a client meeting, try putting the
cynicism to one side.
Remember what drew you to the business you love.
It's not about where you come from.
It's about where you're going.