a strategist’s convictions

We’ve sacrificed nuanced judgment for a trend report without a methodology.

We’ve sacrificed white space thinking for whatever the average is doing.

And we’ve sacrificed the attributes we care most about (resonance, loyalty, fandom, influence and impact) for the metrics easily available to us (clicks, views and follows).

As Rick Rubin puts it,

“If you

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Many hours are spent debating the following:

Positioning, Company vision, Company mission statement, Core belief, Brand truth, Brand archetype, Brand map, Brand strategy, Tone of voice, Manifesto to demonstrate the tone of voice, Brand attributes, User personas, Key insights....

Even when agreement is reached on any of the above, the problem with tr... See more

In ad land we are tasked with making things. But what matters most is the relationships that birth those things.

The output matters, but nothing matters more than how we treat each other in the moment.

(And, do it right and you get both)

THINK IN OUTCOMES, NOT OUTPUTS.

When you’re genuinely curious about the world, when you let that curiosity guide your reading, your thinking, and your creating, you become a magnet for ideas, conversations, and opportunities. When you’re interested, you’re never boring. And when you’re interesting, the world can’t help but pay attention.

I used to be a parrot, echoing other people's ideas, opinions, and beliefs, because I wasn’t sure of my own. I thought that by ‘borrowing’ and mimicking, I’d be more likeable, it’d be easier to seem cool, clever, or to belong. Looking back now, it gives me the ick—the amount of shit I nodded along to, gross. I think I was scared of looking stupid, ... See more

We say that the most powerful work operates through evoking visceral, emotional responses, yet we’ve been seemingly conditioned to believe that critiquing and evaluating is the professional necessary first step. But the fact is that we can’t truly feel an idea, we can’t truly live an idea if we’re standing on the outside and looking in being clever... See more

Perhaps the simplest and best definition of wisdom I’ve heard is “knowing what information is important.” This kind of knowing is not solely done in the intellect. Data is constantly being fed into your unconscious, then cross referenced against your experience.