I don’t know about you lot, but it feels like an awful lot has happened in 2018. The world has gone into overdrive! Phew! I wasn’t sure how I’d get along with this blog, but I’m really quite enjoying writing it. Writing helps me organise my thoughts, think deeper about the subjects that interest me, and create a repository of my thinking.
And hopefully one or two of you have found it useful too.
As I sit here in my pyjamas getting ready to ring in 2019 with loved ones, I’m drawn to thinking about what I’d like to discover in the next 12 months. I feel the need for a roaring fire, a wingback chair and brandy to really set the scene, but you can’t have everything in life!
Stuff your conscious mind
I kicked off this blog series with a David Ogilvy quote that underpins everything I’m trying to achieve with this blog.
Ideas come from the unconscious. This is true in art, in science and advertising. But your unconscious has to be well informed, or your ideas will be irrelevant. Stuff your conscious mind with information, and then unhook your rational thought process.
I love this quote for so many reasons. It’s not just encouraging you to read a lot. Or know a lot. Or think differently. Ogilvy wants you free yourself from the constraints of your own thinking. It’s like pedalling a bike up the hill, putting in a huge amount of time and effort to get to the top, but then freewheeling on your way down.
Irrelevant
This is a word that really sticks out to me. It’s something that has come up a lot in my Masters course. You can create an absolutely stellar campaign, but if you’re not keeping up with the times in terms of cultural norms, technology, socially acceptable behaviour and terminology, then at best you’ll be ignored, and at worst ridiculed and ostracised.
New year, new you – the new media diet
January is, of course, when everyone goes on a diet, so why should I be any different? Although this diet isn’t about the food that I consume, but rather the content that I consume.
If you’ve been keeping up with this blog, you’ll have seen the reading list and resources page have been updated a number of times. Both of these have been inspired by Faris Yakob, and his excellent APG post earlier in the year: What you think is a function of the ideas you consume. I highly recommend you take a quick look at his media pyramid, and see if you think you need to adjust what you’re consuming on a daily basis to improve your thinking.
And yes, you’re right. I need to get off social media.
Next read Ian Leslie’s guest post on APG about Cognitive fitness for planners. Again, Leslie also compares your creativity to health. He encourages his readers to read books, slowly and fully, digesting their information over time. I adore his writing:
Trying to get by only on TED talks (much as I love TED talks) is like kidding yourself that you can skip vegetables if you take vitamin pills. Opinion-led polemics can be great fun to read but they’re not real sustenance either – we can enjoy the sugar rush of a hot take without relying on them. In short: more protein, more fibre, easy on the cake, and take your time over meals.
True though, huh?
So, what am I doing to improve my diet in 2019? Well, I don’t think I can kick my social media habit just yet, but I can make the most of it. I did a big Facebook cull in early December, so I’m not seeing nearly as much dross on there.
I’m also going to read a good balance of fiction, business and non-business-non-fiction books. I’ve been trying to read all of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels in order. I’m currently on number 10 – Moving Pictures. I’d say it’s one of my favourites so far.
And I’m going to try and get out there more. You know, the real world. I live in a vibrant city, full of incredible culture. There’s so much to fill my mind with. Music, theatre, dance, comedy. Go forth and enjoy!
What books do you recommend? What were your top reads of 2018? Anything you’re waiting to come out in 2019? How do you make sure you get a balanced media diet?
There’s a lot to be said for being just a little bit naughty, wouldn’t you say? To play at the edges of acceptability. To push people’s buttons and see what happens. Coming up with new ideas is about seeing just how much mischief you can get into, and then only when you’ve reached the edge, pulling back into slightly safer territory.
In my last post Ideas are threats, I touched on lateral thinking, after Mark Pollard called it out as an advertising planner’s stock in trade. Lateral thinking is about producing a volume of creative and incongruous ideas, in order to get to the best possible solution to your problem.
“Brain training pioneer” Edward de Bono is more well know for his six hats (especially that pesky black hat). But he formed the idea of lateral thinking 50 years ago: possibility thinking.
Ok, but what is it for? Where do I start? How can I use it?
In its simplest terms, lateral thinking is a way of stretching the innovations your mind can come up with. You have a problem. You need a solution. The odds are, someone has tried to come up with a solution before, right? But you still need a solution. Which means either previous ones didn’t work, or they didn’t work well enough (too expensive, too slow, too complex, etc).
So you don’t just need any solution, you need the right solution. The best solution. Ok, so this is where lateral thinking comes into its own. People think of Sherlock Holmes (one of my heroes) as a man of logic and reason. And that he was. But he was also a great lateral thinking.
Elementary, my dear Watson!
According to my good friend Google, lateral thinking is the solving of problems by an indirect and creative approach, typically through viewing the problem in a new and unusual light.
View your problem through a new and unusual light
Unusual, you say? Ok, we can do that!
When you think of problem solving, you think you need only the right information. But lateral thinking can throw in loads of curveball information, to stretch your mind, to make it work harder for the problem. And therefore find different solutions to everyone who has tried to crack the problem before (I’m going to try and stop saying solution now).
Lateral thinking is concerned not with playing with the existing pieces but with seeking to change those very pieces.
So let’s take a look at a problem that lots of people face when searching for a job, and one that was raised recently in Mark Pollard’s strategy discussion group Sweatheads:
I’m job hunting at the moment. Does anyone have any ideas or pointers on what to include in an application? Resume, cover letter and…? And any thoughts on what makes a great cover note?
Lateral thinking exercise
In other words, how do you get cut through when looking for a job? Here’s the process we’re going to follow to approach this (obviously this is going to be quite a generic outcome, but let’s see how we get on):
What are our assumptions about getting a job?
What are the normal routes to a job?
What if we couldn’t do any of these things?
How can we reframe the question?
Let’s work backwards.
Change the perspective.
Once we’ve worked through these steps, hopefully we’ll have come up with a number of different routes to getting a job. Some will be awful, but we’re looking for that one little gem, the nugget of gold amongst the rocks.
What are our assumptions?
Everybody wants a job.
A company has a specific need for specific skills for a specific amount of time.
There is a person or group of people making the decision on the person they will hire for that role.
There will be other people, and possibly a lot of other people, wanting that role.
The better the job the more competition for the role.
It’s not what you know, it’s who you know – people with an “in” to the company will be able to queue jump.
It’s not all about the skills and experience, but about cultural fit.
Hiring managers are scared of making the wrong decision, so might go for the safe option, the person that ticks all the boxes.
Ok, that’s a good list for now. Doing this for real I could go on for much longer, but this should do to illustrate the point without boring you to death with lists.
What are the normal routes to a job?
You see an advert for a role online (job board, industry publication, etc), send a CV or fill out an application form.
You someone in a company and ask them to put you in touch with HR, the hiring manager, or the person in the department who might be your boss.
You network within the industry to hear about roles as they come up.
You reach out to your existing network to hear about roles.
What if you can’t do any of these?
This is where things get interesting. How do you get a job if you can do any of these things?
If you can’t reach out to them, get them to reach out to you. Become really well known for a particular skill or project. Self promotion.
What if you can’t use a computer, so you have to send in the application by post?
What if you’re really nervous and can’t speak to people at networking events? You could host an event and be behind the scenes, and hopefully build your confidence.
What if you were really expert and went to speak at events, rather than being a delegate?
What if you’re looking for a job in a new industry or country where you have no network or expertise? You could put together a portfolio of work with transferable skills. You could reach out to people you admire in the industry for mentorship, or guidance. You could start a blog on the topic you want to become an expert on to teach yourself about the subject and eventually showcase your expertise (hello wannabe strategist…)
How can we reframe the question?
So now you start questioning the question. Do you really need a job? What is a job? What defines the job you are looking for? What happens if you don’t get a job? What happens if you got a job in a different industry? How would this process be different if you were making a purchase? If you had to buy your job? How would you approach this differently if you needed to start the job tomorrow? Or in five years?
The questions here are limitless. I just stream of consciousness writing to get a load of questions out, before you start answering them.
Do you think you’re asking the right question? Or has the question changed based on this exercise?
Working backwards
You’re looking for a job. Presumably you’re looking for a specific job. Imagine you’re already in that job. And you’re smashing it. Really think about that situation. What does it look like? What does it feel like? Where are you? Who are you with? What are your colleagues like? What’s your boss like? How is your homelife different with this new job? What kind of money are you taking home? Where is your office? What do you have for lunch?
I’m not sure if you can tell but I’m a big believer in visualisation. This is a good step for getting clear on what you want, as well as for this lateral thinking exercise.
Now you’re clear on the end game, how did you get there? Work backwards.
What was your first day like?
How much time was there between finding out you got the job, and starting the job? What did you do in that time?
How did you find out you got the job? Who told you? Where were you? Who did you tell first?
What sealed the deal? What put you in front of the competition?
What was the interview process like? How many rounds? How many people?
What feedback did you get after your first interview? Who interviewed you? Where was it?
How did you find out about the job? How did you apply? How did you position your skills?
I know this is easier said than done, but it’s such a useful exercise. And there’s no right or wrong answer, so chill out and give it a go. There’s an infinite number of combinations, so do it multiple times. Try doing it when you’re in different frames of mind to see if you come out with different answers.
Try and be a bit mischievous with your answers. Play around with them. What if you were being totally outrageous with your route to your job. Make up stories about dragons, wizards, blackmail and sex.
How many different ways can you get a job?
Change perspective
This is a great exercise, and one I’ve used many times before. I absolutely love it. You get to pretend you’re someone else trying to solve this exact problem. I call it What Would Obama Do?
If Obama was trying to get they job you want, how would he approach it? Would he go on Ellen and let the world know what job he was looking for? Would he make a documentary about his skills in that area? Would he already know the CEO of the company, or one of its investors?
Now try this for a bunch of different people. Have fun! Come up with people in different situations to really try and stretch your imagination. Here’s a few I’ve used recently:
Family: a father, a toddler, a grandmother
Subcultures: a hipster, an emo, a punk, a Belieber, a nerd
Real people/Celebs: Elon Musk, Lily Allen, Jeremy Corbyn, Oprah, Jim Carrey, Victoria Beckham, Gareth Southgate, Beyonce, Alan Sugar, Simon Cowell, Elvis
Professions: engineer, visual artist, city planner, glamour model, teacher, growth hacker, mountain climber, professor, footballer, MP, reality TV star
What now?
Now’s the time to refine. You’ve thought about your assumptions and how to challenge them, and push them to one side. You know what your dream outcome is, and have thought about the steps in detail to make that happen. You’ve got out of your own head and thought about how a load of different people might approach the problem.
Now you refine those. You’ve gone to the edges of possibility, and now you can bring yourself back into the safe area.
List out your options. Hopefully you have more interesting options than when you started. And more effective, more efficient options. And more expensive, more elaborate options. You have the power to decide which ones are right for you, right for now, right for this situation.
Problem solving resources
As you go out into the world and solve different problems, there are many ways to approach these, not just lateral thinking. There are some great resources to help you on your journey. Here are a few:
Everything we know is right until its proved wrong. Science a whole profession of certainties that are ripe to be disproved. But that doesn’t invalidate the work they do, not one bit.
There’s no right answer in here. That’s not true, actually. There are often many, many right answers. And some might be more right than others. And some will be down right wrong. But you’ll have a load of options to try that you didn’t have when you started.
And the further towards the edge of reason you can push your thinking throughout the process, the more interesting your answers will be. Challenge your thinking at every step. If you discount an option, ask yourself why. Leave it on the table for that little bit longer.
I’d be really interested to hear how you use lateral thinking in your work, or if this post has helped clarify lateral thinking for you.
I’ve always been a bit of nerd. I’m naturally curious, and am known to be a bit of a know it all. It’s taken a long time to come to terms with the teacher’s pet in me, but it’s finally something I’m not only learning to love, but nurturing. I honestly don’t know why more people aren’t more in touch with their inner nerd. It’s so much fun!
Today I totally nerded out on strategy. I went to an IPA talk by the formidable thinker Mark Pollard, and had my conscious well and truly stuffed. It was great! As someone looking to get into a more strategic role, it was a solid introduction to strategy and insight. Mark has been a strategist for TribalDDB, Ogilvy, Leo Burnett (AUS & NY), McCann, Saatchi & Saatchi, Edelman and now his very own Mighty Jungle. Phew!
Choose your words
There are a number of things that I can start putting into practice right away. The first is how to choose words. Mark talked about words a lot. He talked about steering clear of jargon and business speak. He urged us to use natural language and plain speak.
But Mark also chose his words carefully. He used poignant language. Strong words with strong meanings. In my work, I will review my writing carefully and look for ways to use language better, to tighten and simplify sentences and use bolder words.
How to frame a problem
One of a planner’s key skills is working out what the problem is, framing it and explaining the strategy to overcome the problem in such a way that it can be easily understood by the others in the room.
Below is Mark’s handy framework for getting from problem to strategy.
Lateral thinking
The foundation of creativity, ideation and strategy: lateral thinking is at the centre of the planner’s role. And yet something that very few people in the industry can explain, Mark told the audience, in his chipper and mildly self deprecating way. So here we go (cheers Wikipedia):
Lateral thinking is a manner of solving problems using an indirect and creative approach via reasoning that is not immediately obvious. It involves ideas that may not be obtainable using only traditional step-by-step logic.
Cool. Got it. Let’s go! Mark shared with us a number of different techniques for coming up with new ideas using lateral thinking. He asked us to draw two vertical lines, each with five dashes on them. One labelled Glasgow and one labelled Brownies. On each dash we had to write one thing that we associate with Glasgow and Brownies on their respective lines.
In my defence, I know very little about Glasgow and these associations a very loose
This is linear thinking. It’s rational. Next is where the fun comes in. Take anything on the right, and anything on the left and smush them together (yes, that’s the technical term). And see where the wind takes you!
So for example taking spa and grandma I thought of Grandspa: a mobile spa for older people, bringing relaxation into their home. Or by combining subway and baking I thought about having retro trolly service on the underground, serving a range of homemade cakes called Metrobakes. And as ever, go back, revise, tighten the words, strengthen the name.
Coming up with ideas is an age old pre-occupation. And something our ancient survivalist brain sees as a threat in others (what if they work out how to steal our food?). Lateral thinking is not new either. De Bono coined the phrase 50 years ago, and he is still the most well known writer on the subject. You can read his introduction to lateral thinking on Google.
Insight, insight, insight, insight
Please can you quit saying insight? Unless you’re using it right and sparingly. Over using a word dilutes its meaning. And there isn’t really another one for insight, so use it wisely.
A true insight makes you so think “that’s so interesting, I’ve never thought about it like that before” (like that drunk girl at the bar listening to you give her home truths about her crappy boyfriend).
It reveals or inspires something about a person or the world. It’s lateral. It often hangs around just one word.
It can take the form (first observation) but (second observation) or (first observation) despite (second observation). It can take the form people believe X, but actually Y is true. It can include metaphors or similes. But it must challenge current thinking.
So what?
Learning the business of strategy and planning is fascinating. I love geeking out on different frameworks, different ways to attack problems. One of my favourite games to play is to try and figure out what was briefed in when I see an advert or a piece of communication.
What deliberate practice do you do to improve your strategy skills? How to you improve your craft?
i'm a wannabe strategist 