A shower or run, a phone call or handstand in my office, a coffee shop, or a story from the Paris Review. I shut it off and switch to a totally different activity. Is there anywhere you go when you’re struggling with a brief or a place that seems to help you work or think? It’s good to ask neutral and unbiased questions, but loaded questions that go directly for the inner-world jugular of an expert or human can be even better. Real people, the kind that don’t give a sh*t about what brands do. Outside of analysis from financial markets, it’s chats with people. What do you think is the most underused resource for better strategy? Even if nothing changes, you’ll better understand it’s impact. As they say at Netflix, farm for dissent – look for someone to argue with you about your strategy. But, they won’t be as invested as someone that has to work off your work. It’s great to get a view from someone that practices the same craft you do. And we can see it coming from a mile away. But it will only net you familiar, linear solutions. Googling your way to the brief has always been a tantalisingly available option, and even more so during COVID. The Google search bar and other strategists. Is there anyone or any resource that you think strategists rely on too much that is counterproductive?
Anyone that looks after strategists or departments should be paying attention, and thinking about creating an experience that will magnetize more amazing minds. A lot of strategists aren’t feeling particularly upbeat or empowered in their work, and the tea leaves suggest we’re headed for a talent drain. His book Strategy Is Your Words and reporting on how strategists are feeling are worthy reads. Tressie McMillan Cottom for important truths on inequality in culture, tech and higher-ed.Īlso, Mark Pollard. Zoe Scaman has brilliant ideas about fandom and her ‘NFT the DP’ had me in fits. Who is someone that you follow/read/watch for their opinions and ideas?īud Caddell for super strategic insights on work culture. It’s too easy to stay in the incremental and conventional when you begin with what everyone else has done before you. The one thing I try to avoid is checking out strategy forums or past briefs before I have my own clarity of thought or hypothesis.
The community is so open and friendly, it’s the most accessible panel ever. Then once I have some direction, I’ll jump on Clubhouse to see if there’s a group or an individual expert I could talk to. These tell me where there’s weakness in the business and what’s driving current strengths or successes.
I’ll check out analyst reports and earnings calls, but my favorite pieces of content are the 10-K or 10-Q Risk Factors. Because that’s the one I really want to solve. I try to swim as far upstream as I can – getting obsessed with how that brand makes money, in as much specificity as possible, and naming the problem that’s causing all the other problems. In between those chats, I’m swarming the business like a mad person.
As strategists, this is how to make sure we never get too high on our own supply – by identifying where there’s legit heat, and not just interestingness from the get. Then I’ll rinse and repeat until there’s a brief we can’t wait to get cracking on. I like to do this fresh, before I have a strong take on the brief. The first place I turn is my creative partner for an unstructured, free-wheeling, ‘I wonder if …’ kind of chat. I also subscribe to Apple News+, so I’ll catch up on The Atlantic, Aperture, Texas Monthly, and Wired after.Īre there any resources that you typically turn to first when working on a brief?
The Sunday New York Times is religion for me. I’ll listen to The Experiment, LeVar Burton Reads, or Flash Forward on Stitcher. There are big lessons there for any creative person out to create tension or surprise. I got a Masterclass subscription solely for her course on truth and activism in writing. My inbox ritual is TLDR by Dan, The Roundup from Otega Uwgaba, Creative Review, Anne Helen Peterson’s Substack, Robinhood Snacks, and whatever Rosie & Faris or their guest contributors have to say. I’m a maximalist, so I pour it on thick with creativity, culture, technology, systems, futures, and local news content.ĭuring the week, that’s mostly email newsletters and podcasts. The more you can connect and stack those behaviors, the yummier and more insightful your strategic and creative outcomes will be.įor me, that means taking in lots of little bites during the week and then getting lost down a few rabbit holes when I have pondering time. You’ve got to know how to move people, markets, companies, cultures. Strategy is all about being good at behavior. What media do you consume that makes you better at your job or helps you think about strategy generally?