note to self: adland problem #1

" A perfection of means and a confusion of aims,
seems to be our biggest problem"

Albert Einstein

note to self: the art of storytelling

For sale: baby shoes, never used.

Ernest Hemingway

note to self: strategy is...

"Real strategy lies not in figuring out what to do, but in devising ways to ensure that, compared to others, we actually do more of what everybody knows they should do."



"You can't achieve a competitive differentiation through things you do 'reasonably well most of the time.' "

"The necessary outcome of strategic planning is not analytical insight but resolve."

"Strategy is deciding whose business you are going to turn away."

David Maister (via TomPeters)

note to self: sender is nothing without receiver

If you are a planner, remember the consumer, if you are a creative remember the consumer, if you are a client remember the consumer. Sure it helps if you can throw it 50 yards, or do a behind the back no look bounce pass between the legs. But...

If it ain't caught, you don't score

what if...we changed the budget

So here is one from real life actually that got shot down.

One of my targets, in my official capacity, for next year is to help Sales increase revenue (somehow it seems that's always a target). So to achieve that here is what I proposed.

Cut the target and budget meetings down from once a month to once every three months.

See most of our sales managers know at the beginning of a month whether they will achieve their targets. So when they know it's gonna be negative, they go on defense. cutting costs to reach margin targets, squeeze old clients for more and go on sales driven binges by offering everything at lower prices. This then only wrecks havoc on the revenue side, because if you have a bad month you go to the same clients a s always and dump the price even more. It's a cycle.

But what if you knew you had two months to make up you current negative? This would allow you to use a month, that is "lost" anyways to go on offence and take chances with new business. It would free up sales manager to be more proactive and the trickle down would be positive instead of fearfull.

Yes this is all just a theory, but never put to practice it remains that.

Back to the drawingboard.

note to self: solve right problems

not to self: sometimes a blue ocean is just water

"There is a gap in the market, but is there a market in the gap?"

Peter Jones

note to self: what is it in itself?

if the bloke in the picture has found a way to make a light bulb glow without electricity, why the fuck is he trying to contain the light in his hands? There's not much fucking use having a great idea if you dont let anyone see it.(andy@cynic.com)

Over at Rob's blog there was a post about some workshop about ideas + creativity. The comments went in to detail talking about the above poster offering the workshop.

The comment above shows us (me) the importance of asking a basic question when reviewing strategy/ creative output: Does it hold up without additional support? For if your output only works with you standing there and explaining the point that people should get from the output, well things get messy and sloppy and no end will be met. Basic stuff, but worth remembering.

note to self: lessons from hiphop

One of those obvious things, but good to remind myself of (and I kinda wanted to share two great songs, so I forced a planning-esque lesson in it..haha).

It's ok to borrow. As long as it's a stepping stone for something new and fresh. So go into other fields of business/life and sample and remix, but don't become just a coverband.

Case in point.

Evidence A



Evidence B

note to self..

"Some men see things as they are and say 'Why?' I dream things that never were and say, 'Why not?'"

note to self: stop being clever

In this business, virtuosity is not what is required, because in this business that is a cheap commodity; what counts is being able to expressivly deliver the notes you hit, not the amount of notes u can play.

Chuck Plotkin, music producer

note to self: looking glass

"The essence of design lies in the process of discovering a problem shared by many people and trying to solve it."

Kenya Hara

note to self: grasshopper

Until you've got a better answer, you copy. I copied Bob Gage for five years. And Bob originally copied Paul Rand and Rand originally copied a German typographer called JanTschichold.”

Helmut Krone

note to self: start with inspirational problems

how to get better ideas

note to self: there is no I in customer

Chefs cook and create dishes when they are not hungry, people eat when they are....(anon)

note to self: standing on shoulders of giants

Note to self: a sense of awe

"We use all of the five senses to create the sense of a sixth one"

Criss Angel, Mind Freak