When I was little I played tennis,  always watching the best players, trying to copy their styles.  When I was starting out as a planner, I had slightly less of a clue what I was doing than I do now. So I was grateful for bloggers who would share how they worked and I'd copy…

I haven't posted much around here for a while, let's be honest. Mostly because, like with so much else in life, once you lose momentum, it's very hard to regain it.  Then again, the trick so writing and posting stuff is to just start and not overthink it. It's the same for me with writing…

My sister is an amazing cook. She can turn any mixture of ingredients into a great meal, she just has that knack. Just as in the wrong hands, the most expensive steak in the world can be inedible. Just as the finest red wine in the world is wasted in a plastic cup. Execution and…

I love and hate this time of year. There's the ghost of dread as the nights get darker and and edge of coolness in the summer warmth. Yet when it gets to the end of August there's a sense of change and even a fresh start as Autumn beckons. A childhood of new school years in…

I had a hard time in my first agency, I won't lie. Much of this was down to the fact I was in the wrong job, maybe the world's worst account handler. What got me through was actually doing strategy without realising it. Well nearly through anyway.  This wasn't the whole story though, much of…

I had a conversation with the leaders of a business who were trying to talk a good game on diversity and inclusion in their business. With one, exception every single one was white, middle aged and male. They were also the only people in the business with parking spaces. That's right, the ones most able…

If there's one thing that's conventional about advertising, it's Disruption. You can't move for briefs asking you to 'disrupt the market', a certain agency had even made Disruption its core positioning.  Like most ways of working, it has its place, just like nearly every other approach, especially when you're in a market weighed down with…

One of the first things I was taught in this job was a simple, effective truth – no one really wants you in the room. An iron law that I drum into my teams to this day.  Humility is probably the most valuable character trait for a strategy person, even more important than intelligence and…

So it's the Olympics, which I'm enjoying immensely. As an ex-swimmer, Adam Peaty winning the breast stroke has been a highlight, however his comments after really struck a chord. Basically he was expressing relief rather than jubilation, similar to Victoria Pendleton after her last cycling gold. A release of all that pressure and sheer gratitude…

So it's the summer holidays, my children are off for five weeks.In between the usual tensions over XBox and Tik Tok, they hang out with their friends, in real life and virtually. There's a lovely cadence to the days where I work, they potter and play and we come together for lunch, or the occasional trip…