Thanks to Open to Everyone, my wife will be watching every move I make. After seeing me passing on Russell Davies’ advice that successful people are getting up early , they’ve posted this article which suggests why.
Since I am neither a genius or creative (and I’m definitely not a success) my conscious is clear. The more gifted and acclaimed males out there had better watch their backs…
…it’s cool for a change so I should be happy shouldn’t I?
Happiness is everywhere, it’s easy to find and it’s a perfectly normal state for the human condition isn’t it? You only only have to look at the optimism in some of the coolest brands around, or see the bookshelves crammed with self help books to believe that if you’re not entirely happy, there must be something wrong with you.
In this article, Adam Phillips argues that a society this obsessed with happiness must really be in despair. Take it with a pinch of salt since, as a psychoanalyst, he has a vested interest in people being miserable, but I like his idea that we should be more realistic and learn to relish the challenge, that we should learn to love the journey as much as arriving.
I also like the thought of us all with a desire flaw- our desires are insatiable. That’s why the breadth of choice described in The Long Tail is worrying, with infinite options you get infinite appetites.
Scientists are grappling with juicy enigma at the moment. There isn’t enough stuff in the universe. Seriously, there isn’t enough matter in the cosmos to account for all the gravity, there’s 10% unnacounted for, so they’ve decided there must be some strange invisible stuff out there that we can’t see.
Now this is the bit I like; it’s called Dark Matter, which gives it a mysterious, sinister tone of voice. Yep, they’ve gone for a slightly menacing science fiction – y name. You can imagine Ming the Merciless using Dark Matter to bring Flash Gordon to his knees, or Lex Luthor finding that it’s even more potent than Kryptonite in the battle with Superman. Who says scientists have no imagination?
The Observer has a fascinating article about the launch of new Coke. If you’ve seen the ads, it will come as no surprise to you that it’s aimed at young calorie conscious males who don’t want effiminate diet products. Probably the same ones that buy face fitness cream instead of moisturiser. Nothing wrong with that, and the idea of great bloke things without the downside (such as stag do’s without weddings) is fine too, although it reminds me of something Muller did once. The TV delivery is awful though,they’ve managed to shoot it in that mythical neverland that’s neither America or Europe, but some hideous hybrid of both. Have a look at the article here.
Madonna has always been the epitome of reinvention. Around the world, different generations have cited her as a definitive role model. How has she lasted so long? The answer is a useful guide for planning as well as lesson in celebrity.
She started selling donuts on Times Square and went on to be, at different times a Virgin Mary figure, a catholic sinner, horny teaser, disco diva, zen driven fitness fanatic, gay icon, bawdy cowgirl and everything in between. On the face of it, she’s wildly inconsistent and has stayed fresh by constantly changing. She sees is a bit differently.
" I hate this obsession people have about me reinventing myself. For me it’s all about revealing. I keep on taking off layers".
Assuming it’s true, Madonna displays layers of what she’s always been. Each reveal is just a different aspect of the same person. Edward de Bono discussed something similar in Six Thinking Hats. He argued that the best way to tackle a problem isn’t head on, but using your head. Each situation calls for a different approach, or ‘hat’. Madonna has just taken it a bit further: instead of putting on a different hat, she exposes another, hitherto, unfamiliar facet of herself. Even though it’s new, it feels strangely familiar.
Longevity doesn’t have to mean a choice between clinging to the same idea or constantly starting from scratch. Maybe a more useful way of looking at it would be what aspect to reveal this time. This needs a rich, authentic voice in the first place of course……
One of the best parts of being a planner is that every job really is different. I think this is a problem for organisations that stick to rigid processes and models- if you do everything a certain way, it all ends up a little similar. Each project has specific problem, with specific group of people involved, shouldn’t the process be tailored around what’s appropriate right now?
I think this stretches to what you read too. Most books about marketing, planning and stuff are full of fantastic case studies and wonderful rules for approaching projects. It can get a bit confusing though and you often find that when you apply it to your world, it doesn’t quite work in the same way. Instead of asking,"How can we make this project fit this process?", maybe we should ask, "What bits of what I know will be relevant for this?".
By the way, I’ve nearly finished ‘Everything bad is good for you’ by Steven Johnson. I’ll post are review in a bit if anyone is interested, but does anyone want to borrow it? Give me your address and I’ll post it through. First come first served.
I love coffee, espescially that wonderful smell when you open a fresh packet, but it’s not the same as tea.
It has no ritual for me. Don’t get me wrong, I like Starbucks, I like the way it’s given good coffee to everyone, but it feels rushed and homogenised. Coffee signifies business, being quick, a caffeine jump start to get you going for the pace of life. All this is good, by the way, there’s nothing wrong with being cosmopolitan, but it’s not tea.
Tea is British, and whatever version of British you want. It’s a mug of tea in a greasy spoon, it’s something to dunk a biscuit in (Hob Nobs work best), it’s afternoon tea on the lawn and the lost empire. It’s a ritual, it’s tradition, it’s the famous British reserve; the age old argument about if the milk should go in first, warming the pot (it’s not tea to me if it’s made in the mug), the water must be boiling – all those things.
Tea is Kate Bush and Alan Rickman v Coffee’s Britney Spears and Will Smith. Tea is grown up and warmly eccentric, with tea you want to sit, you want to take time, you want accompaniments done just right. In a world that seems to continually speed up, tea is slow and thoughtful. That’s a good thing to cling on to for a while.
British thinktank Demos is paid to come up with new ideas, some slightly ridiculous, some brilliant. That’s the nature of ideas, you need to have lots for some to be amazing. Here are three I like.
I’ve always thought that agencies either fall into the Good or Evil camp. They’re either inspiring places that care about their people as well as money, or faceless dungeons where people are expendable.
This post from The Scamp is a tale from The Dark Side.A familiar story of an account director fired on the whim of a client, it shows how bad some agencies treat their people, despite how hard they work and the lack of job security.
If you’re in a Good agency, remember to be thankful. But the rulers of the The Dark Side would be wise to appreciate that they’d be nothing without their people, before it’s too late.
As for the poor fella: It’s an awful time and I hope he can make ends meet, but losing your job can be the best thing that’s ever happened to you (take it from one who knows). If the place wasn’t right, now he can find one that it is, with better clients too. He can also make sure they’re pitching against his old employer’s (hopefully for their lifeblood accounts) and help thrash them to bits……..
