NORTHERN PLANNER

Leeds, Millennium Sqaare.

Like most people in England, I lived every minute of Saturday’s match against Paraguay. If England don’t win the tournament though (and they won’t) I’ll be supporting Brazil. No one should be surprised they’re favourites again with a population of 186 million football fanatics, but it seems the Italians have a lot to teach us about what we could do with our paltry 50 million in future.

Firstly though, here’s an odd thought. In his book The Science of Soccer, physicist John Wesson argues that in England, you’re birthday has a lot do with how good you’re going to be. The chance of being a premiership footballer is more than twice as high for boys born in Autumn as for those born in Summer. Why? Children born in the first half of the year are favoured above their less mature, weaker classmates when it comes to picking the school team. The effect of this early boost for some, and rejection for others seems to be  long term.

But it’s class that has the biggest effect. A Populus study a couple of years back showed that watching football is class neutral in England, but when it comes to playing football is a working class game.

If you get the chance, read Gianluca Vialli’s book The Italian Job. In comparing football culture in Italy and England he argues that in Italy, being a professional footballer is acceptable irrespective of your class background, while here it isn’t.

The result? Italian footballers have a more intellectual approach to the game which, in turn, produces better managers who value formal education and are more creative tactically.

So, in a nutshell, if England want to increase chances of winning the world cup, we should be less worried about Rooney’s foot and more interested in school.

"If I had eight hours to cut down a tree, I’d spend six of them sharpening an axe"

Abraham Lincoln

Over at Plannerliness they’ve found this article from the RAC Foundation on happy drivers. Being cynical and British, I was also drawn to this report on how noisy environments drive UK people up the wall. Common annoyances include noisy car engines, car alarmsand noisy DIY. Doesn’t this grumpiness feel so wonderfully British? We rule.

Imagine how much they would appreciate a car manufacturer making a quieter diesel engine to stop the early bird next door ruining their beauty sleep. As for me, the neighbours are fitting a new bathroom, they start at 8am every Saturday. Any new tools to speed them up would definitely get my vote.

I liked this statement from a local, Leeds PR company. It’s got a strong opinion and you get an idea of what they like.

But hold on, they’re human! There’ll be some days when their heart’s not in it and they’ll just do okay. They do operate on payment by results basis, but who’s to know how much effort it was to get there?

If always had a soft spot for Morrissey. I like the way he’s never really changed all these years, he’s always had this endearing mix of searing honesty and, well, daftness.

Many of his songs show a real insight into people’s lives. ‘Hold on to Your Friends’ is a prime example and has never been more relevant.

As groups of friends begin to settle down with partners, it gets harder to meet up. There’s two families to see, you start having friends who are couples, you have to spend time with your partner’s friends too. Not to mention the fact that as you get older, you’ve less energy after work to simply do stuff. It’s easy to lose touch.

But what happens if the relationship ends? Unfortunately, many do. Suddenly, people are finding themselves with no one. And if they’ve been fortunate enough to keep in touch with people, they’re still attached. So we’re seeing a growing number of people over 30 who suddenly find that they’ve nobody to see a film with, or share a drink. I wanted to see ‘Good night and Good Luck’, but everyone I knew didn’t, so I went on my own. I still cringe at the distinct awkwardness of buying just one ticket.

And it’s not like being in school, college and early jobs, where there was a ready made pool of potential friends. I’m not talking about romance either, just the simple pleasure of sharing everyday experiences with other people.

This is going to mean that dating agencies are going to face competition from companies that help people simply build new social groups, that faciliate social situations for you. It makes me wonder how brands might be more relavant to people’s lives in the very near future. How long it will be before more of them provide experiences that get people together or help them stay in touch in the first place ? 

It’s useful to get another point of view on things, so Here’s a great observation from The Scamp about the odd practice of celebrity ads that need a super to tell you who the celebrity is. I’d never really thought about that. That’s what I like about working with creatives, they question everything and don’t mince words. There’s lots of other stuff on his site, you may not agree with it all but it will provoke a reaction.

When I did the The APG Training Network I quickly noticed was how nice planners are, from juniors to directors. You won’t find a more self effacing, genuine and generous bunch of people. So maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised that people have been kind enough to bring this blog to a wider audience’s attention. I feel quite meek, since they’re all far better at thinking and writing than I could ever hope to be. Thanks everyone.

This was the drive to work this morning. Fields and hills all the way. That’s one good thing about living where I do. Another is the quieter roads, early mornings are a dream.

I used to be a pretty good junior swimmer, which meant the thrill of seeing the world at  young age. On the other hand, spending every dawn training in a cold pool was less inspiring. After I retired, my body clock got it’s revenge and insisted the next twenty years would involve staying in bed as long as allowed.

Twenty years later, I’ve fought back and I’m usually up at 6ish. It’s wonderful to see what I was missing. Quiet roads, the sun coming up and, best of all, getting to work done quicker and having more time for other stuff.

Thanks to Russell Davies the Staufenberger Repository has published Stephen King’s 1974 JWT Planning Guide, along with a vintage Jeremy Bullmore speech.

They’ve already said how relevant this stuff is now, and far better than I ever could. It’s refreshing to be reminded how important experience is though. We all seem so ready to worship the fresh, untainted ideas of youth, but we’re less willing to get some balance from listening  to grumpier older people as well.

It’s a shame since they could help us avoiding rushing off and doing something really dumb. Ironic since one day we’ll all get older and say, "If only I knew then what I know now".