Northern Planner

If you want better answers, ask less questions

If I was any good as maths, I would have been a physicist instead of planner. Such is life.

That said, I've always kept a passing fascination for the subject, especially particle physics.

There's a weird phenomenon when things get very, very small, which blows my mind.

You have to assume tiny particles are in multiple places at once, yet if you actually observe them, you affect their behaviour and they appear in one place.

In other words, the more direct questions you ask a tiny particle like an electron, the less reliable the answers you get back.

Researching real people is like that. 

Make them feel watched in a focus group and they'll tell you what they think the rest of the group wants to hear (or agree with the loudest mouth).

Even when you talk to then one to one, without knowing it, they'll won't tell you how they really feel or what they'll do.

Partly because they can't help telling you what they think you'll want to hear.

Partly because the mind plays tricks, the further away they are from the experience they're talking about, the less they'll remember or predict it right.

You could ask them questions in the wild, where the experience happens, this is much better. 

You'll still get a bum steer though, because the problem isn't just where and how you ask the questions.

It's asking the questions in the first place.

Asking questions about brands, new behaviours and most categories, like it is with electrons, changes their natural state.

Which is to not to give a flying fuck.

By asking questions, you're getting then artificially interested in things they usually just don't care about.

You're asking them to think about things that normally happen on autopilot, or not at all.

Even worse when we test creative and ask them what they think.

No one wants to think about advertising apart from the people who make it.

The first task of advertising is getting noticed in a busy world, yet most research forgets this.

Asking questions in research creates false interest and consideration.

Which leads to false answers.

So most research is a waste of time. Sorry.

If you want to know, don't ask. 

Resisting the tyranny of perfection and doing more strategy in Goblin Mode

Goblin Mode was the alleged word of the year in 2022, roughly about rebelling against the tyranny of perfection, rejecting social pressure to be flawless and embracing your odd, weird and crap self.

As someone who is fundamentally uncool in real life, and a strategic cynic of the transient and faddy, it's rare to find me jumping on any kind of bandwagon. Nevertheless, what follows is a plea to jettison the pressure of perfection in planning, to work in Goblin Mode more. 

Because Goblin Mode isn't really a trend, it's pretty fundamental. In strategy and real life, which, of course, is what strategy should really be about. 

Let me begin with Star Wars. 

When I was young, I used to be obsessed with painting and drawing and, since I was born in 1974, I was primarily focused on creating likenesses of Luke Skywalker, Indiana Jones and, in secret, Princess Leia in that gold bikini.

Art got beaten out of me in secondary school by a horrible teacher, which may have something to do with me ending up as a planner - when you think about it, much of the job is commissioning and assessing art - creativity without getting your hands dirty.

Anyway, before I hurled my watercolours in the bin, I used to get into mini rages when little pieces of work went wrong. Even the ones that avoided being chucked away were never really finished, I tinkered with them constantly. 

It's the same now with strategy stuff, be that a deck or a brief, especially a brief, and I know I'm not alone. At the level of a good strategy, there is the nagging doubt, the worry there was something even better you missed. With a deck, more to distill, a pithier headline. With a brief, the fear that one word on a proposition could transform things.

Why is this? 

Firstly, just as creatives tend to do work that resonates with creative directors rather than real people, it's always tempting for planning types to fall into the trap of being a smart arse.

The sheer weight of the case studies, the decks and papers you've seen that are beautifully written, with seamless simplicity, where it all hangs together and words can gently fall like petals or wallop you in the gut... they're always in your subconscious, driving you to create a piece of flawless wonder. 

There is immense pressure on some fronts to be clever.

There is a relentless expectation for beautiful simplicity.

Now, of course, our job is about clarity, direction and seeing things others don't. 

But.

You must resist the tyranny of perfection at all costs. 

Because it makes you less likeable and approachable. 

Because it means your work is MORE likely to be rejected or ignored.

Most importantly,  the real people in the real world you are supposed to be prioritising, they reject perfection also. 

 

Being Likeable

Most folks see planners as necessary evil. Much of what you're doing is trying to be indispensable, so people NEED you there rather than tolerate you.

So that strategy isn't just a process to followed to invoice more fee.

Rather, a source for guidance and, well, making work actually work.

It starts with people actually liking you and no one likes a smart arse.

I've known planners who can be intellectually intimating and MUST be right.

Everything watertight and unanswerable. 

People don't like to be around people they don't like. As soon as they fucked up, and we all do eventually, they were on their own. 

If your a planner you're probably dabbled in behavioural economics, so you should have heard of the pratfall effect.

In case you haven't , being vulnerable and making little mistakes makes you more likeable. 

It makes people less defensive, makes you more relatable.

Like this 

 

Be a bit crap. 

 

Not getting work rejected

You should know about the IKEA effect too, we value things we think we have made.

Try inserting imperfections into decks and briefs, showing you don't have all the answers - letting people help you finish and get the answers.

They'll feel part of it so, not only will they want to approve it, they'll want to defend it. 

What's more, it's been pretty much proven that the best work comes from iteration. Start quickly, toss something in some of the way there and constantly get feedback from as many people as you can. 

It's hard for smart arse planners to accept, but great thinking is chaos, messy and really is not a solo sport.

First passes are always most productive than final words, sorry.

 

Work that Works in the Real World

Finally, another film reference sorry. Moving on from Star Wars, we have the Matrix.

They tried to make the first Matrix perfect, where everyone was totally happy. No pain, so suffering.

It failed miserably because humans rejected the absence of pain and suffering.  

This is totally true. On average no matter what our circumstances we'll score our happiness 7 out of 10. 

We may get an initial kick from winning the lottery, landing that dream job, getting a pay raise.

But then we get used to it and we're back to square one.

We're just not happy unless we have something to moan about, an in built rejection of perfection.

So to really cut through all the manufactured perfection on social media, not to mention the ads shot in some alternate universe, your best bet is to resonate with messy, scary, wonderful, imperfect real life.

Think about the creative work you really love - how much of that has projected a perfect world?

I doubt much. It just doesn't connect, as much as shining a light on the tensions in real life.

This is one my favourites, it's about many things, mostly though, it's about the endemic tensions between the older generation and the one that follows

 

Maybe the best insurance advertising ever simply admits shit happens.

 

 

So yes, be careful of perfection. Be a bit more goblin mode.

Your colleagues will like you.

Your work will get through.

It will be better.

It will work.

 

Because goblin mode isn't really a trend, it's just humans allowing themselves to be human. 

 

 

 

All agency meetings - how to get out of politics and back into problem solving by being like Tom Hanks in Big

I've often in my adult life felt like Tom Hanks in Big. I suspect we all have. 

However, embracing this a bit in all agency meetings could improve your experience greatly. 

If you are fortunate, these are meeting of the best minds, the broadest experience and nicest people. All in order to bounce off each other, pool knowledge and solve client problems in the most amazing way.

In most cases, we are rarely that fortunate. They tend to be regular sessions of point scoring, back stabbing and deviousness. Regular skirmishes in a cold war fought with icy politeness, ruthless charm and merciless precision, all for share of budget, owning the idea and leading the strategy.

To quote Tsun Zu, the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

I have often found myself wondering if some clients enjoy the polite conflict playing out in front of them, or if some are wonderfully oblivious. I suspect it's both. 

Of course, great clients don't have the time or patience and people who don't play nice don't last long. 

Yet, even if it's the passive aggressive point scoring scenario, even if you're shy planner like me, all is not lost.

First thing to remember, no one cares if you're right. I've seen the nicest, most serene human beings fall apart because their watertight argument, there eloquent delivery or whatever falls not only on deaf ears, it's slayed through charm, off the cuff remarks and people the client simply likes more than you.

You will never win through guile and cunning, there is always someone more devious. Guile and cunning are in the job description of Account Directors, or should be. Make sure you have a great one with you, make sure you're gone through what you need out of their meeting and let then work their black magic. 

Or you can forget guile and cunning and be generous. 

Let me explain. Others will always be more slick, more eloquent and clever than you, however, the thing that kills charm  is enthusiasm. 

Like Tom Hanks in Big.

 

 

The trick to being a great planner is to genuinely care about what happens to the client, their business and their customers. Interested people are always more interesting, you'll naturally know more about every aspect of the client's business and it will show. Your enthusiasm will be infectious, clients will feel and WANT you to do well in these meetings.

Weirdly, it rubs off on your previously stand-offish colleagues too. Not only do they see you're more interested in everyone doing well through the client doing well, so you become less of a threat. You become simultaneously become more of a threat by exposing them as see you next Tuesdays. They play nice. 

The deeper knowledge, the palpable care enables you to cut through the bullshit with the brutal honesty only afforded the nice. Who can fault someone who wants the the best, not to win?

It also liberates you to ask the dumb questions no one has thought off or dares ask. Like what is the actual objective? 

And when you're not second guessing every move from people around the table, you're free to use your most powerful weapon, your ears.

Because when they are not being petty, other agencies are amazing practitioners too. You can be enthusiastic about THEIR work build on and., most wondrously, steal it for your own stuff another time.

I had the misfortune to work with a well known London agency, clients use to call them Motherfuckers, because they were brilliant, but arrogant. As soon as they messed up, they were fired. But I learned a lot of new ways to think about strategic leaps and deliver presentations that were stories, not decks. Watching their CEO deliver a creds deck was like watching Federer hit a forehand. 

The more approaches, ideas and frameworks you absorb, if you would just listen, the more you can breathe out at the right time. 

But it's hard to listen while you preach. 

 

Ultimately though.

No one wins unless the client wins.

To quote Morrisey, it's not easy to love, it's so easy to hate, it takes strength to be gentle and kind - but it's worth it. 

Follow that through, care more, be generous, be kind do the work. 

Be more Hanks. 

 

Mum

My Mum died 14 months ago very suddenly. I remember the moment I found out vividly.

I was driving to the tip to get rid of some accumulated crap and, just as turned off the main road onto the trading estate it was situated in, my sister called to let me know. 

It was like a kick in the heart.

Then I calmly finished the journey, unloaded the rubbish and drove home. 

From that moment until last week I never understood why I never felt as much as I thought I was supposed to feel. I got though the planning for the funeral, the day itself, the aftermath, the pain of untangling my life with my ex-wife that was happening at the same time, without any out-pouring of much emotion.

What on earth was wrong with me? I wasn't prepared to try and feel how others maybe thought I should, but it was weird. People who know me understand I'm not afraid to show my feelings, I'm lucky to have friends, who share, who talk.

Not a thing.

Then a few weeks ago, my nephew had his first child and a picture of my Dad, with the tiny bundle of joy, without my mother, made me feel something different.

For a week I didn't know why, then I realised the absence of my Mum in that picture had finally hit home, because it made me think of my time with her as a little boy.

Then, like some mental pinyatta split open, visceral memories tumbled out. 

My way of dealing with the death of my mother was to block out all those wonderful memories. 

How we used to cuddle on the sofa watching finger bobs after playgroup.

Her teaching me know to make lasagne.

The way her curly hair felt on my cheek when we hugged. 

Her over competitive spirit playing cards.

Her kindness yet frustrating lack of filter. 

So many memories forcing their way out.

She was so worried about me being alone.

I wished she could have met the new person in my life.

Seen my son transitioning into a teenager.

I wish I could have shared the pride and terror of my younger daughter becoming a young women.

Retaining her innocence and joy, yet sharp as a razor. 

Finally I am grieving for her properly. Honouring her memory by remembering her. 

Pain is a part of being alive.

Death is a part of being alive.

Avoidance of pain is dumb.

I miss you Mum. 

Be a brand people wish existed continued

I discussed here the challenges with simply following best practise and precision, beginning to suggest you might do better to focus on being a brand people actually existed. 

I must be clear and honest here, I'm not dismissing the splendid insight we have from years of data. Certainly, I wouldn't tell you to ignore Byron Sharpe. As with most things, you really must become familiar with the rules before you break them. 

Advertising is famously unpredictable, so the luxury of some level of certainty is welcome one. 

But that's the kind of strategy that can be, and increasingly is, done in house. Best practise is there to help you not do anything stupid. In fact, that's not real strategy, the point of which is reaching goals in the most efficient way, hacking the system.

No, that's not good enough.

In a world where people are savvier, harder to reach and numb to the overload of EVERYTHING, let alone marketing, we need to create stuff that connects. Indifference is the real enemy.

Markets have never been more competitive, it's naive to imagine many companies can just sit back and wait for long-term, brand  building effects.

Markets and culture just move too fast, we need to work with its pace, not against it. 

However, they need not endure the hand to mouth treadmill of short-term tactics that never really break through. 

That's why I think it's our obligation to create stuff people actually wish existed.

That doesn't 'disrupt' or make them think hard. No one has the time. 

Do the short term well and the long term will take care of itself.

By working with the pace and direction of real life.

Creating ideas that stand out, yet feel instantly familiar.

That make you react and actually want to buy something, yet remain in your heart for a lot longer. 

That cut through the landfill of pointless, pre-tested crap because they make you feel something.

That you want to have in your life, because they feel part of it.

Yes, build distinctive assets - in other words, consistent look and feel that doesn't constrict ideas.

Yes, build the brand over time - in other words, have a point of view on the world, have a story that every piece of activity builds towards. 

Yes, reach the whole market - in other words, whatever money you have make it go further by making stuff people want to share.

Yes, be make people feel stuff and be creative, but creativity to impress your audience, not awards judges. What they enjoy tends to be vastly different. 

The fact I'm going to share some rules of thumb is risky, you don't want to make advertising (it use that word in the broadest sense) that looks like advertising. 

But here goes..

First COLLIDE things together. Most ideas are re-combinations of things that don't obviously go together, the trick is making them fit. 

A pure example is the Cadbury Gorilla. Ignore the case studies that try and make it look it was about Joy. It was an ad that made no sense - a gorilla drumming and chocolate don't go together. This also shows why you need a real point of view or story - they never pulled it off again because really it was just a stunt. 

Whereas Snoop Dog and Klarna worked well, because the whole thing was about smooth transactions. Yes it's celeb endorsement, but it's a wrong fit made right. 

 

Then there is AGITATION. Tap into an issue in the lives of your audience, just make sure you have a credible reason to do it, that you have the right. 

This example where a supermarket removed foreign goods to show the dumbness of rampant nationalism is just great

 

Love or hate Brewdog, you can't deny they have a voice, something close to anti-establishment. 

 

Of course, it's not right for all, some brands want to be felt more reliable and negativity can backfire.

A safer option is simply 'closeness'. Show a deeper understanding of what's really going in in the daily lives of your audience, involve them, celebrate them, make it a shared story - get into the REAL emotional truth of what you're selling.

I'd love a UK supermarket in the cost of living crisis to go beyond PR and really expose the courage, bravery and kindness with which so many get through scary times right now. Like this plumber who will only charge what people could afford. 

Imagine if ASDA had gone beyond paying top dollar for this Elf Xmas ad, which I imagine will have cut through, and built greater resonance sending out real 'elves' to reward people making something good happen this Christmas. 

Or shooting the Elf out there in the real world with real struggling people. 

Anyway. I have always loved the replay campaign where Gatorade connected with over 30 year old athletes by settling old scores (every one wished they had second chance)

 

This is one of the best shopper activations ever - simply built on the fact we all love the sound of our own names - and probably some data about the need to remind lapsed users they love Coke .

Spotify Wrapped shows us our own data and taps into the tension between respective musical tastes and the slight fear of people knowing what you really listen to. 

I hate that Spotify recommends me Queen because I listen to Under Pressure sometimes but there you go.

Of course, there is pure creativity and magic. However, entertaining people was much easier when, in the UK at least, there was one commercial TV channel, no internet and shops were shut on Sunday. There is too much entertainment for us to consume nowadays. 

So instead, you can build short-term value and long term memory if you create things people wish existed in their lives because they're relevant.

They share a brand point of view, they are relevant to what is holding the brand back today.

While building the brand for tomorrow.

Because they work with the pace and direction of life.

They add to it, not interrupting. 

They stand out from all the dross because they touch something deeper.

Make you feel something so you buy something today and want to tomorrow. 

It doesn't take masses of budget, just masses of thought and enthusiasm for people, not 'segments'.

So yes, best practice is fine, but if you can do more why on earth wouldn't you? 

 

The opportunity in being a brand people actually wish existed

I'm sure you're familiar with the phrase 'give man a hammer and all he'll see is nails'. I think it was Mark Twain. 

So this data should be approached with caution. The claim is that if 80% of brands disappeared at night, no one would care. 

The authors have an agenda to promote 'meaningful' brands (whatever that is supposed to mean). 

Of course, Bryon Sharpe would say light buyers don't care about brands, just make sure you're easy to buy.

But, come on, it makes sense if you think of your own life surely.  We're making too much stuff. No person has the bandwidth to be bothered with it all.

Too much good entertainment, endless stuff on the Netflix list that never gets watched.

To much choice on the grocery store shelf.

Too much stuff from each other on social media.

So that 80% figure makes perfect sense. You'd think people promoting brands would be upping their game to win attention and be one of the 20% wouldn't you?

Sadly not.

On TGI, people who say the ads are better than the programs goes down every year.

This same survey suggest most of us think brand content is poor and irrelevant. 

Coming back to hammers, nails and agendas, that's why the IPA agenda on long and short term is so unhelpful - it fails to consider if any of the output is actually any good. 

You could wring your hands and just say to yourself, ah well, the data says I just need to spend loads of money reaching people and building 'distinctive brand assets'. But not only is that a bit defeatist, when it's getting harder to reach people, even if you HAVE a big budget, surely it makes more sense to actually create content people actually wish existed.

How do you do that? It starts with ideas over precision but there's a lot more to it than that - but that's for another day.

Why a good strategist needs ideas, not just logic - and how to generate them (it's perspiration, not inspiration sorry)

I was ten when Purple Rain came out, so it's fairly natural I've always loved Prince. 

Between 1983 and '88 he created a body of work that was unlike anything that had come before, bursting with new ideas. However, that was only around 10% of his total output - it's just that we got to hear the very best. In fact, some was years old, honed, refined and in some cases, just ready for its time. 

Ideas just poured out of him, he never stopped making music, it's just that his strike rate of greatness as opposed to OK, or even simply forgettable was around one in ten. 

There's a lesson there for all of us when it comes to great ideas. They don't come from sudden flashes of brilliance, it's constant hard work, relentless improvement and the acceptance you have go through guff to get to great. 

This matters to strategy and planning types, especially in a world of in-housing and the way basically everybody thinks they can your job. 

Yes, logic and evidence are essential - otherwise you're just a bundle of opinions. However anyone can follow a process and spend lots of time and money justifying the obvious (it's how consultancies make profit yes?). Our work requires a leap of imagination, a new way of looking something.....an idea. It's creative act those without the right kind of brain or years of learning their craft, or the right attitude, simply can't do. What divides a real planner from those that just carry the title is the ability to have ideas. Not just follow a process.

'A previously unsuspected connection between concepts that leads to non-obvious consequences' - Josh Bernoff.

That's the opportunity in strategy world spending too much recourse overcomplicating the obvious. 

It's obvious to say that lots of men like football. It's less obvious to say that without football, many people would be insufferable to the people around them. 

Ideas are not limited to strategy, creative, tactics or whatever though.

A company is actually an idea, not a real thing. An intangible thing bringing together people. things and thoughts.

Money is an idea, is doesn't exist, it represents a shared value of what something is worth.

A nation state is an idea, an arbitrary border and shares culture, systems and traditions.

Very few things are concrete, we all swim in a sea of ideas everyday.

They are not some flouncy luxury, they are fundamental. 

So it doesn't help having things like concepts, thought starters, territories- they are all over complex names for ideas.

When it comes to strategy, there are really three species of idea: 

Why Ideas

How Ideas

What Ideas

 

Why ideas are leaps that electrify what the opportunity is, what the real problem is. I tend to think this is most important, now only does great strategy get to the crux of an issue, great problems unleash creativity. They frame a challenge in a way that also an opportunity. They show what a business problem looks like in the real world. Strategy is about change in the real world, Why ideas illuminates what that change could be. 

Make the reliability of Honda Desirable instead of dull.

The problem isn't what Skoda buyers think, it's the people around them. 

The beauty industry should make women feel great, but instead it makes them feel inadequate

 

How Ideas clearly solve the problem - closest to a classic 'proposition' or simple task that, if executed properly, they will unlock gold. 

Polaroid is social lubrication

Make Lurpak the Champion of good food

With ghd, beauty can be made, not born

The Times is history's first draft

Make beards uncool (for a shaving brand)

Make Axe part of the morning routine

Kindness is a strength not weakness (for a natural deodorant)

 

What Ideas are more around tactics and execution. Some would tell you to stay away from these, I say let them pour out of you and challenge others to so better. So many ideas these days need to be around media or PR, they are not the sole remit of a 'creative'. 

Ad funded documentary of real Christmas moments

One off TV ad celebrating Commonwealth Games supporters

Use programatic digital to weave Ikea products into the moments they matter the most

What if we got Snoop Dog to change his name for Smooth Dog for Klarna?

Staff as Stars

 

Getting involved in 'what' is essential, just as IDEAS about how and why are so important. The data fluctuates, but the IPA data bank shows that great creative ideas boost payback by a factor of, as much as, 11. Econometrics from a media group (can't share who) show that innovation destroys 'precision' when it comes to ROI. 

That said, don't let creative types tell you that an execution by itself is an idea, be that a line, a visual or even a 60 second film. Sadly,  they many just have tactics, or something that just looks or sounds nice.

There are few lines like 'Just Do It' that just transcend. 

This Cadbury Gorilla was really a big fat stunt that worked to drive impulse. The case study will try and tell you it's about conveying 'joy' - but in truth, it's a one trick pony delivering the element of surprise. When they try to do more 'joy' ads, they mostly failed, because the idea wasn't really about that.

In a creative review, sometimes the best thing you can do is ask 'what is the idea in a sentence'? You'd be amazed how many times they don't kn0w.

 

When it comes to your ideas, like Prince, there isn't a flash of insight, I'm afraid it's all hard work.

James Dyson didn't invent the bagless vacuum, he worked harder than everyone else to get it to market.

A sculpture is the removal of rock to reveal the beauty inside. 

In other words, make a start, get something down, then continually improve it.

Great ideas do not appear, they emerge. 

Ideas are re-combinations of what is already out there.

So fill your brain with as much raw material as you can.

Read more non-marketing books.

Don't just sit there waiting for inspiration that won't come.

When it comes to a project, read stuff that isn't totally about the product or service - but has a tenuous link.  If you're selling coffee, read about commuting, the original coffee salons, how people get together socially these days (let's go for coffee), which leads to stuff about shyness, public speaking, making time for non-screen stuff, the new rhythms of hybrid work, for example. 

It also means injecting newness into your process. Get a change of scenery, take purposeful breaks, do the process in a different way, talk to a stranger.

As long as you've done lots of hard work already, this is where a lightbulb moment actually happens, Stimulating change in the brain and letting the subconscious work while you do something else creates moments of revelation - but not without those first hard yards. 

Most importantly, find your flow. Diarise time without distractions - phone, email, Slack, Teams -wrench free from the web of brain fog -  focus.

Now, of course, it's also your job to help others have ideas.

To be even clearer, I think it's your job to help EVERYONE have a voice. The more experienced people are, the more their ego and fear of losing authority, mean they won't listen to other thoughts, they are more slavish to the process and in general, ideas get less input.

They feel they have they have more to lose by being open. 

It's the challenge in creative reviews where the CD's word is law.

Yet Pixar has daily crit sessions. Their best films are the result of a tortuous process of incremental gains - their films are a result of continuous improvement and collaboration. It doesn't sound very romantic, yet it's what works.

Coming back to Prince, he needed editors - his worse output came when he didn't have a recording contract and put out what the hell he liked.

So, with your own work, forget your ego and talk to as many people as you can about your thinking. Try and get to a First Pass and invite the world and his wife to crit it. Think of every interaction as a chisel getting to the sculpture within.

Listen to what others say, spot the idea in it. 

We all know workshops are trojan horses for bad ideas mostly. However, you should embrace them as ways to blunt the auth0rity of senior people and bring in new thinking. Just don't look for NEW ideas, look for input on thinking already in play - including your own. 

If you really need to do an ideas workshop though- make it so concepts and unrelated areas collide. A quick foolproof agenda:

Lay out the task

Clear out the closet - flush out first ideas

Do a brain game to get the subconscious going

More ideas

What would your target audience do - a day quick day in the life and then GO!

Opposites - what is the very opposite of what everyone else is doing?

Wrongness - what is the wrong thing to do, how do you make it right?

Objects - what's the connection between, say, some animals - what ideas come?

Simple.

 

So yes, ideas. Your lifeblood, not logic.

Be more Energizer Bunny, it's actually about quantity before quality.

Don't be an island, get as much input as you can.

Challenge experience and authority - bigger egos lead to worse ideas.

Be fast, be prolific, embrace imperfection and wrongness - you want others trying to slow you down, not the other way around.

In other words, be a radiator, not a drain. 

 

The importance of client services working with planners and being strategic themselves

Client services is a tough job. Never ending in-tray, no one doing what you need on time, being at the sharp end of client moans. I did it for a bit and failed, so, well, respect.

Having seen both sides, the most successful client services folk are great planners in their own right, especially today, where clients can take things in house. What they really buy into is impartial advice about their business,

Being More Strategic

Strategy isn’t something only people with planning or strategy in their job title do. We can, and do, strategy every day because it’s simply:

Achieving your goals with minimal effort

My strategy to get to the office in Manchester, from Leeds is to save parking/train money and traffic rage by driving most of the way and cycling some of the way

My daughter’s strategy to get around me is to be perpetually cute

You’ll find that impact with clients comes from the advice you give, how you can help them reach THEIR goals with minimum effort

Client services are well placed to do this, because with the closest relationship, you can continually talk to them about their goals and the headaches they must reach them

On a business level

And a personal level

It simplifies every client conversation to always frame it around what we’re trying to achieve and what will it make it easier to get there

It cuts through politics

Subjective opinion

Busy people with too much on their minds

It’s always that simple – what do we need to achieve? How do we get there with the least effort?

Don’t let your strategy team overcomplicate it, push for brutal simplicity of thought

Which brings me to how you can better partner with the strategy folks

Working with The Strategy Team

The goal of the strategy people is brutal simplicity of thought. Cutting through all the clutter to find the simplest and easiest way for clients to reach their commercial goals.

We want to be able to cut through the crap to what really matters and, as we tend to be short of time, needing to do it fast!!!

We also tend to be a little shy and sometimes find it hard to say what we really want, especially in busy meetings with lots of people with the gift of the gab.

That can mean we struggle with client and internal meetings sometimes.

Finally, we’re not a factory. We don’t want to ‘churn out’ strategy. We want to be your partner with the client relationship – give them the EVIDENCE BASED RECOMMENDATIONS they need to use marketing and creativity to reach their commercial goals

So how can you help?

1. Involves us in the client relationship. Let us attend meetings more, not just the ‘strategy ones’ the more we get a feel for clients, the more we can really help
2. But you’ll always have a better understanding of their world and what matters to them – don’t just talk to us about their business needs, talk to us about their relationships in the business, what pushes their buttons, what keeps them awake at night. Like any target audience, the more we know about what makes them tick, the more we can develop recommendations they are likely to buy into
3. Deal us in. Make sure in any meeting we have a clear role and space in the agenda for that role. Look for us struggling to get a word in and help us get into the conversation
4. Involve us early. Most of the real strategic work is defining the issue. The worst thing you can do is give us a brief the client has signed off, that we can’t talk with them about. Involve us as soon as possible, let the client talk us through the brief, give us the chance to ask questions. Client briefs are always too long, and they rarely get to the heart of what is really needed. Too often, the first presentation is when the client tells us the REAL brief
5. If can’t involve us, put the effort into briefing us. Especially how our work will be judged, who is judging it and what you are expecting. Make sure EVERYONE who will approve our work is involved in briefing it where you can. We want to get it right first time
6. Be brutal. Great strategy is about simplicity – be hard on yourself, ask yourself what is relevant, keep conversations about THE GOAL and THE EASIEST WAY to get there. Be brutal about what is a medical job v a strategy job. Be brutal with us, ask us WHAT IS THE GOAL what is the EASIEST WAY TO GET there. If we can’t answer simply, we haven’t done our job
7. But overload us with information and reference- at our best, we spot things and make connections others do not. Give us EVERYTHING you have to read in our own time. Just don’t talk us through it all!!!
8. Be kind. Sometimes we need to talk through things to figure it out as we go. Every good planner has a trusted confidante they can chat to as they work things out. This is important, we love AND hate the start of project when we don’t have the answer, it takes time to work it out and chatting it through really helps
9. Be concise. We do what we can to keep our work simple. In return, we need feedback clear and concise. Where you can, don’t let people feedback in comments, make them join a meeting to talk it through – comments are often contradictory and confusing. It’s ALWAYS quicker to chat, conclude and move on
10. Judge our thinking before our formatting or spelling. It saves time if we share early thinking, it also means we can collaborate better if we share a work in progress. That means you need to not judge how it looks, or typos etc. Let us talk through where we’re going, and you feedback on that. It will save time and make our recommendations better. We can make it client friendly later, first it needs to be good
11. Keep us involved. It’s common to get us to write briefs, but then just attend the odd creative review or development meeting. We like seeing good work happen. We also have a skill to not talk about creative work being good, but how it is working. It saves time in the long run to keep in the development process, the work isn’t just right, it works
12. Make time. Creative reviews and such are CRITICAL. It’s very common for creative reviews to be quick and not allow time for feedback. We need time in these sessions to talk through the work. Please respect our role in the process – quite rightly, our briefs are scrutinised to be watertight, so the work that comes out should be given the same respect.

Act like you've just quit

While our jobs have a measure of uncertainty, we tend to have decent notice periods to cushion unexpected blows

Or give employers time to replace us if we quit

It should go without saying that if you have resigned, you should try leave on as good terms as you can

It's not always easy, believe me I know, yet you should try - it's a small industry and word gets around

Yet there are still two ways people go when they resign

Both linked to being unshackled from the fear of getting fired or at least not progressing

There are the ones that, at best check out or, at worse, become objectionable and burn  bridges

Then there are the ones who carry on with their responsibilities, now longer held back

Held back from hierarchy

'How we do things around here'

Fear of rejection

Making their face fit

That will never work

Staying in your lane

But this isn't our process

Or even just routine

The good ones who can't help but care about the work and the people around them

Who retain respect and the general approach of being a good egg

Suddenly come to life 

With renewed energy

Idea pouring out of them

Challenging those around them, making them think and re-appraise

Getting more done, creating more change in their last weeks or months, than the last couple of years

Which begs the question

What it is about how agencies operate, that means many only  feel free to do their best work once they are leaving?

When they claim to encourage critical thinking, original thinking and interesting people

What can we all do so everyone can work like they've just quit?

Thank god for extroverts

Too much of anything isn't really that good for you.

Even water is toxic if you drink too much.

As introvert, I've often found myself defending the quiet ones in work. 

The ones who need time to think. 

Who feel exhausted by too small talk and need to retreat after too much time in big groups.

They add value because they don't fall in love with their first idea.

They try harder because they can't rely on charisma to persuade.

(Actually that's not totally true, many totally fill a room, you just don't to see the struggles before and after).

But thank god for the introverts, we need them too.

They buy introverts time to think.

Without them, meetings would be full of uncomfortable silences.

Great work would be harder, because no one stuck their neck out to give everyone something to build in.

(Because most great work comes from iteration, not insight).

They keep flagging projects energised.

So here's to the loudmouths.

Just open your ears from time to time please. 

Copying is good - and controversially , so are briefing templates

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 their  approach. 

(word of warning, in today's world of LinkedIn and Twitter, quality isn't quantity)

You know what? In both cases it kind of worked.

My serve was better when I tried to do it like Boris Becker.

My fledgling strategy was better when I tried to copy some APG paper or example brief someone shared. 

My first stumbling presentations were less catastrophic when I copied the structure of a TED talk, or the style of the speaker. 

In other words, if you have no experience or craft skills, copy those who have, while you develop some.

I always liked the story of an actor who played Roger Bannister, the first person to break the 4 minute mile barrier (running obviously). He was a below average runner, yet when he adopted Bannister's style, he actually ran faster. Not because the technique was any smoother, it's just his brain thought it was faster, so the body followed.

The placebo effect is everywhere, way beyond medicine, and copying those you want to emulate, tricks your mind into going beyond what it thinks it can do. 

So if you're starting out, or even if you've been doing the job a while and can't crack a problem, or don't know where to start, it doesn't hurt to read a case study you admire and copy what they did, or adopt some approaches someone has shared on a APG talk. Get some examples of briefs or plans and steal. 

I like Mark Pollard's framework for example. 

He's very generous sharing all sorts of hooks to hang your thinking on, with lots of examples. There are others, it doesn't matter which one, just try and do it like someone you think is good, until you find your own voice.

Obviously, these approaches will help you START. Once you're away, make the work your own, but it's a great short-cut to actually beginning and that's usually the hardest part.

Just don't forget the framework or style isn't the point, it's just a hack to get somewhere good. 

Controversially, I think therefore, it's OK to fetishise creative brief templates. They don't make thinking better, apart from forcing compression, but if the author believes they do, who cares?

DO less, BE more

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 a creative brief. Of course you ACTUALLY need a strategy first, many forget this (seriously). 

But then the only way I know is to start writing something bad, then figure out how to make it good.

Anyway, there is one thing I thought about while I was away, which is why the break did me good.

It's the need for more breaks, for it to actually be okay to do nothing much.

If you're job is somewhat creative, there's a subtle new pressure to bleed for it.

Meanwhile, every aspect of life is about self improvement.

Meditate first thing, then do some HIIT training. Change your habits in 66 days.

Never just BE, you always have to do.

Yet psychologists have long known the subconscious works wonders when you're having down time.

If you want to have great thoughts, try not having any for a while.

What's more, despite what bubbles on Instagram and Twitter may suggest, real people don't live like this. 

They may do more yoga and log into Headspace, they may be cutting out more meat.

But they still trudge through jobs they don't love that much (more virtually) and relax on an evening with some telly.

They're busy worrying about fuel bills and making ends meet.

I do wonder, in advertising at least (yes I think we should still call it that), we should try to live less like shaman and more like normal human beings. 

Because the very best work immediately connects, no matter how great the creative work is or isn't. 

Real life has never had more drama, fear, hope everyday grace and heroism.

So live it, rather than bothering with the latest debate on LinkedIn about the Metaverse. 

It's hard to listen while you preach.

So I  don't think it's right that a famous agency in London makes a song and dance of going 'on safari' to see muggles in real life.

Just get the bus now and again. Switch your phone off and just soak up real life.

And LIVE real life. Take breaks, do stuff that doesn't matter. 

What some telly that you don't have to think too hard about.

Eat a bag of chips. 

Just sit and do nothing.

In an industry that insists on DO, take some time to BE. 

 

 

What my sister and a track from a Netflix show tells us about execution

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 treatment are everything.

Basic ingredients can become things of wonder.

The most wonderful raw material can be destroyed without the experience, car and attention to treat them properly. 

I really love this track. Much of it has to do with the context of the final scene of Sex Education where I first heard it.

 

Some of it is to do with the fact I was going through one of two things at that time.

But mostly, it's because the song has the rare power of a deceptive cadence that builds without you realising it, the song is quiet and dreamy and it's only when it ends that you realise that. 

Put another way, the execution - the quiet whispery voice, the gentle strings and couple of deft changes of pace really work for me.

After, I discovered this version. I guess it's the original.

 

Totally different and I can't stand it. Same song, same lyrics, yet one (to me at least) is amazing and the other is meh. 

Which goes a long way to reinforce the point that you really don't have a good creative idea until you start to execute it. 

So it delivers more than a message, or builds on a so called insight.

It connects. 

Just as Sex Education, the truly excellent Netflix show is about much more than the shock value of lots of sex in high school, it's about the confusion of being young (and being old), the thin line between friendship and love, love and lust and tension between being who people expect and who you really are - even though you're still working out who that actually is. 

Here are two ads broadly based on the same message - our cars are reliable.

 

 

The first, the classic VW ad isn't just about reliability, it's designed to resonate with something specific about the culture of the UK in the 80s. Roughly something to do with female independence, while still connecting with the materialistic aspirations of the time. It's also a story. 

The second, less recent, but still a classic Honda, is pure theatre and showmanship.

Both got people talking and generated talk value, with loads of free PR. In very different ways.

Both could have started with same brief - make the car's reliability desirable rather than dull.

The trick is in the execution.

One taps into culture. One tries to create an event.

Just as both these are about dramatising feeling great about saving money.

 

 

The first (in my opinion) rewards the viewer, builds theatre and has deft little executional fairy dust (like the Skeletor laugh at the end).

The second is devoid of any flare whatsoever, sorry. It even proves that even a great track can't save a bad ad.

But the same track can transform a good one into a great one...

 

Our industry still spends millions pre-testing propositions, messages positionings and other abstract concepts that matter far less to the success of marketing communications than the texture of the stuff that actually get's made. Of course, precision in solving the right problems helps, as does delivering the appropriate message, but when you're really competing against Netflix, YouTube, Tick Tock or someone's favourite soap opera, the message is the easiest part.

Transitions

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 September and now my children going through the same thing means this point in the calendar often feels as fresh as January (Without the cold, darkness and guilt from over-doing it during the festive season)

This September the transition is greater.

My son starts secondary school, leaving me incredulous it's come so soon, torn between the joy of watching him gain more independence and the pain of that little hand, that used to gratefully reach out to hold mine, begin to slip away.

And I start a new job next week here. I've never worked in healthcare before which makes me a little nervous, but if you have no fear, it means you're not moving forward and at 47, I'm grateful to be doing that again.

In contrast to recent experiences, the culture isn't something they suddenly want to develop thanks to MeToo, nor has is quickly become a veneer in response to shifting expectations provoked by COVID. The people come first. 

In even greater contrast, strategy isn't something they desperately think they want, but then feel threatened by it and seek to undermine its role at every opportunity.

It's central. (While it's paramount for a strategy department to surrender its ego and include everyone and collaborate, it's another thing for everyone else to try and do the job for you. I used to agree that strategy folk need to earn their place in the room, but it's totally exhausting)

And finally, because it's healthcare, it means I get to actually make a difference in the world.

I've never felt particularly troubled about the real nature of the job, namely getting people to buy things they don't really need. Which is why I'm always fearful of 'Progressive brands' or 'purpose' - the majority of which are either there to make marketing folk feel better about the fact their job is sell things people don't really need, or lazy strategists who see trends and think a brand should get involved, with or without any credibility. 

However, the opportunity to actually have an effect on lives, rather than shift a few points on brand health scores feels great. 

There's a lot to learn and much to prove to a stellar team, but nothing easy was ever worth it. 

Why it's unsafe to not talk to strangers if you do strategy

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 it was culture.

A creative department and studio who delighted in tormenting inexperienced suits just because they could.

A macho culture built on bullying and pushing their people until they burned out. 

Many of us have been there and probably still carry the scars. 

Thankfully this kind of agency is much rarer these days, however, the pressure to fit in still persists even if the experience is less bruising.

Even today, many of the best agencies are more or less cults, with a very specific culture, a way of behaving and doing things that is pretty inflexible.

They'll say their culture is precious and it's important that new hires don't upset this.

Being 'easy to work with'.

So they end up hiring more people like them.

Which is perverse considering agencies are supposed to be about new thinking and original ideas.

Diversity is important simply because, well I don't really have to spell it out do I? 

It's also very uncommercial, because doing things the same way over and over again leads to the outputs becoming gradually staler and more formulaic.

So when you can, try and work in a different way every time. Inject a little chaos into the routine. 

Muscles get used to being trained the same way, you have to keep then guessing, even the one between your ears. 

From a people perspective, even if your agency is one of those who keeps you in tight teams, or hires for a tight, one size fits all culture.

Inject some diversity into your working practices and projects.

Set up a network of people you know in your life who will tolerate talking about brands and stuff.

Talk to them about your project, about your brand or whatever.

Not only will they not be jaded by all the brand pseudo science, they'll offer a fresh view that will keep you on your toes.

If you have kids, talk to them and listen to them, they haven't learned to not ask difficult questions yet.

Go out and talk to strangers (in a non-weird way). 

This is hard if you're shy like me, but learning to overcome this is no bad thing and you get a constant feed of different perspectives.

Read stuff you don't usually read.

Go places you don't usually go.

Wear stuff which isn't usually your style.

Listen to different music.

The job of strategy was, is and always will be to bring the preferences and lives of real people into the process.

Yes it's a lot more, a hell of a lot more, but the core skill has never been more important.

When creatives chase whatever in fashion in awards land.

Digital specialists don't even see people, they see data points.

When more of us are working from home (a good thing if lets more people do the job of course). 

The more stimulation you can expose yourself to from the diverse, much more interesting world out there.

The more you'll stimulate better thinking and ideas.

 

Diversity -actions v words

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 to pay for their own parking were the ones who did not.

It's a small point but it speaks volumes about what they really think.

When I asked why this was, the conversation was immediately shut down. 

This is just one example of actions over words when it comes to REALLY embracing diversity.

Thoughts on Disruption

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 complacency and tradition. 

That said, in the wrong hands, it tends to turn into shock tactics or extreme points of view and novelty.

Granted, this might create stand-out advertising, but it's less likely to create long term brand and business value, because while people can't help but notice novelty, anything too far removed from what they're used to gets rejected.

Brands exist to help us think less and remove the risk of buying rubbish product, never forget this. 

So what do you do if you have to work on a disruption brief?

Simple really. 

Find the link between what people care about and what the brand cares about.

Make sure it totally undermines the competition in a way that they can't react too quickly.

But ground the delivery in something they are already familiar with or can relate to. 

Take some of the most famous 'Disruptive' work from Apple. 

Few people will disagree that they like the idea of being creative and, at the time, most hated the clunkiness of computing, while Apple was focused on making computers that were not only a joy to use, they freed up the skills of creative people

Then, there is a reason the 1984 ad was called 1984. It tapped into a very familiar story many could relate to.

Just as 'Think Different' used very familiar figures - and in the west at least, flaws in psychology makes most of us believe we're not average when of course we are. 

 

Now think about shaving.

It's become very conventional for men's shaving brands to go on about male identity, which is kind of fair, because shaving is tied up with masculinity. 

Gillette is supposed to be the best a man can get, so, in their endearingly clunky way, they're trying to tap into new codes for masculinity. 

 

I suspect this will have an effect, but it does feel like a big brand late to the party, or bowing to the new conventions in the market. 

The truth of the matter is, most men HATE shaving, they certainly don't want to spend more on it than they have to, which is why cheaper subscription brands like Dollar Shave Club or Harry's have done so well.

But you know what? I'm tight fisted, so I naturally subscribe to cheapo brand myself, but one day found myself out of blades and bought Gillette to tide me over.

I'd forgotten how good they were, shaved closer, no irritation, no dragging, just better. 

It made me wonder, thinking about disruption and familiarity, maybe the best thing Gillette could do right now is be confident and disrupt the market by simply talking about the fact the their razors shave better - reliability, performance.

Just find a way to execute it that steers as far away from slo mo models and sciencey close ups as they can. 

The convention is tapping into how men feel about being a man, but really, shaving is a necessary evil than men would rather not think about - Gillette delivers the best blades so you can crack on with all the other shit you have to think about. 

And in case you think reliability and commitment to performance is a bit dull, one of the best ads ever basically riffed on how to make reliability desirable rather than dull.....

 

 

This last one is very dated, but I still like how, in classic BMP style, they push the simple benefit to the most extreme outcome. Also, funnily enough, tapping into 'independent women' tropes in a wonderfully subtle way next to heavy handed shaving brands and manliness. 

Anyway, there will be a million reasons why my thoughts on shaving are all bollocks, but still, conventions, disruptions...

In a nutshell, don't be lukewarm, stand our and get noticed - but don't forget to make people want to buy and for Gods sake.

Familiar novelty. 

Anyway. 

It's time to give strategists a break

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 curiosity. When it comes to the people you work with, it's still good practise to be generous with your thinking, let others take credit and see yourself as the liberator of other people's skills.

As with any job, taking people with you is always the best approach, but then again, you have to ask what the do the people running agencies think they're doing? Why do they pay the wages of strategy departments, only to feel threatened and try and undermine everything they do? Why are strategists not supported more?

Why is this the only department who is made to feel like they have to fight for their existence every day? 

Of course, some of this is down to the practitioners themselves. The job requires you to be intelligent, but no one likes a smart arse and trying to make everyone else feel stupid is actually really dumb. This is perhaps far too common and maybe one or two strategists have not only made their own bed, they've made it tougher for everyone else.

Collaboration between teams always works best, it simply does.

And yet...

No other department has to 'take everyone with them' in the same way as strategy does.

We all have to do workshops primarily to get everyone to feel like they've had a hand in the thinking (don't be coy, you know you do).

We've all had the dread of the agency leaders who have read a couple of books and want to 'collaborate'. You know, the kind who reject any proposition or core thought on the basis they haven't thought of it themselves, but can't articulate anything of use on their own. Then they get cross when you reject their thinking, or you get a little frustrated because you just want to be able to do your job. 

There is a difference between surrendering your ego and surrendering your role. 

I think the core of the problem is that strategy looks easy. In fact, it kind of is, the first page obvious stuff I mean.

However, the kind that cuts through the clutter to get to something simple, generous to various channels and yet have that leap of imagination to spark great work - it's hard.

It's tough to do it by yourself, which is why I always advise people in our job to find a sounding board, someone they trust to knock stuff around with.

Just as you should shut your mouth in meetings and listen hard, ready to spot a flash of genius someone else shares. Always be ready for someone else to spot the solution.

However, even then it needs honing and finding the clarity you need isn't helped by a cacophony of people trying to do your job. 

You don't find strategy people trying to do the end of year accounts or negotiate with the landlord, so I don't totally buy the acceptability of everyone trying trying to write the comms strategy.

This isn't the experience in any agency by any means, but I think it's time to give strategists a break.

Or at at least, if you want to do their job, don't hire them.

 

Highs, lows and the numb feeling of success

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 to not have messed it up. 

Because losing is a much more intense emotion that winning. You might have found this with pitches, or even just those high pressure meetings and presentations. 

You put so much into it and when you find out you didn't cut it, or you work gets rejected, you feel crushed, so of course a thick skin and the ability to bounce back are pre-requisites for the job.

However I wonder if we should getting at enjoying the highs. 

I can only speak for myself, but I know I'm not alone when I say that winning is often quite a numb feeling. Mostly because of that wave of relief that you didn't lose, however it's not all that. Also, there's the immediate focus on now having to deliver what you presented and the mind moving to that other pitch or project you've got on.

That's the catch with working in agencies, it's rarely dull, but we don't seem to be able enjoy those moments when it all comes together. The end isn't as fun as the start, it's the exploration and development that gets us out of bed I think. Like the disappointment of finishing a great book, it's getting there that's the good bit, but still. 

I suspect it's down to the types who do well in agencies; restless, curious and always wanting to move forward (the good ones anyway). It stops you getting stale but it's shame we can't enjoy the highs as much as we feel the sting of the lows.

What the school holidays prove about marginal gains

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 out.

That's the beauty of remote flexible working, it's not just about working when you at your best. It's also working when it's best for everyone. 

All of the above is true of course, but it's not the whole truth, it's the showreel. The highlights that get on Instagram, or the bits that might get put into an ad for Teams over summer, or a house cleaning product.

There is plenty on the cutting room floor. 

There's the big stuff, the sit-downs over too much XBox or not being home when they promised, yet the real challenge is the reverse marginal gains.

Marginal Losses.

The build up of all the things that are just about OK when the kids are out for most of the day. yet add up to horrendous time suckage when they school's out for summer. 

The constant flushing of un-flushed toilets. 

The trails of hay around the house from the daily feeding of guinea pigs.

The socks on the floor.

The glasses and cups around the house. 

If you never believed all that marginal gains stuff, try spending 5 weeks with a couple of pre-teens, a little begins to add up to a hell of a lot, which is worth thinking about if you're thinking of returning to the office and all the little distractions and time thieving that goes on there.

At least the toilets get flushed, or at least I hope they do.