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.
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