Not taking risks… is risky. When I ran brand and marketing agencies I’d deliver ‘opinion’ events. One was called ‘Marketing is a Waste of Time’. The message being that without a differentiated and distinctively communicated brand, all a marketing agency can do is get their client to to outspend your client. Agencies win. Client lose. So we called it out. It’s risky having a pop at your own profession. But not taking risks… is risky. 100 people paid to come (money to charity) and – at the start – I introduced the day, and my 2 guest speakers. First, I introduced my sister, Debbie, a television ..read more

There’s a long list of problems that I cause for myself. And on that list is this. I sometimes think I have it all worked out. Not always. But sometimes. And each time I do (I am increasingly realising), doors close. I stop learning. I stop absorbing. I shrink. It’s such a danger to me. Imagining that I have it all worked out. So what happened from 11pm last night, as I sat down to watch the first episode of Baby Reindeer, was really useful for me. Even though I’m quite tired today. Because four hours later. At 3am in the morning. I’d watched all seven episodes. Watching Baby Reindeer was rea ..read more

Someone I now know quite well, wrote something inside my trousers about 20 years before I met him. I sometimes recall what he wrote, and the brand he and his wife created, when sat on the toilet. The reason I mention this, is to illustrate something important about my business and yours… If you want your business to be remembered, do something memorable.* Howies was created in 1995 by Clare and David Hieatt. I bought their jeans. And written inside the back of the waistline, upside down (I think) was, “When did you last change your underpants?” In a world of so much choice, please remember it ..read more

Complexity is like gravity. It pulls. We get drawn towards it. Avoid it. If you can. Simple is much better ..read more

First to pull up a chair, at the head of Board Table, is the Managing Director. The tight-necked, moody, multitasking visionary. Then the Finance Director sits down. Primed to spotlight and timidly advise on the business’s too much and too littles, as well as the unignorable financial red flags as they peep over the horizon. The next chair to scrape backwards, made-ready for bottom accommodation, belongs to the Operations Director. Their management skills tessellating perfectly with the leadership skills of the MD. Fourth to sit, always much later than is sensible, is the Marketing Director ..read more

Yesterday, I listened to YouTube relaxy piano music as I was writing. I don’t know what it was. I don’t know composers. If ever I reference classical music, all I’m capable of is shouting what it advertises. “Those babies. Shitting. You know. The nappies one. You’ve seen it. Dut du du durrr duuuurr…” Etcetera. So again, I didn’t notice the composer. But I did notice a three word comment beneath the dreamy composition. “I miss myself”. The music was calm. Reflective. So such a comment is not surprising, I suppose. It’s short, personal tone made me pause. “I miss myself”. It made me think about ..read more

Izobel and I went to see Portrait Artist of the Year being filmed this week. Seven-year-old Iz was bored after an hour. The first hour was clapping and cheering three times on cue, as three surprise guests were revealed. Exciting! However, Stephen Mangan asking a seven year old to be ‘surprised again’ from a different camera angle, with the same three now very unsurprising guests, was not so. Izobel smiled wide-and-white when I said we’d sneak out. And we did sneak out. Before the first brush touched the first canvas. Izobel was happy. “If you’re happy…” I whispered as we slid silently behind ..read more

Lisa squeaks, squeals or ‘ouches’ out-loud half a dozen times each day. Nowadays, so often do these exaggerated responses to featherlight bumps, scrapes and scaldings occur, they are ignored by me, that other one that cried wolf (should he overhear), and everybody else. Yesterday however, there was a shouted, relayed report from my 7 year old, Izobel, that her bare-footed mother had stood on a Leprechaun in the kitchen. This, I didn’t ignore. Life’s like that isn’t it? Dull repetitiveness is ignored. It’s boring. It just blends in. And that’s why LinkedIn is such a head-shaky place. Businesse ..read more

It’s never a good idea to put a kiss at the end of any message you send to anyone you know through work. Because it triggers Kiss Anxiety. If you don’t include a kiss with your first message, you think they think you’re cold. Especially if they then reply with a kiss. If they do reply with a kiss, you think they’re the kind of person that doesn’t get Kiss Anxiety and that makes your Kiss Anxiety much worse. If you do include a kiss with your first message, and they don’t ‘kiss-back’, you think you’ve offended them and you think they think you’re creepy. If you do include a kiss with your firs ..read more

Dancing like nobody’s watching produces the best dancing. I, for one, dance exactly like peak John Travolta when dancing alone in the kitchen. Or a lift. And so it follows that writing like nobody’s reading produces better writing. Rick agrees. “The audience comes last. I’m not making it for them, I’m making it for me. It turns out that when you truly make something for yourself, you’re doing the best thing you possibly can for the audience.” Rick Rubin.       ..read more