The brandrunner
Feel the zeal Not every CEO is a leader. The ones I’ve worked with who are, they all obsess about culture. They fixate on culture with the same zeal that a...
Our loss not theirs
The unhappy endings of two client/agency relationships. Mistaking relief for redemption (circa 1990) It looks good on my CV that I worked on the Cadbury...
Pretty much drama free
Personality can be voiced, even in the dryest of files, if one only remembers to turn on the style.With apologies to Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and The...
Their values are stronger than yours
Our users can smell mealy-mouthed-ness from a mile away.Justin Duke, Founder & CEO of Buttondown I was so impressed Read this About page and weep because...
The irresistible truth of Doctor Who
Exterminate! Regenerate! Yes, it’s one of those posts where the author contrives to wring lessons out of a hot cultural reference. But this isn’t LinkedIn....
The sound of distant living
Unemployable I’m back from a month away, in body at least. Dealing with jet-lag has been a doddle compared to remembering what work is. So I’ve been easing...
When the wrong hands are the right hands
Nothing to see here, and everything to see here You can tell how old this ad is by the cut-out response coupon in the corner. You can also tell how old this...
Defiantly and joyfully themselves
The month of October is a sandwich, with a slice of travel at each end: a thin slice of Istanbul just gone and a thick slice of Japan and Australia to come....
Low-stakes and high-stakes goofing
Low-stakes goofing Adam Buxton came to the Edinburgh Book Festival to promote his book. He was interviewed by comedian Zoë Coombs Marr. During the...
Causation and escalation
Advertising people describe themselves as storytellers. They tout themselves as culture makers. They puff out their chests and proclaim themselves as the...
Shiny rectangles
Out of the mouths of buyers More proof, if it were needed, that there’s no such thing as an entirely rational decision. Not even when someone is a buyer of...
Only press REC when it matters
I watched The Boy and The Suit of Lights at Edinburgh’s recently reopened Filmhouse. Screen 1 was pleasingly full for a documentary screening given that it...
What did you see?
Talking The best part of my job is talking to people, which is an odd thing for me to say. I’m quite shy and I’m an introvert. Small talk has never come...
Afterwit
We’ve all had our afterwit moments. We’ve all experienced wisdom after the event. That thing you could’ve said to win the day or score some points. The witty...
The hole that is in their soul
A post about good questions. Tell me what you bought I had an interview last week and I think it went well. It was also slightly strange. I’m usually the one...
Thank you for your hard work
A post about belonging. The smell of resignation A long, long time ago I was on the BBH team that pitched for the Hoover advertising account. BBH had a...
Trying it on
Taking one for the team is usually a selfless act of sacrifice. However, as things revved up on a recent project, I heard a story where taking one for the...
After which everything was different
Some books that made me better. Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk I think I’ve read everything Chuck Palahniuk has ever written; every book at least. He’s one...
Phoning it in
Neither showing nor telling I don’t like it when I have to read a character’s text messages in a TV show. It’s lazy filmmaking. It’s lousy storytelling. It’s...
It helps if you know what you're doing
So my only goal as an actor was to be someone people wanted to work with and to have one job lead to another. And I thought that was about as fine an...