Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Collaboration, Colleagues, Content, Context, Creativity, Culture, Curiosity
Dear clients, companies, managers and network CEOS …
If you want the creative people you employ/hire/work with to be 100% effective, you need to allow them to be 20% ineffective.
Doesn’t matter whether that 20% is spent going down dead ends, rabbit holes or absolutely nowhere at all … the reality is rest/distraction/experimentation fuels creative freshness and effectiveness rather than it being a barrier to it.
Or said another way: Space creates new ways to overcome old problems.
I totally get the temptation to ‘keep people busy’.
I totally get the supposed logic of putting people on new projects as soon as they’ve finished old ones.
I totally get companies love to give their creative partners ‘sprints’, because they think that makes things ‘more efficient’ – albeit financially rather than for the work.
Hell, I even get the temptation to outsource work to machines when they don’t need any ‘productive ineffectiveness’ whatsoever.
However, while all these approaches may give the illusion of certainty and control to clients/procurement/finance/management, the reality is not only is that bullshit, they often end up undermining the potential of what could have been achieved.
Oh I know you’ll hear differently from a whole range of Guru’s/Consultants/Agencies/Research Companies etc …
And – to be fair – many of the methodologies they are flogging absolutely decreases the odds of screwing things up badly.
However the irony is, when you blindly adopt their practices, you also end up decreasing the odds of achieving something truly special.
And while that would be OK if that is what companies/procurement departments said they wanted, how many actually say that?
Oh no …
They demand more output.
More effectiveness.
More productivity.
More hours.
More magic.
So while maximizing every second of every creative persons time may sound an effective use of their time, you’re just screwing yourself over … because this approach ends up creating something worse than exhaustion – it encourages monotony, complacency and repetition.
Or said another way … it destroys the opportunity for creativity to redefine – in your favor – the rules and outcomes of logic, history, money and/or distribution.
So while every person benefits from having time to think, rest or experiment … for the creative mind, fuels their power where everyone around them also benefits.
Hence if companies want to benefit from the full power and potential of creative effectiveness, it requires you to let people be a little ineffective on the way.
Explore.
Experiment.
Educate.
Fail.
Try.
Collaborate.
Contemplate.
Have a bit of a fucking rest before the next ‘urgent job’.
And while I appreciate that may still sound like twisted logic to some, so is outsourcing the reputation of your brand to the procurement department who only care about who can do/make things for the lowest price while still expecting your customers to want to pay a premium for it.
You’re welcome.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, China, Colleagues, Comment, Wieden+Kennedy
Of all the places I’ve worked, the people I’ve stayed the most in touch with are those who were at Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai.
That doesn’t mean I haven’t stayed in touch with colleagues at other places I’ve worked – or at other places I will work – but that period of time produced more lasting relationships in my life than arguably all the others put together.
I think part of that was because back then, China – and, to a lesser extent, still is – a place of bonkers wonderfulness.
Anything was possible there. The good, the bad and things you never could imagine in a million years.
And because of the endless possibilities, you experienced things you would likely never experience in any other place or at any other time of your life.
Now it is fair to say, some people who moved there from another country didn’t like that and some did.
Without doubt, China can be extremely challenging, frustrating and demanding.
But for me, I didn’t just like it, I loved it. In fact, I’d go one step further – it’s the place I have loved [and love] the most of all the places I’ve loved.
Because while I faced all the hard, weird, makes-no-fucking-sense stuff that everyone who loves there experiences, it was always outweighed by the good, wonderful and incredible stuff that was waiting to be discovered. Or created.
And I got to do – and experience – a lot of that … helped by the fact I was at Wieden.
Some of it was because of the people who worked there.
Some of it was because of the clients we attracted there.
Some of it was because of the period of time I was there.
But the result was a period of my life where not only did I get to experience and do things I will never get to do again – good, bad, crazy and stupid – but it created a bond with the people I went through it with, that lasts to this day.
It’s kind of why I like pitches.
Not simply because you get to present a future that’s thrilling and exciting. Not simply because you get to see the possibilities of what creativity can really do. Not simply because I love trying to outsmart the competition – not just in what we create, but how we demonstrate it. But also because I love the bond that is born from trying to do something special within a limited timeframe.
Does that make me sick?
Maybe.
But pitches give all your emotions a workout …
Excitement.
Confusion.
Contemplation.
Inappropriateness.
Euphoria.
Stupidity.
Togetherness.
Isolation.
Anger.
Pressure.
Relief.
Pride.
Worry.
Happiness. Hopefully.
And when you add that in China, we were doing it in a nation that was evolving at an unprecedented rate, it meant every pitch was bursting with challenges and opportunities that filled the air with the most incredible and infectious excitement, pressure and hilarity.
That doesn’t mean I don’t still experience that, but it does mean it’s more the exception than the rule … so just like members of the military or emergency services must feel about their colleagues, my time in China showed me that sometimes your colleagues aren’t simply people you sit in the same office with, they’re who you rely on to live, survive and – hopefully – thrive.
As I said last week, while I am old as fuck, I am also immune from maturity.
Well, I say that [or more specifically Peter Mensch and Cliff Burnstein say that] but the reality is I am wearing much more sensible clothes these days.
Proper trousers.
Proper sweaters.
Hell, I’m even wearing closed shoes … OK, sneakers.
But thankfully, despite that and the fact I am only 4 years from fucking sixty, stupid things still make me laugh which is why I utterly loved hearing some people call a pain au chocolat, a ‘chocolate sausage roll’.
How perfect is that???
I will never be able to look at one the same way ever again.
So I wanted to take this opportunity to say a big ‘thank you’ to society for all of your fucked up thoughts and ideas … you keep a very old man feeling very young. At least mentally.
Like a 5 year old, hahaha.
Filed under: 2026, A Bit Of Inspiration, Anniversary, Birthday, Jill, Nottingham, Paul
After my birthday and Jill’s birthday – today is the last birthday of those closest to me.
Paul.
I have to say I love how close they all are to each other, it makes them – and us – all feel extra special and close.
At least to me.
And while I am on the other side of the planet from him these days, I will see him soon when I pop in on my latest multi-country stupid trip in a few weeks.
I can’t wait.
Not just because it’s been a year since I last saw him, but because we have – as I wrote here – gone through a pretty tough time for the first time in our friendship.
But while that has been challenging, it never challenged what he means to me.
As I have said many times, now my parents have died – he is the person that has been longest in my life.
And shit like that matters. Especially when you don’t have many people you call ‘a friend’.
Which is why I am extra happy to celebrate his birthday today and very excited to share some time with him soon.
Because if life is a game of luck, where he is concerned, I won.
So happy birthday my dear Paul …
Because while every bit of trouble I’ve ever got into my life can be traced back to you … so can all my greatest childhood memories.
And I look forward to making more with you for years to come.
Love ya Hilly.
Today is Jill’s birthday.
You may be wondering why I’ve used a photo of Elvis, but keep reading and all will be revealed.
Anyway, because I know she never reads this blog, I can tell you it’s a big birthday for her.
Not that she looks it …
I still remember when we first started going out and I was rushed to hospital for an emergency operation.
She came into the hospital to see me and asked where I was, to which the nurse said, “Are you here to see your Dad?”
I mean, I knew my illness had made me look rough … but I didn’t know I looked that rough, haha!
Anyway, she is someone who never asks for anything …
Or wants to be made a fuss of.
For her, happiness is being surrounded by the family who love her and not being mentioned on this blog, haha.
And while I can definitely promise her the former, I am sorry to say I can’t do the latter … because this is a significant birthday and it needs to be celebrated and referenced.
And while our gift to signify the day doesn’t involve Elvis – as it did for her 30th and 40th – it does involve something that hopefully lets her feel just how special she is to me and to us, because if there’s anyone we want to know that – it’s her.
So Happy birthday my dear Jill, we hope you have an amazing day and we’re so lucky to have you in our lives.
Rx