The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

Before I start, I should say this is another one of my all-over-the-shop posts. Without doubt you will probably find it has contradicted itself by the time you come to the end of the post [if you even make it that far] and without doubt you’ll be scratching your head wondering what the hell I’m trying to say. I don’t know what’s going on at the moment, but this [literal] brain dump is happening quite alot at the moment so just consider yourself lucky you only read this blog rather than work with me.

OK, now I shall begin.

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For quite a few years, I have read a bunch of blogs each and every day.

I have always made it a rule to find a new one to check out each morning however I have my ‘faves’ and whilst they cover a whole range of topics – from child education to micro economics – what I want to talk about are the adland ones.

[So strictly speaking that shouldn’t count Lauren, Marcus, Dodds, Neil, Gavin etc … but they write about people, culture, attitudes and life [and write it brilliantly and interestingly] so for the sake of convenience, I’m going to count them in the category I’m about to write about]

Now there’s bloody loads out there … loads … and whilst there’s the obvious brilliant brain ones [Richard, Russell, Gareth, Faris, NP, Charles, Jon, Scamp etc] there’s a whole host of genius from folk who have seemingly been in adland for 12 minutes.

To be honest, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with these blogs …

I love how they are developing their own thoughts/theories/ideas/approaches … it’s so exciting, especially as there seems to be a fashion to just agree with whatever the supposed ‘statesmen of adland’ and/or ‘the new creative gods’ are spouting out of their gobs … however the bit I hate is that they continually get me to question my own abilities and more often than not, I come out on the losing side.

This may read like I’m seeking appreciation … acknowledgement that I’m “OK” … but I’m not.

Underneath it all I know I’m quite good at what I do – well quite good when the stars align and I’m surrounded by my clever mob – however I have noticed that in the last few years I’ve become more mellow. Don’t get me wrong I still want to make things interesting, exciting and better but the hunger/abilities I once had just don’t feel to be at the same level as they once were.

Now I could blame this on age, maturity or having a bit more cash … but I genuinely don’t think it’s that because the will is still there, I just don’t know if the ability is.

I’m not saying I’m ready for the knackers yard yet – but I am saying that when I read some of the ‘new to adland’s’ blogs, it makes me feel invigorated … excited … challenged.

Saying that, this is not all about the power of youth.

One of the big problems with adland is that they happily turn their back on people with a lifetime of experience in favour of some 19 year old without any experience – or worse – someone with a qualification in ‘advertising studies’ or some equally offensive certificate.

I’ve said it so many times … but adland is more about understanding people and how to connect/motivate them than processes, science or education. Sure … those things have an important place in modern thinking/communication … but there’s a bunch of folk out there that think knowing societies thoughts/attitudes/ideals is incidental to producing great creativity and that is plainly bollocks. Actually I should rephrase that … it IS incidental to producing great creative, but it isn’t incidental if you want to produce great [effective] creative.

That’s why I also love talking to people who’ve “been there, done that”.

Sure their experiences may be less relevant interms of the circumstances leading up to a certain situation, but it doesn’t mean they can’t adapt their thoughts to modern times and yet most people over 40 in adland [who aren’t an MD or CEO] are viewed with eyes of pity, as if their time on earth is drawing to a close – it’s pathetic.

Where am I going with this?

God knows …

Oh yes I remember …

The thing is, when I look at the rubbish I write on this blog and then compare it to what others are saying on theirs, I just think I am so superficial and out of the loop.

That doesn’t mean I’ll always agree with the clever thinking that is being said … for example I’ve had more disagreements with Niko than I’ve had with Andy even though I feel he is a really exciting brain … but it does make me happy that there are a bunch of young guys out there [From Rob and Age to Sam and Paul and a whole host inbetween] whose thoughts/ideas could really create positive change even though adland tends to embrace the people with hype rather than opinions and ideals.

When we started cynic, one of the things we decided was that we wanted to surround ourselves with people who were smart, talented, had a wide range of life experience and a pinch of unpredictability.

That didn’t mean they had to be young in age … but it did mean they had to be young interms of thinking and attitude because it meant they would keep us on our toes, learning stuff, questioning ‘rules’ and hungry to do more … and that’s why I suggest to anyone in adland – especially the young, talented and ambitious – that the blogs they should be checking out are not just the ones by the ‘Masters of the Adiverse’, but the ones where people express ideas, thoughts and emotions regardless of experience, viewpoint or industry, because if the future of advertising is getting back to understanding and interacting with the real World, then they need to ensure they don’t only associate with the people who live within the ad bubble.

“For so long, we have placed at the top of our pinnacle, folks who can manipulate numbers and engage in complex financial calculations … and that’s good, we need some of that … but you know what we can really use is some more scientists and some more engineers – people who are building and making things we can export to other countries.” – Barack Obama: April 2009

I don’t know if any of you remember [or care] but a while back we working on a project to help encourage students to become engineers … well because of this, our dear George has been invited to the White House [admittedly with a few others] to discuss how engineering and science can be made more attractive for the next generation.

Not only is this exciting and brilliant [especially for George’s kids who are apparently telling everyone their Dad is going for a picnic with the President] … but Andy wasn’t invited … which means he’s going around like a bear with a sore head muttering words like “fools” and “outrage” under his jealous breath.

I know the current President of the Untidy States of America still has got to prove he’s more than just a bunch of well chosen words … but let’s face it, the things he’s saying and the decisions he’s making are far more sensible than the last Pres managed in almost 10 years so maybe it is OK to think America – and the World – will be a better place for everyone in the future.

One of the things that really upsets me is when I hear an elderly person talk with the acknowledgement their ‘time’ is coming to an end.

They don’t say it in a morbid way – just as a matter of fact.

Of course I understand why – I’m not totally stupid – but it still bothers me. A lot.

Now whilst most of you will think I’m referring to my Mum, you’re wrong.

Well, wrongish.

Recently I watched a documentary about a 78 year old woman who was building a modern house.

Whilst she fully intended to live in it, her purpose was more to leave a legacy for her children than to create something new for herself.

Now the house she was building was to have a copper roof ….

The thing with copper is that over time – especially when exposed to the elements – its colour changes,

After a few years it develops into various shades of brown and then a few years after that, it kind of goes a weird aqua colour.

I’m not doing it justice because it’s all quite beautiful … however this woman hated the idea of a ‘greeny-blue’ roof.

The host of the show said,

“Yes but you’ve got a lot of years of the colours you do like before that happens.”

To which she looked at him and replied,

“True, and I probably won’t even be here to see it by then.”

Now of course she’s being realistic but I find it so bloody sad – and yet I can’t really work out why it bothers me so much.

Well actually I can … which goes back to my Mum.

Even though my Mum is a very healthy 76, the fact is she’s 76.

To make it worse [for me], every now and then – when I talk about things in the future – she mentions, “If I’m still around then”.

Again, she’s not saying it to be morbid – far from it – but the fact she says it, reminds me of her mortality and the thing is, interms of close biological family [ie: not including Jill] my Mum is pretty much all I have got left.

Sure I have other ‘biological family’, but apart from my Aunt – Mum’s older sister – who I adore, I don’t really care much about the rest of them [the ones I did, have all died – how’s that for unfair] … so being reminded Mum won’t be around forever is quite hard to accept even though a lot of her family have a habit of getting to 3 figures!

I appreciate the practicality of it all – and I did say how talking about death is healthy – but it still doesn’t make it easy.

On top of all this is the fact that years ago I met a brilliant planner – Peter Stickels – who said something that has stuck with me …

“If you can’t feasibly double your age, you have to accept you’re heading towards the final phases of your life.”

OK so that is incredibly depressing [especially for him as he was 56 at the time] but the thing is that whilst I’m relatively young at 38, the fact the people around me are talking about their mortality is making me think about mine.

This is so not coming out properly … but then to be fair, I don’t know what the hell I’m trying to say.

Of course I was generalising because I’ve met and dealt with many people [in each group] whose attitude is counter to what I’ve written about … and whilst it could be argued that in all cases, the actions being adopted are being done with ‘good intentions’, the reality is there’s too much focus on getting the best grades and salaries than on educating and inspiring the next generation to make a difference … a difference that can be measured in more ways than just the level of material possession.

Look, there’s nothing wrong with making money and there’s nothing wrong with acquiring tons of ‘stuff’ … however when that is the end goal of somebody’s actions/focus rather than it being the byproduct of what they’ve achieved, then I worry about where the future is heading for them, us and everyone.

But there is hope … oh yes … because I recently got sent a little clip by a student currently studying at SMU, a student who hates the way the system is heading and is trying to do something about it, and I hope they get supported by the powers-that-be rather than silenced, because if Government and Universities continue on this path, then as much as they think they’re doing the right thing, they may realise they’ve actually investing in their own longer-term irrelevance and/or incompatibility.