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

Not just in advertising, but across all humanity.

That said, curiosity has seemingly taken a backseat in terms of aspiration …

These days it seems we our desperate to feel/suggest we are the smartest people in the room.

That we can solve any problem given to us – regardless of category, culture or context.

As my old man used to say, ‘people who are desperate to let everyone know how smart they are, aren’t that smart’ … and right now, it feels like we’re drowning in those people.

I’m not saying they’re not clever, but they’re not as smart as they like to think they are.

Believing that because they’re good at one thing, they’re good at everything.

Researchers who think they know how to create great creativity … despite never creating anything. Strategists who think they know what people want … despite never spending any time with people. Creatives who think they can make any business successful … despite never running a business. Sure, I’m exaggerating the point to make the point [especially as there are a few people in each of the examples, who are the exception] but you get the idea …

You see it everywhere, especially on Linkedin.

That doesn’t mean they don’t have valid opinions.
That doesn’t mean their experience doesn’t have value.
But putting aside the people who literally have never achieved anything of note yet speak like they’re God … the moment you think only you have the answer and everyone else is wrong and ‘doesn’t get it’ then that’s when you’re become the beast you were meant to slay.

The reason for this rant is that I saw something recently that is so devilishly brilliant, it serves as a good reminder that just because we are paid to do a specific role in the marketing space, doesn’t mean we have the monopoly on good ideas.

This was it …

Evil? Yep.
Bad parenting? Possibly.
Smart thinking? Absolutely.

Of course, I’ve talked a lot about Chinese ingenuity over the years.

For a culture that often describes itself as practical rather than creative, it’s one of the most creative places I’ve ever lived.

Not just by the typical definitions, but in terms of business, food, innovation and motivation …

Sure, there are many examples where the approach taken is more about exploitation than liberation – which is true all over the world – anyone who has lived there for any period of time will know that far from being ‘behind Western standards’, in many ways they’re far ahead.

And while there are many things that have contributed to its momentum, its belief in ‘cumulative progress rather than the wait for perfect’ is a big part of it.

Back in 2007, I wrote about ‘unplanning‘.

In essence, it was about putting the rigor into ensuring you are removing all the unnecessary bullshit around an issue to identify the heart of the problem that needs solving.

The reason it was called unplanned, is because the solution – while creative as fuck – also felt obvious as hell, even though it only was able to be that because you’d trimmed off all the fluff and fat that often causes distraction and deviation.