Filed under: Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Dad, Daddyhood, Family, Fatherhood, Jill, Love, Otis
I was going through some photos when I came across this …
It feels like a million years ago, but it’s less than 2 years ago.
It was taken around Christmas 2020 …
We were living in England and we’d recently bought that house.
We knew we weren’t going to be in it for long as I’d accepted the job at Colenso … but we wanted to enjoy it as much as we could while we were there.
And so we did.
But the snow added a new dimension to the experience.
It came down a lot over a few short days and so for the first time since I had left the UK 25 years earlier, I was in a place that had enough snow to mess about with. For Otis, it was the first time he could … the first time he properly experienced snow … and after he’d accepted it was bloody cold, it was a bloody challenge to get him back indoors.
Oh the fun.
Snowball fights.
Building snowmen.
Slipping and sliding.
It was amazing.
All topped off by us getting into our giant hot tub in the garden to get warm, while it snowed around us … which was a bizarre – yet awesome – feeling.
And while that house is pretty much isolated in the countryside, so the small roads were all ice rinks, something about that week made the whole thing even more special for us.
A chance to connect to that house. To build a memory with that house. To be a family home.
And yet, when I saw that photo it seemed like another life.
A world away from the one we live in now.
Yet it’s still our home.
We may well one day return to it.
And we still utterly love it and its garden.
Lots of people talk about their ‘forever home’. I get it …
But the reality is while a place you grow roots in, is very important … the thing we forget is we have to do the work. It doesn’t happen by itself. Those 4 walls require the interaction of the people in it to build something worth remembering it for.
And while that house only had us in it for 6 months [so far] that photo will forever remind me that sometimes, that’s all you need.
Filed under: Advertising, Amsterdam, China, Comment, London, Love, Martin Weigel, New Zealand, Paula, Planners, Planning, Relationships, Resonance, Wieden+Kennedy
For someone this old, working in adland this long … it’s amazing how few friends I have in the industry.
Oh I know tonnes of people – you can’t help it when you keep moving countries every couple of years – and I love soooooo many of them, but in terms of actual mates, it’s not a massive amount.
However despite this, there are two people who have that moniker.
They may wish they didn’t.
They may wish I wasn’t about to advertise that fact.
But the brilliant Paula Bloodworth and Martin Weigel are most definitely two of them.
Obviously they need no introduction.
They’re 2 of the best and most respected planners in the World and have a body of work entire global agency networks would kill to have. But the thing many people don’t realise is that underneath it all, they’re just amazing humans who are also insanely talented.
Obviously we all met at Wieden and worked together on various projects across the network. But it’s more than that. I met a lot of amazing people at Wieden but I just clicked on a different level with those two.
That doesn’t mean we always agreed with each other.
In fact, the opposite is probably a better reflection of how we were … but there was something between us that meant we not only trusted and respected each others judgement, we felt we ended up in better places for the debates.
And we did.
And we still do.
Because even though only Martin is still at Wieden, we still talk a lot.
In fact we have a video call every week.
London. Amsterdam. Auckland.
And all we do is chat, laugh, debate, disagree and wonder.
And occasionally bitch, hahaha.
But what they may not realise is how they make me feel.
You see I have no problem asking them for their point of view and they have no problem giving it to me.
Except it’s not some wannabe intellectual wank-fest [which is good, because I’d always lose] it’s thoughtful, compassionate and – dare I say it – loving advice.
In short, they look out for me.
They tell me when they think I am wrong.
They tell me when they think I am right.
But most of all, they tell me things to think about to encourage the outcome that I hope for.
When I was made redundant, they were the first people I spoke to.
When I am moving to another country, they’re the first people I chat to.
When I want someone to bounce stuff off, they’re the first people I reach out to.
In an industry obsessed with pathetic intellectual swordsmanship, these two wonderful, beautiful, talented bastards swap weapons for compassion.
They make me a better person and colleague – albeit to Colenso, clients and Metallica.
And they ask for nothing in return.
Which reinforces they’re brilliant people but maybe not as smart as everyone thinks they are.
They’ll probably hate me being so gushing in this post given they both like to hide their public emotions in a black hole … but it’s true.
I love them.
I love their partners.
I love their multitude of animals.
But most of all, I love they’re in my life.
How’s that for a Monday post then eh?!
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Comment, Creativity, Culture, Planners Making A Complete Tit Of Themselves And Bless
For 16+ years, I would wake up and generally find a world of insults, banter and builds on whatever post I’d set to be published while I slept.
I have to be honest, I liked it.
A lot.
Part of this was because of the childishness … part of this was because of the way it pushed my thinking and part of it was because it was nice to feel part of some twisted social club.
And then, a few months ago, I decided to stop it.
It was the right thing to do and this post written by the brilliant Armando, reinforces that.
And while I still wake up to insults, banter and builds – albeit on individual emails, rather than on group blog comments – they’re not the same as when there was a group pile on.
I know … how picky can I get???
Now this doesn’t mean I’m going to open up the comments – at least not yet – but it does highlight how great it is to be surrounded by people you like and respect.
Yes, I guess I’m saying I liked and respected many of the people who commented on here. Which is probably as much as a surprise to you as it is to me.
The thing is, I’ve generally been very lucky in my career and ended up with lots of people I’ve felt that way about. People who added to the culture and the creativity rather than sucked the life out of it for their own gain/god complex.
But there have also been times that’s not been the case.
There was one person in particular who was beyond toxic.
They were manipulative, destructive, undermining and bullying. They thought they were always right and yet produced the same thing over and over again – trying to squeeze claims of uber-intelligence out of micro thinking. So many people were hurt by their behaviour but because they made money for the agency, they weren’t just tolerated but revered.
What makes it worse is they knew they were burning people and yet rather than feel any sense of shame or embarrassment for it, they felt invincible. They’d publicly label the people they’d forced out as weak or inferior and yet the company he worked for – one who talks a lot about humanity – just turned a blind eye.
As so many do.
Which is why when you find people on your frequency, it’s something special.
Of course it can also be dangerous because it’s not a big leap to ending up thinking you’re special and everyone else is wrong … but with the right combination, you can enjoy working together while pushing each other to be better.
And it’s here that the specialness really reveals itself.
Because whether through banter or arguments, it never becomes personal. You all know the opinions expressed are only at making the work better. And it’s that feeling – that ability to be truly honest to each other without hurting each other – is something truly special.
You may not realise it at the time.
You may only realise it once it’s gone.
But it’s the difference between work being hard and work being exciting.
Not all the time, but a lot of the time.
And even if someone does fuck up and crosses the line, the energy in the environment allows you to call it out and everyone deals with it, with grace and objectivity.
Because the respect for each other trumps any need to win by destroying each other.
I’ve had it a few times.
I had it on this blog.
And maybe I just realised that.
So thank you.
It’s 42 years today, since I first saw you play live.
You’ve given me nights of entertainment I’ll always remember and treasure.
Moments that literally will remain with me till the day I die.
While I didn’t like the movie, I did love seeing you in June.
Or a version of you.
But that shouldn’t take away the fact you were amazing. Like, proper good.
But please … no more.
Not because I don’t love you.
But because I do.
With all I’ve got.
[Though musically, only up until 1984, ha]
Filed under: Attitude & Aptitude, Comment
So I’m back.
A few weeks ago I got a message from a client of mine.
They said, “saw this, thought of you”.
This is what they saw …
The problem was that after I read it, I wasn’t sure which person in the conversation I reminded them of – because frankly, it could be both.
Which may have been their point.
Though, having asked some friends – and my wife – what they thought, they informed me the sentence, “I didn’t ghost you. I just stopped entertaining mediocrity” was ‘pure Rob’.
Now while I should resent that view, I’ve come to the realisation I resemble it instead.
And weirdly, I’ve even taken it as a compliment.
Which means my client was absolutely right.
I’m an absolute asshole.