STRATSCRAPS VERSION 175
MEMORY TAXIDERMY
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Was talking with a friend recently about writing when he asked about my writing process. I laughed.
I don’t write, I transcribe my thoughts.
And they really are different. Writing is about communication. Writing is thought, repackaged.
Whereas transcribed thought is just the unpacking part.
Transcribed thought is dissection
Writing is taxidermy.1
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^ Same goes for strategy. this is why I hate strat lines.
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Super important and often forgotten:
Just because someone is saying something you don't like, it doesn't mean they aren't on your side.
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Agencies: a committee of unfinished parts.
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Want to be in product strategy? read these.
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Want to read a bunch of books about mutual aid and resisting fascism? read a few of these. (personal recommendation: focus on the more practical mutual aid stuff before getting deep into the theory and philosophy stuff)
But if you read one thing, make it this: The authoritarian regime survival guide.
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I can almost see this idea being pitched in. Netflix has become notorious for promoting shows this way. In fact I’ve helped out with a few similar ideas in the past.
But I’m not sure this one works. I’m not sure it is enough to convince anyone to click through a promoted link. Promoted links are like the door in home alone with the hot doorknob. Except we know it’s hot. Something like this is odd enough for me to open a regular door (non-brand promotional link) but not a door with a hot doorknob (paid link).
The catch 22 of course being that heating the doorknob is the only way a worthwhile amount of people will ever see the door in the first place.
That’s why the doors have to have the takeaway painted right on them.
Mass visibility is worth more than minuscule engagement.
man, this analogy got convoluted fast. Don’t explain things like this in client docs.
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“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
— Audre Lorde
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A fun little bit of office tool history:
What’s most interesting about these two things to me is that they represent totally opposite ends of the spectrum as far as information management.
And each end of the spectrum can be expanded into a metaphor of ways of thinking.
Post-it note thinking is for exploration. It is how I start any project or begin any analysis. The point is to save things to come back to later. Then, to move things about into groups or relational to each other.
This process still can’t be replicated with a computer in my experience. Trust me I’ve tried every “tool for thought” out there. No matter how things moved around, the digital will never replace the value of moving things by hand (for as long as we consume digital information via a screen anyway. I do wonder what a VR miro board would be like. I’m skeptical but technically it checks the same boxes as post it notes?).
Spreadsheet thinking is for analysis. Information reflection. The only reason you put info in a spreadsheet is because you know you need that info later or because it has value as a part of the whole.
I don’t literally use a spreadsheet, but spreadsheet thinking is the mode we should be in when in a creative review. You are checking new information against an established set of criteria.
It may be off brief, but does it do what needs to be done or say what needs to be said? Then “How” doesn’t matter.
Weekly Monster
Not really a monster in the traditional sense this week… more of a plea for help…
Anyone have experience with replacing the rear window motor wiring harness for a 3rd gen 4runner? Or at least experience enough with electrical schematics to help me isolate the issue to fix my rear window that no longer rolls down?
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ok actually I was really happy with how the image I made to use in the mag cover up top turned out so gonna include that too in its original form.
leave it to strategy to make totally unnecessary classifications
You had me at memory taxidermy.
I think the Post-It vs Spreadsheet thing also speaks to two different approaches to data: breaking down to a singular / clear point, vs assembling together to build a comprehensive map.