STRATSCRAPS_v110

The choice has to happen.

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Shout out Ryan McDaid for sharing around the Creatives on Strategists link and getting that little doc some additional love.

The Creatives on Strategists project is something I’ve been working on for years, but always on the back burner.

The concept is simple: (Creative Agency) Strategists love to talk about what makes a good strategist. But they rarely seem to ask the people with the most important say on the matter: Creative.

So, I ask every Creative Director I ever work with to fill out a short survey.

Maybe it’s time to open it up.

If you are a CD or similar, I’d love your POV.

If you’re a strategist who works with a creative team, I’d love if you could convince them to take this survey.

No incentive other than the catharsis of being able to anonymously put their frustrations to paper.

Here is the link. https://forms.gle/1SAkNwmaibchhc1d6

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I think somewhere in the footer to this email is a link to my “buymeacoffe” page – which I have edited to be called “buy me a book”

Wanted to share some bits from the latest book I was able to buy thanks to people showing their appreciation for the newsletter:

I LOVE THIS KIND OF SHIT.

So thank you.

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I’m also reading Four Thousand Weeks, by Oliver Burkeman. (Shout out Sina). The premise being that the way we think about time is flawed. It is not a resource that can be acquired or a tangible good that can be optimized. Things take the time they take. I have a bunch of highlights from it, but can’t figure out how to find them, because the kindle experience as a whole is a nightmare.

But more to come soon I’m sure. In the meantime, take a breath and slow down.

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Be careful allowing feedback to come via dropped comments. You’ll end up addressing each one before realizing the feedback was “put the skeleton together”

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This model from DIMITRI GLAZKOV (substack: What Dimitri Learned) is increasingly relevant and helpful the longer I sit with it. Full post here.

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What do you call this? Am I writing an email? A post? Does it depend on format – e.g. something with a single line of questioning and a POV is an article while personal musings are not?

[
File under things that shouldn’t matter but do (or under should matter but don’t… I always get those two confused)
]

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Hold on to that feeling that happened when you first saw this picture. It wasn’t nostalgia. It was a pocket of joy stored away when you were young.

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Two Freelance Truths via Tom Critchlow. I’m realizing the reason I feel so comfortable in a freelance role is because these have always been part of my core approach. (Emphasis mine)

THING ONE

Questions and inquisition are at the heart of good consulting - you can’t truly know the problem until you understand:

What the client thinks the problem is
What the actual problem might be
How the current system operates
Why the current system caused the problem
Why the current system can’t solve its own problem

THING TWO

Consultants are ideally capacity builders who develop links between research and practice rather than problem solvers. They provide methods and tools to help others expand their capabilities and skills on an ongoing basis, thereby transforming concepts into practical know-how and results.

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A must read titled “I Have A Few Questions” by Morgan Housel.

A few of my favorites:

Who has the right answers but I ignore because they’re not articulate?

What do I ignore because it’s too painful to accept?

Which of my current views would change if my incentives were different?

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Weekly Monster

Don’t think I’ve shared this one already? I dunno, maybe I have. But details were never the point of this whole endeavor.

OTHER ART:

Kind of cliche of me (not sure how or why, just is) but I love comic book art. Yes, even mainstream Lichtenstein stuff.

Anyway, this website/blog is super cool. Delves into a few of the artists, features hi res close ups and has a special section of “comic book maps and diagrams”

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and finally: I recently shared this cool little visual about culture being something that permeates all the Cs, not simply another one of them.

I couldn’t remember where I had gotten the original drawing.

Well it was from a sketch that Daniel Kotlińsk sent me. Daniel is a Brand & Communication Strategist based in Poland.

Thanks for the share and thanks for the follow up reminding me where that diagram came from.

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Obligatory: I am a freelance Strategy Consultant. I do the work up front that helps move the needle down the line.

alexmorris.co
alex@stratscraps.com