Secondly, we survived our personal version of a Chilean bbq; grilled for over two hours by a VC; keeping the bad bbq analogies going, in the end he did not spit us out after chewing us up (and no he did not lick the plate either, you perverts). We are now labelled viable. Seems to be quite a thing in that world, so a small hurrah.

Sunday’s are a bit weird as that day is mostly spend not doing anything in Chile. But when in Rome ..and all that..

Looking ahead the week is busy but shaping up nicely; lot’s of meetings, system design sessions (no idea what that means, but is sounds nice), budget talks, some emergency cloth shopping and attending a proper Chilean wedding.

Anyways..as always..

NH

Updates will follow as events unfold, because if you think this is over then you’re wrong.

I have a neighbour. About 50 years old, but to be honest I have no idea how old she is. She’s been ravaged by bad health.

In a wheelchair, suffering from what I think is Parkinson’s as well. She can walk for 2-3 minutes though she shouldn’t, as her body can’t take the pressure.

My neighbour is also a bit of bitch. Rude, stubborn (especially in her refusal to take care of the mess her cats make), and most days she will flat out ignore everybody who walks by and greets her.

This morning, she dropped her keys. Her husband was away (also in a wheelchair) and given her state, she can’t bend over to pick them up. So she yells through the building: “pick up my keys”. Over and over, I think.

Because the first time I thought I heard something I was still half sleeping. In that state I’ve imagined my phone ringing, leaving doors open. “Pick up my keys, help me please”. My neighbour. Again.

At that moment I realise it is not a dream, but her – again- needing help (she tends to have these types of incidents once twice a month) .

I stare at the ceiling for a second, and think to myself ” the fucking nerve… Who the fuck does she think she is, waking everybody up”.

I get up, grumpy and ready to give her an earful, as I walk down the stairs to help her with the same smugness, IMF bankers show on their way to ‘helping’ emerging nations.

And then I see her. Barely standing, leaning against the door, knees and arms shaking from standing to long.

Her keys just out of reach beneath her on the doormat as she breaths way to fast and shallow from having tried to fix the problem on her own.

And in that moment, just for a moment, I get some much needed perspective. She’s no bitch. I can only imagine the daily struggles she goes through. Stuff that I and the rest of the neighbours take for granted.

Simply because we’re healthy and never imagined that not being able to pick up keys could be an embarrassing and physically hurting event.

When a planner recently asked me why planning is not as respected as it once was, I could not help think that the question “why don’t we get respect” goes a long way to diagnosing our problem.

We are lost in our own private Idaho’s. Our system of thought, our needs to push the clients into brave new worlds, our superior insight into human behaviour, business and technology. Our..our.

And while this attitude can work for decades in growing economies, that tend to blur success attributable to proper planning rather than overall industry growth, in current and coming times it won’t work.

The fat lady is singing.. I am hoping there is no encore.

The great lesson in microeconomics is to discriminate between when technology is going to help you and when it’s going to kill you. And most people do not get this straight in their heads. But a fellow like Buffett does.

And it isn’t that the machines weren’t better. It’s just that the savings didn’t go to you. The cost reductions came through all right. But the benefit of the cost reductions didn’t go to the guy who bought the equipment. It’s such a simple idea. It’s so basic. And yet it’s so often forgotten.

A Lesson on Elementary, Worldly Wisdom As It Relates To Investment Management & Business, Charles Munger, USC Business School, 1994

” William Lawrence of ABC, another former Times man, asked the first question on December 16: As you look back upon your first two years in office, sir, has your experience in office matched your expectations?

It is much easier to make the speeches than it is to finally make the judgements, because unfortunately your advisors are frequently divided. If you take the wrong course, and on occasion I have, the President bears the burden of responsibility quite rightly. The advisors may move on to new advice”

President Kennedy – Profile of Power; Richard Reeves

One magazine;
Four advertisers;
Different agencies;
Same category.

No convention was harmed during the making of any of these campaigns.

Harvard Thinks Big 2010 – Daniel Gilbert – ‘Global Warming and Psychology’ from Harvard Thinks Big on Vimeo.

Pretty good insight checklist in general:

Are you finding stuff in the lives of people that is:
Immoral
Imment
Intentional
Instanteneous

Obviously the creative translation does not (should not?) have to amplify that fear. But having a fear/problem to work of instead of the usual want/desire (as a starting point instead of end, where it communicates the solution to the previously found problem), might lead to different ways of approaching briefs that create impact through action.

Though obviously as I write this, somewhere someone is working on a brief that will disprove me. As it should be.

Paul Watzlawick..