The Dudley Diplomat

This is the brand name I noticed on a toilet tank. That a toilet could be called a 'diplomat' is funny. Do you think it means that the next level up in the series is named 'monarch' or 'aristocrat' ? And the the basic level called the 'commoner' or plain 'civil servant' ? And what of the advertising for the whole range? We will see the whole line up? I hope so.

And if it is funny that the nomenclature is amusing, its provenance adds to the fun. Please don't think I am being Dudleyist here, but I could better envisage the diplomat as originating from Westminster or Oxford more comfortably than from Dudley. But perhaps that was the whole point, that this particular make of toilet helps us reassess the diplomatic corps.

A Romance on Three Legs

A lovely book about the brilliant and eccentric pianist, Glenn Gould, and his obsessive search for the perfect piano and how to get a sound out of it as good as the sound in his head. 

So many things that are perfect in our heads are so imperfect in life that we give up on seeking what is right and best for us. Gould didn't. 

Coley Porter Bell Blog

A plug for the Coley Porter Bell blog that went live today. It is worth a look, here.

Glaspaleis

Heerlen, where I have been visiting a lot recently, isn't the most inspiring or beautiful town I have visited. That said, the centre does have some nice bits and one wonderful building, the Glaspaleis.  Even my trusty blackberry camera couldn't destroy its looks, though next time I am taking my 'real' camera and try to do it justice. 

The Glaspaleis ('The Glass Palace') is an example of early modernist architecture. Designed by Fritz Peutz and commissioned by Peter Schunck, it was completed in 1935, to be used as a department store. As well as the architecture being leading edge for its time, the lack of back room storage, meaning that the stock would essentially be on display as well, was new. The intent was to give the atmosphere of a market. It is now used as a library, an art house cinema, an art gallery and architectural centre. It is lovely inside. 

In 1999 it was put on the list of the 1000 most important buildings of the 20th century by The International Union of Architects. For more information, click here. 

Baby Dump

Spotted in Heerlen, Holland.

Are You Happy?

Was the last question asked of Gerry Moira, snr advertising creative, in a Campaign questionnaire. I thought this was a moment of profundity in what is usually a trade magazine full of banality. Here is his answer:

"When Nigella Lawson lost her sister and then husband to cancer, she spoke of having to "choose happiness". I had the same ineluctable decision when my wife died tragically young from the same condition. Blissful happiness is reserved for the idiots and the innocents of this world. The rest of us have to work very hard at it, every minute, every day." 

Change

In today's London Times a short piece about how people manage grief but repackaged about how they manage change at work. It is based on Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' stages of dealing with bereavement, but is used to describe emotional reactions to all types of change or trauma. It's pretty dark stuff but worth thinking about, especially when so many people are being made redundant every day.

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

On the news front Mandelson pumped $2.3bn into the UK car industry to try to prevent those five stages occuring.

Real Time Strategy

This is a piece I wrote in 2007 whilst at Y&R in New York. It appeared in February on Y&R's in-house thought leadership space online 'Spark'. Interestingly, Alastair Campbell seemed to fulfill the role of a real-time strategist in the work he did for Tony Blair. See here for a post on Campbells Diaries of the time.

- - - - - - - -

The last few years have seen a downturn in management consulting revenues. Has “strategy” had its day? Perhaps. For instance, Michael Eckstut, a former partner at strategy firm Booz Allen Hamilton, says flatly, “The pure-strategy, big-picture stuff is over.” Maybe client companies are getting wise to the ruses of the strategic consultants peddling business transformation.

My own view is that strategy is a vital as ever. But it is the way we do strategy and the type of strategy that we do that is causing a bit of a re-think.

Traditionally, strategy has been about the future. In the communications industry, where the strategists are called ‘planners’ the title even more clearly signals a function that is thinking about the future. But that title was coined in the late 1960s when things ran at the speed of a tortoise compared to the hare-like pace of today.

In the intervening years two big things have happened. Firstly, the world of business has speeded, and secondly, the ‘planning for the future’ mindset has replaced by an ‘action today’ mindset.

Perhaps strategic planning in communications agencies should drop the ‘planning’ title altogether. The act of planning years or even months out seems an increasingly futile notion to me as we see day to day changes in markets. The idea of planning communications campaigns for launches that will occur in 12 months time seems positively Victorian in today’s world.
However, more than ever clients need strategic counsel. They need an objective pair of eyes that can understand the strategic implications of decision-making on a day by day basis. This isn’t the strategy of sitting in a room with data and deep thoughts; it is the strategy of on the spot decision-making. I would call it ‘real-time strategy’. It is not planning for the future - which is going to be different from our prediction anyway – is planning for the NOW!

Of course, the old skills of a good strategist are the bedrock of the ‘real-time strategist’; the understanding of markets, insights into the consumer, how the business model works, etc. etc. Only in ‘real-time’ strategy, the strategist is the go to trusted advisor, the colleague whose opinions are sourced in brief and informal phone calls, a casual conversation by the water-cooler.
‘Real-time strategy’ is an ongoing strategic view of the day to day. Not a set piece, choreographed power point pitch. It is difficult to cost out but is incredibly valuable. It is without pomp or circumstance or ego or status. It shifts repeatedly and it recognizes that the right way today may not be the right way tomorrow. Above all it is intensely pragmatic but it is not devoid or rigor or thought.

The grand generals of business strategy, like their military counterparts that they are so fond of quoting, have to accept that asymetical warfare and guerilla tactics are the new norms in business, as well as military, warfare.

Strategists everywhere need to step up to the challenge. It is strategy on the front foot. Perhaps this shift is why the grand masters of traditional and process-centric strategy, the Big Three management consultants, may be having problems in today’s ever-changing business environment. In contrast we say “bring it on”.

Progressive Conservatism

I attended a DEMOS event last Thursday. It was the launch of DEMOS's three year project on progressive conservatism. It was an interesting afternoon. David Cameron, above, talked about the desired 'progressive' 'ends' of fairness, equal opportunity, sustainability/green, safety and he talked about the conservative 'means' of how to get there; de-centralization, govt. to strengthen institutions that help that eg. family, economic growth and living within our means.

To be honest, my view of him was a media friendly, young, energetic, Tory version of Tony Blair, though not as good (though I never saw Blair speak at such close quarters). He had presence, though not charisma, and isn't someone I would readily warm to even if what he said made good sense. 

The interesting stuff came later. Philip Blond theologian, philosopher, and self-proclaimed 'red conservative' who is heading the DEMOS project, was provocative and interesting. He spoke of the poor being progressively decapitalised, of the market state and the welfare state being insufficient and advocated a 'civic' state, where the end result isn't monopolies or oligarchies (as he sees in the market state) where ownership is for all and there is equality in participation. 

After the break, there was a panel discussion that included Will Hutton , Oliver Letwin and John Gray . It was excellent. It started to throw up issues like the extend and duration of government involvement in the markets (and therefore society at large), whether Margaret Thatcher was really a Conservative at all and belonged to the traditional Conservative lineage or whether she was really a free-market liberal and Conservative outlier, how did progressive Conservatism differ from compassionate Conservatism (or even, to my mind one nation Toryism) or liberal Conservatism. 

The Cameron speech was well reported in the press, though more for his comments on Labour's handling of the recession than anything else. 

The photo was, as you can probably guess my now, taken with my trusty blackberry camera, and on zoom this time, just to add to the grainy quality.

Alastair Campbell: The Blair Years

Alastair Campbell was officially Blair's press secretary, but in reality was so much more; adviser, strategist and 'spin doctor' and often claimed as the second most powerful man in Britain. It is a great insight into government, and particularly No. 10, from what is essentially the perspective of a strategic communications man. It is fast-paced and compelling reading, and though Campbell is not without flaws, I was rather taken by his straight talking style, touches of humour and emotion and his insights.

Not surprisingly, Blair himself comes out of the book rather well. One of his skills is to be able to move fluidly between policy areas and still keep hold of the overall strategy. And though that is clearly part of a PM's job it is still eye-opening the number of really important issues that a PM may have to deal with in a day: an meeting on peace in Northern Ireland, cabinet reshuffle, Middle East, National Heath Service, Millennium Dome, etc

My favourite single passage of the book described the time when Clinton visited the Labour party conference in Blackpool and fancied a walk back to his hotel rather than the car. A little coterie, including Kevin Spacey, and Campbell ended up having a bite to eat in a McDonald's and chatting away to the other diners. Commenting on the incident, Campbell writes, "He was like a man replenished, not because of the food but because he had been out with real people, and got something out of it".