Nicholas Bate

How To Think Like: The Creative Guru from the Agency

1. So..to summarise..
2. You are about service excellence. It's your key USP...
3... your warmth as an organisation...your truly homogenous, firm and holistic approach..
4. And yet your central core which is literally open to any new ideas...
5. With your distinctive and essential 'flavour'...
6. We are delighted...after 6 consecutive days brainstorming..to reveal your new logo..
7. Yes: a cinnamon bagel.

Monday 3

1. Reflect. So: half a year! What needs adjusting for the second half?
2. Take care with language. When you say 'it can't be done', is that a physical barrier or just a mental one?
3. Be loyal. They really are OK in marketing/sales/accounts. Treat them so.

TTD (Things To Do): when things are a bit (a lot) grim

1. Don't stay in that place mentally. But be wary of leaving it physically. There may well be something that can be done with that job, your start-up. The problematic relationship. No: start mentally, first.
2. Do anything to gain fresh mental perspective. Talk to someone trusted. Take a long week-end. Go to the coast.
3. Create a plan. Will it work? You are not sure, yet. Just create the plan.
4. Work the plan.
5. Things will improve.
6. Start now.

How To Think Like: The English Tourist Abroad in France.

1. Er...dos? Due? TWO!
2. Si...tas de..er du..cafe.
3. Merci.
4. Avez vous any er...toast? And jam? Jambon?
5. Merci.
6. Ciao. Ciao.
7. From London, actually.

The Computer Meeting..

..with top blogger Michael Wade.

Blast from the Past 1: Extreme Productivity

First posted June 2007.

You know what Extreme Sports are don't you? You may even be a practitioner. Here's a definition from Wikipedia:

"Extreme sport (also called action sport, adventure sport, and adventurous sport) is a media term for certain activities perceived as having a high level of inherent danger or difficulty and often involving speed, height, a high level of physical exertion, and highly specialized gear or spectacular stunts."

But you probably haven't heard of Extreme Productivity?

".. by focusing on the absolute essentials of the skill, by working the high pay-off areas and ignoring some of the standard 'safety' but limiting practices. There is an incredible exhileration in getting it right as the practitioner is often flipped 'into the zone'. There is also a high level of risk if focus is lost or attention to detail is lost.."

Extreme Produtivity

Rule 1
You no longer carry a watch. You decide that whatever you are doing, you will be in that moment and not worrying about the previous meeting, nor worrying about the journey home. You will simply 'be here now'. When you need a time-check, there are plenty around.

Rule 2
You carry one 3 by 5 card each day, freshly created. It has a vertical line to divide each side of the landscape mode. Front side is home/personal. Rear side is work/commercial. The Left-hand division is IN time (Important and Urgent). The right-hand division is ON time (Important and Investing). Complete them and work them.

Rule 3
All meetings are a maximum of 30 minutes. All meetings are standing up.

Rule 4
All decisions are followed by an immediate action. A decision is not a decision until you have taken an action.

4 books for your holiday

Here are four books you may wish to read while on vacation...
Regular readers of this blog will know I am a huge fan of Don Winslow. This is his latest and the tight, taut text is as excellent as ever.
My first Thomas Perry novel: Fidelity. A little John Le Carre. Full back-list which is good news if you enjoy him.
A good book on the amazing Nixon+Kissinger relationship.
And not just for the girls (although the cover will suggest so): Eat, Pray and Love. The classic journey on discovering who the heck we are. But told with humour and humility.

As always: Less is More

Even with chocolate.

Blast from the Past 2: How to feel really, really good.

First posted June 2007

Of course a massage will do it. A good thriller or film. A pleasant meal with friends. A great rock concert. Or simply clearing sleep debt. But funnily enough if you want to feel really, really good, go to the other end of the spectrum. Don't seek comfort: seek a challenge. When you accomplish it, whether it is getting up 1h early every day for a week to work on your novel or you re-establish a working relationship with your boss, you will feel brilliant. Human beings are designed for challenge.

Don't get too comfortable.

What do you do when you are no good at sport..

..and live in a great city like Liverpool? Start a band, of course. Alright, Paul?