Greetings, welcome to sweat head with Mark Pollard. It's just the two of us today. I'm going to read you a little excerpt from this book thing. I'm writing called strategy is your words a strategist fight for meaning it's a primal scream about really about critical thinking and creativity and business, but I'm doing it through the Gateway of account planning or strategy. It's been fun to write its As it stands the book will come in about five sections. There's a little opener called fighting Words, which I'm going to read you today. Then there's operating words where I break down about twenty four words. It's not about 24 words is 24 words that I hear strategist use or that I think strategist would do well to use was like Clarity meaning rejection imposter syndrome or imposter Lone Wolf. opinion empathy these kinds of words. I have a bit of fun with them. It's surreal to a degree. I think I found a writing voice that I like right now. Technically, there's a lot to tidy up and I've just found a book Editor to work with to tidy up my seventy thousand words and I still have drawings to do then we have strategy words where there's a big section on ideas what they are what the ideas of a strategist our how ideas are what we do and I know it's such an obvious thing to say, but it needs to be said at least I think it needs to be said the types of ideas that we have in business who gets to have ideas how to ride an idea and then I go into this little rubric that some of you are probably familiar with if you've come to one of my training sessions or if you've looked at the website, which was recently renovated where I talk about problem Insight Advantage strategy that little diagram and tools that you can use to get to clear-headed thinking creative clear-headed thinking And then I'll have a bunch of drawings trying to bring it all to life give you some examples to beat and I like sharing work that's not fully polished because I got to meet like when you're working in an agency the brief needs to be good enough and needs to be a dare. It needs to excite people but polishing it's kind of irrelevant it just unique because most good ideas. I Believe come from two or three phrases or sentences or one sentence. That's just enough there for other people to work with right so I don't mind. Sharing work that's not not perfect just to make the point of the mechanics of the work that we do and how sometimes polishing it really that happens. When you're writing that case study that award entry for the APG. I know that you know that and there are a couple of other sections but I still I'm still playing with it all but I can't I like it and I'm trying to work out the business model around it. I'm trying to do some research into books and Book Sales and why people buy a books to me. This is don't roll your eyes. To me. This is a literary business art book is not a business book. I'm trying to write it kind of poetically and unusually and I'm adding my drawings and I want it to sit on people's desks. There will be digital versions of it eventually, but I want this thing to be on desks. There will be posters and merchandise as well. And I want that to sit on walls. I want people to better see it and point at it and to do so to help them do better work but to also help their colleagues do better work because I've just seen and heard about so much craziness out there, right? So that's what I'm trying to do and they'll be a bunch of other books coming as well kind of debating to what degree I want to publish other people's work at some point and I use publishing work in very general ways. But hey, if you've got ideas, feel free to feel free to email me Mark dot pull out at mighty jungle dot C. Oh, I love the DMS on Instagram at Mark Pollard and DMS on Twitter at Mark Pollard again. I find Instagram a little bit more of well. On there a little bit more of a gentle Space Twitter is as you guys know part. Like I find it really interesting. I usually learn something from Twitter most days. I learned something on Twitter, but it's a little bit argumentative and angry right now you all know that you all know that Instagram. It's just beautiful. It's butterflies. It's not that's not as people showing off and hoping to make other people feel bad. You know that because you do it Little podcast update we don't get a lot of I don't get a lot of data data data. Say it three ways, wherever I go. I don't even know how to say it. The original way that I used to say it. It's probably data these episodes. We're about to hit a hundred thousand quote-unquote listens. I know that some people listen to these things in groups. I think they'll listen involves. Someone is downloading. It doesn't mean that they listen to it, but we just started a year ago actually and we're at about a hundred thousand lessons the episodes. I've noticed this year. They're starting to get over 500 lessons quote-unquote within 24 hours and then they Kind of stumble their way to about a thousand lessons within 7 to 10 days the interview I did with Natalie Tran. She's big on YouTube. She actually interned with me briefly at McCann Erickson and Sydney because she was a bit bored one day and she was like top 10 on YouTube back then but she's like, yeah, it's feel like doing something that's had nearly 3,000 listens, but please go back and listen to things. I'm trying to record these interviews in a way where the time doesn't really matter. The very first one was with Richard shotton about his book The Choice Factory and many of you probably read the book or you With him now, I think that still stands the test of time about 45 episodes in I started to edit them. They take three to four hours to edit and I'm trying to work out how to get the content out into different channels, you know played with drawings. I played with quotes. I don't think people really click from one stream into a podcast. I think podcasters are really podcasters a little bit of Word of Mouth will help help it stretch in two different years and look. I love hearing your stories about listening to them whether you're commuting to In in the morning or Seattle or listening to this taking or walk around the business park outside of Melbourne, whatever it is. I love it. Please let me know because this is how I like to communicate with the world and anyone who writes anyone who uses their voice to communicate sure. You can have some Psychopaths and sociopaths. I don't I think that's me this fulfills an emotional need for me. I trap people into having friendships with me and into having conversations with me because the types of conversations that you listen to that's me. I have two modes. Is silence and introversion and introspection and then really awkward conversations and if you relate to that, you know how difficult it is to exist in this world when they're your two modes because you might be in a business that's fully extrovert and expects you to be thinking in public so they can watch you think on the one hand and on the other hand a lot of people like honesty, they like their you know, there's not a lot of space for it at all times can run people down. I get it get it. That's why I write this wiper friend the page. And like I said, I trap people into during this with me. All right, I'm going to read a story to you. It's called fighting words. It's the opener to this book. I have edited this but there's still so much work to do as far as Tiding it all up. I like the voice. I like the way it feels good, and I hope you enjoy it. Yeah, like I said send me messages are really I like hearing from you DM Instagram. That's where I get my lovely ones. But yeah, you can also email me mocked up pull out at mighty jungle dot CEO be shared at everyone in this bed community and Facebook for what it's worth or about 4,000 people in their numbers she mumbles, but you know, if that was really true I wouldn't have said the number just seems like a really cool crowd and sweat has not the only place, you know, be shutouts open strategy who sort of around sort of lot around and And all the other slack groups and Facebook groups that house planning and strategy people people who think for a living regardless of their being different groups different tribes Etc. I hope that the most I hope that most people feel that there's some kind of thing to unite around because I do believe that this Century with the robots coming and automation coming that the critical thinking skills that I hope we have and the compassion that many of us have I think it can be useful to the world Beyond advertising. Everybody advertisers everything's an ad but I think there's other things that we can apply our skills to especially after the apocalypse thing that's going to come here earlier, but he's the excerpt from the book strategy. Is your words out later this year. Fighting words Italy's flare o1 sprayed into the world a man with the Mane and metal of Inigo Montoya a small village below brochure and a male gaze East from Milan flare Arrow features on few lists. It's a fetal dot on a map. It's a place one visits on the way to the place one wants to visit and it is a murmur on the internet unlike the rest of the universe few people have reviewed flare. Oh because flare oh is beyond review all a review of Row could say is Flair has main claim to fame is this it has little going for it other than it is near a lot of things with something going for them. It's other claim to fame is this man it made this gives Ferraro to claims to fame and these two claims to fame seem to make the town feel adequate for history. This is an utmost Italian accomplishment. I love you. Italy and Flair has 9,000 Villages now spend eternity enjoying their proximity to fame while guarding The Elixir from which this man burst Inigo Montoya hailed from fluorine. Montoya was a swashbuckler who's broken heart beat to avenge his father's death. He was a human rainbow between storms of drunkenness. He is Rainbow carried weapons, but his rainbow beam the only when he felt close to Revenge because Revenge was how he knew himself his violence danced the Tango his catchphrases with a high notes of a sommelier. Tasting wine from space grapes is And in this ravish the loins of the Soul Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride was the broken man inside everyone and yet he persisted what Inigo Montoya could do with his hands and a Rapier the man from Thoreau could do with his feet and a ball the name of the man from fluoro is andreea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo Sports a Pristine carpet of beard or beard hairs know where to stand at all times. They're rectitude is camped there maintenance depends on a dedicated team of white beloved a bonsai. Runners with tiny hands wet sand brown hair frames PLS face. It's with Slash and dart with every Tak turn and twist. His son leaded skin is a souvenir from a lifetime in footballs. Riskiest Arenas football is Andre appeal is romance. He makes love with a football is Inigo. Montoya makes love with a sword thrust to the heart to Marvel at andreea peelers passes is to watch comets and stars shoot through the night sky, if a past streaks overhead Lover's touch lips to seal their fate. It's andreea pillows romance with football is a whole body romance, but his feet make it happen. His feet can get balls places and this skill takes him places from brescia to AC Milan and Juventus from the Olympics to the FIFA World Cup from Italy's Serie to the UEFA Champions League. Andriy appeal is ability to get the ball where it didn't know it needed to go took him where he didn't know he needed to go. Go it took him to the United States of America on 26 July 2015. And at the age of 36 andreea pillows aging feet raced him from the rich Emerald grass fields of Europe to the artificial turf of a South Bronx baseball stadium. This move would have surprised the young Andrea Pirlo because New York City Football Club didn't even exist until 2015 Yankee Stadium isn't big enough for a full size football field. And when you earlier and one year earlier pillow was still able to place as the seventh best football player in Europe peel his feet were always up to something then it happened the man fluoro sprayed into the world and Who Bore the nicknames the architect their Professor Maestro in Spoke for strategy by speaking about football and he spoke about football by speaking about football in his new when Temporary Home the United States of America and his brief fling with major league soccer. It's a very hard League to play in is very physical. There's a lot of running so there was a lot of physical work and to me and my mind to little play filo said yes under your pillow had turned 37 the week. He said this but this wasn't an old athlete. It's Chagrin listen again. A lot of running to little play. This is wisdom from the mystical boughs of flare. Oh and if you draw your ear close to the words closer, you can hear the deathbed snake rattle of a strategist. A lot of running to little play on Andrea Pirlo knew how to get a football where it didn't know it needed to go this meant some of his teammates didn't know where they needed to go to greet the footballs that didn't know where they were going. Andreea pillows game was to make the football do the work. The American game was to make the player do the work. American players grow up in a culture that prizes running the USA knows who can run it knows who can't run and watches to see who runs if a player doesn't run the player doesn't last. This is a survival reflex born from the dregs of the Puritan work ethic where work takes Believers closer to God and in a vast and bountiful country from which many have thought they can take what they find if they run their first running has its uses running helps people catch air. In from LaGuardia Airport when Maryland crab races flee bad first dates in bearded Seattle sightsee Nashville in an hour replace one addiction with another in Los Angeles say they ran around Central Park on the internet Escape cold ocean water in San Francisco make a dramatic entrances into Virginian surf, even when the waves are for babies Dodge drunken traffic late night in Austin grab Black Friday discounts from a Minneapolis shopping mall and release endorphins during a stint of celibacy and Rural, Oregon. Running a so American it made the USA and in return the USA invented jogging that running didn't make the USA running made humans to chase myopathy is one theory about how running made us. Look the way we look chase me off the Thea's what happens when a predator pursues pray until the prey collapses exhausted humans used to do that to animals humans would run and run and run until the animals collapsed. Then humans would eat the animals unless they were vegan the Ben's not the animals all this chasing led to humans with running legs that could run for long distances. This was before farming refined sugar couches and delivery in factories. It was also before football. The differences between a football and an animal abound footballs do not have legs brains Eyes Ears voices Wings arms instincts adrenaline and meet footballs are inanimate objects humans do not need to chase footballs until they collapse humans don't eat footballs, even though some footballs are vegan. But this is how some people play football and how many people play business running is the most important activity having other see one run is the second most important. If you think about it, all this running is the throes of capitalism people inventing needs for others to Chase. Look here's a ball go fetch. Yes, bring it back to me and I'll throw it over somewhere else and you'll go fetch it for me again won't you? Of course, you will good dog. The USA is a leader at this. It's a world leader in exporting this as well. And so the world starts running because running made the USA a lot of running to little play running. Is everywhere when people think they have never attended so many meetings received so many emails and watched so much Tetris on organizational charts while having so little work to show this is running when weekly check-ins annual reviews and an urban sprawl of job titles. Do not lead to better work. This is running when vague marketing briefs lead to vague workshops with too many people who are vague. About why they are in the room that have to act like the emperor of the room. This is running when timesheets our careers oxygen profit and loss statements are Empires and salary freezes lysed and salary freezes. Last an Ice Age. This is running when people discuss meeting agendas meeting minutes and email chains more than good work. This is running when strategy is 100 sleds long ideas needs ideas need tens of reviews by people who do not put pen to paper and Company decisions to meant every human in the village. This is running when management offsites lead to initiatives that lead nowhere where management announcers another agency repositioning and gobbledygook. And we're management spends more time with a cellphone with its people. This is Running Company hackathons with no follow-up late nights pitching because a new business team said on the brief of two weeks speaking about thinking at ad Tech conferences Senior People absent from a pitch changing the pitch the night before the pitch forcing agencies to brainstorm together, but only the account teams come clients briefing agencies before They go on vacation nearly all HR interactions pitching to keep an abusive client running running running. Jobs and our spectator sports and it's too hard to watch thinking so I'm running is better in the head. This running is called strategy. And if everyone is running who's thinking and what game is this and isn't there another game we can play to play a game you need a goal. Spoils rules and opponent somewhere to play and something with which to play. Inigo Montoya knew his game. He was the only person playing it his goal was to avenge his father's death Revenge where his spoils his rules were a swordsman's is rules where a swordsman's honor the man who killed his father and scarred his face count rugen was his opponents a sword fight was the place and the sword is play object Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo new his game to his goal was to win football games Fame and riches were his spoils his Those were the rules of an International Football Association football field was the place and a football his object as much as their manes marked them similar one floor distinguished Inigo, Montoya and Andrea Pirlo. This floor was strategy Inigo Montoya knew what game he wanted to play but Inigo Montoya did not have a strategy unable to play his game because he was unable to find count rugen Inigo. Montoya drank himself into stupors is Stupid is where his soul laughing at his lack of strategy his stupid as were his soul yelling at his brain to find new meaning and his tail tells the Perils of a life that commits to a single event of meaning before it ends. The soul knows irony when it sees it. Andrea Pirlo strategy was to make the football surprise opponents his tactics were to play in deep positions near the back line to keep the ball moving pass after pass to spray the football in stunning ways to his teammates to drill footballs at the goal from further out than expected and to wear his Italian locks and bonds appear throughout these tactics broke conventions because the conventions were athleticism to run dribble blast yell and muscle. Three conventions what finesse calmness and moving the ball in rear ways for his entire career Andrea Pirlo strategy dismantled opponents because his strategy understood the conventions within which is opponents and teammates operated when he moved to America the conventions changed and his strategy struggled on waning legs a lot of running to little play. What I'm talking about is actually a system or culture. I don't mean that the level of technical skills are low. I just mean there's a cultural void that needs to be filled Andrea Pirlo said when Andrea Pirlo diagnosis football in America, he diagnoses strategy. He describes agency's clients and colleagues running around a football field. He describes a strategist hoping to Andre our PLO a strategy to them, but nobody knows how to receive it and people are too busy running to Sieve it and is assumed as a strategist is capable. A culture is a set of behaviors had culture is a set of behaviors born from a set of beliefs running for no reason comes from a belief that conspicuous activity makes a career progress. Conspicuous activity is a yellow Ferrari roaring and slow-moving traffic alone, Miami South Beach. It's unnecessary activity that others can see at first is confusing in the way the Burly Heavy Metal Men of oslo's late-night bars resemble runway models more than Broken Spirits, but then it catches on timesheets measurer and job titles rewarded thinking is an in conspicuous activity. It happens in the privacy of the head. This makes it hard to watch. And since many businesses like to know when things are happening, they love meetings so they can watch these fake acts of democracy in the name of inclusion of public mind control. Yes, many meetings help to control private thinking more meetings try to do this then try to seek out independent thinking or ideas many meetings are statements of what's normal to the group and attempts to reinforce hierarchy and to reel in any Out there thinking just take notes in your next meeting researchers have found that the decisions happen top-down and American businesses despite. The number of meetings. The length of time decisions take and the country's fondness for the individual freedom and democracy businesses are not democracies most of the sociopaths with authoritarian Tendencies and would prefer to automate all thinking if they could A creative company on the other hand builds itself on behaviors that serve the creative mind all of the creative mind its abilities and disabilities. It's need for quiet and stimulation. It's need for validation and a struggle to accept it. It's need to create for the sake of creating a for this sake to happen daily. It's need for space. To explore meaning and it's constant attempts to find a place in the world. The creative company does this because it believes creativity gives it and its patrons and Edge creativity needs private time. And when ready creativity then these public Fame and since words are the unit of meeting creative companies demand more from words Creative Minds used words to expose truth not hide from it creative minds push their words that aren't constipate their words Fierce brains about The strategy but too many of their public words and so a corporate business park dystopia. This is andreea pillars cultural void With revenge and football and glorious here now Inigo Montoya and Andrea Pirlo achieved meaning this is more than many humans achieve meaning can Fleet folks Focus can drift but running because everyone is running and everyone is running off cliffs and bridges with scissors and bayonets with Maps stuck to their faces. Well, what is this not play please Majestic, he knows the heart of the gameplay knows itself players aren't afraid to create new rules to Your parents or to adapt itself because of new opponents play is you a strategist returning to your principal object with a light heart. The subject is words. Andrea Pirlo has retired from football and now explain it and now explores the meaning of the second half of his life. This is a spiritual exercise for all humans. Were you must reckon with yourself before you reckon with death? Meanwhile Inigo Montoya reckon so much with death, they would have to reckon with life. Life and whether he can find a new strategy to Stave off drunken stupors after avenging his father. Is the murder Inigo Montoya flies into the castles banquet room and into a dagger count rugen had flung at his stomach. I'm sorry Father. I tried Inigo. Montoya says to the empty room. Have you been tracing me your whole life only to fail now. I don't know that I think a van count rugen says, I think that's the worst thing I've ever heard how marvelous I'm English all of a sudden Inigo. Montoya slinks against the wall and bumps to the ground count rugen says good Heavens. Are you still trying to win? He thrust his Rapier Dan Egan 1 Toya Inigo, Montoya cannot move but finds the elbow strength to Parry the council moustached thrusts. Once twice twice more you then pushes Off the Wall stumbles in his blood drenched vest and shirt and he stabs at the retreating count. Rugen. Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father prepare to die. He lashes. Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father prepare to die. He Jabs. Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father prepare to die. He advances burn low. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father prepare to die. He searches he tells can't rude and offer him everything. He asked for the six-fingered man says anything you want and he sneak attacks Inigo. Montoya catches his arm and says, I want my father back you son of a bitch. Hello. My name is Marco Polo. You killed my profession prepare to hear about it. Running I want my craft back to you son of a bitch fight one words. So there you go. It's interesting to share and read out your work in public as you still working on it. Hopefully there's enough in there to keep your attention for 20 to 25 minutes. Like I said half the book is a bit abstract, but I'm really trying to get into the heads of all the strategy people. I know about their jobs and their lives and what's going on. On and things and epiphanies that might reach them 10 20 years into a career and I'm trying to help those epiphanies happen a bit earlier. There's probably a whole lot of projection happening in this book or I'm just trying to understand what I've gone through what I've experienced so myself and I know that not everyone's like that. I mean probably very few people have had the same experiences or will have the same experiences, but I do get lots of messages. I do talk to lots of people I do training with hundreds of people. So I'm trying to Channel all this stuff in a way we're working life. Aren't really separate if you do the work that we do and I don't think they should really be separate. Anyway, I mean they they should in Practical and self-respecting ways. But if you think for a living you don't just magically turn that off. Yet, you know timesheets all these artificial constructs and things that we use that try to control us. They're fine. It's part of the game in some situations, but you've got to explore the rest of yourself. You're not just going to a factory to do kind of robotic work and be a robot not there's anything wrong with factory work. So anyway, that's not going to edit this but this is the Fighting with chapter if you've got any feedback, let me know another two male characters there is it's kind of a little bit of violence in this strategy book half of it. It's super practical. I promise it's super practical like it stuff that you'll be able to open up point to and go. Hey, let's use this right now, but I didn't want to divorce the Practical stuff from the philosophical inquiry. I quote unquote spiritual stuff because that would go against the point that I'm trying to make in everything. I do human. We're creative thinkers. We compassionate where have a lot of conflict. We love we hate we create we destroy and so just have a book. That's about the Practical stuff. I think misses the point. This is the point. Anyway, if you've got any feedback, you can email me Mark the K dot Pollard at the mighty jungle dot CEO or DM me on Instagram or I love that Mark Pollard same on Twitter or in the sweat Head Facebook. poop and if you want something to read I have been renovating some of my old articles at Mark Pollard dotnet how to do account planning how to explain an idea things about writing a portfolio a I did put back a tedx talk I did about men which is such an awkward topic to talk about. Unfortunately. I put it back up. I don't know how I feel about it, but you can check that out and you can watch the video video is not great. But anyway, yeah, that's what head I keep it short today plenty more to come this episode might push us over a hundred thousand listens. It's exciting. I don't know. It's just a number. I'm excited. I hope you're all well know that many of us are thinking about you and about each other if you're going through rough times you Going to get through them. You're not alone and make sure you practice practice your craft. Have fun with the approach things with the light heart. There's a lot of pressure out there the world's a bit crazy. Don't get stuck in your head explore the physical body. I don't mean tomorrow layers. I'm really just talking to myself and trying to talk myself out of this New York winter, which hasn't been as rough as before. Anyway, I'm going to see you next time kids. Feel free to rate review. Tell your friends to subscribe, please.
We're about to hit 100,000 listens. Seems like a solid number. Thank you for listening and sharing it with your friends. It means a lot to me because this podcast is how I trap people into deep conversations. If you'd like to rate the podcast, which is something you've probably been contemplating, please do. Recently, I finished the second draft of this strategy book I'm writing and I wanted to read out the first chapter - Fighting Words. There's still work to do but it will give you a sense of the attitude of the book. There are two main sections to the book. The first half focuses on 24 words that I find strategists and account planners using (or needing to use) in their work (clarity, meaning, truth, impostor, lonewolf, etc). It's surreal philosophy of sorts. I want it to feel like I'm in your head because I'm channeling hundreds - maybe thousands - of conversations, emails, and meetings. The second half of the book is more practical. It compiles frameworks from my "Strategy! The Workout" training sessions, helps you understand how to apply them, while also breaking down what ideas, problems, insights, and strategy statements are. I want to get "Strategy Is Your Words" onto desks and walls (posters) around the world. There will be a digital version but... I want you to touch this and be able to point to it. I'm just starting on launch and marketing plans. I'm open to ideas :) Enjoy. Mark     For more strategy talk: 1. Strategy newsletter: http://www.markpollard.net/email-newsletter/ 2. Strategy drawings: http://www.instagram.com/markpollard  3. Strategy Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/markpollard 4. 