Well it's time again to nominate your good reads for Post of the Month. If there's something that you've read over the past month that you thought is worth nominating do send me the link or leave it in the comments below and when I have a good list I'll put them all up for a vote. As usual I've listed a starting shortlist below but please do add to these - so my starting three posts are:
The Milky Bar Adult by Dave Dye
Brush your teeth: why we still haven't found work/life balance by Aparna Bangur
The Useful Human Truth: Nine Lessons from Joni Mitchell by Jim Carroll
Please do add to these nominations.
I was so pleased when Jim Carroll said that he'd record an episode of Google Firestarters. As the former Chairman of BBH London and now a brand consultant he has so many pearls of wisdom about planning, strategy, the industry and life, and his blog is a wonderful fusion of art, culture and strategic wisdom. And true to form, this episode features many fascinating stories, analogies and insights on topics ranging from why planners need a continuous stream of inputs, the value they can bring as outsiders, and how they should act as psychotherapists to clients rather than doctors - listening, looking for patterns and insights. He talked about the risks of an over-focus on efficiency (what he called 'windtunnel marketing'), how case studies don't lead to transformative thinking, and how marketing can sometimes concern itself too much with looking back at success and sideways at competitive activities. So much to digest in this one. I hope you enjoy it.
Don't forget that you can watch all of the episodes of Google Firestarters that have been recorded so far over here.
I loved recording this new episode of Google Firestarters with the brilliant Emma Cookson. Emma is a Partner at You & Mr Jones, a truly fascinating agency group that bills itself as 'the world's first Brandtech group' and brings together a collection of interesting agency businesses around data, content, influencer marketing and in-house creative. Unsurprisingly Emma has some really great perspective around the whole in-housing debate, but also is really insightful around how the ability to simplify is a super-power for strategists, the difference between simplicity and being simplistic, and a great story about what can happen when you're trending globally on Twitter (and not in a good way). It's such an honest and joyful episode so my thanks to Emma for being a part of Firestarters.
Thanks to everyone that nominated and voted this month. There were several posts in this month's crop that garnered a good number of votes but in the end it was James Hankins and JP Castlin's piece on the changing world of ecommerce that got the most. So well done to you both. You are entered into the hall of fame. Nominations for the next vote will open early October.
Only Dead Fish is a blog and digital consultancy run by Neil Perkin. Neil is the author of two best-selling books on the intersection of business transformation and organisational agility: Building the Agile Business and Agile Transformation (both through Kogan Page), and the curator of Google Firestarters
