Strands of Genius: A Plan is not a Strategy, Jeremy Bullmore's Thoughts About Personalisation, and William Orbit's Musings on Creativity
Guest curated by Will Humphrey
Each year we aim to highlight 50 creative thinkers that have inspired us by giving them the opportunity to guest curate this newsletter, Strands of Genius. This edition is guest curated by Will Humphrey, Proposal Strategist at A Consultancy
:: A BIT MORE ABOUT GUEST CURATOR, WILL HUMPHREY::
LOCATION: Surrey, UK
PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: Proposal Strategist at A Consultancy
Hello! My name's Will Humphrey, and I'm a tall, left-handed West Midlander. I've worked in Advertising & comms (PR, CRM, ads and all the bits in-between) for about 15 years. And I've recently moved to a large consultancy to work within their Proposal strategy team. I met Faris when I was a snot-nosed graduate in 2006 or so, where we bonded over English Literature and internet ephemera. Rosie and I haven't met IRL (yet!) I love all things pub quiz, sport (especially football, golf, and cricket) and random trivia related. I live just outside of London with my wife and two young children. I'm partial to a Dad joke and terrible pun.
Editor’s Note (Faris): I first encountered Will in the heyday of the plannersphere (when lots of planners were blogging for a lot) and the associated meet-ups that happened as our community began to coalesce. He started out blogging as a Wannabe-Ad-Man and that ultimately led to him getting a job and a career through various storied agencies. He was always keen to pay it forward, with his AdGrads blog and various initiatives, and he’s a regular on #strategy twitter, where we still interact frequently. We wish him every success in his new endeavor and thank him for this edifying edition!
:: THE LINKS ::
A PLAN IS NOT A STRATEGY
The excellent Roger Martin explains the difference between a Plan and a Strategy. Simply put, it's the neatest, smartest take on the whole debate i've ever read/watched. You should watch it. It'll make you better at your job. (YouTube)
JEREMY BULLMORE’S THOUGHTS ABOUT PERSONALISATION
Jeremy Bullmore, despite being in his 90’s, is wiser than 99.999999% of communications thinkers out there. He's also a brilliant, witty writer. Reading everything he's written would be no bad thing if you want to get better at professional communication. (WPP)
WILLIAM ORBIT’S MUSINGS ON CREATIVITY
I knew Orbit as a super-producer in the 90s and 00's, but hadn't appreciated his brilliant solo stuff, and his musings on creativity and creation. Even if you're not fussed by his music, his thoughts on creativity stand out. (Test Pressing)
Looking for more from Will Humphrey? Those enrolled in The School of Stolen Genius will receive a deep dive from him in their inbox shortly! You can access all our expert interviews for SOSG here.
:: AND NOW… SOME FAST FAVORITES ::
:: Board Game :: Trivial Pursuit
:: City :: Nashville OR Sydney
:: Book :: Keep the Aspidistra Flying OR A Confederacy of Dunces
:: Podcast :: Aeon
:: Album :: Graceland by Paul Simon
:: THIS IS WATER ::
It's a big quote, but I've always enjoyed 'This Is Water' by David Foster Wallace. If you ever muse about the meaning of life, this one's for you.
Hope is a thing with feathers,
Will Humphrey
william.humphrey@yahoo.co.uk
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If you were forwarded this email or are viewing online, we hope you’ll subscribe!
It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)