‘If I’m not doing my own writing, I’m not properly thinking.’ You’ll be familiar with the idea of visual identity in branding: but what about verbal identity? John Simmons, director at Interbrand, recognised that the language you use as a business is just as important – if not more so…
“What’s important about creativity is not novelty, but difference. I want something different from what is happening now, and difference is much easier to discover because difference means different from now.” There’s a lot of mystique around creativity, but for practical people – people like scientists and engineers – being…
Put an author in front of schoolchildren and you can guarantee that before too long, one of them will ask: ‘Where do you get your ideas?’ It’s a good question, and one that’s just as important for business book writers. In this week’s ‘best bits’ episode we look back over…
‘Expressing an idea and getting it out there is a very skilful process… the principle is to get the other people as interested in the idea you are.’ Creative work is to a large extent invisible – which makes it tricky for managers to manage. It also means that we’re…
Humans don’t easily ‘get’ exponential growth – we’ve evolved in a linear world, and the pace of change we’re facing now can leave us wrong-footed and disoriented. But Azeem Azhar argues that we need to get to grips with it, and fast, if we’re to thrive in the modern world.…
‘Be a bit braver with what you define to be a business book, you don’t need to follow a template.’ Why is B2B marketing typically so dull? Whereas consumer marketing is focused on creativity, engagement and originality, B2B marketing all too often consists of a features list. Mark Choueke is…
‘Productivity isn’t just about efficiency.’ As a Productivity Ninja, Grace Marshall was used to helping people who were struggling – with overloaded inboxes, poor time management, any number of everyday productivity pits. But she noticed that in many cases there was a different kind of struggle going on, one that…
“As writers, what we need to do is find an occasion when that usher is off duty and we can get up there and nip behind the curtain.” Gillie Bolton essentially founded the discipline of reflective practice, having discovered for herself that writing allowed her to go behind the curtain…
‘It is good to speak to the future, the future will listen.’ Those were the words of Ptahhotep, an ancient Egyptian vizier, who lived back in the 25th century BC. He was right – more right than he probably imagined in his wildest dreams: because he wrote those words down…
‘If you are in a position of real power and authority, it’s the dialogue with yourself that defines your capacity to run an organization.’ Dr Pippa Malmgren – economist, entrepreneur, innovator and advisor -returns to the podcast on the publication of The Infinite Leader to talk about how leadership is…
