The Strategy Inside Everything

A person has been able to receive the thoughts, emotions, intent transmitted by another across media. Maybe more amazingly, a person has been able to translate that transmission. Artistic transmissions are able to be sent by children to their parents, and across eons on cave walls. The most able are thought of as artists. The word 'artist' conjures tools, media, constructs. It might bring up oil paints, museums, brushes and knives. Or cameras, lights, microphones. Apple's recent ad depicting the compaction of art tools into a single digital container (The thinnest ever! Uh cool, right?) touched a nerve. But the nerve isn't specific to the iPad. Art has been created and transmitted through a set of processes for hundreds of years with plodding advances over time. Even the current digital revolution has been going on for ~forty years. In the 90's the comic book world bristled at Batman: Digital Justice which introduced digital art to a format famously in love with hand-craft. Now, no panel in a comic isn't created or enhanced by software and digital craft. What Apple may have revealed is a fear of the abstraction of art's creation. How different is it to create a sculpture by hand than to use Photoshop to emulate one? Dramatically so. But how different is it for a consumer of both pieces to behold a photo of the sculpture next to a .jpg emulating it? Not very different. Every new technology and technique has been examined dubiously, expected to bring art down from its higher purpose to a mere commodity. A system where the methods themselves are easily obtained and mastered by anyone with an idea. And here we are. I'm producing an audio program, with no audio training, using digital tools and artificial intelligence to capture and improve the quality of the voices and sound effects. I'm distributing this ostensibly to everyone in the world, with the ability for you, with an interest in these topics (or perhaps brought here by the keywords within this very piece) to consume as much or as little as you desire, and to review as you see fit, even with no education in critical writing. Creating a painting is easy. A billion children do it every week. Creating a painting that communicates a unique mix of emotion, intent, movement, context and that is effectively received by an audience is nearly impossible. Yet, when it comes to AI tools, and we're primarily thinking of those as Generative AI visual tools today (think Midjourney), we assume anyone can both provide the prompt and master the transmission of feeling. Is this so? I had the pleasure of speaking with the following group to help me think through this bramble: Amy Bryzgel is an art history professor at Northeastern University. She's researched and published books on performance art in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Her current research looks at pedagogic practices related to performance art in Eastern Europe, networks of development, exchange and dissemination. She's studied changes in the practice and teaching of performance art going back to the 1960's. Double Plus is a working artist in sculpture and other media and also runs an alternative tea house, third space, art house, working with artists on events and installations. He is a prominent Prompt Engineer, exploring the limits of generative AI. He uses this pseudonym so his identity doesn't affect the perceptions of viewers of his art. Grace Ebert is a writer and editor with a background in literature and journalism, managing Colossal's editorial projects and lead an artist workshop series. She's taught, lectured and also serves on the board for Chicago Books to Women in Prison, and has co-curated At the Precipice: Responses to the Climate Crisis at the Design Museum of Chicago. This show works better with you involved. Share your feedback at https://thatsnotaninsight.com/. Music from Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/bpmoore/call-ended License code: JXGDFVHZSYAMWRET --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-pierno/message

It's Adam. I'm planning a light weight version of the show that I can support in 2024 along with my work on In the Demo (with the one and only Farrah Bostic). I can't do that without thoughts, ideas, questions from you, the listeners. There's three ways to share your thinking with me: Voice message through Spotify. It's easy. Click here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-piernohttps://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-pierno and find the button that says "Send voice message." Fill out a form on the podcast website, thatsnotaninsight.com. It's right there on the homepage, go for it. The Q&A on this episode's show notes (Spotify listeners only, which is about 10% of you). Or just email me or message me directly on LinkedIn. I'm no longer active on any other social media (even Twitter, can you believe it?), so please, just email or LinkedIn. What topics are you interested in? What people would you love to hear from? What stories have you been turning over in your mind that you'd like to expand? Also, please no PR pitches. I won't be taking pitched guests in this iteration of the show. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-pierno/support

Shall we play a game? Sorry, couldn't resist and I know that only people over 40 will get the joke. Jamin Warren of Twofivesix has been working in gaming for long enough to see the influence of games come full circle. Before, games tried to capitalize on pop culture, like films (anyone played the ET game?) but for the past decade, games have become a source of influence of pop culture (see: The Last of Us). Jamin takes us through what gaming means to people and how that influence plays out. Find Jamin Warren at https://twofivesix.co/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamin-warren-5149aa20/ The Strategy Inside Everything is produced by me, Adam Pierno. If you like what you've heard, leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts.  Actually, I have no idea if that helps, or if it's ever done anybody any  good. If you really want to help the show, and you like what you've  heard, share it with someone else you think will dig it. That's the best  way to help the show and keep the conversation growing. If you have an idea, a question or want to push back, go to thatsnotaninsight.com where you can send me a message or leave me a voicemail that will be added to future shows. New music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Luke Holizna, for more information on his music go to holizna.com. You can also support him by going to his Patreon at patreon.com/Holizna. For more information on me, you can go to AdamPierno.com To learn about my books, my speaking and my consulting practice. Thanks for listening. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/adam-pierno/support

You are no doubt familiar with some of the elements of dating apps that have become UX and pop culture staples. For some of you, you're all too familiar with the ways gamified UX features affect approach to dating. Dr. Katy Coduto can explain why. She's been researching dating apps and behaviors for years. A researcher and Assistant Professor at Boston University (go Terriers!), she's been looking at the ways each swipe and tap has impacted the dating scene and the people living it on a day-to-day basis. She has insights into how the UX we use can become the prism through which we see the activity. You can find Katy Coduto here: https://kdcoduto.com/ I first hear her on this episode of WBUR's The Endless Thread podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-bot-bad-bot-part-v-dating-bots/id1321060753?i=1000589578515&l=fr The Strategy Inside Everything is produced by me, Adam Pierno. If you like what you've heard, leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Actually, I have no idea if that helps, or if it's ever done anybody any good. If you really want to help the show, and you like what you've heard, share it with someone else you think will dig it. That's the best way to help the show and keep the conversation growing. If you have an idea, a question or want to push back, go to thatsnotaninsight.com where you can send me a message or leave me a voicemail that will be added to future shows. New music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Luke Holizna, for more information on his music go to holizna.com. You can also support him by going to his Patreon at patreon.com/Holizna. For more information on me, you can go to AdamPierno.com To learn about my books, my speaking and my consulting practice. Thanks for listening. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

You've probably read or heard a lot about the plight of news in America, and specifically how local news has shrunk over the years. LION is an organization started to help more local groups successfully report their local news. Lisa Heyamoto, Programming Director, Membership Education at LION helps develop tools and training to help these local groups thrive. We talk about how they approach tools and training, and where she sees needs among these startups and entrepreneurs. Find Lisa Heyamoto at LIONpublishers.com The Strategy Inside Everything is produced by me, Adam Pierno. If you like what you've heard, leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Actually, I have no idea if that helps, or if it's ever done anybody any good. If you really want to help the show, and you like what you've heard, share it with someone else you think will dig it. That's the best way to help the show and keep the conversation growing. If you have an idea, a question or want to push back, go to thatsnotaninsight.com where you can send me a message or leave me a voicemail that will be added to future shows. New music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Luke Holizna, for more information on his music go to holizna.com. You can also support him by going to his Patreon at patreon.com/Holizna. For more information on me, you can go to AdamPierno.com To learn about my books, my speaking and my consulting practice. Thanks for listening. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

If you're interested in memes, this show is for you. Managing director at Literally Media and Editor in chief of Know Your Meme, Don Caldwell joins Adam to talk about how memes have evolved from the early days of the commercial internet and how they look like they'll change going forward. Don's been at Know Your Meme for some of the memes that pop in your head when you describe what memes mean, the context he provides is rich. Find Don at knowyourmeme.com and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/don-caldwell-67b39016/ A great companion to this episode would be Amanda Brennan's recent conversation with Adam: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/lsRveNcGpxb The Strategy Inside Everything is produced by me, Adam Pierno. If you like what you've heard, leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Actually, I have no idea if that helps, or if it's ever done anybody any good. If you really want to help the show, and you like what you've heard, share it with someone else you think will dig it. That's the best way to help the show and keep the conversation growing. If you have an idea, a question or want to push back, go to thatsnotaninsight.com where you can send me a message or leave me a voicemail that will be added to future shows. New music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Luke Holizna, for more information on his music go to holizna.com. You can also support him by going to his Patreon at patreon.com/Holizna. For more information on me, you can go to AdamPierno.com To learn about my books, my speaking and my consulting practice. Thanks for listening. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Have you ever felt like you hit the wall? How did you get through it when you know stopping isn's a long term solution. Nishita Tamuly joins the show and talks about what's she has discovered about intention as a powerful force for overcoming burnout. She's joined by the one. The only. Kaitlin Maud-Moon (horn sound effect here). Find Kaitlin at: https://kaitlinmaud.com/ Kaitlin - sincere thanks for hosting this conversation. But wait? Where the hell is Adam? He's been working on a new show, In the Demo, all about the origins of the Millennial Myth. You can listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-the-demo/id1655565898. He'll be back for the next episode and you'll be hearing more from Kaitlin and maybe some other voices. The Strategy Inside Everything is produced by me, Adam Pierno. If you like what you've heard, leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Actually, I have no idea if that helps, or if it's ever done anybody any good. If you really want to help the show, and you like what you've heard, share it with someone else you think will dig it. That's the best way to help the show and keep the conversation growing. If you have an idea, a question or want to push back, go to thatsnotaninsight.com where you can send me a message or leave me a voicemail that will be added to future shows. New music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Luke Holizna, for more information on his music go to holizna.com. You can also support him by going to his Patreon at patreon.com/Holizna. For more information on me, you can go to AdamPierno.com To learn about my books, my speaking and my consulting practice. Thanks for listening. Show notes: 0:02 Nishita's career to date 6:36 The desire map and how it relates to goals 11:14 Dealing with emotional burnout 18:09 The power of writing in the artists way 24:57 The power of gentle actions 33:10 How burnout teaches us that we have finite energy 37:39 How to get support from others 42:24 The parallels between burnout and burnout from work --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

How much time do you spend thinking about how you might perform better - at your job or in other areas of your life. Just in time for your new year's resolution, Dr. Carla Fowler is thinking about it for you. After leaving a pursuit of medicine, she realized she wanted to help people, but in a different way. She's gone on to build THAXA Executive Coaching. In this revealing conversation, she and Adam discuss where knowledge workers often go wrong when they approach performance improvement, and how they might think about it more productively. Find Carla Fowler at THAXA and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-fowler/ Find your host, Adam Pierno at www.adampierno.com The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail. The most interesting messages will be added to future episodes. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. Show notes: 0:02 How Carla got to where she is today at THAXA 2:40 The decision to leave medicine and start a business 7:47 The importance of having a multi-pronged strategy 13:07 What are signs of confusion? 15:32 What do people want out of your career arc? 19:24 The importance of asking questions to help people understand their industry 25:03 What is an extreme outcome goal? 27:43 Process vs. outcome goals. 33:34 How do you promote yourself when there isn't a scoreboard? 39:44 How does time play a role in a person's success? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

How do the skills you learn in one industry set you up for future career success in another? Both Ezra Englebardt and Matt Rainone started inside ad agencies working on planning and strategy. Now, they're both in house at CVS Health moving forward complex and occasionally sensitive comms efforts, using some of those same skills. In this conversation, you'll hear how they think about their time in agencies and how they value the lessons they learned there in their day to day. This conversation is graciously hosted by former guest, friend of the show, talented strategy consultant and good person™ - Kaitlin Maud-Moon!!! You can find Matt Rainone on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matt_Rainone Find Ezra Englebardt there as well: https://twitter.com/ezra802 Find Kaitlin at: https://kaitlinmaud.com/ Kaitlin - sincere thanks for hosting this conversation. Thanks to the three voices heard in this episode for getting together a second time after Adam dropped the meat in the dirt with the recording. But wait? Where the hell is Adam? He's been working on a new show, In the Demo, all about the origins of the Millennial Myth. You can listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-the-demo/id1655565898. He'll be back for the next episode and you'll be hearing more from Kaitlin and maybe some other voices. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

How many times have you come up with an idea, and then you have no idea how to measure it to see if it's successful? Nick Bond writes (and thinks and dreams) about professional wrestling. While acknowledging that WWE promotes a scripted sport, which he describes as subjective, Nick identified a clever way to measure how wrestlers are performing over time. In this fast-moving conversation, Nick talks about what he was trying to solve for, how he found a model to build on and how he continues to refine his POP Plus metric, now used by The Ringer to help rank and contextualize pro wrestlers. Read Nick Bond on The Ringer and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/THEN1CKSTER Find your host, Adam Pierno at www.adampierno.com The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The most interesting messages will be added to future episodes. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

A new podcast from the makers of The Strategy Inside Everything.  How did the generation defined by hope become the enemy? Where do stories this big come from? And why does it matter? Introducing, in the demo. A new podcast about how stories of groups are created, subverted and destroyed. On the first season, experienced strategists and researchers Farrah Bostic and Adam Pierno pursue the origins of the Millennial Myth. Farrah Bostic is the founder and Head of Research & Strategy of, The Difference Engine, a strategic insights consultancy focused on helping business leaders make decisions. Adam Pierno, author and brand consultant and managing director of brand strategy at Arizona State University. Available wherever you get your podcasts now. Follow or subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-the-demo/id1655565898, Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0MUnoviXx1KidEpWds9Pma?si=38aOLGsgT9aTWanagPMYFQ or iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-in-the-demo-104887340/? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Author Brooke Sellas (she's still getting used to that descriptor) has been leading and measuring conversations for years. As CEO of B Squared Media, she's developed a model for metrics that have meaning and help organizations understand what is happening and why. Instead of generic measures linked to 'engagement' she reports on a return on conversation that has elasticity to better capture the needs of the particular organization, and those it is conversation with. Her book, Conversations That Connect, maps her creation of the model and how to best use it. Find Conversations That Connect here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B4WLP1BQ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0 Find Brooke B. Sellas here: bsquared.media Find your host, Adam Pierno at www.adampierno.com The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The most interesting messages will be added to future episodes. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Ever wonder why a meme resonates with you so hard? Ever catch yourself realizing the dumb looping video you just giggled at and retweeted is actually a clever commentary on a common social convention? Ever apply library science skills to one of the largest meme data sets in the world? Okay, two out of three ain't bad. Amanda Brennan joins Adam to talk about her path into the world of internet culture and memes, and how she makes sense of it all. Her passion for memes is rivaled by her understanding of the form. Find Amanda on Tumblr: memelibrarian.com On Twitter: https://twitter.com/continuants And on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/continuants/ But definitely not on TikTok (as of this recording) Find your host, Adam Pierno at www.adampierno.com The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The best and most interesting messages will be added to future episodes, and I can't wait to hear from you. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

If you are a regular listener to this show, you probably make plans for a living. Ever feel like the job stalls out in Google Slides? Like, you work on the thinking but seeing it take flight is never quite right? Aric Wood of XPLANE gets strategies airborne for a living. He wrote a book, called The Strategy Activation Playbook, which Adam dug so much while preparing for this conversation, that he read it a second time. This conversation covers the how and why of this book, which will seem pretty clear, but the level of detail in the book, and Aric's insightful description is intriguing. Like Adam's first book, Under Think It, its meant to be a desk reference, flipped open whenever a strategist gets stuck. Find The Strategy Activation Playbook here: https://www.amazon.com/Strategy-Activation-Playbook-Practical-Strategies/dp/1637741820 Find Aric Wood here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aric-wood-588272/ and XPLANE here: https://xplane.com/ Find your host, Adam Pierno at www.adampierno.com The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The best and most interesting messages will be added to future episodes, and I can't wait to hear from you. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Ever meet someone and feel like you've known them your whole life? This episode captures that feeling in real time. The amazing Kaitlin Maud Moon was kind enough to join the show to talk to Adam about her non-linear career path and the inspiration for her pursuit of a degree beyond that work. She's thoughtful about how each body of work informs and enhances the other, and how she tapped into a plan that may have been there all along that. You can find Kaitlin at her site: http://www.kaitlinmaud.com/ and on Twitter (that's where I found her): https://twitter.com/kaitlinmaud Find your host, Adam Pierno at www.adampierno.com The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

***Industry leader, voice of reason and friend of the show, Derek Walker, has been given an unexpected cancer diagnosis. If provided proper treatment, it should be fully recoverable. If you are able, please join us in contributing to this fund to cover the costs of his treatment. https://t.co/20do0oeDRI ***   Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at co:collective, Neil Parker joins Adam to talk about his experience in corporate strategy and how it's informed his thinking about brands. As context changes, brands change. As the meta context changes, the needs for brands to exist change. His perspective as a consultant provides an outlook unique in the world of brand strategy, as he considers how brand managers can shift from the pure focus on ROI metrics to more meaningful outcomes. You can find Neil at co:collective or on Instagram. You may also like our episode with co:collective's Kit Krugman, one of Adam's favorites. Find your host, Adam Pierno at www.adampierno.com The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who  think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push  back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The best and most  interesting messages will be added to future episodes, and I can't  wait to hear from you. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy  consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Katie Dreke has a lot of experience helping people get above the bar. Better thinking, better work, better outcomes. In agencies and global brands, she has tested ways to get people to feel and do their best work. In this conversation, Katie and I explore the conditions that help people perform and some of the specifics Katie has tried in her career at Nike, Adidas and others. If you haven't already, you should go back right now and listen to my earlier conversation with Katie. You can find Katie here on Twitter: https://twitter.com/katiedreke Or on her website: https://drke.co/ Find your host, Adam Pierno at www.adampierno.com The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The best and most interesting messages will be added to future episodes, and I can't wait to hear from you. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Before all this talk of "quiet quitting," Joey Camire noticed people just tapping out of their work and other responsibilities. He realized there was something big going on, something beyond apathy and approaching nihilism. With waves of bad news, how can we reach people to reengage them, and apply meaning where they may have lost it? This conversation touches on ways we put humanity first, and manage what is in our control to inspire others. Joey is principal and managing director at Sylvain. You can find Joey here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/therealjoeycamire/, he talks more about nihilism on Critical Nonsense here. And Sylvain here: https://sylvain.co/ Find your host, Adam Pierno at www.adampierno.com The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The best and most interesting messages will be added to future episodes, and I can't wait to hear from you. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

When Adrian Ho founded Zeus Jones, he had a vision to be a partner that would help solve deeper business problems than the ad agencies in which he got his start. Over time, the firm did just that. Seeing there was more to do to drive change in the world, through business, he and Zeus Jones launched the Demos investment fund to support startups innovating towards a better world. After knowing Adrian by reputation and mutual friends for a long time, we finally connected to talk about his start, training and outlook on improving things around us. Find Adrian Ho here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianho/ Read about Zeus Jones and Demos here: https://tcbmag.com/zeus-jones-invests-in-the-future-of-business/ Find your host, Adam Pierno at www.adampierno.com The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The best and most interesting messages will be added to future episodes, and I can't wait to hear from you. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

I was wondering about role models, especially in the type of work where people are being assigned to do things that they have never done. I didn't have to look far to find the excellent book Mirror Thinking, and its author, Fiona Murden. She is an Organizational Psychologist and the founder of Aroka Ltd. She joined me to talk about how we learn by taking cues from people who set an aspirational example, and where to find those when its not immediately clear. Find Fiona at www.fionamurden.com and her podcast Dot to Dot. Find your host, Adam Pierno at www.adampierno.com The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The best and most interesting messages will be added to future episodes, and I can't wait to hear from you. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Aggregator platforms are always talking about finding new content relevant for you; Netflix, Google, Amazon, Spotify. David C. Lowery has spent a lifetime figuring out first-hand how to find and curate audiences for his own bands, Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, and now teaching all he's learned as a Senior Lecturer at University of Georgia's Terry College of Business. He breaks down how audiences were discovered and nurtured, pre-algorithm. The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The best and most interesting messages will be added to future episodes, and I can't wait to hear from you. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

The initial prompt for this conversation was "What would you accomplish at your job if you had no fear of losing it?" Sara Lobkovich is the perfect person to respond. She not only helps organizations identify and navigate positive change, but she's been challenging her perception of fear in activities like climbing and motorcycling her whole life. What follows is an honest, raw conversation with someone who is keenly aware of the line between security and fear and the benefits of balancing both. You can find Sara at Red Currant. https://redcurrantco.com/ and subscribe to her newsletter at https://ck.redcurrantco.com/subscribe. As an audience, you guys are terrible at providing feedback. I dare you https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The best and most interesting messages will be added to future episodes, and I can't wait to hear from you. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. The Strategy Inside Everything is a podcast for people who think for a living. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Dr. Timothy Summers is Executive Director of Product Development of Digital Trust and Lead of Pocket initiative at Arizona State University and CEO at Summers & Company. He has the knowledge and expertise that would make some people tough for laypeople to understand. But he approaches problem solving and opportunities with practicality that is energizing. I took this opportunity to ask him about how web3 might become the thing we've been reading speculation about, and he had some characteristically intelligent and down-to-earth thoughts on the subject, coming from his work at ASU. You can find Timothy on Twitter at @howhackersthink The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The best and most interesting messages will be added to future episodes, and I can't wait to hear from you. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

At the end of every episode of How I Built It, host Guy Raz asks extremely successful founders whether hard work and smarts played as much of a role as luck. Andy Nairn is the founder of Lucky Generals. He's been paying attention to the role that luck plays in life and brand success, since before stumbling on that name almost ten years ago. Now he's written a book, Go Luck Yourself, to put the stories in context and explaining how to recognize and take advantage when luck smiles on your business and brand. Proceeds from the book are going to support Commercial Break, which creates job opportunities in the creative industries for young, working class talent: https://www.amazon.com/Go-Luck-Yourself-brands-favour/dp/0857198882 Find Andy Nairn on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andynairn?lang=en Andy's shop, Lucky Generals: https://www.luckygenerals.com/ The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The best and most interesting messages will be added to future episodes, and I can't wait to hear from you. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Like many of our guests, Craig Elimeliah thinks a lot about things. But he's thinking a lot about a lot of things, and trying to assemble the pieces to understand patterns. From his early start studying the Talmud, through finding his way in the early commercial web, he's developed a passion for understanding the end user. Now, he's leading teams and passing on that obsession with cross-discipline teams at VMLY&R. He talked to Adam about just how he approaches that. You can find Craig on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CraigElimeliah The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The best and most interesting messages will be added to future episodes, and I can't wait to hear from you. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

After years of traditional strategy training at shops VMLY&R and PHD, Sanya Deshpande was inspried by the offering of Oura Ring. She talks about what elements of her experience have served her in this new world, and what she's had to learn and help create. You can find Sanya on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanyadeshpande/ The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The best and most interesting messages will be added to future episodes, and I can't wait to hear from you. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Kate Knibbs is a senior writer for Wired. In her work, she wants stories to be true and interesting. In pursuit of those goals Kate is a determined researcher. In this conversation, she shares her process and talks about stories which presented unexpected turns in the reporting which lead to better–that is more truthful and interesting stories. Strategists and knowledge workers of all kinds can benefit from this insightful approach. Kate can be found on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Knibbs and Wired: https://www.wired.com/author/kate-knibbs/ We discussed two stories you will probably want to read after hearing about. We worked at Vice, then went to jail. The ClickHole odyssey. The Strategy Inside Everything is the podcast for people who think for a living. If you have an idea, a question or you want to push back on something you hear in this episode, go to https://thatsnotaninsight.com and leave a message or a voicemail for me. The best and most interesting messages will be added to future episodes. And I can't wait to hear from you. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com. If you'd like to support the podcast, you can here: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Carolina Cruz-Letelier has seen career growth from a lot of different angles. From brand side to agency side to jumping to new cities without a job, she's had a chance to think about how people adapt to new teams and organizations, and what prevents success there. Over the wild (understatement?) past years, she's been working with her team at MUH-TAY-ZIK | HOF-FER, to figure out what "culture" really is in the agency and how a new, largely remote team can come together in spirit to deliver great work, and feel like a cohesive unit.  Send us your thoughts about this show: Tweet at us @apierno or @strategy_inside. Leave us a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message. Music for The Strategy Inside Everything is by Sawsquarenoise. Host Adam Pierno is an author, speaker and strategy consultant. Learn more at adampierno.com.  If you'd like to support the podcast, you can here: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Adam Nayman is a film critic, lecturer, and author. In an interview he posted with the maker of the film The Empty Man (which I loved), Adam presses the director on other films he was reminded of or felt was referenced. The interview raised some questions for me about my approach to starting a new strategy assignment. How much do you need to know, to feel like you understand? How much information is too much? What is reasonable. This conversation stays rooted in film, but the bread crumbs to other types of thought work are certainly there. Adam Nayman's book, David Fincher: Mind Games is available now! https://www.amazon.com/David-Fincher-Games-Adam-Nayman/dp/141975341X Find Adam Nayman at Twitter: https://twitter.com/brofromanother?lang=en and The Ringer.  Did you know host Adam Pierno provides strategy consulting services? Learn more at adampierno.com Leave a Voice message for Adam: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Jenny Nicholson, Executive Director, Brand Experience at McKinney began her career as a copywriter. But before landing in advertising, she earned a Master's degree in Social Work. She's always been in touch with how people think and make decisions. Despite working on beautiful and compelling creative, she wondered traditional advertising channels were the most impactful tool which led to the creation of Spent, a game that puts the player in the position of having to make the hard choices necessary to stretch a small household budget over the course of a pretty typical month. Ten years later, this game is used to help teach principles of social work in universities and Jenny has created a unit at McKinney devoted to meaningful experiences. Play Spent here: https://playspent.org/ Find Jenny at http://www.jennysayshi.com/ and https://twitter.com/missjenny. Did you know host Adam Pierno provides strategy consulting services? Learn more at adampierno.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Chief Innovation Officer at UC Irvine and UN Advisor on AI, Neil Sahota, joins a lively discussion with host Adam Pierno on how AI is improving. Improving means getting smarter, but also carving out niches for applications. This wide ranging conversation touches on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and thinking beyond automation. Neil shares examples of eye opening work being done by AI, like a film trailer cut from the full feature with no human editor... See it here. Find Neil on his website, LinkedIn and on Twitter. Interested in learning more about your humble host Adam Pierno? Click here. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Colin Mitchell has come from a traditional planning background at BMP and other shops famous for planning and creative, along with a stop at McDonald's before his current role at Virtue, the agency powered by Vice. Adam and Colin discuss how that planning education from the pre-digital era has informed the powerful work they're doing now to tap into culture and sub-culture trends. You can learn more about Virtue here: https://www.virtueworldwide.com/. For more information on your humble host, Adam Pierno, go to his website. Did you know, Adam is available to speak or moderate panels and events? Reach out today. Want to help the show? The best way is to share a specific episode with someone you think will enjoy it. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Reginald Cash, CEO of 3BLACKDOT joins Adam for an in-depth discussion about how creators are transcending (escaping?) the confines of platforms through their own creativity. His background spans the NY party scene and top-levels of high finance communications, providing a different prism to the oft rehashed world of creators, looking at it beyond typical marketing implications. Find more about Reg here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reginald-cash-3614a898/ Learn about 3BLACKDOT: https://www.3blackdot.com/ Want to know more about your humble host, Adam Pierno? Check out his work, books and speaking here: adampierno.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Where do you fit in and why? Christina Garnett has figured out that people rarely fit in to communities that aren't welcoming. She's been single-handedly making Twitter friendlier (put her on the payroll, cowards!) and sharing insights about how to nurture meaningful communities. If you're a long-time listener, you know I come back to this topic often. See Darien LaBeach's episode for another solid conversation on this topic. It's a recurring passion of mine because I've always felt like an oddball, and am trying to learn what happens inside of groups that gives them their characteristics. Good news, Christina has answers. Find her here. Before and after the episode, we talked Foo Fighters, they are great but they don't need a plug so I'm not linking to them. Here's the original tweet we discuss at the top of the episode. Want more information about the show, Adam's books or his strategy work? Go to adampierno.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Joe Cole joined me from his cross-country travel to share what he's learned building a list of what agencies are serving the interests of oil and fossil fuel companies at Clean Creatives. He's been rallying creative people–and others (that's important) to bring that work into the light, and make it plain who is taking the money. We all have a choice what type of work we do. Joe's work as a creative recruiter with We Are Rosie has shown him that people have more of a voice than ever, and want to work with companies they can be proud of as well as be paid by. Get full access to The Strategy Inside Everything at adampierno.com/podcast-lander Hey, you might be a listener and have no idea, but I've written some books. You can find Under Think It (a marketing strategy handbook) and Specific (a book about trying to build brands in a world that doesn't want any more of them). You can read some fiction I've written here, for free. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

In this episode, I'm joined by Brad Scott of Applied Design Works. I wanted to talk to him about how Applied worked with the Braille Institute on a branding project and ended up developing a font intended for people with visual impairment, that they called Atkinson Hyperlegible. We talk about getting to that solution, and how to work on challenges you have never experienced - and therefore can't describe - for yourself. http://helloapplied.com https://brailleinstitute.org/freefont Please let me know if you'd like a transcript of this episode. For more information on my writing and work, check out adampierno.com. Drop me a line about a project or let me know if you have a guest for the show. If you want to help the show, the best thing you can do (besides subscribing) is sharing your favorite episode with someone you think will enjoy it. Let me know what they think. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Hi there,Did you ever have a feeling you couldn’t explain? Did you ever try to describe a color, using words? If you are a knowledge worker, a lot of what you do depends on your ability to communicate. Your ideas, your solutions are only as useful as your ability to share them in a way that is compelling or inspiring. When you encounter a problem you aren’t experienced in, finding the words can become a challenge, when you are talking to people with expertise. This is like discussing chess with a grand master. They have words, and entire concepts, that I simply don’t know and haven’t seen or experienced.When I train people in strategy, an exercise I have found effective is having people make up words. Working backwards from a problem statement, they invent a word to describe the challenge. This gives them freedom from jargon or repetitive language that they may ascribe to the client or vertical. It allows them to step away from expertise. This is why we sometimes hear wisdom in the words of children. They aren’t trying to impress anyone, they’re just using simple language very clearly. Every so often, I have to remind myself that I enjoy being somewhat of a generalist, because it frees me from locking into single lexicon, and a single solution. I can think of lots of ways in, not just the path I’ve spent years honing expertise in. It also forces me to consult with people more experienced than I am in their areas, so I can learn and expand. In this episode, I’m joined by Brad Scott of Applied Design Works. I wanted to talk to him about how Applied worked with the Braille Institute on a branding project and ended up developing a font intended for people with visual impairment, that they called Atkinson Hyperlegible. We talk about getting to that solution, and how to work on challenges you have never experienced - and therefore can’t describe - for yourself. http://helloapplied.comhttps://brailleinstitute.org/freefontYou have read this far, you are a good person. Please let me know if you’d like a transcript of this episode. For more information on my writing and work, check out adampierno.com. Drop me a line about a project or let me know if you have a guest for the show. If you want to help the show, the best thing you can do (besides subscribing) is sharing your favorite episode with someone you think will enjoy it. Let me know what they think. Get full access to The Strategy Inside Everything at specific.substack.com/subscribe

Leslie Short studies workplace dynamics and to identify how diversity, equity and inclusion can be better woven in–sometimes in places where it has never been considered. Her approach is practical, pragmatic. I was fortunate to speak with her and learn more about the questions she asks, and how she addresses some of the biggest challenges in this space. If you'd like a transcript of this episode, please let me know. Have any questions for me? Head over here or find me on Twitter. For more information on Leslie Short, visit The Cavu Group. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

My favorite projects are geographic ethnographies. Figuring out what makes the people on a certain section of the map act the way they do, and the opportunities that presents for a brand. With so much focus on internet culture, it’s intriguing to uncover the nuance of local communities, local attitudes, local preference that still exists. Sometimes. Weirdly, we have been discussing the end of monoculture for about a decade. I wrote about it in Specific. But we also talk about how globalization, and technology eating everything contribute to a certain sameness of thinking or familiarity from place to place. We’ve all got the same global shops, seen the same global content (anyone seen Squid Games?) and eaten at the same chain restaurants. Yet, wherever humans have a little space, you will find variation. Even if we’re all watching a hidden apartment be discovered in real-time on our For You Page, locally, we’re adding our own spin to it. “Locally” may mean geographically or may exist in our group chat. We are receiving more shared stimuli, but still processing them in different ways, yielding distinct responses. Identifying those processes and their potential outcomes is what makes communications strategy fun. Leslie Short does similar research in workplaces. She studies workplace dynamics and to identify how diversity, equity and inclusion can be better woven in–sometimes in places where it has never been considered. Her approach is practical, pragmatic. I was fortunate to speak with her and learn more about the questions she asks, and how she addresses some of the biggest challenges in this space. If you’d like a transcript of this episode, please let me know. Have any questions for me? Head over here or find me on Twitter. For more information on Leslie Short, visit The Cavu Group. Get full access to The Strategy Inside Everything at specific.substack.com/subscribe

I had to take a break from publishing. Truth, I got extremely busy at my full-time job, some challenging freelance strategy projects for brands, and little disinterested in extra effort beyond all of that. The Strategy Inside Everything is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Thanks for hanging in there while I paused. When I tried to turn the podcast and newsletter machine back on, nothing really happened. Like a lot of procrastination, I assumed it was all about the build up of imaginary pain that prevents me from starting certain work or tasks. But as I waded back into production (real producers would be offended to my version of the craft) I paid attention to each step in the process at what I liked and didn’t like. Honestly, I started this podcast and I continue it for my own selfish purposes. I do it to speak to and learn from smart people. People who are experts in their field, or who have information I find interesting or have questions to work through together. That learning is the part I care most about, followed by the conversations that kick off with people who listen after (nearly) every episode. Everything else, meh. Coordinating schedules, recording, editing, transcribing, blech. Even writing this letter, until my fingers touch the keys was just overwhelming me.So here’s my request - tell me what parts you like and what you can live without. I did a Twitter and Linked in poll (very scientific) and less than 30% of people said they ever read transcripts. But if a single person tells me they personally read transcripts of this show, I will continue doing them.The good news is I’ve got new conversations lined up, and I’m excited. If you have a guest you’d like to hear on the show, please send them my way. On this episode, Charlie McKittrick joined me and I was so happy for the opportunity to speak with him. He’s seen creative business from a lot of perspectives, and he’s now CSO and Managing Partner at Mother, and agency I’ve long admired (and so have you). His energy for understanding creativity and finding the ways and the space for it to flourish is contagious. He and the very smart people at Mother are working together to learn from the last extremely bizarre 20 months and try new ways to inspire, motivate and respect agency professionals and partners to continue meeting their high standards for results.I would love your feedback on this episode, the show and the letter above. Please @ me on Twitter or email me (adam@adampierno.com). Big favor - choose a favorite episode of the show and share it directly with someone you know. More listeners means more conversation. There’s no transcript this time. Let me know if you miss it, personally. Have a project you want some help with? Please reach out. Get full access to The Strategy Inside Everything at specific.substack.com/subscribe

I had a wonderful conversation with Claire Atkin, co-founder of Check My Ads, which helps firms examine where their media funds are sent by their programmatic partners and software. Claire has an extremely pragmatic approach that makes the work of determining where a brand's ads are running, which can seem overwhelming, very simple. The hard part in many cases is for the firm to decide what is in and out of bounds for its customers, staff and brand. Links: Check my ads - https://www.checkmyads.org/ Claire on Twitter - https://twitter.com/catthekin Look at you. Desperate for a transcript. Okay you can read along on adampierno.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

Some decisions seem really simple. When I get to a fast answer on something, I can get frustrated by questions which aim to bisect something that appears straightforward. But as we're all learning, there are very few simple answers built on something without defined principles. We can't consider every possible decision we will be asked to make, but by clearly defining the basics, unpredictable questions are easier to answer.If only it were that easy. I had a wonderful conversation with Claire Atkin, co-founder of Check My Ads, which helps firms examine where their media funds are sent by their programmatic partners and software. Claire has an extremely pragmatic approach that makes the work of determining where a brand's ads are running, which can seem overwhelming, very simple. The hard part in many cases is for the firm to decide what is in and out of bounds for its customers, staff and brand. Links: Check my ads - https://www.checkmyads.org/Claire on Twitter - https://twitter.com/catthekinLook at you. Desperate for a transcript. Okay you can read along on adampierno.com Get full access to The Strategy Inside Everything at specific.substack.com/subscribe

I spoke with Nick Childs, who is also helping people better tell their story. He's a lifelong creative and leader putting together ads and communications on the biggest stages. He's pretty much seen it all. Now he's started DIRT, a new method for better understanding what works about creative so we can get better at telling stories and driving results (if that's your thing). I am always interested in new possibilities created by research, so I geeked out a little. FYI, I'll be following up for more info on DIRT for my own projects. Want the transcript? Head on over yonder and read it on up: https://www.adampierno.com/nick-childs-helps-tell-your-story/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

How much do you really understand why you’re work is successful? Do you really know what works and what doesn’t? What if all the knowledge you had was somehow trapped in your mind because you hadn’t figured out how to communicate about it. When I was learning to lead strategy teams, I wrote Under Think It. It was as much a document about how to share the information I had as it was about the information itself. Working directly with small and independent companies, I realized how much of a gap there is in the language used by big brands and small companies. I wanted to figure out how to document the work, so small businesses could more easily benefit. Starting this work, I ended up creating an online course for small businesses who have been shut out of brand building. The course, based on Specific, is available now. This first version is for small businesses with physical locations or providing a person-to-person service to customers - not ecommerce. I’ll be adding that in future editions. If you’re a listener, or if a listener clever enough to copy/paste a link, you can save 15% off the cost of the course. I spoke with Nick Childs, who is also helping people better tell their story. He’s a lifelong creative and leader putting together ads and communications on the biggest stages. He’s pretty much seen it all. Now he’s started DIRT, a new method for better understanding what works about creative so we can get better at telling stories and driving results (if that’s your thing). I am always interested in new possibilities created by research, so I geeked out a little. FYI, I’ll be following up for more info on DIRT for my own projects. Want the transcript? Head on over yonder and read it on up: https://www.adampierno.com/nick-childs-helps-tell-your-story/ Get full access to The Strategy Inside Everything at specific.substack.com/subscribe

All day long, you hear challenges and create plans to navigate through them. Briefs, decks whatever. You put in writing the plan for how to get from the place the organization or brand is in today to where it needs to be. Where are you today? Are you where you need to be? If not, how do you approach that challenge? Here's an idea for you: write a brief for you. Strategists are brilliant at framing a problem and mapping the way out, but often pretty terrible at doing this for themselves. I spent some time writing a brief for myself this spring and found it very helpful. I took a few hours to do what I do for brands and business, clarified the challenge, described the obstacles and charted some potential paths forward. This helped me reframe things I had been worrying about a little to much in the greater context of where I could potentially go, and helped me map the path to how to get there. Want help with yours? Find me on Twitter or email me and I'd be happy to see where you are. I'd be interested to see what sort of approach you take and how the briefs are shaped. I'll share interesting stuff with the group (and hide the personal information, obviously). This month, I was extremely lucky to spend an hour talking with Katie Dreke. She is working through a brief of her own and talked me through how she is considering what her next move should be. Listening to this episode, you'll hear audible pauses where I believe I was just trying to keep up. Katie thinks deeply and expresses those thoughts simply. Links: Katie Dreke on TwitterKatie Dreke on the web. Read the transcript here: http://adampierno.com/finding-your-way-with-katie-dreke/ Get full access to The Strategy Inside Everything at specific.substack.com/subscribe

Most industries work in teams. The recent adaptation to the way we work has affected our approach in some simple and profound ways. As I've spoken to strategists and marketers, I've learned that this has impacted the way their assignments happen, or maybe just the way they feel. Work, or parts of work that was formerly done by teams in shared space or at least shaped or nurtured in hallway conversations, has become solo work. Passed from person to person digitally, like an assembly line, in which each person is not always clear on what they are meant to add to the product. It can all feel a bit lonely. Ultimately, each person has a role and a responsibility to the project. What decisions one makes probably hasn't changed. But they may feel more isolating, and more revealing about what is at stake in each case. When you listen to a choir, it's not always clear who is performing which part, while reviewing the 16 track recording tells you exactly who is doing what. Remember, we all dislike the sound of our own recorded voice. So it is with work, we want to know how what we do, what we decide fits in to the bigger picture, how our role contributes to the bigger result. When Thas Nuseemuddeen joined me for the following chat, she revealed a deep intelligence and curiosity about an incredible array of subjects. She casually dropped insightful comments faster than I could take notes. I realized in her role as CEO of Omelet, she is the type of leader thinking about challenges like these that her team may be facing. I never even asked, when she said something I've been thinking about deeply since: Making these decisions can be very lonely. Thas has a perspective on how all the parts of the choir should sound together, and we're fortunate to hear how she thinks in this episode. Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thasnaseemuddeenhttps://twitter.com/thaz7You want to read for yourself? Fine. Go then. Transcript: http://adampierno.com/getting-thas-naseemuddeens-incredible-perspective/ Get full access to The Strategy Inside Everything at specific.substack.com/subscribe

How often do you look back at your old work? A funny thing happened during the recording of this episode. My guest, Ben Perreira began describing something he had done earlier in his career and made an off-hand joke about a decision he made. But we continued to discuss, and he arrived at an insight about what he learned from that experience. I got the feeling he hadn't thought much about that before, as in, he hadn't consciously recognized the lesson that he had clearly internalized. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

How often do you look back at your old work? A funny thing happened during the recording of this episode. My guest, Ben Perreira began describing something he had done earlier in his career and made an off-hand joke about a decision he made. But we continued to discuss, and he arrived at an insight about what he learned from that experience. I got the feeling he hadn't thought much about that before, as in, he hadn't consciously recognized the lesson that he had clearly internalized. This week, someone posted a photo of something from a book on Twitter. And when I saw it, I smirked. "That's clever," I thought before reading the caption, in which I had been tagged. Because I had written it. It was a quote from my first book which was released in 2017 and I forgot all about it. It has literally* been five-hundred years since that book. It got me thinking about going back to our old works, the lessons we've already learned. The lessons we already created. In the meantime, I'm creating an online course for small businesses, based on the work I do for larger brands. Going back through my writing and work, it's a ridiculous amount of knowledge to sift through. Do you realize how much we have to know to make these decisions seem so simple? If you've been doing this strategy thing for a while, you've probably already thought about the request that just landed in your inbox. More than once. You might have already written about it, and almost definitely created some slides on it. I've been going back through the archives to remind myself all of the challenges I've already faced, which I believe gives me confidence for the next challenges to come. Links: https://twitter.com/ben_perreira/Here's a transcript of the audio: http://adampierno.com/ben-perreira-is-learning-through-repetition/ Get full access to The Strategy Inside Everything at specific.substack.com/subscribe

For the past year, there's been a big reason for each of us to think about ourselves. My safety and security. My health. My job security. Basically protecting our small bubble. As vaccination happens en masse and we take our first tenuous steps back towards a physical social world, you may have noticed a broadening of your perspective. Things are transforming from the nearly squarish Zoom screen to the full surround of the real world. This means real actions and real consequence. There will be a million Medium posts on transforming who you are as you come back to the world. That can be as simple as ordering new pants from that no name brand on Instagram or by changing the fundamental way you relate to people. I don't expect I'll change that much, and I will grant you the same hall pass. As we come back, it will be easy to get caught up in the roaring aspect of the return. I am hoping I will be half the person in the new, real-world as I was hiding in my home for the past year. I had the opportunity to speak with Nate Nichols, founder and creative director of Palette Group and co-founder of Allyship & Action. If you weren't inspired to reconsider how you relate to people, or the space you make in the world, you should listen. I only knew Nate from social media, where most of us go to post our victories. Imagine my surprise when I was even more impressed by hearing the full context of what he's been up to and why. If you are building something (and many of you have told me you are) this episode will be instructive. As I prepare to re-enter to world, I'm taking some of these lessons with me, and wondering why I hadn't learned them earlier. https://www.palettegrp.com/https://www.allyshipandaction.com/You’re looking for the transcript, haven't you? You're so predictable. Well, fine. You can get that here: http://adampierno.com/nate-nichols-is-creating-space/ Get full access to The Strategy Inside Everything at specific.substack.com/subscribe

I spoke with the author of Trustworthy, How The Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, Margot Bloomstein about how some brands design their communication and UX around building and maintaining trust, so their customers don't feel icky. In the book, she uses a collection of great examples to make her points, and goes pretty deep on the work they did to identify the point of trust and keep improving on that front. Links: https://appropriateinc.com/trustworthy/ Here is a transcript of the episode: http://adampierno.com/you-can-trust-margot-bloomstein/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/adam-pierno/support

What happens when a promise made by a company is broken? Complaining on Twitter. No more customer. You can lost trust one customer at a time, or en masse. When companies suffer surges in demand that let customers down (Clorox wipes) or just get caught with their hand in the data cookie jar (Facebook), customers begin to ponder the brand. When the promise is kept, there are no questions. Keep buying. Keep logging in. The core of a brand as a promise. It's the promise your company makes–and keeps–to its best audience. There's no brand without that promise that your company is going to perform the task or provide the product in your own special way - that the customer wants and cares about.Clorox Wipes have been out of stock for about a year. I don't grudge the company one bit, but my loyalties (if they ever existed) have evaporated. I no longer trust that I'll be able to find them, so I no longer look for them. Facebook has betrayed our collective trust so many times, I cannot believe I had to sign up for an account (friend me!) after three years away, knowing that they will exploit every 1 and 0 they gather about my digital behavior. Clorox has been replaced. I accept the reasons why their promise was broken. Facebook has lost all trust. I do not accept much of what they've done. I do not like transacting with them. I do not want to do it. The only thing I want less than an Oculus is an Oculus by Facebook. But then, they offer a powerful value proposition. I can connect with my family. I can connect with all the great people on Sweathead. I can advertise to prospects. All in ways I can't do as easily or as well without their service. I overlook their lapses in good behavior and good citizenship, because the benefits for me are more useful. At least I go in with eyes open, I tell myself, as each keystroke is streamed directly to Zuck's data cauldron. If only that were it; that I make this choice despite myself and move on happily with my day. This level of broken trust makes me reflect poorly on my own self-image. I'm a hypocrite for using this platform, the same way one might feel going back to a partner who has cheated on them. Using the service makes me feel bad. About myself. Because it has broken my trust, but I need to use it. Each time I use it, I resent it more, based only on how they've broken my trust up til now, but not factoring for the future failures that I fully expect at this point. Yikes.I spoke with the author of Trustworthy, How The Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, Margot Bloomstein about how some brands design their communication and UX around building and maintaining trust, so their customers don't feel icky. In the book, she uses a collection of great examples to make her points, and goes pretty deep on the work they did to identify the point of trust and keep improving on that front. Links:https://appropriateinc.com/trustworthy/Here is a transcript of the episode: http://adampierno.com/you-can-trust-margot-bloomstein/ Get full access to The Strategy Inside Everything at specific.substack.com/subscribe