Read on Twitter
I've been a big fan of @davetrott ever since I first discovered Predatory thinking about a year ago.
Here are 10 of my favourite ideas he shares in his books:
Here are 10 of my favourite ideas he shares in his books:
1. Good Advertising requires empathy. (Predatory Thinking)
‘Most people ignore advertising because most advertising ignores people.’ That’s why only the best advertising actually works.
This mistake is so common it's mad people actually get paid for some of their work.
‘Most people ignore advertising because most advertising ignores people.’ That’s why only the best advertising actually works.
This mistake is so common it's mad people actually get paid for some of their work.
The majority of advertising goes to waste.
Which could be solved by simply turning the telescope around and looking at it from the other end. The people’s end. Instead of the advertising agency’s end.
Which could be solved by simply turning the telescope around and looking at it from the other end. The people’s end. Instead of the advertising agency’s end.
2. The link between Knowledge, Scepticism and experimentation: (Predatory Thinking)
'Ignorance lies in reacting. And knowledge lies in experimenting.'
'Ignorance lies in reacting. And knowledge lies in experimenting.'
Scepticism says, ‘I don’t believe it until you prove it.’ Cynicism says, ‘I don’t believe it even if you prove it.’ All knowledge lies in scepticism. Bigotry and ignorance lie in cynicism.
3. Say something and mean it: (Predatory Thinking)
Ask yourself before you threaten something, are you really prepared to carry it out?
Someone has to know that when you say something, you mean it. Otherwise don’t say it.
Ask yourself before you threaten something, are you really prepared to carry it out?
Someone has to know that when you say something, you mean it. Otherwise don’t say it.
4. Technology is a tool: (Predatory Thinking)
We spend millions upon millions of dollars doing something that makes us feel reassured but is totally ineffective. Just because we have a belief that technology is always superior.
We spend millions upon millions of dollars doing something that makes us feel reassured but is totally ineffective. Just because we have a belief that technology is always superior.
But, technology is a tool. And, like any tool, we can hold it by either the handle or the blade.
5. Imagination and Fear: (Predatory Thinking)
Fear is the anticipation of bad outcomes.
What we fear is nearly always worse than the reality.
The problem is pictures are finite. Whereas imagination is infinite. Imagination is always as far as you can possibly go, plus one.
Fear is the anticipation of bad outcomes.
What we fear is nearly always worse than the reality.
The problem is pictures are finite. Whereas imagination is infinite. Imagination is always as far as you can possibly go, plus one.
So stop imagining what your boss thinks of you and fretting over your problems, all the things that might go wrong. All of this can stop you doing great and exciting things.
Buddha had said over 2,000 years earlier: ‘Nothing can harm a man so much as his own thoughts untamed.’
Buddha had said over 2,000 years earlier: ‘Nothing can harm a man so much as his own thoughts untamed.’
6. Question your assumptions: (Predatory Thinking)
Dave used to think other people are lazy and there was no excuse for laziness.
Dave used to think other people are lazy and there was no excuse for laziness.
Then one day his colleague Paul Bainsfair said, ‘Dave, have you ever thought, maybe it isn’t that people don’t want to do what you want. Maybe it’s that they can’t do what you want?’
Ask yourself, what are you assuming in this judgement?
Ask yourself, what are you assuming in this judgement?
7. Complaining isn't a strategy (One + One = Three)
"You can have what you want, or you can have your reasons for not having it."
As @GlimmerGuy says "If you never actually do anything about a problem yourself than you aren’t questioning it, you are complaining."
"You can have what you want, or you can have your reasons for not having it."
As @GlimmerGuy says "If you never actually do anything about a problem yourself than you aren’t questioning it, you are complaining."
8. A brand is just a reputation (One + One = Three)
A brand is another word for reputation or image.
You don’t get a reputation just by claiming something. The product creates experience. The experience creates a reputation. The reputation creates the brand.
A brand is another word for reputation or image.
You don’t get a reputation just by claiming something. The product creates experience. The experience creates a reputation. The reputation creates the brand.
Dave says - "Don’t tell me you’re a comedian, make me laugh."
Remember, proof always works better than a claim.
Remember, proof always works better than a claim.
9. Change the problem to something you can solve. (One + One = Three)
Reinterpreting the brief is often solving the problem. Sometimes you have to get upstream and change the problem from one you can’t solve to the one you can.
Reinterpreting the brief is often solving the problem. Sometimes you have to get upstream and change the problem from one you can’t solve to the one you can.
Example: Councils were increasingly becoming annoyed by people putting up event posters.
So they re-interpreted the brief from how do we get people to post fewer posters to how do we make them want to take them down?
So what did they do?
So they re-interpreted the brief from how do we get people to post fewer posters to how do we make them want to take them down?
So what did they do?
Councils started slapping cancelled signs on all the posters. Changing the problem from the council not wanting the posters up to the individuals not wanting the posters up.
Problem solved.
Problem solved.
10. The overlooked is often where the opportunities are (Creative Blindness)
Johnathan Swift “ The ability to look at something everyone has looked at, and see something no one else has seen”
Look for an advantage in a place nobody else was even thinking about.
Johnathan Swift “ The ability to look at something everyone has looked at, and see something no one else has seen”
Look for an advantage in a place nobody else was even thinking about.
Ask: What do people take for granted?
Discover and emphasise what makes you great, don’t copy others.
As that’s what people do. They copy each other without thinking.
Discover and emphasise what makes you great, don’t copy others.
As that’s what people do. They copy each other without thinking.
