sparking curious mind

1. lots of small ideas, not one big idea; whether it be an ad campaign idea, an attempt to make all your marketing materials or business plans look ‘consistent’, any overarching mission or ‘brand essence’…
2. ‘they mean it’: ie people who work there individually ‘get it’ and want to achieve similar things. And you dont have lots of people who think ‘going through the right process’ is actually doing anything.
3. little is written: lots of conversation, video, imagery, design etc. as the medium of sharing thoughts.
4. it’s the company that sets the limits/or lack of them; the quality of individuals is perhaps less of an issue than many people think it is - it’s all a matter of giving people enough coffee and latitude
5. they have unusual (but authentic) ways to learn & keep in touch with people’s lives & reality in general
6. they have instincts and they trust them; ‘if 20,000 of us think who are close to our markets think it is good, then it might well be’
7. they are fast, impatient with detail, keen to get on with things and see how they go

Discovered during a chat, over a coffee, between Russell Davies and John Grant