By Philip Gull

Perspective

Been thinking a lot this week about perspectives.

Present perspective. Having the right mentality, and approach to stuff happening now. Every week is an opportunity. Every week is a chance to get better. Better at ideas, better at strategy, better at story. But not every week has to be death or glory.

Past perspective. Rereading notes. I don’t read the annuals enough. Not even by half. Learning why the advertising industry is the way it is because of the way it was. Learning why my category is the way it is because of the way it was.

Past perspective. Not thinking too much about stuff that happened in a small village in east Wittenberg in 1138 because even though I love that stuff, this year I’ve quickly realised it doesn’t really move a lot of product.

Future perspective. I need to start putting a list together of my dream agencies. I need to do that soon. I need to decide what I want to be doing in five years’ time. More importantly, I need to decide what I want to be thinking in five years’ time.

Partner perspective. How can I make things easier for my partner? How can I take my partner’s idea and yes and them and give them back to them. Until we can create something better than we could have done alone. How can I do that? How can I make sure I’m listening best? How can I make sure I completely understand their SMPs and can execute off them in the best way possible? How can I make sure my SMPs are really clear and fun to execute?

Studio perspective. What’s everyone doing for this brief? What are the trends in the room? What is the knowledge in the room? And, at the moment, how tidy is my actual desk? I need to keep my area clean because it affects my partner too. And probably other people. Flipping desks is surprisingly fun.

CD perspective. What’s a CD looking for? Am I selling my ideas? At this stage, should I even be trying to sell my ideas? Should I just throw them under the bus? And say there are better ones coming? How do I sell my potential. That’s the biggest question I have at the moment.

Audience perspective. Like a weirdo outside a mosque, I need to try on everyone’s shoes. But I need to be more than a weirdo. I need to be a thief. I need to keep those shoes on and really explore what it would feel like to live like a particular person. Their thoughts, their dreams, their mingled hopes and ambitions. Otherwise I shouldn’t be here at all. Which is another perspective I’ve been having recently.

The copy scores 81.4 in the Flesch Reading Ease test