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.com

https://brailleinstitute.org/freefont

You 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.

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.

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.

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.

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/catthekin

Look at you. Desperate for a transcript. Okay you can read along on adampierno.com

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/