Life
How To Be White And Happy In South Africa
It’s tough being a rich white male. Alright, now that I’ve got your attention … I’ve witnessed a tectonic shift in this country’s narrative over the last 18 to 24 months. Today, as a white South African, I’m feeling vulnerable. I feel like I can’t speak freely. I feel like I’m damned if I do, […]
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Entrepreneurship
Two Simple Diagrams That Will Save Your Business
Never settle. Businesses – and agencies in particular – mess up when they settle. The biggest enemy of innovation in any company is past success. When you think you have it made – when you think you’ve gotten it right, you’re already in trouble. Winning customers is tough. Keeping customers is tougher. Shaping the future of customer relationships is […]
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Entrepreneurship
Don’t Hire Staff – Rent Them
The toughest part of running Cerebra has been finding, hiring, losing, and firing employees. While client wins and losses and the ups-and-downs in between are emotional rollercoasters in their own right, nothing affects me as deeply as the highs and lows of staff relationships. It’s one thing I haven’t come close to getting right yet. […]
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Entrepreneurship
The Real Secret To Business Success
It’s better to be safe than sorry, right? But, nothing ventured, nothing gained. You should never judge a book by its cover. But clothes make the man (or woman)? Winners never quit. But you should also quit while you’re ahead. Contradictory idioms pepper the English language. Almost every go-to adage has a rational, sensible comeback. I […]
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Uncategorized
Why Internet Famous Isn’t Business Smart
-Companies are appointing successful Instagrammers, accomplished bloggers, and influential “Twelebs” into significant business decision-making positions. But is this smart? I wish I had coined the term “pseulebrity”. The first time I heard it used was in one of Mike Sharman‘s presentations, and it’s become a staple addition to our conversations about how ordinary people achieve extraordinary fame […]
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Life
To My Son On His 10th Birthday
You turned 10 years old just over a week ago. 10 years old! It’s staggering to think that it’s a decade since you arrived in my life, tiny, defenceless, and utterly precious. Today it seems you are growing faster than we can keep up. Your formidable brain and effervescent personality are constant sources of inspiration. […]
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Uncategorized
#AgencyLife – The Big Agency Lie
Let me tell you how advertising agencies work. Agencies, by and large, sell hours. Unless they find a way to productise intellectual property or build a clever piece of proprietary technology, agency businesses scale by adding staff as they add clients. Win a client, hire people. Lose a client, fire people. Agency owners and executives […]
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Entrepreneurship
Meetings Suck. Fix Them With 6 Easy Steps.
“I hate meetings.” The most frequently spoken words at Cerebra. Closely followed by “Let’s have a meeting.” Meetings are widely considered an abominable waste of time. And yet, we still have them. We still have them because, despite all the wondrous technology at our fingertips, we haven’t (yet) developed a comparable replacement for real human […]
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South Africa
9 Ways To Be A Better Jo’Burger
Johannesburg is home. It has been home my whole life and my love affair with this city means I could not dream of living elsewhere unless forced to. This said Jozi can be a tough place to live. She has a brooding temper that bubbles under the surface and manifests in epic thunderstorms, pockmarked roads […]
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Entrepreneurship
It’s Not Personal. It’s Business.
In Saving Private Ryan, there is a beautiful scene set inside an abandoned church that Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) and his squad seek refuge in overnight. In it, Captain Miller and Sergeant Horvath (Tom Sizemore) discuss how many men died under Miller’s command: Captain Miller: You see, when… when you end up killing one of your […]
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