#2 I thought about a good line here but forgot it.

I’m gonna look through my notes after this.

Hi,

This is Room To Fail, a newsletter about learning how to become a strategist right beside me, a junior-strat that is constantly (and fearfully) looking for things to do wrong & fail at, just to only get them right the next time. Or the next.

I’m Irina. Welcome and buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride. Hopefully.

🧠⚡︎BRAIN FAILURE

While writing this I was going through the whole past week and can’t seem to remember much of it. Yeah, it is a lock-down-every-day-is-the-same symptom, but to me it’s not that new. Like I read and watch and listen and talk and are trying to push things inside my brain and 3 days later I can’t even remember the name of that video so I can look it up. Have you ever felt like this?

Sometimes I’m concerned I have a really bad memory problem, but then I remember where in the house is that pen we brought home from IKEA 3 years ago and know I’m fine. Yeah, it looks like my most convenient memory palace is my apartment, but in it I keep exactly what’s in the house. Helpful when you need the screwdriver, not helpful when you’re looking for that book with that idea that felt useful.

As a strategist, I feel like my clarity & explaining relies on many examples, case studies and words people say - and memory plays a great part in nailing that. That’s why I get kinda frustrated when I realise I can’t remember things I’ve read or listened to. Sometimes I feel I can’t get better at this job because I don’t remember much of what I read. So that’s why I use tons of notebooks and markers, bookmarks, folders upon folders, tags, reminders, screenshots and so on. And I try to practice everything I learn. Or at least I learn what I practice & forget the rest.

And we all have that friend that remembers freaking EVERYTHING. You know, the one that rolls eyes when you forget that the book you talk about was a present from them. Alien, I tell you! I don’t have room for that in my mind, man. I need space for IKEA pencils!

How do you organise things so you can remember more? Got any tips? Any memory palace architects hehe (don’t palm your face too hard)?

🤯 “HOW DID THEY THINK ABOUT THAT?!” SECTION

The day I publicly announced to people at my ex-agency that I was turning to strategy was a strange mix of feelings. Everyone seemed sort of freak out and try to reconfigure right then and there how they will work without copywriter-me.

But I was so excited that I went straight to strategy people in the agency and asked what’s the first thing to do. No clear answer on that, but I got this - Julian Cole and his deck for Day 1 advice for new planners from old planners (with extra links at the end, omg!).

This makes me feel determined EVERY time I read it. Yeah, we all need that motivation push from time to time, right?! So bookmark the 💩 out of this one!

🍴INTERESTING TOOLS TO GET WRONG

Well, I wouldn’t call this a tool but it’s an essential thing to think about when you start any project. I think about it like this: You need to know where you want to get so that you find your way to that place. 

No, I don’t mean Uber. I’m talking about defining objectives.

I found myself quite often in this situation: asking about objectives and receiving shoulder shrugs, a long yoga-sigh or nothing more than “increase sales”, “create awareness” and “generate trial”. If that’s it, why aren’t all ads the same?!
People rarely discuss objectives - like really think about each of them, define them right and smart. We’re quickly into doing things and seeing where that takes us. Cool for Tinder, not cool for planning jobs. 

So this is how I use this scheme to do strategy (and so many other things in life) better. The really short version:

There are 3 types of objectives we meet while doing some communication strategy: business 👉 marketing 👉 communication. As the little hand-arrows suggest, each one determines the next, from general to specific.

Business management defines the business ones, marketing teams usually define the marketing ones and the communication ones. Strategists translate them into plans and creative briefs. But more often than not strats define the comms objectives too. Or I may be wrong. How does this happen where you work? 

Anyway, I think we need to understand all of them to have a belvedere (oh, I miss travelling!) view over the project and the industry.

Next, make them SMART objectives - like specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and recorded, time-bound. And try to use a model to help you with that - like AIDA, or Communication Effect Pyramid.

The long version on how good objectives sound and more resources about defining is here. 

📚 THE STRATEGY BOOK CLUB

(Underthink it, Adam Pierno - COMPLETED: Y/N, 30 pages)

So I went through the first 4 chapters and I really like how this one’s written.

While trying to set up a training for his new strategy members and realising he has no formal training syllabus, Adam Pierno treated writing this as a strategy task and came up with this 140 pages book “meant to be picked up whenever you or someone in your team is starting a new project and looking for reinforcement or reminding of some of the fundamentals of what we do”. So it seems like this one is getting a lot of dog ear pages. 

One thing I enjoyed from the first pages is the lack of big words - an idea that he addresses and illustrates by cutting them with a strikethrough. I don’t know if it’s the copywriter in me, but I love when you actually do what you preach. 

And here’s another one that took some of the anxiety off: “The best strategic thought doesn't have to come from you.” Well, of course I want to do my job and sound smart, but knowing you don’t have to have all the answers feels better. I take this: my task is to get inspiration not only for myself, but also for the teams I work in, and maybe spark that great idea.

What are you reading? Read this one and want to share some thoughts? 

Almost done with me. Did this feel shorter? 
Told you I will fail, but that’s why we’re here.

So stay curious and keep failing - only to become better,

i.

I would love to get your advice, questions and suggestions. Tell me how this newsletter is failing so I can make it better. So stop thinking it’s a stupid question or poor advice. Just press reply and write to me (actually I don’t know if that’s working yet so if I don’t respond you can Facebook, Insta or Tweet me)!