The Indiefield Blog

There are two types of people in the world. Those who will try things and those who won't. Think about a buffet - some people happily load up their plate with a little bit of everything, going back for more if they find something they like and some people will actively avoid certain items and carefully compile their meal.

The truth is, at any point in time we either try new things or we don't. Those who won't are scared of making a mistake and are protecting themselves. The trick is to make people aware of you when they are in the mood to load up their plate.

I am always intrigued by the idea of a 10 year diary. I am sure I had one when I was a kid but never actually managed to fill it, and clearly lived those intervening 10 years. Whatever happens over the next 10 years, if history is any guide at all it will mean that 2022 will be a faded memory for most. What matters more than what has happened, is what we decide to do now. What will we do over the next 3,650 days? Here's to all the possibilities, to being good, and to betting that the future is bright for us all.

The only way that market research clients improve their business is by having the best fieldwork suppliers. It's that simple. Yes they can streamline their internal processes, train their staff to be the best of the best, sell their services to every blue-chip company in the world. But if they buy a poor quality fieldwork supplier it all falls apart. The power of the purchasing department's ability to make or break a project / researcher / company cannot be overstated. Whoever buys the best, wins.

Everyone understands the economies of scale. Bigger hotels can have more guests. Bigger factories make more stuff. Bigger hospitals treat more people. Bigger depots process more packages. But what about being small? If you want to make a profit less overheads and a cut down but refined offering will help. If you want to do the work of a great artist getting rid of worldly obligations and day to day administration will help you do that. Suddenly it is a breeze to produce that product or service line that is offered to just a few lucky clients with 100% of your unfettered attention. We need to re-think these economies... there's something to be said for being small and better.

There's a reason it's a sin. It used to be "thy shall not covet thy neighbours Ox" so in a sense this was all about keeping up with the Jones's. But on social media these days it is so easy to find someone taller, thinner, richer, more beautiful, more intelligent, more successful, liked a lot more, with more followers, online friends, and LinkedIn connections. And there's no doubt you are better and more deserving than them. Ultimately it is all futile. The people above you are better than you, so are the ones below you worse? So when you make it to the top is everyone behind you less than you? I don't think so.

1. It starts with you talking about yourself, and your plans and intentions, to those around you who care about you and have your back.

2. Then it moves into a promotional stage where others bring your message to the wider world (cue advertising agencies and social media postings).

3. From there you move to the journalists and the editorial team talking you up. Not always easy as they may talk you down so it's not without risks.

4. The final stage is when bloggers and content creators are spreading your message.

All this only happens if you are delivering something worth talking about so get busy doing what you do.

The job of a managing director is not to cross things off the list. Her job is to write the list, and then work out what comes next.

Whenever we assess ourselves it is so easy to be brutally cruel and unreasonable because most if us are filled with self-doubt and self-blame. Even the people who appear to so easily project these things on to others. How about we start treating ourselves (and those around us) just a tiny bit more supportively. What would happen if we took more responsibility in order to have the real authority next time. Now there's a thought.

There's very little point to an exchangeable, PowerPoint reading, acronym-spewing middle management type these days. The type of manager who is quick to bitch and whine but slow to actually deliver. But there is a point to managers who can bend the world to their will, with enough initiative and vision to really add value to any project. Be that manager.

The advent of technology and the internet means so many previous administratively burdensome tasks are now done by a PC or are outsourced to someone who does it better, faster and cheaper than you. We no longer have to phone for a taxi we just open our Uber app. If you want to know a fact you don't have to learn anything you can just Google it. So what are we now filling all that digital time with? Oh, I know. TikTok.