Episode 56: In Defence Of Being Difficult

Octopus Digital Strategy

‘The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!”’. Contrast that quote by Jack Kerouac with the direction we are given in our everyday work lives to comply. Comply with process. Comply with systems. Comply with approach. Make decisions through committees. Don’t rock the boat. But ours is a creative industry. It is one that is constantly being disrupted by technology, by the need for innovation, by competition, and the need to cut through the sometimes deafening noise. And there can be no creation without destruction. I don’t believe you can be a great digital strategist without being one of the mad ones, the ones that push the boundaries, that ask the difficult questions, that aren’t satisfied with the status quo, and that would rather die of thirst than drink from the cup of mediocrity.