Here is the mailer for the tour:

The CIPR Scotland Group is hosting a series of events across Scotland – kicking off with a Freshly Brewed training session in Edinburgh designed to help public relations professionals realise their creative potential. Social events will also be held in Aberdeen and Dundee. This is a fantastic opportunity to improve how you manage one of the key assets in public relations – your creativity.

Date: Wednesday 16 May Time: Registration and coffees at 08.45. Training session runs from 09.00 – 13.00 Venue: SYHA, 9 Haddington Place, Edinburgh EH7 4AL Cost: Members, £95 Non-Members £120 (plus VAT and booking fee) Book: Online

The Freshly Brewed training session is designed to help you discover how you can use different tools and techniques to increase creativity in the workplace. Author, PR consultant and international conference speaker, Andy Green, will showcase some of the 57 plus tools outlined inCIPR Innovation and Creativity Toolkit to help you devise new strategies, get the best out of yourself and your team, write creatively and find solutions for your next challenge. 　 The events qualify for five CPD points. Book available online. All places must be prepaid.

Join Andy Green as he helps turn employees into flexible thinkers, by “eliminating stupidity in the workplace”. 　 Andy will be encouraging delegates to think flexibly and join his ‘Stupid Aid’ campaign, a scheme to tackle stupidity caused by inflexible thinking without asking questions.

There will be an opportunity to meet fellow CIPR Scotland representatives and network before and after the event. A light buffet will be served on arrival. 　 This events each qualify for five CPD points. Location: Aberdeen Date: Wednesday 16 May Time: 18.30 for 19.00 start Venue: Carden Church, 6 Carden Place, Aberdeen, AB10 1UR Cost: CIPR members £15; Non members £30; Students £8 (plus VAT and booking fee) Book: Online.

The great innovation writer Rossabeth Moss Kanter highlights how everyone loves inspiring beginnings and happy endings.

It is in the middle however, where the realization that the vision and ideas is actually harder to do than anyone had initially thought. It is here where the hard work kicks in, the tough challenges of implementation emerge, and temptations of the next enticing rainbow appear. Funds and support runs out before victory is in sight

Yet, stop your effort too soon, pull the plug and by definition you create a failure. Post cognitive dissonance kicks-in and all the previous doubts and niggles coalesce into a convincing, ‘Yes, that project was indeed a failure’ confirmation.

I suppose the opposite to Kanter’s Law is what could be called ‘Nike Law’: “Just Do it”.

Yet I think this would be a too simplistic response. The reality is that life and innovation is a bit more complicated than that.

Innovation texts are littered with case studies and inspirational quotes of individuals, teams and organizations that somehow stuck at it, persevered to eventually succeed.

I don’t however, see that many case studies of the numerous examples where obstinate determination, led to good money and effort being wasted. Where an agony or a negative has needlessly been prolonged.

Nobel prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman reports how optimism kicks in when planning for any new project. Rather than accurately benchmark your situation by other similar experiences we get beguiled by the enticing vision and create over-stated, false hope for the do-ability of our new baby.

The innovation reality it seems is that to succeed we need some bi-polarity, both individually and in our teams and groups.

Those who master change have perseverance and stamina. Yet, they are flexible. By expecting obstacles on the road to success they only keep going for what matters.

Sure, intuition and passion are essential ingredients for success. But as the great Spanish philosopher George Santayana observed, a fanatic is someone who redoubles their effort when they have forgotten their aim

F. Scott Fitzgerald defined the sign of a first-rate intelligence as “to hold two opposing views in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”

Innovation author Scott Anthony similarly calls for what he labels ‘innovation bipolarity’ – an ability to switch between two modes of optimism and pessimism.

In my creativity and innovation training I co-opt the needs to think pessimistic with the need to thing ‘Big’; by creating a bigger mental landscape there will inevitably be oasis of optimism to harness and harvest.

Using this contrast technique will create sufficient polarity to ensure you have identified possible weaknesses and negatives to your ideas before others do.

Some tips I would share, partly inspired by Rosabeth Kanter, to ensure you overcome your ‘middle  stage wobbles’ include:

1. Listen to your environment – what has changed in your context
2. Revisit your original assumptions which shaped your thinking: what assumptions did you make about your assumptions?
3. Check your existing support for your project – is it still with you?
4. Identify potential fresh support or impetus to generate new energies, new networks and synergies
5. Spot any early or quick wins with your project. What do they mean to you or your supporters? What can they mean?
6. Revisit your core brand story, your narrative about your project and update it. What ways it is the same story being extended, or is there a new story emerging?
7. Look honestly in the mirror: Don’t confuse passion for fanaticism

I had an initial idea for this article. I did actually it put it to one side when other immediate, urgent tasks emerged. But I revisited it, completed the text as a blog post. (Should I have continued as a White Paper, or even a book?)

I hope you are thinking I’m glad I overcome the middle stage sense of failure to complete this post.

Shame it now appears that it never existed – but it still provides an excellent example of ‘truthiness’.

I delivered a great creative writing session yesterday for the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, with a group of hard-working, talented people.

As usual, there is always something to learn and improve, so I set to work, tweaking the course workbook which features the example of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ad:

“Men wanted for Hazardous Journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.”

It dawned on me that the ad did not have a ‘call to action’. Surely, the original ad must have had some form of response device for intrepid explorers to get in touch.

An innocent search on the web to source the original ad would provide the missing detail.

It now appears however, that the ad never existed.

Research by The Antarctic Circle, a non-commercial forum and resource on historical, literary, bibliographical, artistic and cultural aspects of Antarctica and the South Polar regions – has now laid down a $100 dollar challenge for anyone able to source the original ad.

One theory is that the ad might have been the product of a creative synthesis, which first appeared in 1948 of writer Julian Lewis Watkins’s book The 100 Greatest Advertisements.

An image of the Shackleton ad appears in the book but is clearly an artifice of what the ad would have looked like. (The game is given away with the spelling of ‘honour’ as ‘honor’.)

Shackleton may have used the ad’s phrases, or similar , in his letters and editorial to the Times newspaper, but a definitive ad containing the text does not seem to have ever existed.

So a classic ad, which now even features on T-shirts and has been used in some of the world’s finest creative writing classes (well, sort of) could face being cast off into oblivion.

Wrong! Regardless of the veracity of the ad, what the episode will now reveal is the power of ‘truthiness’ – people will want to hold onto and nurture the truth they want, rather than one formed by a logical reality.

A major philosophical concept, well at least a label, was not created by a philosopher – but by a comedian. During an episode of the political satire show ‘The Colbert Report’ comedian Stephen Colbert coined the word ‘truthiness’. It means in essence: ‘the quality of stating concepts one wishes or believes to be true, rather than the facts.’

Our reality is that we all see the world through ‘truthiness glasses’.

So, even though we now may know the Shackleton ad was a fabrication, it’s use and celebration of being a classic example of communication will still live on: because we want it to.

I will still use it as an example in my creative writing class, albeit with the caveat of it dubious historical lineage.

Men wanted for hazardous journey will live on. And that’s the truthiness of it!

If you mention the word ‘brand’ most people associate it with consumer goods and names like ‘Microsoft’ ‘Coca Cola’or ‘Dolce & Gabbana’.

Yet, each and every one of us is a brand.

You don’t have a choice about whether to be a brand or not. What you can choose however, is how to manage your personal brand.

This is not saying you have to be artificial and false. Indeed, a key quality of a brand is its need for integrity, a truthfulness about what is at its heart.

Great communicators come in all shapes and sizes. Yet, they all share one thing in common: they are great ‘Personal Brandcasters’.

Crucial to your future success – and your clients – is how you manage both your personal brand and the personal brands of key client figures.

Your personal brand reputation is what other people say about you when you are not in the room. You are a walking brand communications machine – you do ‘personal brandcasting’.

If people mention your name what is the picture in their heads? Is it a fuzzy, indistinct, or no picture at all? What can you do to create a distinct picture of your brand, what you are about and where you are going with your life?

What opportunities do you want other people to look out for you?

What are your five personal key values? How do decide to say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’?

The training session highlights how you can manage your Personal Brandcasting – for your self – and your clients – and how you can harness it in all aspects of your work.

Further details here.

Some 81% of drivers in a new AA/Populus survey of drivers confess to having ideas while they are driving, yet only 19% take action and make note of them.

According to Edmund King, the AA’s president this is a great wasted opportunity: “It’s
the creative equivalent of winning the pools but not bothering to cash the cheque!”

To help drivers make the most of the creative opportunity while driving, the AA has teamed up with leading creativity expert Andy Green of the Flexible Thinking Forum to offer a free guide, The AA’s seven point ‘Think and Drive’ plan to transform Britain’s drivers’ creative thinking’.

A car journey is one of those increasingly rare moments where you are not intensely focussing your personal attention on talking to other people, the telly, the mobile phone, or the computer.

“Our brains have got this great ability to multi-task: while you are concentrating on your driving and focussing on making sure you arrive safely at your destination, your brain can also be working in a background mode on many other things. By letting your unconscious mind ‘incubate’ on a problem it will generate some of your best quality ideas – as long as you remember to capture them!” says Edmund King, the AA’s president.

The AA survey among 21,000 drivers also revealed how motorists higher-up the social scale were more likely to both make plans or have ideas during their journey, while also ensuring to make a note of any creative thoughts.

Younger drivers under 34 tended to be in the majority in making plans or having ideas in their journey, but were among the least diligent in following-up and making note of any new thoughts.

Drivers in Northern Ireland led the way in both being creative by making a note of any new ideas, but were also among the least inspired when behind the wheel, with some 20% of drivers there confessing to not having any ideas while driving.

The survey also revealed that while driving alone 89% listen to the radio or CDs, and nearly a third get annoyed with the traffic or other drivers.

The AA ‘Do Think and Drive’  tips for boosting your creativity while driving includes:

The free guide is available from: www.theaa.com

Commenting on the launch of the new guide Andy Green says: “All of us need new ideas to
cope in these difficult times. You can drive safely and at the same time, by using our guide, transform your creative potential to put you in the driving seat in your life.”

A century old story is now even inspiring the opening of a new museum – the Titanic Belfast.

There have been other major sinkings with an even greater loss of life. (The story of the sinking of the cruiser ‘Wilhelm Gustloff’ with its loss of over 9,000 lives in 1945 was not helped by it being on the ‘wrong’ side in Word War II.)

But what is it about the ‘Titanic’ story that still makes it compelling?

One reason is that ‘Titanic’ has become a meme – a word of mouth icon and metaphor for human frailty and folly.

But the crucial element to why the episode of the sinking of an Edwardian ship is so meme-friendly is how the story of ‘Titanic’ actually combines the two great core story themes.

In my Brand Story and Creative Writing classes I highlight how communicators are essentially story tellers. I don’t necessarily mean we get our target audience and either sits
down on the carpet, or around the campfire.

Rather, the essence of any communication is that we tell stories.

By appreciating this core ingredient you can then integrate into, weave your messages in the fabric of storytelling models. As a result you will create far more compelling and
effective communications campaigns.

So, going back to ‘Titanic’, the story of how the ship hit an iceberg, the loss of life, with its
sub texts of hubris, class war, the meaningless of material things, and the many individual human stories can all be traced down to the two great story themes: ‘David v Goliath’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

Most great stories use one of these themes. The ‘Titanic’ story has evolved to encompasses both – and that’s why it still resonates today.

The ‘David v Goliath’ theme is about the little man beating the big man, overcoming
adversity to win.

The ‘Romeo and Juliet’ theme is about how two people can come together to take on the
world and win on their terms.

The ‘Titanic’ story embraces both themes: it is both David v Goliath – of individuals surviving against the odds, (and maybe nature overcoming the hubris of man who thinks he has built an ‘indestructible ship’). It is also ‘Romeo and Juliet’, particularly the James Cameron film version, of the two lovers unrequited love in the context of the sinking ship.

Next time you see any epic film or novel – think back to how it relates to the two great story themes.

Why are sports so popular? All football matches are essentially either ‘David v Goliath’ or
‘Romeo and Juliet’. (My beloved West Ham being a particularly sad tragedy.)

You will be surprised, whatever media, no matter how complex the storyline, it will more likely be distilled down to one of the two great stories.

And a truly great story encompasses both.

Titanic is meme-friendly. Not only does it embrace great story lines it has a distinctive
easy-to-remember name; I wonder if the story would have been so popular had it
been called the ‘SS.Gertrude’.

The meme has significant icons – the iceberg, the ship’s design, images of it sinking – are
powerful visual cues that are triggered each time the message is replicated.

As a result, even though the actual news of the Titanic story becomes more dated, its meme, unlike the boat, will be unsinkable over the next 100 years.

And there is now something you can do about it on ‘Stupid Aid Day’- appropriately on Sunday April 1^st-.

This is a chance for everyone to fight back against ‘the Computer says No’ moments and other examples of stupidity in the world by submitting your examples of stupid thinking at a special campaign web site, www.flexiblethinkingforum.org.uk

Stupidity is not about low intelligence. We all know clever people who do stupid things. Stupidity is caused by inflexible thinking without asking questions.

The modern world is believed to be creating more stupidity as a result of:
Greater complexity around us
Faster pace of life, development and communications
Negative word-of-mouth traveling faster than positive, so urban myths are created for example around the risk of being sued, being politically incorrect or facing physical threat.
Lower cost of logical technology making it easier to introduce inflexible systems
Inherent laziness of people’s thinking, preferring to opt for superficially attractive, easy, quick -thinking

Ultimately, we are all capable of stupidity. Each day, everyone can experience the ‘’Doh’
factor’, when we recognize we have done something stupid.

The campaign has created its own stupid thinking rating scale – with different types of stupid thinking rated between 1 star and 6 star.

Most of us are guilty each day of ‘1 star stupidity’ – making wrong decisions based on inadequate information. 5 star stupidity is where you knowingly repeat an earlier stupid act.

April 1^st seems a good day to launch Stupid Aid Day which has a serious message – we want people to fight back against stupidity wherever they come across it. We hope it will not be a losing battle.”

The Flexible Thinking Forum was established by Andy Green an expert on innovation skills and Brand PR consultant to promote better creative thinking skills in the community.

I also took reassurance from one of my favourite punk songs,‘Wrap up the Rockets’ by the Freshies (featuring the late, great Frank Sidebottom)

In my innovation and creativity training I share how any problem can be one of three types:

Critical – tight defined, and solvable

Tame - more complex, yet ultimately solvable

Wicked – systemic problems, where at best you may only get a partial solution.

Cooking up new DNA is not like a new recipe from Delia.

It creates new unspecified, undetermined, redefined biology into our universe. The root caused of a future systemic problem which we probably won’t have a partial solution for it, if harmful to humans.

Just as alarmist thoughts spread through my brain, a song came to mind: ‘Wrap up the Rockets’ by the Freshies  – a song depicting one young lad’s response
to an imminent nuclear attack. (It was penned at the height of the Cold War,
when me, and many others, were going on anti Cruise Missiles demos.)

Before you get too depressed, find the song on YouTube and singalong.

The response of sitting on the big wheel in Rhyl with your girlfriend and singing: “There’s no way out, so we might as well have a good time” at least cheers you up, and maybe redefines your response to this and other issues.

In critical thinking terms it helps you reframe a Wicked, systemic problem (the world coming to an end either through nuclear war or DNA gone crazy) into a Critical, solvable one (what’s the best way of having a good time today.)

Funnily enough, I was feeling a bit down this week with one or two steps backs on various projects. Yet, thinking about the world coming to an end has at least cheered me up for today.

What are the other challenges you face – and what ways can they be reduced down from Wicked to Critical problems?

Now, what’s the equivalent of the big wheel in Rhyl where can I take my lovely wife….