Andrew Hovells

joymachine.typepad.com/north… I'm now 50. Instead of the usual edited self serving list of things you can learn from the fruits of my knowledge, here's 50 honest things you should avoid - because I've done or seen them

50 today I may look it, but I still feel 30

The danger of trying to be special joymachine.typepad.com/north…

When it comes to content, think like a publisher, me more Channel 4 joymachine.typepad.com/north…

Strategy cuts new meaning from mess  Word are your scalpel  Not lazy words that make word hard  Not long words,  many words, many slides Not clever words that make you look stupid The hard work of words people wish existed To provoke ideas the world wish existed

joymachine.typepad.com/north… Use more salt and butter in strategy

What agencies can learn from cycling and swimming and why resilience is overrated joymachine.typepad.com/north…

joymachine.typepad.com/north… Starting is hard, how to work with procrastination and ways to start well when you finally stop sitting on your hands

Doing a pitch in person for the first time since 2019

Come on G!!!! (this will mean nothing to most of you)

Slight update to The Rules, tongue still firmly in cheek joymachine.typepad.com/north…

The only questions you need in a creative review - just three typepad.com/site/blogs/6a00d…

joymachine.typepad.com/north… Forget flashes of insight, take the pressure off and learn from evolution

Considering how agencies are supposed to come up with original ideas, it's amazing how conservative they are, expecting everyone to fit the culture and work in the same way. Hire different, look for misfits, create positive friction.

Two questions to cut through the rubbish if you're a planner. 1) If the brand disappeared overnight, what would be missed? Cut's through frameworks and such like a knife through butter. 2) How could we totally mess up this brief? Cut's through wooly briefs like a lightsaber

Just 10 minutes outside first thing can transform your day. Espresso helps too

Northern Planner: We only see what we look for. The danger of knowing what you want to prove joymachine.typepad.com/north…

Northern Planner: Why brands (and the job) can be like maths and tea - it's the little things that give you away joymachine.typepad.com/north…

If you want good answers in research, don't ask questions joymachine.typepad.com/north…

Someone has had a rollicking time in Barcolona airport. Sadly not me