The document summarizes key lessons and takeaways from the Planningness 2014 conference. It discusses 9 things that will change the author's approach to work based on insights from various speakers. These include focusing on describing things interestingly rather than proving things, being radically ordinary to create relatable messaging, making work that makes oneself uncomfortable, embracing unconventional research approaches, moving beyond deck presentations, cultivating conditions for creativity, revisiting the roots of planning, finding real problems not just solutions, and getting hands-on. The author reflects on how these lessons will shape a more thoughtful, risk-taking and impactful approach to planning work.

1. REFLECTIONS FROM
PLANNINGNESS 2014 9 things that will change !
the way I approach work
Doug Kleeman, Baldwin&

2. 1 STOP TRYING TO PROVE THINGS,
GET BETTER AT DESCRIBING THINGS.
WHAT HAPPENED:
Ian Fitzpatrick made the point that, as
planners, we are not looking for the truth or
the answers. Instead, we are look for
interesting. Alexandra Horowitz rattled our
impulsive thought processes by teaching us
how to look at ordinary things from new
perspectives. Lisa Azziz-Zadeh taught us that
there is a science behind creativity, but
creativity isn’t a science. All of these things
serve as a very useful reminder for planners
to avoid pontificating on absolutism.
WHAT IT MEANS MOVING FORWARD:
Being able to persuade others is great. Being
able to capture their interest is even better.
Looking back at the early stages of my
planning career, I recognize moments when I
tried to “convince” clients, even creative
teams, as to why a certain strategic
recommendation or idea was the right one.
Ignore your agenda, focus on the interesting.
Both clients and creatives are fully capable of
deducing their own opinions. Make your goal
to describe things in interesting ways. Evoke
intrigue. Create new connection points.
Consider how seemingly disparate data
points may actually connect with one
another. But step down from the soapbox.

3. 2 BE RADICALLY ORDINARY.
WHAT HAPPENED:
Megan Averell pointed out how Seinfeld
became an insanely successful TV sitcom
because it featured ordinary people doing
ordinary things that ordinary people like you
and I could relate to. And I loved this
example because it tends to be the exact
opposite approach for a lot of advertising
today. Sasquatches, Shetland ponies, fiery
explosions and midget wrestlers — these are
all things that appear in popular ads today.
Yet how often do we talk about these things
in our normal everyday lives? Turns out,
being ordinary is not only unexpected and
unique, it’s incredibly impactful.
WHAT IT MEANS MOVING FORWARD:
Averell says there’s impact in ‘ordinary’. That
doesn’t mean ads have to be boring. It just
means that ads need to be relatable to
people. Beats. Guiness. Cheerios. Brands are
beginning to realize that being engaging is
all about being relevant. Sometimes fixating
on fireworks can muddle the message. It’s
why homegrown Instagram stars and user-generated
Tumblr sites can garner a bigger
groundswell than multi-million dollar brand
campaigns. The real goal, as Averell pointed
out, is to create communications that make
people say “That’s Me!” instead of just
“That’s Amazing.”

4. 3 MAKE THINGS THAT MAKE
YOU UNCOMFORTABLE.
WHAT HAPPENED:
Planningness bills itself as an “unconference”
where ‘making things’ is sort of their schtick.
But it was the second part, the need to
embrace your own uncomfortableness, that
really resonated with me. Jeff George gave a
great talk on how to transform fear into fuel.
Jeff’s thesis was that “your comfort zone”
and “where the magic happens” don’t
overlap in the center of some Venn diagram.
It takes a leap to get from one to the other.
WHAT IT MEANS MOVING FORWARD:
My own interpretation of Jeff’s talk is that if
you’re not making yourself uncomfortable,
you might not be doing something worth
making. Many planners tend to be very risk
averse. Safety in structure, let the creatives
be the radical ones, the thinking goes. But
this runs a great risk of making planning
predictable. Perhaps sterile, too. Scare the
shit out of yourself. It applies to our work as
planners, our interactions with our clients, our
relationships with our colleagues, the way we
live our life in general.

5. 4 EMBRACE UNCONVENTIONAL
APPROACHES TO RESEARCH.
WHAT HAPPENED:
One of the great developments announced
at this year’s Planningness was the release of
Ian Fitzpatrick’s new low-fi data tool called
Pollitt. In fact, Ian’s entire presentation of how
to hack research processes was fantastic. Be
sure to check out his Slideshare for helpful,
low-cost tools and unique ways to jui-jitsu
existing methodologies.
WHAT IT MEANS MOVING FORWARD:
Budgets don’t need to completely confine
your capabilities. Get scrappy. Fuel
qualitative approaches with quantitative
input. Dumb down data so that you can
compare it better. But don’t obsess over data
points. For example, if you’re working for a
running shoe brand, don’t look for the
percentage of runners who go running with
their smartphone — identify the relationship
that runners have with their smartphones.
Data isn’t meant to be taken at face value.
Stuff like that. It needs to be reframed and
relatable.

6. 5 DEFY DECKS.
WHAT HAPPENED:
After two days of listening to some incredibly
thought-provoking presentations, I came to
the realization that some of my favorite
speakers were the ones that relied on the
slides onscreen, the least.
WHAT IT MEANS MOVING FORWARD:
Creative teams get to present ads. Tangible,
tactical work. Think about the pieces that
planners present. What’s the deliverable?
Putting together yet another powerpoint
seems like a pretty tired approach. Worse, it’s
exactly what clients expect. I understand that
in some instances, it may actually be
required. And I also understand the irony of
including this point in a presentation like this.
But try, just try, to think beyond the
slideshow.

7. 6 CREATE BETTER CONDITIONS.
WHAT HAPPENED:
James Brown gave a soulful speech on how
to find Flow — a state, as he defined, when
we are completely present without trying to
be. Lisa Azziz-Zadeh shared research
explaining some of the psychology behind
creativity, providing a handful of exercises to
induce insight — mental state shifts, multiple
idea facilitation, changes of perspective,
things like that. Alexandra Horowitz’s
presentation “How To See” had us outside,
roaming the blocks of downtown Portland to
investigate the city’s stimuli and assume new
physical and mental perspectives.
WHAT IT MEANS MOVING FORWARD:
It all gets back to the notion that, as a
planner, it’s not just what you look at, but how
you look at it. This isn’t just an innate mindset
that some people are better predisposed at
doing. It’s something that can be consciously
cultivated. As James Brown said, “we don’t
hammer out, chisel out ideas. We arrive at
them.” Resist regimented approaches to
planning. Reform how you brief creative
teams. Get your clients outside of the
conference room. Creativity requires
spontaneity in order to flourish. Create
conditions to induce spontaneity. The world
is your laboratory. Don’t swim inside
databases and focus groups.

8. 7 REVISIT THE ROOTS.
WHAT HAPPENED:
There was a moment during one of the
presentations when Planningness director
Mark Lewis asked who knew Stanley Pollitt. In
a room of 80+ planners only one person
raised their hand. Shocking.
WHAT IT MEANS MOVING FORWARD:
It seems as though planners today can wax
poetic about social platform technology and
outline these intricate channel ecosystems,
but understanding the origins of the craft,
not so much. I try to absorb the history and
evolution of the craft as much as I can, but I
definitely need to hit the books harder, too. I
already have a massive cache queued up on
Amazon.

9. 8 FIND PROBLEMS, NOT SOLUTIONS.
WHAT HAPPENED:
This one wasn’t explicitly mentioned. But I
think that’s sort of the point. The speakers at
this year’s Planningness were amazingly
adept at keeping things simple while
keeping things pointed. The speakers had
clear takeaways that raised just as many
questions as they did answers. There’s value
to that.
WHAT IT MEANS MOVING FORWARD:
I know what you’re thinking. Bullshit. And you
may be partly correct. After all, we are in the
business of finding creative solutions to our
clients’ business. The problem is, planners
get so fixated on delivering ‘the’ solution
that they often fail to define the real problem
at hand. In a world of “we need more online
fan engagement” and “how can we create
better brand advocates?” — it’s equally as
important to identify (and clearly articulate)
the real business problem. Our industry loves
chasing these novelties with little or no
understanding as to why it all matters. Plus,
obsessing over the final solution sort of
undermines the role of your creative team.
Arm them with the right information. Then let
them create.

10. 9 GET GOING.
WHAT HAPPENED:
Robert Gallup had a hands-on session for
building an Arduino-powered LED light
board. Jess Seilheimer had us creating
business plans for crowd funded projects.
Jeff George built a “pop up” coffee, beer
and cycling shop without any professional
background before. The presenters at this
year’s Planningness got where they are, just
as much for what they can do with their head
as what they can do with their hands.
WHAT IT MEANS MOVING FORWARD:
The planning discipline often gets knocked
for being too scholarly, too academic, too
consumed with theory and abstraction.
Maybe rightfully so. Maybe not. But there’s
one way to avoid it. Make shit. Don’t just
present data, create a visually stunning data
visualization. Don’t just report focus group
quotes, create a compilation film of intercept
interviews. These are bad ideas for an
otherwise important point, but you get the
idea. In a discipline where one gets paid to
think, there’s also value in what you make.

11. Special thanks to:
!
Mark Lewis for organizing this year’s Planningness event.
No idea how he pulls off such an amazing event every year.
!
Baldwin& for sending me to Portland to learn from
some of the brightest folks in the industry.
!
Planningness’s sponsors Carbonview & W5.
!
All the attendees for sharing their ideas, collaborating
throughout the event and being genuinely
great all-around people from as far as I can tell.