The Three Rhythms of Brand Strategy Writing

In the previous article, we took a unique perspective and re-understood "what is strategy".

But just like the saying “I have heard a lot of truths, but still cannot live a good life”, many times we “understand a lot of strategic principles, but still cannot write a good strategy”.

This question, not to mention junior strategists, even seniors and even directors, when faced with a complete strategy case from scratch, will have some doubts in their minds - although the levels or framework involved in the strategy have always been the same, it is indeed not easy to write the "commonplace" as "extraordinary".

• Is it definitely because of lack of experience? But I have seen that many people who have been working in the strategic field for more than ten or twenty years are still mediocre.
• It must be the wrong method, right? I don’t think so. Strategies have more “routines” than creative ideas, but often the more routine the method, the more mediocre the plan.

So, what is the problem here?

1. Your strategy should have a rhythm

With these questions, I have been observing carefully, and I found that the real problem lies in the details that we have overlooked - the rhythm

What rhythm?

It is the order of priority between thinking and writing when writing a strategy.

I happened to be reading "Zhuangzi" carefully recently, and there is a story in it that we are all very familiar with - "The Butcher Cuts Up an Ox". This story was in our textbooks when we were in school, but at that time we just memorized it without understanding it very well. When we revisited it after we started working, the benefits it brought were like a revelation.

First of all, the opening paragraph is very rhythmic.

Cook Ding was butchering an ox for Lord Wenhui. Where his hands touched, where his shoulder leaned, where his feet stepped, where his knees pressed, the ripping of the flesh, the creaking of the flesh, the movement of his knife, all matched the rhythm of the “Dance in the Mulberry Grove” or the rhythm of the “Jingshou”.

You see, this part of Pao Ding's cooking is very rhythmic - the rustling sound when his knife goes in and out is like a beautiful melody, as graceful as a dance and as heavenly as music.

So, where does this sense of rhythm come from? Then Lord Wenhui asked him, "What a great skill! Is this the best you can achieve?"

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In fact, if we look carefully, as soon as Cook Ding came on stage, he gave Lord Wenhui a famous scene, and then he gave himself a textbook-like brand packaging - I have already reached the realm of Tao, and it is by no means just a trivial skill. At the beginning, all I saw were cows, but now I don’t even look at them, the thought is enough - “meet them with the spirit, not with the eyes”! Other chefs replace their knives once a year or even once a month! Your Majesty, look at mine. It’s been nineteen years and it’s still as good as new!

After Pao Ding finished playing, we really started to talk about the key point, which is also the key to our article - where does the sense of rhythm come from?

Pao Ding's Rhythm 1:

There is a gap between the joints, but the blade is not thick; if the thin blade is inserted into the gap, there must be enough room for the blade to move freely.

He gave himself ample space to play at a fast pace with ease.

An important entry point for Pao Ding was to find the huge gaps between the cow bones, but his blade was almost without thickness. Then, using a sharp blade to cut into the bone joints with gaps will naturally leave room for cutting and it will be easy.

Of course, there is another key here, which is mentioned in the previous sentence: follow the principles of nature, reject the great and reject the great, guide the great, and follow its nature. That is to say, the gaps that the chef looks for are all the key places in the cow's body - such as the shoulders, belly, thighs, etc. Once the big, important and key parts are resolved, the whole thing will be easier. This actually gave me a good start.

Cooking Rhythm 2:

However, every time I went to the clan, I found it difficult to do, so I was terrified and took caution, looking back and moving slowly. With very slight movement of the knife, the wound was instantly broken apart, like soil falling to the ground.

He made careful adjustments to himself, moving at a slow and natural pace.

Therefore, whenever he encountered a place where the tendons and bones were tangled and it became difficult to cut, he would be extra cautious, focus his eyes, and slow down his hands and feet. Then, with just a slight movement of the knife in his hand, the cow would fall apart like mud.

You see, at this step, the chef starts to change his rhythm - from the original rapid and vigorous chopping with the knife to the current slow and smooth cutting that follows the texture.

Pao Ding's Rhythm 3:

He stood with the knife in his hand, looked around, was full of confidence, and hid the knife.

He gave himself a leisurely comfort and displayed a rhythm that was fast or slow at his will.

On the one hand, he looked around with the attitude of a winner, full of satisfaction and joy; on the other hand, when he was full of confidence, he was humble and low-key, wiped the knife clean, and carefully wrapped it up and hid it.

2Triple rhythms, interlocking

So, back to the beginning, regarding the rhythm when writing strategies, I would like to emphasize again through Zhuangzi’s story of the butcher Ding - thinking and writing, these two points are very, very critical.

Because I have observed many strategists, and when they start writing strategies, the first step is wrong.

We assume that the basic data have been digested and the basic information has been mastered. So when it comes to writing down the basic strategy storyline, some people will write it directly in Word, some will write it directly on PPT, and some will write it on A4 paper to give it a more structured feel.

I believe that many people's movements together are basically inseparable from these three forms.

Next, based on my own experience and habits, let’s discuss what the triple rhythm of strategy writing is like.

Rhythm 1: Use Word to conduct divergent thinking and sort out ideas by asking and answering questions yourself

Many strategists will write down their storyline in Word when they have almost organized their ideas. Or, before they have figured out their ideas, they directly implement the Storyline based on the basic strategic framework such as target topics, industries, products, and groups. Including our senior leaders, they often emphasize that you should present your ideas in Word, and the titles on your final PPT should form a complete and smooth story in Word.

I have never been an obedient employee, so I have always felt that this sentence is half right - this step is definitely not the very beginning of the strategy, but should be the very last step - when checking the entire storyline, or even when writing the proposal link, sorting it out again will result in a better presentation.

For the use of Word, you need to remember one sentence

Word is not for expressing opinions, Word is for helping you to develop opinions.

Because, if you start by using Word to put forward your ideas and write the framework. You will find that you will be hopelessly trapped in thinking about and polishing your ideas word by word from the very beginning - in other words, you will be trapped in carving out local details from the very beginning, such as the accuracy of the text, the logical relationship between the front and the back, etc., and ignore the in-depth thinking about broader issues.

I have tried this approach myself, with terrible results. I would keep the cursor stuck for most of the day trying to write a reasonable, even concise and beautiful strategy language. But in the end, the big core issues are often not grasped, and the so-called opinions written out become mediocre.

Therefore, at the very beginning of strategy writing, do not pursue the logic of the text content. The key is to continuously explore the core issues through divergent thinking.

Think back to how the chef did it – he gave himself ample space from the start, “following its nature”, finding the most core and critical part, and then, without looking, following the direction of the knife, naturally. As for those minor details, I began to "use more sophisticated and patient skills to sort out the details."

Here is another reference, which is a book I read in 2015 called "Zero Second Thinking". The author is Yuji Akabane, who has worked at McKinsey for more than ten years.

Making thinking verbal, visual, and skill-based: thoughts and comments at the time

His core proposition is: write down the question you ask on a piece of paper, and then write down all the thoughts and ideas that come to your mind around this question. Then, ask questions and answer questions around what you have written until you reach the most satisfactory insights and opinions.

The method is to write down the ideas that come to your mind one by one, that's all. However, instead of writing it down in a notepad or computer, write down every idea on a piece of A4 paper. And you can't take your time writing slowly, this A4 paper needs to be finished quickly in less than 1 minute. Write 10 sheets like this every day, put them in a folder, and organize them on the same day. By doing this, you can exercise the most basic "thinking ability" that is not taught in detail in McKinsey courses. This method can not only help us think deeply, but also enable us to gradually approach the ultimate state of "zero-second thinking".

The key here is to "write without thinking". When writing, it is best to write down your most original thoughts, the thoughts that come to your mind at the moment. There is no need to consider the structure of the article, its ease of understanding, its introduction, development, transitions and conclusion. Without these restrictions, anyone's ideas can be enriched many times over. People's inherent imagination, expressiveness and creativity will be better utilized.

So, this is a process without a fixed pattern or paradigm, including the questions to be asked themselves. It's like a Socratic question and answer session.

But if you want to get a feel for it, the first volume of "Selected Works of Mao Zedong": "Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? This question is the primary question of the revolution" is a good reference.

When I receive a case, I don’t write a storyline first. Instead, I ask myself questions first.

for example:

• Why did the customer launch such a new product? Because I wrote a lot of blablabla.
• So why is it launched at this time? Because I'll just write a lot more blablabla.
• Now that our competitors have already made their plans, who is our biggest rival? Then write a lot of blablabla.

In this way, by constantly asking questions, we can dig deep into the core, get closer to insights, and bring about good entry points. Moreover, the key here is to diverge as much as possible, think and ask questions from multiple angles, and finally come up with very powerful points of view.

【Notice】

1- Be sure to write it down, don’t just daydream. Don’t think that I can figure it out just by using my head. If you don’t believe me, try it. The visual effect of the words you write down will bring you more ideological inspiration. You will get closer to the essence of things more quickly.

2- Don’t worry about stupid questions. Often great ideas are born from ignored “stupid” questions.

The whole rhythm is a process of searching for pearls in the sea. The next step is to actually lay out these pearls.

Rhythm 2: Present the story framework of the entire strategy on A4 paper

Once all the issues have been sorted out, the next step is to use A4 paper (I usually use the A4 vertical version of PPT) to present the framework of the entire strategy. The key points are:

First, it must be complete and have a sense of framework. The strategic architecture should be presented in a structured manner, especially with rigorous logic to lay out a complete storyline.

Second, you need to be precise and use strategic language to express a wide range of issues clearly using core ideas. At this time, you can carefully carve the text.

Third, it should be inspiring and provide as much detailed information as possible. It is best to add basic data and information support whenever possible.

Therefore, at this point, it is very much like the second rhythm of the chef - slow knife strokes to clarify the texture, control of the structure, and adjustment of the details.

A4 paper helps you to outline the overall structure and core ideas. It is difficult to write with a sense of structure in Word, but it is possible on A4 paper.

The approximate form can be seen in the figure below. Because it involves plan information, it has been blurred, but you can feel the overall framework.

Of course, if you are not used to this way of presentation, you can also straighten out the framework by handwriting. When I first started working on the strategy, I hand-wrote the structure of each part on a piece of A4 paper.

Finally, since it is a framework, we must be very clear about the meaning of the framework. It is to use the most concise logical structure to think about the layout of the entire plan, find out the gaps and feel the tone of the entire plan. Therefore, this so-called one-page strategy has both internal and external functions.

Internally - Use this framework to examine your own thinking. Check for completeness and logic.

Externally - using this framework, we discuss and improve the text content with colleagues in the group and the creative department.

Please note that conducting a discussion based on text content is a very, very important step.

When many people have a meeting, they like to sit down and chat openly with a group of people. Some strategies are even particularly "criticizing" and they are complacent about it. But from my observation, this method is still very inefficient. To be honest, when we sit down and talk about things, no one is worse than anyone else. But the key lies in precise implementation and quick action.

When you can quickly produce a strategic framework based on text content and use this text as the basis for discussion, it will greatly help and promote the collaboration of the entire team.

In the first half of this year, I had a short-term project cooperation with a well-known and popular creative hot shop. I was still on the high-speed train going home when I received the brief. Seeing this, the creative person on the other side said, "Let's think about it first and talk over the phone later." But after I got home in the evening, I quickly wrote down three pages of A4 frames. Subsequently, we continued to iterate and improve this framework and reached a consensus in a very short time.

So I firmly believe that as a strategy, the more you can present a logical, complete, and detailed framework, the more meaningful discussion you can generate.

After all parties have discussed this part of the strategic framework and there are no problems with it, we will actually start the final PPT writing phase.

Rhythm 3: Present the strategic content of the entire plan through PPT

At this point, I believe everyone is familiar with it - the deck layout of each page, the logical connection of each link, and the introduction, development, turning point and conclusion of each part.

Therefore, the key to the rhythm of this part is to handle the relationship between the whole and the part. Especially the logical connection (core main title) of each page in the section.

Because when we copy the contents of the A4 strategy framework into the PPT, there will still be some logical connection problems. This requires more detailed control of the front and back relationships of each deck and more precise adjustments.

There are two specific habit suggestions:

• One is to use the multi-view mode in PPT to switch between the whole and the part to clarify the logical relationship.
• The second is to set it to one page with four views, print it out, cut it into small pictures on each page, spread them on the table, or stick them on the wall to facilitate adjustment of logic.

3Thinking is more important than method-you need to have your own rhythm

Triple rhythm, three ways.

Rhythm and steps are very important - what to do first, what to do next, and what to do last, there cannot be any misalignment.

But at its core, it is actually the key information when writing a strategy - point of view, completeness, logic, and story.

The whole sense of rhythm requires you to:

① At the very beginning, leave yourself enough space to think, ask questions quickly from multiple angles, and form an overall direction and local views.

② Slow down again, lay out the overall structure, clarify the logical relationship, and express the core ideas clearly.

③ Combine fast and slow shots, and use switching between long shots and close shots to coordinate and unify the whole and the details.

Throughout the whole process, you need to have a strong control over thinking and writing. Especially in rhythm one, it is very important, but it is overlooked by many of us.

In the end, these are my beats.

I often think of the NBA games I love to watch. The commentators often say: Team X has finally found its own rhythm.

Especially when two teams with very different styles compete against each other, such as the Spurs, who play a slow-paced positional game, and the Warriors, who play a fast-paced game that is good at fast breaks. If one side is led by the rhythm of the other side and can never return to its own game rhythm, the entire situation will definitely be restrained.

Therefore, even if all the methods mentioned above are correct, they are not as good as your own independent thinking and experience exploration. The most important thing is that you must have your own rhythm. If the rhythm is right, the momentum will be right.

postscript

In fact, the first draft of the article did not include the part about Zhuangzi’s butchering of an ox. The core word of the original title of the article was not rhythm, but three good habits. But I always feel that the word "habit" is not accurate or powerful enough to express the overall point of the article. But I still haven't come up with a good idea to replace it.

As I was writing this afternoon, I suddenly remembered an art installation by Ukrainian artist Anna Paschenko that I saw on Top Copywriting on Friday. Yes, it is the cover picture of this article - Anna used resin materials to capture the ebb and flow of the sea tides, and brought this rhythmic change from light blue to azure and then to dark blue to her own home, always with her, a piece of sea that belongs to her.

So, the changing rhythm of the sea, the rhythm of the waves pushing the waves in front, suddenly flooded into my mind. So, the word rhythm was captured by me.

Then, the word "rhythm" reminded me of the story of butchering an ox in Zhuangzi - the same sense of rhythm.

In this way, the series of associations and connections from the artistic decoration of the sea → rhythm → the artistic beauty of the butchering of an ox, allowed me to finally add the content of Butcher Ding and complete the perfection of the title.

Therefore, one aspect of the so-called “strategic creativity” is that we should not only think with a single linear way of thinking, but also develop more divergent thinking, associative and transfer abilities.

Therefore, the cultivation of strategic ability is not just about writing plans. Just like what I wrote in the first article (“001丨Strategy and Creativity Have the Same Destination”): In the past few years, much of the progress I have made in my professional abilities did not come from day-to-day desk work, but from the usual thinking and sudden realizations in life.

Author: Universe Sign Shop

Source: Universe Sign Shop