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The Monday Morning Memo

The Surgeon and
The Ad Writer

Every surgeon has a surgical plan before they take scalpel in hand, just as every ad writer has a message plan before they take pen in hand.

But the operation that follows does not always go according to plan. What does the surgeon do when their hands are inside a person and they discover something unexpected? 

The surgeon does exactly what the ad writer does when they are deep into the guts of an ad and discover something unexpected: they improvise.

Plan A is based on assumptions and probabilities.
Plan B is based on realizations and realities.

Never be ashamed to pivot to Plan B.

 

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Random Quote:

“Occasionally a 17 year old will write, asking for entrepreneurial or business advice. Oftentimes they’re early bloomers and already have something going on. Others are chomping at the bit once they get out of high school. It’s great to hear from them. But my advice is generally that they don’t need advice. You don’t need advice at 17. You need experiences. You don’t need to be told what to do, you need to be told to do. Now, that in itself could be construed as advice, but it’s really not meant as that. It’s anti-advice, if anything. Don’t listen. You’ll learn out there, not in this email. At 17 you have more time than you’ll ever have to just fuck around and find out. Anything else is just getting in the way. There’s no unlock, no sage advice from some oldster that’s going to make a lick of difference at 17. The doing, and the self-discovery, will give you all the advice you need until you really hit a point where the stakes matter and the right suggestion could mean everything. Until then, wander. Be 17.”

- Jason Fried, May 1, 2024, on Twitter (I refuse to call it X) Sent to us by Jeffrey Eisenberg

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