Dave Trott

Powerful strategies for how to out-think the competition -- from one of the true greats of the advertising world. Two explorers are walking through the jungle. Suddenly they hear a tiger roar. One explorer sits down and takes a pair of running shoes out of his backpack. ‘You’re crazy, you’ll never out-run a tiger,’ says the other explorer. ‘I don’t have to out-run the tiger,’ he replies. ‘I just have to out-run you.’ Predatory Thinking involves looking at a challenge you can't solve and getting upstream of it - changing it into a challenge you can solve. Written in the form of engaging, brilliantly lean anecdotes and stories, it is the philosophy that has underpinned Dave Trott’s distinguished career as a copywriter, creative director, and founder of some of London's most high-profile advertising agencies. Drawing on Eastern and Western philosophy, and colourful characters that range from Second World War fighter pilots to Picasso, Socrates and Warren Beatty, this book represents the distilled wisdom of a lifetime at the creative cutting edge.

A Masterclass in Out-thinking the Competition

Predatory Thinking

How do you make something out of nothing? This book goes straight to the heart of the creative impulse. Combining Dave Trott's distinctive, almost Zen-like storytelling, humor and practical advice, its collection of provocative anecdotes and thought experiments are designed to light a fire under your own creative ambitions. From tales of 18th century Japanese samurai to classic battles between "creatives" and "suits" in the boardroom, these stories act as a rallying cry for individuals and businesses who want to think differently, stand out and challenge convention.

A Masterclass in Creative Thinking

One Plus One Equals Three

Creativity is all around us. Not in art galleries. But on the train, at work, in the street outside, and in schools, hospitals and restaurants. Creative vision exists wherever people are. In this entertaining collection of real-life stories, Dave Trott applies his crystal clear lens to define what genuine creative vision looks like. It is problem solving, clarity of thought, seeing what others do not see, and removing complexity to make things as simple as you can. The timeless lessons revealed here can be applied in advertising, business and throughout everyday life. By seeing things differently, you can think differently, and change the world around you. Dave Trott shows you how.

Real-life stories of remarkable creative vision

CREATIVE BLINDNESS (AND HOW TO CURE IT)

Creative Mischief

Real-Life Stories about Where Creativity Comes From

Crossover Creativity

“The wise man knows he doesn’t know. The fool doesn’t know he doesn’t know.” Lao Tzu “In the West they only respect experts. But the expert mind is the closed mind.” Shunryu Suzuki What’s the most important step in fixing a puncture? It isn’t jacking up the car, or taking the wheel off, or finding the puncture. There’s something more fundamental than any of those. Something without which you can’t even begin to fix a puncture. The most important step is finding out you’ve got a puncture. Without that you can’t do anything. Instead of saying, “It’s just a bit bumpy, must be the road,” and carrying on, you must acknowledge that something has changed and you don’t know what that is. If you don’t admit you don’t know what’s happening, you can never find out. If you don’t find out, you can never change it. The most important step, always, is admitting you don’t know. That’s the power of ignorance. In this latest collection of real-life stories, Dave Trott provides lessons about problem solving and creative thinking that can be applied in advertising, business, and the wider world. With his trademark wit, wisdom and critical eye, he shows how great problem solvers and creative thinkers are those who are not afraid to say “I don’t know.”

How creative solutions emerge when we admit what we don’t know

The Power of Ignorance

Yaratıcı Körlük ve Tedavi Yolları

قوة الجهل

A masterclass in out-thinking the competition LIFE IS A ZERO-SUM GAME Predatory Thinking is a masterclass in how to outwit the competition, in ordinary life as well as in business. It is the philosophy that has underpinned Dave Trott's distinguished career as a copywriter, creative director, and founder of some of London's most high-profile advertising agencies. Drawing on Eastern and Western philosophy, and colourful characters from Picasso and Socrates to Warren Beatty, this book represents a lifetime of wisdom learned at the creative cutting edge. 'A brilliant advertising copywriter and a great team leader. His ideas are equally applicable to writing a novel, making a film, launching a product, managing a football team, instituting life changes and any activity you can imagine. Genius' Sunday Times

Dave Trott

About

Books

Join the club