--- title: "The100: Flabby thinking, thinking on your feet and angry hipsters" description: Flabby strategic thinking “Too many objectives fall into one of two camps. Either they are analytical and devoid of imagination, driven by metrics that are easy to measure rather than necessarily the right things to measure. Or, on the other hand, they are highly evocative but meaningless. You hear them and leave the meeting in … image: https://hello.watchmethink.com/hubfs/Untitled%20design%20(42).png --- [![Bombayworks logotype](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/WatchMeThink_September_2023/images/wmt-logo_inverse.svg "Bombayworks logotype")](https://watchmethink.com/) - [What we do](https://watchmethink.com/#) - [Watch Me Explore](https://watchmethink.com/what-we-do/watch-me-explore) - [Watch Me Develop](https://watchmethink.com/what-we-do/watch-me-develop) - [Watch Me Use](https://watchmethink.com/what-we-do/watch-me-use) - [Watch Me Shop](https://watchmethink.com/what-we-do/watch-me-shop) - [Who it's for](https://watchmethink.com/#) - [Consumer Insights](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/consumer-insights) - [Shopper Insights](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/shopper-insights) - [Category Management](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/category-mangement) - [Innovation & Product Development](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/innovation) - [Sensory & Consumer Science](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/consumer-science) - [Packaging](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/packaging) - [Marketing](https://watchmethink.com/who-its-for/marketing) - [About](https://watchmethink.com/about) - [The 100 Blog](https://blog.watchmethink.com/) - [Contact](https://watchmethink.com/contact) - [Login](https://watchmethink.com/dashboard) - [Sign up](https://watchmethink.com/#) - [Corporate users](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/client) - [Request registration here](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/client) - [Consumer](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/contributor) - [Get paid to review products](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/contributor) Menu # The100: Flabby thinking, thinking on your feet and angry hipsters - Home - [Blog](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog) - The100: Flabby thinking, thinking on your feet and angry hipsters - [Blog home /](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog) [Alistair Vince](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/author/alistair-vince) 03/22/2019 [The100](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/tag/the100) [0 Comments](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-flabby-thinking-thinking-on-your-feet-and-angry-hipsters#postComment) 2 Minutes #### Flabby strategic thinking > “Too many objectives fall into one of two camps. Either they are analytical and devoid of imagination, driven by metrics that are easy to measure rather than necessarily the right things to measure. Or, on the other hand, they are highly evocative but meaningless. You hear them and leave the meeting in awe but a day later you realise they are unactionable and unmeasurable.” So says Gareth Kay, as he argues that [strategic thinking is getting flabbier and flowerier by the minute](https://medium.com/chaptersf/its-all-got-a-bit-flabby-a9a61c145f89). And what a marvellous read it is too, identifying the 4 key signs of flabby strategy. > “Every strategic decision should face a simple test: could you make the opposite choice without looking stupid? For example, that far too common strategy of ‘great customer service’ fails if you consider the alternative is to deliberately offer ‘terrible customer service’. Great strategy is differentiated and distinctive.” Love that. #### Thinking around the clock Trying to keep my body clock on UK time whilst in Chicago for a few days this week meant me being awake at 3:30 am local time. It also meant no interruptions and some seriously focused thinking. [The Financial Times agrees](https://www.ft.com/content/6148ec14-457a-11e9-a965-23d669740bfb). > “The first thing that helps creativity is solitude… Creativity is essentially an individual rather than a collective activity.” The article goes on to explain the [Ringelmann Effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringelmann_effect), where individual productivity falls as group size increases and that > “…brainstorming produces, at best, a light, irritating drizzle of complacent mediocrity”. On a similar note, turns out [walking helps us think](https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/walking-helps-us-think/). I like that. #### Work hacks In our office, we have 2 kinds of people: those who have less than 3 browser tabs open at once, and those who have what seems like 671,823,000. It’s the subject of much internal debate, so you can imagine my glee when I shared the [One Tab App](https://www.one-tab.com/) with our resident tab hoarders. I found out about it in this article on [20 tools to help you become a more effective freelancer](https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/20-tools-freelancing/). Even if you aren’t a freelancer, they’re great. Case in point 🙂 #### Don’t go chasing waterfalls data Charlotte Rogers reports on how [empathy, storytelling and creativity will become a lost art in marketing](https://www.marketingweek.com/2019/03/13/tsb-eve-boden-marketers-stop-chasing-data/) if the industry continues to obsess over data. As Gav Thompson at Boden says: > “I’ve never stumbled across a great customer insight in the data. I’ve found greater customer insights in talking to customers and learning about their behaviour and then I’ve checked that against the data and used the data to build on that” #### Words and pictures Who said libraries were dull? Check out these stunning [photos of bookworm paradises](https://www.instagram.com/concretelibraries/). And finally, I can’t explain how much I enjoyed [this story about the angry hipster](https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-thursday-edition-1.5046925/man-angry-his-photo-was-used-to-prove-all-hipsters-look-alike-then-learns-it-wasn-t-him-1.5046933). Tickled me.   --- #### Tag: [The100](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/tag/the100) #### Share: - [Follow us on Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-flabby-thinking-thinking-on-your-feet-and-angry-hipsters) - [Follow us on Twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-flabby-thinking-thinking-on-your-feet-and-angry-hipsters&text=The100:%20Flabby%20thinking,%20thinking%20on%20your%20feet%20and%20angry%20hipsters) - [Follow us on Linkedin](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-flabby-thinking-thinking-on-your-feet-and-angry-hipsters) - [Follow us on Pinterest](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-flabby-thinking-thinking-on-your-feet-and-angry-hipsters&text=The100:%20Flabby%20thinking,%20thinking%20on%20your%20feet%20and%20angry%20hipstersdescription=Flabby%20strategic%20thinking%20“Too%20many%20objectives%20fall%20into%20one%20of%20two%20camps.%20Either%20they%20are%20analytical%20and%20devoid%20of%20imagination,%20driven%20by%20metrics%20that%20are[...]&media=https://3461170.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/3461170/Untitled%20design%20%2842%29.png) --- --- ## From the archives If you like The100, maybe even found it vaguely enjoyable (steady now), you can have a ganders at our previous issues. Fill your boots. [The100](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/tag/the100) 04 September, 2026 #### [The100: Patterns that aren't, time well spent and the knights of Arundel](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-patterns-that-arent-time-well-spent-and-the-knights-of-arundel) The leadership of sound bites It’s a strange old time in research and insights at the moment, eh?… [Read More](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-patterns-that-arent-time-well-spent-and-the-knights-of-arundel) [The100](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/tag/the100) 21 August, 2026 #### [The100: Neurononsense, the gym test and the Republic of Olvana](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-neurononsense-the-gym-test-and-the-republic-of-olvana) Cite me if you can If I had a cent for every time I heard “95% of purchase decisions are… [Read More](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-neurononsense-the-gym-test-and-the-republic-of-olvana) [The100](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/tag/the100) 07 August, 2026 #### [The100: Discount loops, The Batman Effect and crimes against the Y axis](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-discount-loops-the-batman-effect-and-crimes-against-the-y-axis) Yellow sticker syndrome Mark Ritson has staged an intervention against price promotions and given… [Read More](https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-discount-loops-the-batman-effect-and-crimes-against-the-y-axis) - Get started - [Login](https://watchmethink.com/account/login) - [Sign up: Corporate User](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/client) - [Sign up: Consumer](https://watchmethink.com/account/register/contributor) - Resources - [Terms for Thinkers](https://watchmethink.com/terms) - [Terms for Adhoc Work](https://watchmethink.com/terms-for-adhoc-work) - [Terms for Subscriptions](https://watchmethink.com/terms-for-subscriptions) - [Terms for Agents](https://watchmethink.com/agent) - About - [Contact us](https://watchmethink.com/contact) - [About us](https://watchmethink.com/about) - [Blog](https://blog.watchmethink.com/) - [Privacy policy](https://watchmethink.com/privacy) - [Equality, diversity and labour standards](https://watchmethink.com/equality-diversity-labour-standards) - Social - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/watch-me-think) - [Twitter](https://twitter.com/watchmethink) ![cyber-essentials-plus](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hs-fs/hubfs/WatchMeThink_September_2023/images/cyber-essentials-plus.png?width=96&name=cyber-essentials-plus.png "cyber-essentials-plus") ![mrs-logo-cps](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hs-fs/hubfs/WatchMeThink_September_2023/images/mrs-logo-cps.png?width=216&name=mrs-logo-cps.png "mrs-logo-cps") ![watch](https://hello.watchmethink.com/hs-fs/hubfs/WatchMeThink_September_2023/images/watch.png?width=213&name=watch.png "watch") Watch Me Think © 2025. All rights reserved. ![](https://px.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=1498698&fmt=gif) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Alistair Vince", "url" : "https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/author/alistair-vince" }, "dateModified" : "2025-12-03T09:48:12.481Z", "datePublished" : "2019-03-22T11:06:24.000Z", "headline" : "The100: Flabby thinking, thinking on your feet and angry hipsters", "image" : [ "https://hello.watchmethink.com/hubfs/Untitled%20design%20(42).png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hello.watchmethink.com/blog/the100-flabby-thinking-thinking-on-your-feet-and-angry-hipsters", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://hello.watchmethink.com/hubfs/wmt_logo_rgb_for-web-1.png" }, "name" : "Watch Me Think" } } ```