The Pudding Factory

Work sucks less when we talk to each other like human beings.

Especially creative work.

People need to feel safe asking dumb questions, challenging assumptions, and saying, “I have no idea what you mean,” before everyone wastes three days heading in the wrong direction.

We try to solve this with process.

😼 We add another Slack channel.
😼 Schedule another (ten) meeting(s).
😼 Try our 17th project management software in the past 3 years

And no one ever thinks to just pick up the damn phone.

Communication isn’t a soft skill. It’s part of the agency’s creative infrastructure. And I can help you build it.

When people understand one another, they collaborate. They challenge each other. They spend less time decoding half-thoughts and more time doing cool s**t.

Django Weisz Blanchetta gets it. And he’s living it every day as co-founder of Superheroes. Their mission is to save the world from boring advertising. A-freakin’ men.

Django knows the way to do that is to get people talking. You know, that thing we used to do before we started hiding behind tools and screens?

Sometimes that means reminding folks we’re actually capable of it.

At their daily lunch around the big table in the agency, there are two rules:
🐱 No phones.
🐱 No talking about work.

I can feel your panic through the screen. But you get used to it, and even enjoy it. Django swears.

This is the work.

Meanwhile, we’ve set up systems in most of our agencies that set fire to our collective EQ. The one thing that will actually keep us distinct from the robots.

We should stop doing that.
 
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Welcome to the DesuckifyWork® podcast. The show where we cut through the BS and find ways to make work more fun, more human and less ridiculous. All of which makes your business more profitable, by the way.
 
(Link to podcast in bio)
 

Work sucks less when it doesn’t suck the life out of us.
 
Sounds obvious.
 
And yet, agency leaders spend a bunch of time thinking about utilization, capacity, deadlines and deliverables—and almost no time thinking about what kind of work actually gives their people energy.
 
So the brilliant strategist spends half her week building decks.
 
The creative director becomes a project manager.
 
The agency founder approves every decision down to the brand of bubbly water in the fridge. (Le Croix, obviously)
 
Everyone’s busy. Nobody’s working at their best. And the whole place feels more chaotic than a Slayer concert at Rikers.
 
Agency chaos is rarely just a workload problem. It’s also an alignment problem.
 
Are the right people doing the right work? Does everyone know what they own? Are people spending enough time using their strengths—or is too much of their energy being drained by work that belongs somewhere else?
 
That’s why I loved this week’s conversation with Greg Harrod.
 
Greg uses the Six Types of Working Genius to help leaders understand how work moves from an idea to a finished product—and where the wrong people, unclear ownership or missing capabilities can cause it to fall apart.
 
It gives teams a shared language for something we often feel but can’t articulate:
“I can do this work. But if I have to do it every day, I will cut a fool.”
 
Let the desuckifying begin.
 
—
 
Welcome to the DesuckifyWork® podcast. The show where we cut through the BS and find ways to make work more fun, more human and less ridiculous. All of which makes your business more profitable, by the way.
 
(Link to podcast in bio)
 

If you spend enough time reading about the agency business, you might think we’re all completely screwed.

AI. Shrinking budgets. Procurement. Tariffs and trade wars. Another holding-company reorg announced before you’ve finished your McMuffin.

But Stephen Brown isn’t buying the doom and gloom.

After 23 years as a founder and CEO of Fuse Create, Stephen has seen it all. He’s survived major client losses, recessions, digital disruption and a pandemic. And today, while others are panicking, he’s doubling down.

Not blindly.

Optimism, for Stephen, means staying grounded in the fundamentals: build real client relationships, create great work, know exactly who you are—and remain flexible about the role you can play.

In this episode, we talk about:

🐱 Why culture is one of your most critical business assets.
🐱 Why agencies need to treat themselves like clients.
🐱 Why the future still belongs to people willing to build.

Let the desuckifying begin.

—

Welcome to the DesuckifyWork® podcast. The show where we cut through the BS and find ways to make work more fun, more human and less ridiculous. All of which makes your business more profitable, by the way.

(Link to podcast in bio)

“There’s gonna be some changes around here.”

Ruh-roh.

That’s the reaction most of us have when leaders announce an exciting new initiative, new tech or new process.

Why’s that?

Because people are hardwired to fear change. Especially in a world where everything seems rootless and chaotic.

You can’t just dump a steaming pile of new on everyone’s heads and expect them to smile and fall in line.

Allen Hardin works with companies to get this right. To lead through change in a way that isn’t scary, isn’t disruptive and actually has a chance of sticking.

His company, Joyful, has been in this work for years. And their approach is rooted in actual human behavior vs. wishful thinking.

It’s called the LUCID model:

🐱 Leader-modeled: Leaders must visibly adopt new behaviors to provide a clear example.
🐱 Urgent: A sense of urgency signals the change’s importance and keeps it prioritized.
🐱 Clear: The “why,” “how,” and “what” must be articulated for all audiences, connecting the change to the organization’s mission, values, or strategy.
🐱 Inspiring: Frame the change to be something people want to be part of, not are obligated to do.
🐱 Dynamic: Communicate consistently across all channels (1-on-1s, town halls, video) to ensure the message is ever-present.

That first bullet is so critical. Leaders can’t dump and dash when it comes to this stuff. Get on board. Show ‘em how it’s done. Be the change and all that.

Communicating the WHY clearly is also huge. I hear this from my clients all the time… if I just understood the reasoning behind this new thing, I’d get on board. Without that clarity, most of us look like bad politicians (redundant?) when trying to articulate things to our teams. Hemming, hawing and umming and ahhing our way to blank stares from everyone.

No blank stares during this conversation. Hope you enjoy.

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Welcome to the DesuckifyWork® podcast. The show where we cut through the BS and find ways to make work more fun, more human and less ridiculous. All of which makes your business more profitable, by the way.

(Link to podcast in bio)

Carl’s doing his best Al Bundy, ready for the long weekend.

Being a leader is a lot like having your hand down your pants. If you get too comfortable, things might go numb and you’ll end up stuck.

Enjoy the holiday and remember to switch paws once in a while.

False urgency is killing us. Literally.

Nearly a million people die each year from workplace-related stress.

And yet we keep feeding the beast.

What if we just stopped? What if we asked the simple question, “is this ASAP BS?”

Most of it is. And it’s not just killing us—it’s making us less productive, less creative and less useful.

Is that really what we’re trying to do here? 

Eric Recker decided he didn’t want to play that game anymore. He was burnt out. Working crazy hours running his dental practice, $3 million in debt, serving on five boards, and coaching two soccer teams. Oh, he was also training for two triathlons. All to prove he was “good enough.”

We’re all good enough. And we’re all trying to fill the hole that some childhood wound has left open for far too long.

We don’t have to kill ourselves to fill ourselves.

Eric wrote a book called “The False Sense of Urgency and how to ” that outlines a saner and safer approach.

🐱 Focus on the current moment instead of dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.

🐱 Shift from loss-focused thinking to impact-focused thinking.

🐱 Curate your information diet—train the algorithms to feed you stuff that feeds your soul.

My favorite thing Eric mentioned was something he calls “micro-resets.” Taking 2 minutes to just breathe or send an encouraging text to a friend instead of doomscrolling or staying on the ASAP hamster wheel.

The TLDR is simple. Trust your gut. Take care of yourself. And turn those BS ASAPs into DTAARGPTDKMITPs (doing things at a reasonably good pace that doesn’t kill me in the process).

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Welcome to the DesuckifyWork® podcast. The show where we cut through the BS and find ways to make work more fun, more human and less ridiculous. All of which makes your business more profitable, by the way.

(Link to podcast in bio)

falseurgency

You know when you order something from IKEA, you get a list of all the pieces, plus instructions on how to put them all together?

Why don’t we do that with people at work?

A user guide, complete with a person’s preferred ways of working. What’s their relationship with time? What environments give them energy and which ones suck the life out of them? What communication methods work best? What are their superpowers? What is their kryptonite?

You know who does this? Jeff Gibbard. Jeff is a speaker and coach with a mission to help leaders change the world. But we can’t do that if we don’t understand the folks we’re leading. Good thing one of Jeff’s superpowers is really seeing people. Jeff is neurodivergent, which has helped him recognize the value of each person’s unique way of showing up in the world.

When you create a user guide for everyone on the team, all of that comes into focus. Instead of saying, “why can’t they just…” we say, “oh, she’s different than me, cool.” Then we find ways to actually work better together.

Jeff wrote a book called “The Loveable Leader” where he goes into all of this and a lot more.

Love at work? What are you crazy? Maybe.

I think we’re all holding back some of our best craziness at work and it’s keeping us from doing great things.

So, what would your user guide say?

—

Welcome to the DesuckifyWork® podcast. The show where we cut through the BS and find ways to make work more fun, more human and less ridiculous. All of which makes your business more profitable, by the way.

(Link to podcast in bio)

Most agencies are in survival mode right now.
Hell, the entire world is in survival mode right now.
It’s a crappy place to be.
We’re defensive. On edge. Reactionary.
Nervous systems fully engaged all day long.

Good luck being creative when you’re crouched under your desk all day.

And yet, creativity is exactly what we need right now.
To build a new reality instead of being cowed by the current one.
To see something beyond mere survival.

It’s a leap of faith.
Faith in the one thing—creativity—that we’ve hung our hat on since folks actually wore hats to work.

Sam Littlefield took that leap in 2021,
when he told his agency, “it’s time to gather again.”
Mid-covid.
Barely a year into his role as agency president.
His peers thought he was nuts.
He didn’t care.
He saw what was on the other side,
locked arms with his team and said LFG.

They freakin’ went, and they’ve spent the last 5 years doing what many in our industry can barely remember doing. Growing. Building. Dreaming. They turned LFG into an agency rallying cry:

🐱 Littlefield Team First
🐱 Freaking Go to the Edge
🐱 Got to Adapt or Die

For Sam and the team, being back in the office was the necessary catalyst to make all of this happen. For your team, it may be something else. But whatever that thing is that you know in your gut is needed more than anything right now, do it.

The world needs more leaps of faith. Let’s freakin’ go.

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Welcome to the DesuckifyWork® podcast. The show where we cut through the BS and find ways to make work more fun, more human and less ridiculous. All of which makes your business more profitable, by the way.

(Link to podcast in bio)

Ad agencies are loaded with some of the best problem solvers in the world. Your clients benefit from this every day. What if you turned some of that talent inward and brought your creative energy to the biggest challenges facing your business? I spent over 25 years in the ad world, so I know you’ve got a bunch of stuff to work on.

It’s time to whip up a few briefs that put your agency name in the “client” slot and let your team have at it.

I can help, btw.

The posters on the wall. The words on the website. The sizzle real that you share with every prospect.

Are they bulls**t?

You know who knows? Your team. Take a look next time you reference your mission or your values. How far back into their heads do their eyes roll?

Slick messaging may help land a client or two, but I can guarantee you it’s turning more folks off if it doesn’t ring true. And if your team ain’t feeling it? Good luck delivering work that actually lives up to those lofty promises.

If you’re ready to lead like a grown up and live up to your words, it’s time to heed the words of Sandy Sullivan and ask better questions. Sandy is an executive coach and co-founder of The Alchemy Group with a low tolerance for BS and a high bar for leaders.

The quality of your questions will directly impact the way your teams perform. And the harsh truth? Most of our questions just kind of suck right now.

The best questions are what Sandy calls “Level 8 Questions.” And there are 4 simple ways to know if yours are hitting the mark:

1. Use “what” or “how” questions. Never “why.” Why not? Because “why” is loaded with judgment. “Why aren’t we winning more business?” Because you suck, presumably.
2. Add calibration & timeframe: Include qualifiers like “most,” “least,” “highest,” and a specific timeframe (e.g., “last quarter,” “next 30 days”).
3. Ask with Pure Curiosity: Listen without judgment or a pre-determined answer.
4. Generate New Thinking: The answer should create white space for reflection, not just recycle old thoughts.

Great questions show you care. And showing you care invites everyone else to do the same. That’s all most of us want, really—a reason to give a damn.

Less sizzle. More stake.

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Welcome to the DesuckifyWork® podcast. The show where we cut through the BS and find ways to make work more fun, more human and less ridiculous. All of which makes your business more profitable, by the way.

(Link to podcast in bio)