Back in the day, when I was a brand manager on Lucozade Sport, one of my favourite things to do was write a brief.

It was a collaborative process, and I loved weaving together the threads to help tell the story of the brand:

What was it about?
Where had it come from and where was it now?
Where did it want to go, and why?

It was so useful to take the learning from the past and use it to shape the future.

And also to be specific about the edges - what was in and what was out, what was fixed and what was flexible.

Then we got to hand it over and see what came back in response from our brilliant agencies. Often more than we could ever have imagined.

The learning for me now? It’s a super useful process for people as well as brands.

So much of what I do in a coaching relationship - and in my own life - is to figure out the brief and then see what shows up in response.

Whether we’re trying to work out what’s next in our life or work, find our direction, or identify how we want to show up and navigate the way there - a great first step is to create the brief.

It can be SO tempting to try and figure out the ‘how’ first - the execution - but that comes after.

Once you have a clear brief, it’s so much easier to move forward.

It gives us a lens to search through.
It acts as a filter for what shows up in response.
It saves us time and energy. When opportunities present themselves, we can ask ourselves “Does this fit the brief?” instead of swirling around in pros and cons.

And you never know what could show up and surprise you :-)

Is there something in your life that could benefit from a clear brief?

And what would it be like to create it and see what comes back in response?

Wishing you all a week of figuring out the brief for your what’s next,