Krav Maga Planning

A Blueprint for 21C Planning

WARNING
This is not another planning guide.

This is a comprehensive operating system and frame of mind for planning

in the 21st century. It is for new planners starting their careers, old
planners who are coping with the changes and old planners who are not
coping with the changes, but have the willingness to. 

Krav Maga Planning 2018©

 Why do we need this?
Well, we already have a problem if you don't know why we need this. But, if you’re reading
this, then you’ve already taken a step in the right direction.

Oh yeah… and guess what, our “consumers” don’t give a flying fuck about advertising.

This gave rise to the likes of Shekhar Deshpande, Global Planning Director & Strategy
Consulting Director, JWT, arguing calling for freeing strategy from creative to stand on its
own feet. Meanwhile, on the opposite end of the spectrum you have the Tom De Bruynes
(Co-Founder of SUE Amsterdam) of the world advocating agencies ridding themselves of
planners because “planning is too important to put it in a department”.

And I agree with Ashly Stewart, Head of Planning at Havas London who believes that “we’re
going to need a little solidarity if we’re to move ahead.” But until that happens, this is for the
believers among us that “attack is the best form of defense” and for the many of us who are
convinced that there’s never been a better time to be a planner. This is an answer to Leo
Rayman's, CEO Grey Consulting and CEO Grey London, accusation of planners developing
a psychological condition he called “Learned Helplessness.” But more importantly, it’s for
those of us who recognize the need for change.

We admit that we’re at crossroads: adapt or die. For the former, please read on.

“Don’t do your job. Do everything

else. Then, your job is done”
The Golden Rule to Krav Maga Planning

Krav Maga Planning 2018©

 Why Krav Maga?
Krav Maga is a military self-defense and fighting system developed for the Israel Defense
Forces (IDF) and Israeli security forces (Shin Bet and Mossad) that was derived from a
combination of techniques sourced from boxing, wrestling, aikido, judo and karate, along
with realistic fight training.

Created by Imi Lichtenfeld, Krav Maga is known for its focus on real-world situations and its
extreme efficiency. But really, more than anything it is a philosophy emphasizing aggression,
and simultaneous defensive and offensive maneuvers. Students learn to defend against all
variety of attacks and are taught to counter in the quickest and most efficient way.

“The leg of a baby is stronger than

the balls of Muhammed Ali.”
Imi Lichtenfeld

Ideas in Krav Maga include:

1. Maintaining awareness of surroundings while dealing with the threat in order to look for
escape routes, further attackers, objects that could be used to strike an opponent.
2. Recognizing the importance of and expanding on instinctive responses under stress.
3. Using simple and easily repeatable strikes.
4. Using any objects at hand that could be used to hit an opponent.
5. Continuing to strike the opponent until they are completely incapacitated.
6. Developing physical aggression (not to be confused with emotional aggression or anger),
with the view that physical aggression is the most important component in a fight.
7. Targeting attacks to the body's most vulnerable points, such as: the eyes, neck or throat,
face, solar plexus, groin, ribs, knee, foot, fingers, liver, etc.

Now you’re starting to get a sense of where this is going. The same exact ideas of Krav
Maga apply to planning today. Because when you’re operating at the intersection of
business and creativity in a volatile environment, you’ll require a combination of techniques
that will allow you to plan aggressively. These will be the building blocks of the Krav Maga
planner’s operating system.

As Julian Cole, Head of Comms Planning at BBDO, puts it in his Ugly and Dirty Planning:
long gone are the Stephen King days of the lone genius planner who sat in solitude in his
corner and crafted the amazing insight. Blue-sky thinking is dead.

Welcome to Torshaavn, Faroe Islands - the cloudiest city on earth.

Krav Maga Planning 2018©

 The Krav Maga Planner OS
The 7 ideas that shape the Krav Maga Planning mindset

Idea 1 Maintaining awareness of surroundings while dealing with the threat

in order to look for escape routes, further attackers, objects that could
be used to strike an opponent | Awareness

Most of your planning will be done when you’re not planning. Seek inspiration
from everywhere, except advertising. It is detrimental to stay at the speed of
culture by consuming it, voraciously. You need to understand where you exist, the
ecosystem, your environment in order to decipher and infiltrate it. Then, use it as
you deem fit. This will help you identify opportunities for brands, understand
people’s psyches and avoid any Kendall Jenner Pepsi situations.  

How:
1. Read. Anything. About anything. Whatever you like. Just keep doing it. Even if
it’s this.
2. Write. Anything. About anything. Just play around with words until they flow
naturally.
3. Talk to people. The ones you know and the ones you don’t. The ones you
disagree with before the likeminded ones. Reach out here.
4. Maintain a hobby. If you don’t have any, adopt one. Any one. Even if it’s this
one.

5. Travel. Preferably alone. Here’s why.

6. Volunteer from time to time. But not like I did.
7. Create a list of problems in the world around you. And there’s plenty. Then try
to solve one you care about. Or at least contribute to solving it.
8. Music. Art. Movies. Use them for analogies. Or even creative springboards.
Here’s and example: a good strategy is like a good magic trick.

9. Experiment. Don’t rely on people’s opinions and experiences. Have your own.
10.Never sit on your desk for more than 3 hours straight. Walk around the
agency, show your face and most importantly snoop around creatives. Ask
them what they’re doing. Ask how you could help. In any way, shape or form.
11.Go out in real life. Rob Campbell will convince you.

But Beware: These are the fundamentals. They’re your foundation and they require
constant work. Perhaps, more accurately a lifestyle. So, if you do not or will not approach
everything with a beginner’s mindset or don’t think of yourself as being constantly in beta,
you may as well just quit now.

Krav Maga Planning 2018©

 The Krav Maga Planner OS
Idea 2 Recognizing the importance of and expanding on instinctive response
under stress | Instinct

We live in the age of data. Great! Now that we’ve used advertising’s favorite
catchphrase at least once, we can completely ignore it. We’ll get to data later. But
before, it is imperative to understand your instincts as a planner. So, you’ll need
to monitor yourself. Over time. Be aware. Be mindful. Be deliberate. If it turns out
your initial thoughts on projects have been on point, you’ll know the next time you
don’t have enough “Thinking time” (which is almost every time) to confidently trust
your instincts and run with them. This will allow you to use all the allotted time to
find and build the proof and support for them. Now what if your instincts tend be
off? Then you’ll need work harder. Go back to Idea 1. See, you must understand
that intuition is not some supernatural sensation. Intuition is nothing but the
outcome of earlier intellectual experiences. Increase the latter, and the former will
come naturally.

“ Intuition does not come to the

unprepared mind.”
Albert Einstein

How:

1. Measure your IHR (Instinct Hit Rate). After every project, recollect your initial
response to the brief then check if it was ultimately what you went with for your
strategy or not, and was it ultimately the right decision or not. Know your IHR
to learn when to trust it, or not.

2. Prepare your mind by practicing the craft. Mark Pollard, Strategy CEO at
Mighty Jungle says the simplest technique is to stare at something you see all
the time and rename it, give it new meaning and do it ten times.

3. Brush up on your local and/or international politics. Then, try and project what
will happen next. Keep doing it until people think you’re the millennial Noam
Chomsky.

But Beware: You’re not the Oracle of Delphi. Instincts are merely hypotheses. They’re
guilty until proven innocent. You’ll need to support them with evidence that puts them
beyond reasonable doubt. Always.

Krav Maga Planning 2018©

 The Krav Maga Planner OS
Idea 3 Using simple and easily repeatable strikes | Efficiency

In other words, you need to establish a process for yourself. A process means a
series of consistent actions taken to achieve the best possible result. And there
are many things between inception and delivery that you know you need to do for
sure. They’re the same for every brief/pitch you’ll ever work on. It it these things
that you could deliver highly on with a low time/resource investment. If you’re
prepared accordingly that is.

“ Success is a result of consistent

practice of winning skills and actions.
There is nothing miraculous about
the process. There is no luck
involved.”
Bill Russell

How:

1. Create a versatile, yet easy to use presentation template. Here are a few to
get you started.

2. Look up Kurt Vonnegut’s shapes of stories. Pick 2

(I recommend “Man in Hole” as it is most relevant one)
and build all your strategy presentations accordingly.

3. Find someone (reasonable) you connect with in the agency to sense check
your thinking at the earliest stage possible. Chemistry is important because
that person will need to be on the same page as you before really seeing
anything. They must know how you think. Even better, find a partner. Read
about Pairing Planners here.

But Beware: This could make your decks and presentations seem repetitive or
monotonous. This is only supposed to serve as the base. It’s the steak. Make sure you
go Salt Bae on that shit.

Krav Maga Planning 2018©

 The Krav Maga Planner OS
Idea 4 Using any objects at hand that could be used to hit an opponent |
Resourcefulness

When briefs come in, you’re going to be working on extremely tight timelines. So,
you won’t have time to sit, think and choose the right tools. This is why you have
to be continuously building and growing your toolbox in your off-brief times. That
way, when the time comes, you could brandish the right tool like a knight
brandishes their sword in battle.

How:

1. Create a bank. Call it “Interesting Shit”. In it, save any photo, movie clip,
graph, table, fact, statistic and quote you think there might even be the
slightest chance of you using it someday, somewhere. Here’s what mine looks
like.

2. Turn your social media pages (Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn) into
libraries. Use the Save option to keep anything you find interesting or remotely
useful.

3. Steal. Well, more like ask for cool slides, models, designs and videos you’ve
seen around and then when necessary, use them in your decks. Here’s one
on target audiences from my decks to get you started.

4. Data’s your best friend. Just don’t be a slave to it. Remember what Ronald
Sloane once said: “If you torture data long enough, it will confess to anything”.
So make it. For that, use easy go-to data sources: Google Trends, CIA and
UN reports, make a good friend in media who you could text for a quick piece
of info and contact a cousin in university to give you access to their library.

“ The essence of strategy is

choosing what not to do.”
Michael Porter

But Beware: The bigger your toolbox gets, the faster you’ll need to know which tools
not to use.

Krav Maga Planning 2018©

 The Krav Maga Planner OS
Idea 5 Continuing to strike the opponent until they are completely
incapacitated | Perseverance

You’re nothing without perseverance. You could be the best planner in the world
with the best strategy in the world and ultimately produce… nothing. Nil. You will
need to be resilient - internally and externally. Whether it’s providing feedback at
creative reviews, pushing a concept further, aligning with account management,
consolidating with media, on-boarding partners, or persuading clients, you should
be like a drop of water on a rock. Drip, after drip, after drip, in the same place,
you begin to leave a mark.

“ Strategy is thinking about a choice and choosing

to stick with your decision.”
Jeroen De Flander

How:
1. Be firm, but kind. Be firm, but fair. But be firm.
2. Never use “no”. To anything. Always use “yes, and” or “What if?”
3. See the tree. But always, always, maintain sight of the forest. Plant that forest,
tree by tree.
4. Don't be swayed by opinions, politics and power plays in the room. Maintain
your point of view, but back resilience with reason. Consistency is key.

But Beware: This is not about being stubborn. You must remember that you don't and
won’t always have all the answers. Yet, it is about staying true to the objectives. You
are the custodian of the bigger picture. It’s a fine line. Don’t walk it.

Idea 6 Developing physical aggression (not to be confused with emotional

aggression or anger), with the view that physical aggression is the
most important component in a fight | Physical Aggression

You must always keep your eyes on the prize. Projects will veer and clients will
flail which are only more reasons for you to continue driving the process with one
thing in mind and only one thing; bringing the project to life in its best possible
form. Knowing this means embracing that frustration, disappointment, anger,
failure, sadness, rage and dismay are part and parcel of the process. Don't ever
let them blind or disparage you. Emotional attachment is your enemy. It clouds
thinking. Brutal professionalism is your Northstar.

Krav Maga Planning 2018©

 The Krav Maga Planner OS
How:

1. Communicate. Anything and everything you’re feeling. To anyone and

everyone who would listen, truly listen. Voicing your emotions will help get
them out of the way sooner rather than later, allowing you to refocus on the
task at hand.

2. Learn from lawyers. The controversial ones. Those fuckers are ruthless. They
have an objective, and they’re going to achieve it, regardless of how they feel
about it. Cue the Trial of the Century.

“ Men in rage strike those that

wish them best.”
William Shakespeare

But Beware: This is in no way, shape or form an invite to be immoral or senseless. On

the contrary, conviction is a success driver and empathy is the first step toward
imagination. Practice them, but never forget that they’re double-edged swords.

Idea 7 Targeting attacks to the body's most vulnerable points, such as: the
eyes, neck or throat, face, solar plexus, groin, ribs, knee, foot, fingers,
liver, etc. | Efficacy

Every client has a problem. A deeper-lying one than the one they told you about.
That’s if they actually did. On our end, every strategy, no matter how big or small,
has a moment, one moment and one moment only, that makes it a winning one.
One moment that will get the client on board. Whether it’s a client brief or a pitch,
you can’t (because of resources) and won’t (because of time) be able to give
them the ocean. So, you’ll have to identify that one weakness, one vulnerability or
one mistake and hammer it. Cut that Achilles heel and rub salt in it, twist a knife in
the wound, make it burn. Then, compensate weakness with strength, counter
vulnerability with what Nassim Taleb coined as Antifragile and remedy mistakes.
THIS is the moment when and where you win.

“ The boldness of asking deep questions may

require unforeseen flexibility if we are to accept
the answers.”
Brian Greene

Krav Maga Planning 2018©

 The Krav Maga Planner OS
How:

1. Don’t read cases. Watch cases. Court cases that is. This moment. Identify
your “if the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit” moment, write it down and plan
how you’re going to present it. Hell, make it a fucking spectacle. Or even
better, make the clients themselves get to the answers. Learn from the best
here.

2. Cut through the crap and hit them with the existential questions. Then read
between the lines. Here’s a few to get you started.
• If you could change one thing, what would it be?
• If customers/client were to describe you in one word/sentence, what would they say?
• Which brands do you look up to? Why?

But Beware: You know it’s never about what you say, it’s how you say it. So say it the
right way. Or it will backfire. You’re there as a critical consultant, not a sadistic
sociopath.

The 7 ideas build on each other to create the Operating System

Continuously building and

growing one’s toolbox.
Resourcefulness
Establishing an effective
process.
Efficiency

Bringing it all together

Ultimately, it all boils down to what Rory Sutherland once wrote: “I think there are really only
two types of people in advertising agencies. Good people and crap people.” Try to be the first
type. Please.

Now go, Krav Maga the shit out of planning.

Krav Maga Planning 2018©