Truth & Spectacle Truth & Spectacle

In this conversation about truth and spectacle, Alex and Ivan look at how and why they apply coaching to brands, and get really excited about the power of a good core story.

What is brand story coaching and why we think it's pretty cool.

When we started Truth & Spectacle, it was done with the belief that people are more creative than they imagine. 

We assumed that being ‘creative’ was something that teams and organisations wanted to be - but we learned quickly that it wasn’t that straightforward. To many people creativity is a ‘gift you’re born with’, for others creativity evokes stories of ego, genius, loudness or elitism.

We'd like people to experience creativity as an inclusive, more gentle force.

Since our business and personal worlds have suddenly relied on video calls like never before, we thought it would interesting to talk about the new challenges of running workshops, what virtual work is, how to make deep connections with colleagues and how to do this with no post-it notes or snacks.

Alex and Ivan discuss their experiences and share what works for them. It turns out that virtual workshops are a powerful tool for teams to be creative and they’ll definitely be part of a new blended tool set for working on certain kinds of problems as groups.

We talk about how to get prepared for a workshop, how to help the participants be present and give them control, the difference between virtual connections and working in real spaces, how to use provocations to stimulate creativity and team bonding, the tech platforms we prefer and embracing working open.

We hope you enjoy it.

Alex is a creative business coach and an associate at the digital think tank Doteveryone, a fellow of the RSA, and storyteller in residence at SIX, the Global Social Innovation Exchange. Ivan is the creative director of what3words. They are co-founders of Truth & Spectacle, a creative consultancy.

It’s Spring 2020, and we’re in the middle of the Covid-19 meltdown. Alex Mecklenburg and Ivan Pols had a conversation about how much has changed, what hasn’t changed, and what we’re doing now.

We talked about what we’re doing now, the mass emotional roller coaster, dealing with new expectations, signalling, kindness, grief, and teams that dream. Among other things.

Alex is a creative business coach and an associate at the digital think tank Doteveryone, a fellow of the RSA, and storyteller in residence at SIX, the Global Social Innovation Exchange. Ivan is the creative director of what3words, working with a world class in-house marketing and product team.

MegaPops are Megan Egan & Poppy Cumming-Spain, a creative team working at Creature London. They’re recent grads of SCA 2.0 and have pretty much launched themselves into the industry on a rocket fuelled with mad energy.

Katharina is a Business Psychologist and the Managing Director at InnovationBubble. They are a business consultancy who use behavioural science to understand how organisations and brands really work.

She’s advised companies like Virgin Atlantic, TalkTalk and Habito on finding the hidden psychological influences that affect their business strategies.

She talks about the difference between truth and purpose, the importance of getting your values right from the beginning, the facts about fluffy towels in travel and eye implants.