APG Noisy Thinking

The question: ‘If planning didn’t exist, how would you reinvent it?’ came up in an early session with the APG AI core group. It struck me as a brilliant way to try and codify what is good and working about our discipline, what could be ditched and what needs to be grafted on or re-built to make it even more fit for purpose.

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On one level, there is nothing more enjoyable than a bunch of planners and strats sitting around debating the meaning and purpose of Planning. In my household, which admittedly consists of several planners and one manque planner/artist, the question ‘What is Planning?’ is a cue for a good laugh about any apparently pointless philosophical enquiry.

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But joking aside, it’s hard to think of another semi-professional discipline whose rules are so unclear, whose edges are fuzzy and whose practice changes and evolves at such speed WHILST continuing to grow its influence and impact.

And however seismic the changes in culture, business and tech, the roots of the discipline in brand planning/strategy remain the touchstone.

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And the question is even more interesting and purposeful if you turn it on its head and instead of taking into account all history and development of Planning, we simply ask what would we do if we were starting from scratch? Not just theoretically, but in terms of what we do and how we do it: The practice of planning to help solve business problems with creative thinking.

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So I asked some very interesting people with very different perspectives, whether they’d be up for the challenge and so far they have said ‘yes’:

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Jim Carroll, one of the godfathers of Planning – former CSO and Chairman of BBH; writer, thinker, and wonderful teacher to strategists on APG leadership courses

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Imali Hettiarachchi, Strategy Lead at the LEGO Group, and previously agency Planning and Strategy Director at BBH, Adam and Eve and others

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Ayo Fagbemi, Strategy Director and Co-Founder at Explorers Club, previously of Google, W&K and Mother

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Kit Altin, CSO at The Gate, APG Shortlisting Chair and chair of the session

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Come and hear what they have to say, pelt them with hard questions and get some really useful ideas for expanding and evolving your Planning practice.

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Sarah Newman | APG Director

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Event Details:

Date: Tuesday 16th September 2025

Time: 6pm-8pm BST

Location: The Gate, 34 Bow Street, London, WC2E 7AU

 

Tickets*:

APG Members = £7.50+vat

Non-members = £40+vat

*tickets are non-refundable