So what?
Grappling with some of the big questions leads me to write about them. Writing helps me formulate my thoughts, take the time to think deeply, and consider the possible.
Here’s what I’ve been thinking about the world, whether through my own writing on Medium, articles written for publications or interviews in the media.
Surfing the Wave of Cut-Through
The new currency on the horizon
Cut-through is more than just grabbing attention; it's about piercing the veil of distraction that shrouds our modern world like a fog of indifference. It's the ability to not just be heard, but to be felt, remembered, and acted upon. It's the difference between being a one-hit wonder and becoming the Beatles of your industry.
In a world where everyone's shouting, cut-through is the art of the perfect whisper – the one that makes everyone lean in, eyebrows raised, hanging on your every word.
The MADE-UP Framework for Mind-Bending Innovation
Buckle up, buttercup. We're about to take a ride through the looking glass of conventional thinking.
The MADE-UP framework isn't just a fun mental exercise (though it is that, too). It's a pair of magic glasses that turn barriers into trampolines, obstacles into opportunities, and "impossible" into "I'm possible" (see what I did there?).
Nothing Exists. Everything is Made Up
Unleashing Innovation by Breaking the Fictions We Live By
The world is a story we tell ourselves, we have the power to rewrite it—to craft new narratives that align with our highest aspirations as a human species to do better in the world.
Welcome to the frontier of creativity as innovation.
Audacious Impact: Jason Perelson On Leading An Audacious, Visionary, Impact-Focused Program
An interview by Russ McLeod, for Authority Magazine.
What does it take to pioneer such transformative initiatives, and what can others learn from their successes?
The Pirate’s Lament:
On the shifting tides of strategy and the loss of rebellious thinking
The true outlaws of innovation aren’t just about breaking rules for the sake of it. They’re about challenging deeply held assumptions and reimagining what’s possible. By embracing the spirit of the pirate, the rebel, and the outlaw, we can drive real, systemic change that goes beyond incremental improvements.
I lament the pirates. The rebels, and crazy ones. The risk takers and rule breakers that throw caution to the wind to try more, do more and experiment.
Why Storytelling is Your Business Strategy’s Superpower (And How You’re Probably Doing It All Wrong)
Remember, a strategy without storytelling is like Netflix without shows. It’s a thing that’s there, but no one’s watching. The best strategies are built on compelling narratives.
If you have a message to communicate, wrap it up in a story your audience will remember.
That’s Human Psychology 101. People remember stories because they resonate with our primitive, emotional, illogical selves.
Facts tell, but stories sell.
The Art of Creative Destruction: Building Better from the Broken Pieces
The road to innovative change is seldom smooth or straightforward. It often involves destroying the known to uncover the elements, the flaws, and the potential inside.
Our journey towards true innovation though is often shackled by the inertia of comfort zones.
The real challenge lies in confronting and overcoming these mental barriers.
Upside-Down Brilliance: How Right-Brain Rebellion is Reshaping Innovation
True innovation is provocative. It challenges norms, upsets the status quo, and sometimes, it even makes us a little uncomfortable. But that discomfort is a sign of growth, of shedding the old skin of conventional thinking.
As we stand on the precipice of this new era, the question isn’t whether creativity and right-brain thinking have a place in the future of business and problem-solving.
The question is, how far are we willing to let it take us?
The Untapped Genius of Artemis: Why Your Organisation Needs to Think Wildly
In a world brimming with Apollonian logic, there lies a largely uncharted territory — a place where creativity reigns and conventional boundaries dissolve.
Welcome to the Artemisian Blueprint.
Where right-brain thinking meets strategic prowess, offering an innovative lens through which to view and solve complex challenges across diverse sectors, from Defence to sustainability, and beyond.
Lessons to learn beyond the game: The psychological genius of Super Bowl advertising
Super Bowl ads are not just a marketing marvel; they’re a masterclass in psychological engagement, storytelling, and cultural commentary.
By understanding the underlying principles that make these ads so powerful, leaders and communicators can find innovative ways to connect, engage, and inspire in everyday contexts.
SXSW is coming to Sydney, with public voting shaping the agenda
As featured in Consultancy.com.au
Among the consultancies to have spawned proposals is Canberra-based Synergy Group, with only one percent of submissions to reach the voting stage by state or territory originating from the nation’s capital. Synergy Group, via creative director Jason Perelson, who leads Synergy’s behavioral change, communications and people strategy line creativeXpeople, lodged three separate pitches, all of which were all accepted to enter the next round.
The Arcane Dance Of Creativity & Neuroscience: A New Symphony For Behavioural Change
Strap in as we tango with neuroscience and cha-cha with creativity to rewrite the playbook on impactful behavioural change. We explore how the interplay between brain prediction theory and creative stimuli drives real, meaningful, behavioural change.
How will you cope if the other side wins the election?
An interview by Region Media
Synergy Group offers advice to Australian governments of all levels and is taking to ‘The Pitch’ segment on the ABC’s popular Gruen Nation show this week with a plan to unite each and every Australian, no matter the outcome of the election on 21 May.
The Synergy Group pitch focuses on finding that human element to every issue because, from there, we can begin to feel empathy.
When Creativity, Science and Possums fall in love
A Neuro-Strategic Approach to Culture and Behavioural Change. If the previous decade has taught us anything, it’s that the convergence of creativity and scientific understanding can revolutionise our approach to people, culture, and behavioural change. The irony is palpable, given that just a few decades ago, you’d be hard-pressed to find science and creativity sitting in the same sentence, let alone at the same conference table.
Why would you work anywhere else?
An interview by Region Media
With an ad featuring an array of tempting locations aiming to convince Australians to never go back to the office, Synergy Group’s creativeXpeople won The Pitch competition on this week’s episode of the ABC’s Gruen.
Why brand awareness is actually bullshit!
As featured in B&T Magazine
Society is too bright, the world too fast, information too available, and messaging too crowded to rely on the old tropes of pure brand awareness.
To truly be effective in creating something meaningful, useful, and ultimately commercially tactical, you need to attack the consumer journey every time, in different ways and at different velocities.
You want to change my behaviour? Get the message right
As featured in TheMandarin.com.au
In crisis, it is often the case that in designing and delivering strategy we rarely consider the need to change behaviour. We tend to lead with ‘facts’, instructions, and direction. This is necessary but alone it is not enough. Facts alone are not convincing and rarely have been.
COVID-19 was a major disruption to all our lives. New patterns of behaviour are required to contain the virus, and there is little doubt the greater portions of our daily lives will continue to be affected for some time to come. However, if we want behaviour to change, then we need to work at it in structured and persistent way
Synergy's creative function for governments puts people first
As featured in Consultancy.com.au
“We wanted to reinvent the way creativity is delivered to government, with a view to how best to do that as part of a consultancy,” explains Jason. “The average consultancy leverages having a creative agency, yet creative agencies don’t tend to leverage the consultancy.”
While the typical creative team – responsible for brand identity, graphic design, creative ideation and execution – receives a brief and then goes back to the client with a proposal or pitch, Synergy’s focus was on broadening the link between creative output and human behaviour.
Consultancy firms VS creative agencies: how to take a creative approach when dealing with government
As featured in B&T Magazine
Many believe the words “Government” and “creativity” don’t go hand-in-hand. The reality is, it takes a special kind of person and special type of agency to navigate creative work within Government departments.
Understanding who you’re talking to and with, are carefully balanced elements in the recipe for success. Rather than getting frustrated with the message not landing, look inwardly in how the message was crafted (more often than not, it’s not for the right audience – your client).
The Heartbeat of Innovation
Why Empathy is the Lifeblood of Modern Strategy.
Imagine stepping into Da Vinci’s studio, witnessing firsthand his Mona Lisa unfold.Now, switch gears and poof, you’re in a bustling start-up filled with bare concrete, Converse sneakers and flannel, where the seeds of the next tech marvel are being sown.