Do Not Adjust Your Focus artwork

Do Not Adjust Your Focus

19 episodes - English - Latest episode: 12 months ago -

In this podcast from strategic and creative advisory firm Blurred, we talk to people from politics, business and culture about ideas and solutions to challenges in a world where the previously clear lines between industries and audiences no longer exist. Do Not Adjust Your Focus - embrace a more interesting, blurred view.

Marketing Business Management marketing communications advertising climate business comms culture purpose brand sustainability
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Episodes

Ray Nayler, acclaimed sci-fi author, on the climate crisis, artificial intelligence, the ethics of human thriving and creative storytelling

May 17, 2023 14:00 - 1 hour - 49.3 MB

In Episode 14 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, the podcast from sustainability and communications consultancy Blurred, Stuart talks to award-winning author, Ray Nayler. Ray is the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Mountain in the Sea, which The Washington Post called "(a) poignant, mind-expanding debut." The Mountain in the Sea is a finalist for the Nebula Award and for the LA Times Book Awards' Ray Bradbury Award for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction. The novel dram...

Designer for social impact, Greg Bunbury, on building purposeful work and moving equality forwards

July 22, 2022 14:00 - 54 minutes - 37.8 MB

In episode 13 of DNAYF, the podcast from ESGP advisory firm Blurred, founder Nik Govier talks to designer and creative consultant Greg Bunbury.   Greg is a British-born, award-winning Graphic Designer, Creative Consultant, Diversity & Inclusion Consultant and public speaker of Caribbean heritage. He helps mission-led, purpose driven businesses and organisations, build brands, connect with their audience, and engage diverse communities.  Greg also curates and designs the Black Outdoor Art pr...

Lynne Franks, PR icon, on women's issues, diversity and sustainability

April 26, 2022 11:00 - 44 minutes - 30.9 MB

After a Covid hiatus, DNAYF is back! In Episode 12 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, the podcast from strategic and creative advisory firm Blurred, Blurred CEO Nik Govier talks to PR icon and spokeswoman on women's issues Lynne Franks OBE.  Lynne founded a public relations consultancy in the early 1970s and is an advocate, communications strategist, writer and spokeswoman on women's issues, sustainability[2] and consumer lifestyles. Throughout Lynne’s long and successful career, she has influen...

Justin Featherstone (MC) - a decorated officer’s take on leading from the front and decision-making under pressure

December 16, 2020 13:00 - 53 minutes - 36.6 MB

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE Leadership under fire: a decorated officer’s take on leading from the front, decision-making under pressure and the importance of autonomy and resourcefulness  Justin Featherstone is a former Major in The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment who was awarded the Military Cross for his actions in Iraq.  Today, Justin is a leadership consultant who is a Fellow at the University of Exeter Business school as well as a part-time member of the faculty.  He is also i...

Dhruti Shah, award-winning writer, on journalism, the art of listening and the language of animals in business

December 16, 2020 13:00 - 48 minutes - 33.3 MB

In Episode 10 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, the podcast from strategic and creative advisory firm Blurred, Stuart talks to BBC journalist Dhruti Shah.  Dhruti is one of the tiny number of people to have been awarded both the prestigious Ochberg fellowship for journalists working to report on traumatic events, and the Rotary International Peace Fellowship for her work exploring peace and conflict resolution.  Stuart and Dhruti discuss journalism as a profession today - from mental health and...

Dhruti Shah, award-winning writer, on journalism, the art of listening and the language of animals in business

December 16, 2020 13:00 - 48 minutes - 33.3 MB

In Episode 10 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, the podcast from strategic and creative advisory firm Blurred, Stuart talks to BBC journalist Dhruti Shah.  Dhruti is one of the tiny number of people to have been awarded both the prestigious Ochberg fellowship for journalists working to report on traumatic events, and the Rotary International Peace Fellowship for her work exploring peace and conflict resolution.  Stuart and Dhruti discuss journalism as a profession today - from mental health and...

Gina Miller on Europe, ESG, ethics and education - and why we must preserve Britain as a tolerant place

July 19, 2020 19:00 - 45 minutes - 31.3 MB

HOW DO WE PRESERVE BRITAIN AS A TOLERANT PLACE? In Episode 9 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, the podcast from strategic and creative advisory firm Blurred, Stuart talks to business woman and campaigner Gina Miller, who twice initiated legal challenges against the government standing up for Parliamentary democracy… And won. Her first victory came in September 2017, when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of giving MPs a say over triggering Article 50 - the legal mechanism taking the UK out of t...

Gina Miller on Europe, ESG, ethics and education - and why we must preserve Britain as a tolerant place

July 19, 2020 19:00 - 45 minutes - 31.3 MB

HOW DO WE PRESERVE BRITAIN AS A TOLERANT PLACE? In Episode 9 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, the podcast from strategic and creative advisory firm Blurred, Stuart talks to business woman and campaigner Gina Miller, who twice initiated legal challenges against the government standing up for Parliamentary democracy… And won. Her first victory came in September 2017, when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of giving MPs a say over triggering Article 50 - the legal mechanism taking the UK out of t...

Performing under pressure: what can business leaders learn from professional sportspeople? And where do the comparisons break down?

June 15, 2020 13:00 - 25 minutes - 17.2 MB

In Episode 8 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, recorded under lockdown, Stuart talks to Dr Jen Denyer, ex England international squash player, now turned executive leadership coach on the MBA at Cranfield and Oxford business schools. They discuss the Covid-19 crisis, business leadership and resilience in challenging situations, and what lessons from sports are the right ones for executives to learn right now.

Nick Baird on Britain after Brexit, the politics of the EU and why Turkey promises to become an exciting tech hub

April 20, 2020 13:00 - 37 minutes - 25.7 MB

WHAT DOES BREXIT MEAN FOR BRITISH BUSINESS? In Episode 7 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus , the podcast from strategic and creative advisory firm Blurred, Stuart talks to Nick Baird, currently Group Corporate Affairs Director at Centrica and previously CEO of UK Trade & Investment. Nick's career began, however, in politics. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1983, and became UK Representation to the EU in Brussels in 1989. In 2002 he was appointed Head of the European Union Depart...

Chris Godfrey, creator of the most popular Instagram post of all time

March 09, 2020 16:00 - 33 minutes - 23.4 MB

In Episode 6 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, Stuart talks to Chris Godfrey, named by Time last year as one of the 25 Most Influential People on the Internet.    Chris is the man behind the most liked Instagram post of all time.  His ‘record-breaking egg’ was talked about around the world when during a Superbowl ad it ‘cracked’ under the pressure of all the attention, shining a spotlight on mental health. He has now founded a new creative agency called Happy Yolk, and he and Stuart discuss cre...

Mike Barry ex M&S: the story behind Plan A and what companies can learn from it

January 30, 2020 15:00 - 38 minutes - 26.5 MB

THE STORY BEHIND PLAN A AND WHAT COMPANIES CAN LEARN FROM IT In Episode 5 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, the podcast from strategic and creative advisory firm Blurred, Stuart talks to Mike Barry, previously Director of Sustainable Business at Marks & Spencer, where he developed, led and implemented Plan A, the company's famous eco and ethical programme.   Mike believes a new business cycle is emerging one that has the potential to create a more balanced society and supporting economy. He an...

Mike Barry, ex M&S: the story behind Plan A and what companies can learn from it

January 30, 2020 15:00 - 38 minutes - 26.5 MB

THE STORY BEHIND PLAN A AND WHAT COMPANIES CAN LEARN FROM IT In Episode 5 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, the podcast from strategic and creative advisory firm Blurred, Stuart talks to Mike Barry, previously Director of Sustainable Business at Marks & Spencer, where he developed, led and implemented Plan A, the company's famous eco and ethical programme.   Mike believes a new business cycle is emerging one that has the potential to create a more balanced society and supporting economy. He an...

Matt Peacock: Tech optimism, corporate transparency and the state of journalism

December 06, 2019 14:00 - 38 minutes - 26.2 MB

In Episode 4 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus, the podcast from business reputation consultancy Blurred, Stuart talks to Matt Peacock, previously Group Director of Corporate Affairs at Vodafone, leading the company’s corporate social transformation strategy across 30 countries, becoming in the process one of the world's most sought-after experts on corporate transparency and purpose. Matt is one of business’s leading experts on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles and operation...

Lord Jim Knight, Tes Global: Education, technology and politics

October 21, 2019 06:00 - 48 minutes - 33.2 MB

Blurred co-founder Stuart meets Lord Jim Knight of Weymouth to talk the blurring lines between education, technology, politics and business. Education NOT for education's sake Stuart talks to Lord Jim Knight of Weymouth. Previously Minister of State for schools in the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown Government, in April 2014 Jim stepped down from the Labour front bench in the House of Lords to take up a full-time role as Chief Education Officer at digital education company Tes Global. They ca...

Josh Luber, StockX Co-Founder, on entrepreneurialism and reinventing the retail model

October 03, 2019 14:00 - 26 minutes - 18.4 MB

Stuart Lambert, founding partner at Blurred meets Josh Luber, Co-Founder of StockX, the world's first “stock market of things”. StockX is an online marketplace, initially focused on sneakers, which connects buyers and sellers using the same method as the world's stock markets. Launched in 2016, StockX is now a unicorn, valued at more than $1 billion, providing a disruptive model for the future of retail, being labelled by Quartz a "stock market for physical things that could change how capit...

Josh Luber, founder and CEO, StockX on entrepreneurialism and reinventing the retail model

October 03, 2019 14:00 - 26 minutes - 18.4 MB

Stuart Lambert, founding partner at Blurred meets Josh Luber, the co-founder and CEO of StockX, the world's first “stock market of things”. StockX is an online marketplace, initially focused on sneakers, which connects buyers and sellers using the same method as the world's stock markets. Launched in 2016, StockX is now a unicorn, valued at more than $1 billion, providing a disruptive model for the future of retail, being labelled by Quartz a "stock market for physical things that could chan...

Josh Luber, founder and CEO, StockX

October 03, 2019 14:00 - 26 minutes - 18.4 MB

Stuart Lambert, founding partner at Blurred meets Josh Luber, the co-founder and CEO of StockX, the world's first “stock market of things”. StockX is an online marketplace, initially focused on sneakers, which connects buyers and sellers using the same method as the world's stock markets. Launched in 2016, StockX is now a unicorn, valued at more than $1 billion, providing a disruptive model for the future of retail, being labelled by Quartz a "stock market for physical things that could chan...

Sue Garrard, ex Unilever: Sustainability and climate crisis

September 27, 2019 13:00 - 45 minutes - 31 MB

“If you don’t have a sustainability plan, you don’t have a plan.”  The world is facing a climate crisis. For any business, sustainability is critical, but embedding it in a company’s operational structure and culture is easier said than done.  Former EVP for Sustainable Business and Communications at Unilever Sue Garrard knows this better than most. Acknowledging both the importance and struggle of marrying your company’s moral and business purpose is vital, but how do you realistically me...