Source: © LinkedIn LinkedIn Mike Wright, a Red & Yellow marketing student

Wright was the bonus speaker at this year’s conference. He relates butchery to the marketing industry.

“Butchery taught me that I was not meant to be a butcher but it did teach me some simple lessons that cut through the complexities of the world.”

The #NedbankIMC conference took place on Thursday, 19 September at The Focus Rooms, Johannesburg, where a lineup of international and local experts shared their knowledge with 2,000 delegates who attended virtually and in person.

Bizcommunity chatted to some of the speakers and sponsors.

• Sharpening the knives

  This is about focusing in a digital age when everything is being thrown at you. It is also about ensuring you have the right tools for the job.

• The missing wheel

  In the butchery, it is easy to spot when there's a missing wheel on a trolley, but in marketing, it's much harder to identify those missing components.“I tell people to think of their team as a trolley and figure out what that missing wheel is,” he says.

• Rushing the cutting process

  “I used to rush through some of the cutting processes and botch a few cuts, taking off too much meat. This taught me to slow down, relax my shoulders, and trust the knife — just let the knife do the work.”

  When he slowed down, he could keep up with everyone else.

  “That lesson translates well to our current world of AI and advancing tech.

  “As the world speeds up, as humans with creative minds, we need to slow down, stop forcing ideas and the creative processes that make us unique.”

Getting your hands dirty

He also touches on instant gratification.

“Many of us are searching for the next big idea, an innovative breakthrough, or even our true purpose or calling. The only way to find that path is by putting on a hairnet, getting your hands dirty, and taking the time to discover it.”