1+1=3: Dave Trott

Dave Trott tells stories.
Dave Trott tells very good stories.
Some are funny. Some are clever. Some are poignant. They have twists and turns. They engage.
They are drawn from his personal and his professional life. He tells a lovely story about his Dad overcoming his fear of the dark.
There are stories of famous figures not just from marketing, but from all walks of life.
If the story of Nicholas Winton doesn’t touch your emotions, check to see you still have a pulse.
The sources for his stories are many and eclectic. They should be, as one of his tales is about how variety can drive creativity.
Other characters include Alfred Noble, Django Rheinhardt and General Paton.
My guess is Dave is a football fan. There are stories about Peter Shilton, Ian Wright and Garrincha.
There is one thing however, that unites all the stories in the book. They all have a moral.
Like Aesop’s fables or the Victorian’s cautionary tales, they aim to do more than entertain.
The morals focus on creativity and problem solving.
They are powerful and useful.
They are infotainment.
Their power comes from the fact they flow naturally from the stories.
This is probably the book's greatest strength.
If there is a weakness in the book, it’s a small one.
Dave Trott likes short sentences. Very short.
It may have something to do with years of writing advertising copy.
It may be to fit with today’s soundbite society.
It may be because he likes it.
It is a style others like James Ellroy have used to good effect.
It is a style that Earnest Hemmingway espoused. His six-word short story is still widely quoted: For sale: baby shoes, never worn.
It works well in small doses. I found I couldn’t read more than 5 stories in one go before the style started to distract from the substance.
So I read the book in small batches.
Perhaps this was a good thing as it meant I took time to absorb the morals.
Perhaps this is what Dave Trott means you to do. Probably, he is clearly a clever man.

Giles Lury is executive chairman, The Value Engineers. Read more from Giles here and more from Dave here.