Leadership Lessons: Stuart Lambert, Co-Founder of Blurred
In the latest in our Leadership Lessons series celebrating outstanding practitioners from
across our industries, our Head of Interim, Ben Mitchell, caught up with the inimitable
Stuart Lambert, Co-Founder at Blurred, the award-winning strategic communications,
creative & sustainability consultancy.
Since launching Blurred back in 2018 - with co-founders Nik Govier, Katy Stolliday and
Emma Weisgard - as an antidote to traditional agency models, its innovative, creative
approach has landed a string of industry accolades while its staunch independence
and singular commitment to people & planet alike continue to earn regular plaudits. In
this honest conversation, Stuart gives a taste of the ferocious originality that has won
both him & the agency he helped to found so many admirers.
Hi Stu. What would you call your greatest career achievement to date?
Hah - I'll tell you when it happens! I'm not really one for listing achievements. I make a
point of living in the future, not the past – much to my suffering family's detriment who
always bemoan the fact I can't get excited about today because I'm too focused on
tomorrow. I haven’t done a CV in more than a decade. Award wins are lovely, of course,
and I have plenty of them - but they aren't what moves me. I'm proud to have played my
part in starting a business that genuinely cares about people, planet, profit equally.
What’s your biggest inspiration – and why?
Metal music and science fiction storytelling. I’m serious: that’s genuinely where a lot of
my inspiration actually comes from. The musical works of Dream Theater, in particular. I
have always found I need music that energises and raises the adrenaline levels. It's
undoubtedly a bit of a primal thing but it's also the most amazing community of kind,
supportive people you'll find anywhere. Going to Download festival every year is a
religious experience and it's become an absolute celebration of inclusive humanity at its
best, celebrating non-conformity, individuality, community – all the things I care deeply
about. The place is full of people who are passionate about influences from cultures
around the world and that is a compelling place to be.
And then science fiction because you can't invent a thing until it's been imagined: and it
is sci-fi writers who for hundreds of years have proven to be the true blue-sky thinkers
before that hackneyed phrase was even a thing. It was those people dreaming of what
might be possible so that real-world scientists and inventors and entrepreneurs make it
happen. Read Kim Stanley Robinson's "Ministry of the Future" if you want a brilliant story
that's also a crystal clear yet hopeful blueprint for how humanity can get through the
climate crisis.
Is there one trend in media & PR right now you think is either overhyped or undervalued?
Yes, definitely: AI is simultaneously over-hyped and under-hyped. It's absolutely game-
changing, we all know that, but not in some of the ways many are continually claiming.
The conversation about it is full of hyperbole and there's an unbelievable amount of
snake oil out there as agencies leap on the bandwagon without proper thought. We
need to properly educate ourselves on what LLMs (not "AI") are and - critically - how they
actually work if we as humans are to truly understand their strengths and their very real
weaknesses. For example, too much stuff passing for GEO is either glorified SEO or
extremely flawed testing in not-real-world conditions. There is so much still to learn.
What one piece of sage advice would you dish out to your younger self?
Enjoy the moment more! Time really flies.
Where do you think our industry will be in ten years’ time?
Much smaller…much leaner…subject to the frankly terrifying economic and climate
crises beginning to take shape on the near horizon and unrecognisable from anything
we've known so far, but for one eternal truth: human beings will always, always value
good work and stories told by other human beings. That will last forever.
Ben Mitchell is Head of Interim at The Work Crowd.
Whether you need interim, fractional or freelance expertise for a project, to plug a gap or upskill your team, or you are exploring new opportunities as an independent consultant, The Work Crowd can help you connect to the right person.