The Brighton Way?

I was recently asked to write a piece for the Brighton & Hove Independent. It was in response to a talk I gave at the launch of St Martin’s Campus.

Brighton’s a great place to work, isn’t it? Great place, great people, great vibe. We do things The Brighton Way.

Yet something’s missing.
We could do it so much better.
I know it’s a Brighton thing. You have to be here to understand what I mean by The Brighton Way (TBW)
I’ve tried to bottle the essence that is TBW. It’s the combination of the infrastructure and the energy of the place; the brains and the souls; the science and the magic that combines and creates our competitive advantage over the rest.
Malcolm Gladwell is a New York Columnist, author and popularist thinker. In his most recent book, David & Goliath, he reframes the myth of the battle between the Israelites and the Philistines. It wasn’t pluck, luck or guile that led the inferior David to beat Goliath, David had the odds stacked in his favour from the get go.
Goliath was a slow, lumbering, possibly half-blind giant. In close combat, he’d kill almost anyone but David didn’t choose close combat. He was an expert slingshot — something that the Israelite forces of the time had in abundance. It was as if Goliath was using a sword and David was using an automatic pistol. Those that appear strong have their weaknesses. Those that appear weak have their strengths.
Here’s our problem. Brighton often fights Goliaths on their own terms. We don’t use our secret weapon, TBW.
In this city, we talk about our great community, but how often do we use it to our maximum advantage? Once established, do businesses lose their way? We talk about being happy the way Brighton is, rather than talk about using TBW for our advantage. I don’t want people to speak of Brighton in 10 or 20 years’ time as a missed opportunity, a chance we had to make our mark before the creatives, designers & digital start ups left us for somewhere else.
What’s my solution? To break down the barriers that prevent collaboration.
This is my call to Brighton based businesses, freelancers and entrepreneurs to pay it forward and fight for The Brighton Way, helping to sustain our growth and create some more success stories.
Let’s play to our strengths.
Jay Cooper is founder and Innovation Partner at Brighton-based Bloom Worldwide. He’s also about to open a new, collaborative workspace at St Martin’s Campus along the Lewes Road.