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Jenga with My Health: Reflections, Rants, and Life’s Lazy Demolition Crew
How Ehlers-Danlos, Leadership Lessons, and a Coffee with Rishad Tobaccowala Changed My View on Everything.
Pesach Lattin (ADOTAT)
January 26, 2025
Table of Contents
Sunday Edition: ADOTAT Unplugged
Think of it as ADOTAT with its tie loosened and shoes kicked off.
The Sunday edition dives beyond ad-tech and marketing buzzwords and campaign chatter, bringing you stories about business, life, and how to navigate this chaotic world with a bit more flair (and a lot less stress). It’s where industry smarts meet personal insights, with a sprinkle of wit and wisdom on topics that actually matter to you.
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I've decided it's time to lean into a new chapter of my life—a Sunday edition of sorts. Think of it as the softer, more intimate side of me. If you’re here for just the news, commentary, and snarky takes, buckle up and enjoy the ride.
But if you want the full package, you’ll have to endure my personal musings. No refunds, no apologies.
About a year and a half ago, I was handed a personal plot twist: a diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. It’s the kind of condition that doesn’t kill you outright but slowly chips away at your body like a lazy demolition crew.
Some days, I’m scaling metaphorical Everest; other days, I’m a human paperweight. It’s the opposite of glamorous.
Fun fact: not producing collagen is like being the tin man, but without the oil can.
This forced me to take a long, unflinching look at my life—how I’ve worked, how I’ve treated people, and how I’ve (not) dealt with this looming expiration date. The silver lining? I could live for years, though my warranty is looking dicey. The bad news? My body could call it quits tomorrow. Imagine playing Jenga with your health—every move feels like it could topple the whole thing.
And yet, here I am, finding moments of clarity and connection. Case in point: I sat down with Rishad Tobaccowala this past week, and let me tell you, it was like drinking a triple shot of espresso for the soul.
This guy dropped wisdom bombs that left my brain doing cartwheels. I’ll share the full interview soon, but here’s a sneak peek at the life-altering takeaways that hit me like a freight train:
1. Work is Not a Spa—It’s a Craft
"When you go to a spa, you pay them. They don’t pay you."
Rishad’s metaphor is less a slap and more a cold plunge that jolts your system awake. Let’s not romanticize this: work isn’t a cozy retreat with cucumber water and an Enya playlist. It’s gritty, demanding, and occasionally so absurd you wonder if you’re starring in a poorly written workplace sitcom. Yet, here’s the kicker—it’s supposed to be that way. Work is craft, not comfort. It’s a process of chipping away at the block of marble to create something that looks remotely like Michelangelo’s David but might just be a passable garden gnome.
For the ad industry, this means stepping away from the cushy illusion of endless brainstorming sessions where everyone gets a trophy for showing up. Sure, ping-pong tables and kombucha on tap are cute, but they don’t craft great campaigns. What crafts great campaigns is rolling up your sleeves, diving headfirst into the mess, and embracing the discomfort of failing forward.
How to take this seriously:
Stop chasing the perfect, feel-good vibe and start chasing impact. If you’re slogging through a campaign that feels like a root canal without anesthesia but delivers measurable results, you’re doing it right. And for the love of ROI, can we stop pretending work-life balance means never sweating? A little hustle never hurt anyone—just make sure it’s purposeful hustle, not performative grind culture.
2. The Age of Debossification
"This is the era of debossification. People don’t want bosses; they want leaders."
Rishad might as well have set up a funeral for old-school management, complete with a PowerPoint eulogy. Traditional bosses—the ones who clock-watch, nitpick, and treat employees like replaceable parts—are the cassette tapes of the workplace. Retro at best, unplayable at worst. Modern workers want leaders who inspire, not just allocate. Think Wi-Fi leadership: omnipresent yet invisible, keeping the connection strong while letting people roam freely.
In the ad industry, this is particularly crucial. Creative people don’t need overlords; they need mentors who can channel their chaotic brilliance into something tangible. Leadership isn’t about barking orders—it’s about creating an environment where ideas flourish faster than a TikTok dance trend.
How to take this seriously:
If you’re in a leadership role, ditch the spreadsheet obsession and get into the trenches. Listen more than you speak. Enable autonomy. Set clear goals but leave room for creativity. And for the micromanagers out there: no one likes a boss who hovers like a helicopter parent at a kindergarten talent show. Trust your team, or they’ll find someone who does.
3. Think Like a Company of One
"Even if you’re part of a thousand-person company, act like you’re a one-person startup."
Here’s the thing: in a world where everyone’s a brand, you’re either an artisanal microbrew or a generic light beer. Your choice. Rishad’s advice to act like a “company of one” is a masterclass in self-reliance. You don’t need to be everything to everyone, but you do need to be exceptional at something. Own your niche like Beyoncé owns the stage, and make yourself indispensable.
In adland, this means carving out a unique POV. Don’t just be another agency that “delivers results” (yawn). Be the agency that redefines results. The one that clients brag about at their golf clubs and dinner parties. And yes, that means being bold enough to take risks that occasionally flop. No one remembers the safe player.
How to take this seriously:
Audit your skills like you’re a VC investor. Where are you strong? Where do you suck? Invest in the former, cut your losses on the latter. Build a portfolio that screams “hire me or regret it forever.” And for agencies, this means treating every pitch like it’s for the Super Bowl. Be small but mighty. Agile, not bloated.
4. AI: Stop Putting Lipstick on the Pig
"AI isn’t your savior if all you’re doing is making old processes slightly faster."
Oh, AI. The golden calf of modern business. Everyone’s worshiping it, but few are actually using it right. Rishad’s point? If you’re just slapping AI on top of tired workflows, you’re missing the forest for the trees. AI isn’t about optimizing mediocrity; it’s about reinventing the wheel, or better yet, ditching wheels entirely and going full hoverboard.
For advertisers, this means using AI not to churn out 17 variations of the same boring banner ad but to rethink how you connect with audiences. AI can craft personalized experiences that feel human, not algorithmic. But if you’re using it to save 30 seconds of your media planner’s day, congrats—you’re the person who puts premium gas in a clunker.
How to take this seriously:
Stop using AI as a buzzword and start using it as a strategy. Invest in AI-driven storytelling, hyper-personalized creative, and predictive analytics that let you anticipate client needs before they even know they have them. Use AI to be bold, not basic.
5. Invest in People, Not Just Processes
"Companies don’t transform. People do."
This one’s a no-brainer, yet so many companies miss the mark. You can pour millions into the latest martech stack, but if your team is disengaged, burned out, or (gasp) uninspired, you’re essentially rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Transformation starts with people, not platforms.
In advertising, this is especially poignant. We’re in the business of ideas, and ideas come from brains, not bots. Agencies that treat their employees like cogs will always lose to those that treat them like partners. Talent is your secret weapon—nurture it, or watch your competition poach it.
How to take this seriously:
Skip the free snacks and invest in actual development. Mentorship programs. Training that doesn’t suck. Opportunities to take on big, scary, exciting projects. And for agencies still chasing “efficiency” at the cost of morale, here’s a wild idea: try building teams that love what they do. Happy people make great work. It’s not rocket science—it’s human science.
So, here I am—processing it all, one collapsing collagen molecule at a time. Stick around for more insights, musings, and occasional rants.
And if you take away just one thing from all this: life’s messy, work’s hard, and sometimes, the best we can do is make it all just a little less terrible for each other.
Cheers to that.
Pesach Lattin
Editor, ADOTAT
[email protected]
The Ad Exec’s Shadow: A Hard Look at Ourselves
We’re the storytellers of modern capitalism, wielding big ideas and bigger egos, chasing awards while telling ourselves we’re shaping culture.
Advertising thrives on confidence, thrives on the hustle, on the pitch that spins gold out of air.
And yet, for all our swagger, we rarely ask the uncomfortable question: What’s wrong with me? We’re rewarded for being untouchable, for looking flawless, but that perfection is a façade—a persona, to borrow from Jung. It’s the mask we wear to dazzle clients, but beneath it lurks the shadow, the parts of us we don’t want anyone, least of all ourselves, to see.
Jung described the shadow as the repository of everything we deny about ourselves. It’s not just our insecurities or weaknesses but the darker impulses we keep buried while we polish our LinkedIn profiles and bask in the glow of “disruptive innovation.” For us ad execs, the shadow isn’t a theoretical concept. It’s the impatience we justify as efficiency, the arrogance we disguise as vision, the way we bulldoze junior staff while calling it mentorship. These are the things that keep us stuck, no matter how shiny our achievements look on the surface.
Here’s the thing: ignoring the shadow doesn’t make it go away. It festers. It shows up in the cracks—in that one pitch you tanked because you wouldn’t listen to someone else’s idea, in the client who ghosted because your charm wore thin. The only way forward is through. Jung believed that integrating the shadow—acknowledging it, understanding it, even embracing it—was the key to authenticity. And while authenticity might sound like a buzzword we throw into campaigns, it’s also what separates the merely successful from the truly great.
Looking at yourself in this way isn’t easy. It’s uncomfortable. It requires stripping away the layers of self-promotion and asking: What am I hiding? What am I afraid to admit? But it’s also necessary. Here’s where to start.
Look through your enemy’s eyes. Antisthenes, the ancient Greek philosopher and Cynic, said, “Observe your enemies, for they first find out your faults.” If you want a brutally honest assessment of your weaknesses, imagine yourself from the perspective of someone who doesn’t like you. What would they say? You’re arrogant? A micromanager? Always late but quick with excuses? It’s easy to dismiss critics, but they often see the things we’d rather not confront. Use that perspective not to beat yourself up but to sharpen your awareness.
Keep a journal. Don’t roll your eyes—this isn’t some self-help cliché. Pierre Hadot, a scholar of Stoicism, argued that writing is a tool for self-examination. It forces you to articulate what’s swirling in your head, turning vague feelings into concrete insights. Start small. Five minutes a day. Write about what went well, what didn’t, what you’d do differently. Over time, patterns will emerge. Those patterns are your roadmap to change.
Conduct an evening review. The Stoics had a habit of mentally replaying their day each night, examining their actions with brutal honesty. Where did they fall short? What could they have done better? For us, this might look like reviewing that meeting where you cut someone off or the email you fired off in a rush that came across as curt. The point isn’t to wallow in guilt but to recognize patterns. What keeps coming up? Impatience? Poor listening? A tendency to overpromise? Once you name it, you can start addressing it.
Pay attention to your projections. The traits you hate in others often mirror something you dislike in yourself. If you’re endlessly annoyed by a colleague’s arrogance, maybe it’s because you see a bit too much of your own ego in them. If you can’t stand someone’s indecisiveness, maybe it’s a reflection of your own fear of commitment. Jung called this projection, and it’s one of the most revealing ways to uncover your shadow. Next time someone irritates you, pause. Ask yourself, What does this reaction say about me?
Take a self-assessment. You wouldn’t launch a campaign without metrics, so why not apply the same rigor to yourself? Create a checklist of questions: Where have I failed as a leader? What am I avoiding? How do others experience me? Answering honestly takes guts, but the clarity it brings is worth it. And if the process feels overwhelming, consider therapy. It’s not weakness—it’s strategy.
Self-examination is not a one-time exercise.
It’s ongoing, a practice as relentless as the industry we work in. But the rewards go beyond personal growth.
When you confront your flaws, you become a better leader, a better collaborator, and, yes, a better storyteller. And isn’t that what we’re all chasing?
A story worth telling—not just to the world, but to ourselves.
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Flaws, Chaos, and the Unfinished Work of Becoming Human
It might seem bizarre—even masochistic—for me to go public with my flaws. Why lay bare my imperfections in a newsletter? Don’t I have a reputation to protect? Probably.
But let’s be honest—if I’m not confronting my flaws, I’m just outsourcing them to my critics. And trust me, they don’t need the extra ammo.
No, I’m not about to confess my browser history (this isn’t group therapy), but I am here to talk about the flaws I’ve come to own—and the work it takes to move past them.
Let’s start with this: my brain doesn’t play by the usual rules. Call it neurodivergence, call it constant overthinking—whatever it is, it means my mind is always on, always moving, and sometimes it races straight into arrogance. For far too long, I dismissed people as distractions, obstacles, or annoyances. As if life were some kind of highway, and everyone else was just traffic slowing me down. "The unexamined life is not worth living," Socrates said, but I’d argue the unexamined interactions are just as dangerous. Dismissing others isn’t efficiency—it’s a form of cruelty.
Now, sprinkle in some PTSD for flavor—being shot, stabbed, and surviving a literal plane flying into my building on 9/11. It’s no surprise I often think in stark black-and-white terms: you’re either with me or against me. Orthodox wisdom teaches us, “Who is wise? One who learns from every person.” (Pirkei Avos 4:1). But wisdom isn’t my default setting. I’ve been known to forgive on my terms, in my way, and not always with a full appreciation of the other person’s humanity. That’s left me with a reputation in this industry—a reputation that’s taken 35 years to build and just as long to question.
Here’s the truth: no one survives decades in business—or in life—without picking up some baggage. Rabbi Israel Salanter once said, “A person should be more concerned with their own soul than someone else’s, but more concerned with someone else’s body than their own.” And that’s where I’ve fallen short. It’s easy to focus on my inner world, my ideas, and my vision—at the expense of seeing others clearly, with empathy and generosity.
Thankfully, age brings clarity. So do good mentors. If you don’t have a “personal board of advisors,” build one. Surround yourself with people who tell you the truth—not the version of it you want to hear. A spiritual mentor will keep you grounded in values, while a “business Yoda” will remind you that, yes, you can fail spectacularly if you don’t evolve. Nietzsche wrote, “One must still have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star.” Fine, but chaos doesn’t excuse being a jerk—and it certainly doesn’t excuse ignoring the impact you have on others.
So, why take this public? Because self-awareness doesn’t thrive in a vacuum. If I can confront my flaws and own my missteps, maybe I can inspire someone else to do the same—or at least show that growth doesn’t have an expiration date.
As they say in Pirkei Avos, “It’s not your responsibility to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” Growth isn’t about achieving perfection—it’s about doing the work, every day, even when it’s uncomfortable.
And trust me, it’s always uncomfortable.
Adtech Rehab: Fixing Yourself Before Fixing the Industry
In the adtech world, where buzzwords fly faster than programmatic bids, one truth stands out: every single person in this industry could benefit from working on themselves. CEOs, VPs, analysts—no one is too senior, too junior, or too busy to invest in their growth. I know this because I’ve sat down with the best and brightest in the industry, and guess what? The ones who dominate the space aren’t just tech-savvy; they’re committed to being better human beings. They don’t just adapt to trends—they shape them by constantly upgrading their knowledge, creativity, and leadership skills.
The reality is, adtech doesn’t slow down for anyone. Privacy laws shift, new platforms emerge, and consumer behavior evolves faster than you can say "cookie deprecation." If you’re not improving yourself, you’re standing still—and in this industry, standing still is the first step to becoming obsolete. This isn’t just about chasing certifications or watching TED Talks; it’s about building the mindset and habits that make you sharper, more adaptable, and yes, more human. The people I work with daily—CEOs of adtech firms, leaders at major DSPs, innovators in CTV—know this. They’re not just solving problems; they’re building the tools and strategies that define the future.
Whether you’re managing a team or trying to keep up with your next campaign, the same principles apply. The ability to build meaningful relationships, think creatively, make decisions with clarity, and lead with confidence isn’t reserved for the boardroom. It’s for everyone, everywhere in the industry. Adtech may run on algorithms and innovation, but it’s still powered by people. And the more you invest in yourself, the more value you’ll bring to the table—whether you're the CEO leading the charge or the analyst turning data into gold..
