ROCKAWAY INSIDER with Adam Rapák (Group PR & Content Manager at DODO)

One learns from one’s mistakes. What mistake taught you the most, and what, specifically?
That’s a good question, I’ve never lined up my mistakes and compared them, and I don’t even know what that would do for me. Mistakes are the main thing that teach us to be better next time, and that’s how I also approach them. Even though I’d like to always learn from the mistakes of others and thus prevent making my own, I don’t always succeed. Experience isn’t universal, that’s something I’ve realized. I take up each new challenge with the awareness that if I’m to learn something, it may very well not happen without making any mistakes. So the biggest mistake would be to think that mistakes are bad and to try at all costs to avoid them.

Which of your skills do you work on because you consider it to be the most important in the future?
I work in communication, so I should be able to think things through and put myself in the shoes of recipients of our communication activities and messages. Ideally, to also at the same time “see around the corner” and prevent crises. So in short, probably empathy and perspective. At the same time, however, I have to admit that I’m impressed by the ability to make calm and reasoned decisions in tense situations, which we’ve all had all too many opportunities to experience over the last two years. I see this ability, probably not surprisingly, in some of my older and more experienced colleagues, and so now, when I think about your question, it’s also some sort of internal serenity and balance, which I see as important human abilities in the long view.

What inspiring book influenced you most, and why should we read it?
I try to avoid similar general recommendations, because something that had an impact on me may have an entirely opposite effect on someone else. But I’d answer the first part of the question with several examples: Made To Stick by the Heath brothers, Creative Quest by Questlove, Rich Dad Poor Dad by Kiyosaki, The End of Procrastination by Ludwig or The Little Prince by Exupéry – the last one I reread every 5 years, and in time I want to read it to my children too. When we’re on the subject of children, there’s one I have to mention Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves by Naomi Aldort, which has recently been a frequent source of inspiration.

What was your best investment in life?
For me, personally, my best investment has always been time invested in my family, friends, and in myself, be it education or hobbies. These key life elements are a foundation for everything else.

What is the number-one rule that you follow every day at work?
My job is often about teamwork or working with partners, where I see maintaining a positive approach as being important. Hence in general I try to be positive, be it toward my colleagues, partners, or suppliers, and also to be open to new and different perspectives and ideas. Often I also remind myself, with exaggeration, that there’s nothing worse than being scared to death, so I’d add one more item to the top of my list of rules: “don’t be scared witless” (laughs).

Where do you find inspiration for more ideas?
Everywhere and nowhere, actually. I can’t say that I have a guaranteed place, activity, or time of day where or when inspiration strikes. I often think about work when I’m going to sleep, when I’m free of external influences and my brain can concentrate on only one thing. Sometimes I turn the light back on to make a note, and in the morning I realize that it wasn’t such an amazing idea after all (laughs). Sometimes I’m inspired by a news report, other times a situation when I’m taking public transit to work, and case studies and various marketing and PR competitions are of course very inspiring.

What life hack helps you most in your work?
I’ve come to like platforms/tools for managing and organizing your daily activities and projects. In general, I like to work with technologies; you’ll rarely see me with a pencil and paper. With a phone in my hand I can make productive use of time commuting to and from work, and of course constant access to information and the media is key in the field of communication.