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I've discovered the business secrets I might immediately think of revealing aren't that secret at all. Most have been covered already and frequently in this magazine.

And if I think about what has helped me create a successful career, then it has to be my ability to switch off from work as soon as I walk through my front door, which has helped me remain sane in a pressurised industry.

But I don't think this is necessarily a secret or something you can just decide to adopt.

So I thought I'd take a different tack. There is a characteristic I believe is common to many in this industry who've enjoyed successful careers.

It's the ability to spot a trend or behavioural pattern or industry norm and then do something completely different. For example, when pitching for new business there are only two plausible strategies: do everything the competition is doing, but do it better; or do something different - that the competition isn't going to do.

It's no coincidence then that what I think is true for our product - that difference and stand-out are critical - is also a successful principle for managing a communications business. So, my secret would be to apply this theory of difference - zig versus zag - to everything you do.

If all your competitors are spending fortunes on cold-calling, try spending your budget on paid-for PR. If a valued member of staff is expecting a £1,000 pay rise, give him or her £3,000.

This is something I think I have used to develop my own career.

I've always been very good with numbers, with a very bad short-term memory and desire to avoid writing anything longer than a page or two.

So I decided to concentrate on maths but to do it without memorising formulae. Hence, no long essays and less painful memory tests. Instead I'd work out each formula on a scrap of paper each time I needed it - time-consuming, but it did ensure that I really understood mathematical concepts rather than just being good at maths. I was not a brilliant mathematician but I did stick out somewhat.

This helped me get a place to read maths at Oxford University.

After getting my degree I thought for about two minutes about all the traditional careers that a maths graduate would be expected to go into - and then chose advertising.

I'd read an article by David Cowan (the then head of account planning at BMP) that seemed to suggest planners at BMP spent their time ignoring accepted advertising tradition and formulaic approaches. Instead they went back to basics - back to a blank piece of paper - determining how to create behavioural change from first principles. And the best briefs that came out of this seemed to be those that ran into no more than a couple of sentences.

I couldn't resist - and I also thought being a mathematician in an industry almost completely dominated by non-mathematicians would provide lots of opportunities.

I left BMP after 14 thoroughly rewarding years to start Jones Mason Barton Antenen - my first experience of direct marketing. I started JMBA for several reasons. I wanted to run my own company and was very aware of the growing variety and effectiveness of channels other than advertising.

It looked like an ideal time to jump ship. But I also thought an ad man with years of brand building experience at one of the best ad agencies would be unusual in the direct world. And, assuming that I turned out to have some affinity with direct, I and JMBA would stand out and do OK.

The subsequent merger with Claydon Heeley created an agency whose success has been driven by an agency-wide obsession with doing things differently, and a creative product that consistently stands out by breaking conventions.

CV

Education

BA maths, Oxford University, 1984

First job

Graduate account planning trainee, BMP

Climbing the ladder

- Board director & head of planning, BMP

- Founder & managing partner, Jones Mason Barton Antenen

- CEO Claydon Heeley Jones Mason & Zulu Group

Secrets

1. Concentrate on what you do well - it's much easier than trying to

adopt others' strengths

2. Manage your company through zigging when others expect you to zag

3. Ensure your company's product also zigs rather than zags