Latest Unthinking - October

Ready for take-off? 🚀

Unthink are really pleased to have joined the investment line up at RISER.

Riser is your AI video-led career companion. Or in other words, bumble for your next boss.

Riser is founded by Lamees Butt and Suz Bannister, two powerhouses that exhibit the Unthink mindset in everything they do. They’re on a mission to humanise the hiring process and we are really excited to be part of it.

Riser puts personalities and unique skills at the forefront through video conversations, creating genuine, human-to-human connections - something we truly believe in at Unthink.

Hiring the right talent is a challenge we hear from our clients, too. CV’s are easy to polish and assessing character and hiring fit isn’t easy.

It’s a business model, with two inspiring founders that we believe in, and we’re excited to join the journey with them.

More to come on this one.

The NBA had an unwritten rule: everyone wore white shoes.
Tradition. Conformity. Control.
Then, in 1985, a rookie named Michael Jordan showed up in loud red-and-black sneakers — Air Jordans.
The NBA hated it.
They fined him $5,000 every time he wore them.

Nike didn’t flinch.
They paid the fines.
Then they ran an ad:
Black screen. White text.
“On October 15th, Nike created a revolutionary basketball shoe.
On October 18th, the NBA banned it.”
“Fortunately, the NBA can’t stop you from wearing them.”

Air Jordans became more than shoes. They were rebellion. Swagger. Attitude.
Nike made $70 million that first year.

They didn’t break the rules for chaos — they did it to make a point.
That sometimes, rules aren’t there to stop you.
They’re there to spotlight you.

When the NBA said, “You can’t wear those shoes,” Nike said, “Watch us.”
And the world did.

People don’t remember safe.
They remember bold.

What else is coming up?

Well, a few things actually…. Hit reply to this email if you want in on any of these, we’d love to hear from you.

Friday 24th October is book club… we’re exploring body language and discussing Joe Navarro’s What Every BODY is Saying… Hit reply to this email if that’s something you’re keen for and we’ll get a book and invite to you.

RUNTHINK 3.0 and the last of 2025 is Wednesday 5th November. It’s stress relief week and why not join the club for a social 5k before work.

📍Hyde Park Corner
🎒Safe location to leave bags
🤝Distance optional, conversation required
🔥Coffee and merch

7th November, 12.30pm - Prof. Adrienne Milner concludes the Unthinking Data series, looking at Reputation Audit. Sign up to this one here.

If you're not signed up for this newsletter and it was forwarded from a friend, you can correct this here 👇️

See you again in November!

Team Unthink 🫶

Graphic of the month chosen by Prof. Adrienne Milner