Carl Jung said every person has a shadow - the other version of themselves, shouting in silence. Turns out, every brief has one too.

Every project, every ask, it has a shadow. The thing it's not saying out loud. In fact, it's something all of its own. I call it The Shadow Brief.

Let's break it down. In some coaching models, you'll see three agendas used as a concept:
1. Presenting: What they want to do
2. Deeper: Who they want to be
3. Transformational: The core need

It's that last one - the unspoken, transformational agenda - that often forms the Shadow Brief. Not from a project or a persona, but a real, human need.

Tap into the Shadow Brief, and subtle second-order effects start to emerge. You begin to see beyond the immediate ask to the underlying motivations and desired outcomes. For instance, a brief for a product launch campaign might have a Shadow Brief of "prove to the C-suite that my department is worth keeping around."

Of course, a quick tactical task isn't going to dive this deep - no need to look for meaning that isn't there. But with something bigger, braver, more pivotal? There's always a deeper agenda. There's always a Shadow Brief.

Identifying and understanding this shadow requires a blend skills: empathy; customer experience; active listening; strategic thinking; emotional intelligence. But it can be the difference between delivering what's been asked for and what's truly needed.

So next time you're faced with a brief, ask yourself: What's the shadow saying?

Your ability to answer might just be your competitive edge.