On Good Salesmen

I recently had a short talk with an account from (luckily) another agency, she asking me why I never considered a job like hers. Before I even could answer she already answered that with another question: “Is it because you’re afraid you would lose a client?” … WTF!? … I never even considered that being an option among the idea that a career as an account manager simply does not serve my interests or even qualifications. I was stunned that this was considered an option, perhaps even THE option and goal for her and I think it showed what’s wrong nowadays how a lot of agencies are being run and operated. We’re going backwards.

One of the many reasons why advertising became so booming in the sixties and following decades is because you had a shift in leadership and client relations. Creatives were sick and done with the fact accounts would take all the credit for winning over a new client “Because they both play golf on Sunday”, while the creative masterminds were left behind in the shadows with their ideas and accomplished work that proved to be effective. In those days, lots of brilliant creatives also left that ‘business oriented’ environment to start their own agency, where they could pull the strings themselves and prove good work sells. And it’s most of those agencies that proved their success by still being the leading ones today.

But I think we’re slowly growing away from those brilliant days again. Because campaigns are simply not one print advertisement or TVC anymore; 360 campaigns require a lot of different and varied angles, talent and people to make everything work and fit together. Because everybody is so busy contributing his part to the big puzzle, client relations suffer. And so, bigger responsibility comes into the hands of accounts (again). Don’t understand me wrong: I have nothing against accounts or their job. I think I would terribly suck at it myself. But I do feel we need more people in the industry that know how advertising and creativity work precisely. Who are not driven by a fear losing a client or a relation, but driven by the same passion the Creative Director has for the work the entire team has worked on. And out of that passion, good and persuasive selling skills can grow and develop. We need more accounts that don’t think individually their job depends on how the client thinks of the agency or even their own position; but think in a team spirit how the agency thinks of the client. And how we can help them grow and become better.

I do am optimistic. In those Mad Men days, an ad agency was more than simply producing advertisements for them; they were the entire communication consultancy for a company. One company: one agency – and everything that had to deal with the tone of voice of an industrial HQ, the ad men were there to help you to bring something human inside and outside. I think we can go back to those days. While the online world and communication is taking over and changing our entire way of interacting with each other at such a rapid speed; companies will need again one strong leader and opinion maker who consults them and is highly engaged with the knowledge of how to communicate at your best today and tomorrow. Since the world is becoming globally so connected and a lot more complicated; companies will need highly effective agencies to keep up with the world, the communication, the people and everything that comes along with that, as they will be too busy looking over the markets that are intriguing and challenging the status quo anywhere possible.

Time for agencies to prove themselves worth again …

Sometimes Creativity Is Not Enough

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Only By Failing Harder You Will Succeed

“Perfection’s not just about
control. It’s also about letting
go. Surprising the audience.
Surprising yourself. Transcendence .”

Although this quote out of the film The Black Swan (2010) holds an artistic truth the entire plot is based on and works towards, I also feel this text can and needs to be put in an educational context. Yes, here I am again, trying to make a point education in nowadays western society is lacking its most fundamental aspect: the endless and infinite capacities of people or children trying to transcend, not to squeeze this ability, what’s mostly happening.

When hearing this quote, I immediately had to think about my days back in secondary school (or actually even primary school). Where ‘educational perfection’ was rewarded, while trying to walk the borders of conventions was being hold back. I see ‘educational perfection’ as doing the exact same thing they expect you to do in advance. Answering the answer the teachers want to hear from you and performing on every level how the book tell you too. I met lots of co-students who were fed up with this idea of success or perfection. No questioning, no arguing, A will be A and don’t you dare to label it as B. Not surprisingly these wore mostly always the students that never really came up with innovative ideas, new insights or (my favorite) the ‘out-of-the-box-thinking’. These are people shaped by the system. It’s however without any doubt that the greatest inventions by mankind always have come from thinking and imagining beyond and NOT from the conventions already being used and taught. And so it is without any doubt the survival of the human race depends on highly creative, innovative and new thinkers who can take mankind a next leap forward. Especially in today’s world. Aren’t  those actually not the most important people we depend on? Than why is it, that schools all over the world STILL persist in a system that is based on the idea to shape people for a world like today, while exactly today the world has never been changing so rapidly and so we have absolutely no idea what the vital functioning for humans will be to live by in twenty years.

“We’re educating our children out of their creativity” Sir Ken Robinson said and I believe he’s right. Going through the process of education, people lose their ability to imagine beyond and think and act creative. And this is exactly because they were taught A will be A and nothing more, nothing less. Coming back to the opening quote and putting this in the educational context; I strongly believe for children trying to solve a riddle, question or case study in school, whether this would be linguistic, mathematical, scientific, about history and especially about the arts, religion or any morel course this is what children should confront themselves with: not only asking the why-question, but also trying to put themselves in a new perspective while handling with an new issue. For a moment forgetting all what they ever said you before and approaching this dilemma out of a direction they’ve never taken before.

There’s a great TED talk from Tim Harford (click here to watch) that points out the issue (‘The God Complex’ he calls it) as well: only by the process of trial and error we can succeed and it’s time we stop to believe there’s only one correct answer to a certain manifested problem. And although it may look like this is so obvious, well-known and widely accepted, he will only stop shouting when schools also capture this phenomenon.

On Creativity …

“Finding your passion changes everything.”

Remember Sir Ken Robinson? I blogged about him some months ago (click here). In my eyes he’s the contemporary spokesman for creativity and how schools or educational institutions should shift away from their industrial point of view to a more dynamic approach of human capacities. I completely agree (always have) that we are in the complete wrong direction when in comes down to reviewing people on their intelligence. How everybody is measured on the same scale (already this confronts me deeply), mostly their GPA’s. I blogged as well about how I feel we should shift away of that thinking, writing the post ‘The New Intelligence’ (click here) and how hopefully more and more people are becoming aware of that.

Apart from educational concerns, this man has a lot to say about creativity. And what better place was there recently than the Cannes Festival? Watch this short interview with the man I still need to buy all his books from (sorry man, the student life and budget ….).

There are three points in can finds myself completely into.

First of all, the fact that it’s never too late to start developing your intrinsic creative side. The fact to many people believe it’s all about professional execution and less about working on the transition and generating of creative ideas. That so many people believe they are not creative, while it’s much more a concept and attitude of when to focus on it.
I still believe college is shaping people too often into one direction and one direction only. People (or students) get socialized in their academic or more practical way of thinking and from there on (right into their first job) only to continue in that same single-street direction. Wrong. I believe college (seriously, the most exciting place to absorb as much as content possible on a very easy scale – not the studying, but the time you get left to do other things) should focus more on how people are different and they should try individualising their path through education more. And as the opening quote says, it’s all about finding your passion, and finding your passion may already be a process of generating ideas. But once you’ve found it, it’s all about working towards it.

Second, and this is more to my advertising colleagues. The fact that business, and especially advertising companies should create environments that stimulate creativity to its highest level possible. And that this does not require creative people to lead the group per se, it’s more about good leadership that is able to bring the creativity outside others. That’s why I’ve always questioned why creative directors in advertising often get to lead a team as well. Creative directors can be good leaders for sure, but not necessarily. Actually, recent research says that creative people often miss the good qualities for effective leadership (check out the VIGOR blog for scientific papers on that issue). A man that has won the most awards and came up with best ideas for the last campaigns is not per definition the best guy to stimulate others to work creative the most possible.

Third, when SKR speaks about what he should change, being 18 again. I’ve always liked the quote “You don’t have time, you make time”, which is the brilliant answer you reply to people who once in a while confront you with the question where the hell you find the time to do those other things. It’s all about an attitude and a drive that gets you to make time to do the things you like or feel “should be doing”, even when you have so much more other obligated things to do during the day.

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Ok people, this is not a regular “scroll down, scroll up” blog post. When I look at the traffic this blog has, I can be a little proud. But when I look how few links are being clicked or watched I seriously have my doubts people (mostly my friends) really are interested in what I have to say.

This time I won’t be saying anything. Since the man I’m introducing here is much more capable of doing so.

Sir Ken Robinson – expert in thinking about creativity and education, is well-known for his outstanding presentations and speeches. Great narrator, even greater insights and ideas this man has. Last year I was introduced to him but, have to confess, sort of forgot about him. After a friend read my last post, she shared a link of an animated part of one of his speeches, which is the last video posted here.
SKR strives for a revolution in our ‘industrial’ education program, a new focus on how to feed talent and creativity, and a necessarily request for the world not to die in 50 years.

These are full speeches. Please watch them when you have the time, the interest and a sober state of mind.
Parents and forthcoming parents: watch and please think about and learn from it. This is of such great value and importance. The words and ideas this man has feel as I have been searching for all my life.

Do Schools Kill Creativity?
Monterey, California – 2006 – 20 minutes

Bring on the Learning Revolution!
Long Beach California – 2006 – 20 minutes

Changing Paradigms
London – 2008 – 55 minutes

Changing Paradigms – Animated Part
Just posting this as well for the awesome animation – 10 minutes