Nothing should take that long.

It's not unusual for the gestation of a creative campaign to take six months or more. In fact, there was an article in one of the trade magazines last week or so about the pitch of the California Lottery in which it took three years for the client to choose an agency. It's also not unusual to hear of a web refresh or redesign that takes between 18 months and three years.

Really?

I suppose I could accept a labored campaign development, testing and refining process if such processes assured success either from a business or creative point of view. I could live with a three-year pitch process if it guaranteed that the client-agency relationship was happy, productive and blithe. I would be happy with lengthy web redesigns if I could actually tell the difference between what was and what is.

Unfortunately, most things that take a long time take a long time because they support an infrastructure that demands that a long time be taken. Or there are so many constituencies involved that making a good product is less important than making a product that isn't bad. Or that doesn't offend. Or that ticks a box for a dozen different constituencies.

Things shouldn't take that long.

Oil wells shouldn't take that long to cap. Buildings shouldn't shouldn't take that long to rebuild. Ad campaigns shouldn't take that long to discuss, test, and put into market.

Things take a long time because people are lonely and feel unimportant. Meetings give people a chance to be with other people and feel important. That's why things take so long.