Yesterday I had another edition of one of those endless rounds of meetings where work can only be killed; it can't be approved.
Where every frame, every word can be picked at and examined, but cannot be ok'd.
Where every proposition is "testable" or researchable, but is not deemed to be definitive.
You know what I'm talking about.
That road.
That journey.
The 47 "no's" on the road to "yes."
I have written in the past about how at the elemental level--how we are paid as agencies--agencies have fucked themselves. We are paid to continue making meetings. We stop being paid when we produce work.
But there's more.
There's bloat.
There's bloat and "equality."
There's a huge layer of people in agencies at at clients, of bright and eager people, whose opinions are solicited and listened to.
Everyone has something to say.
None of whom have the ability to think like a viewer.
We're supposed to suck it up--as creative people--and nod in agreement when some starched suit says, "this project will be a journey."
Fuck journeys.
They are the domain of blowhards and cowards.
They are the province of decision-avoiders and committophobes.
They are, simply, a waste.
Of time.
Money.
Energy.
Enthusiasm.
Freshness.
Life.
Love.
Laughter.
Grow some balls.
Let's get there already.
I just sat on a committee and reviewed your diatribe.
ReplyDeleteWe couldn't agree more.
There was nodding, applause and a hearty round of "hear, hear."
Then Jen, the Jr. planner questioned your liberal usage of line breaks.
Chuck, the Sr VP of something or other, took issue with word Fuck, saying, "it cheapens the piece and almost makes the author sound angry."
Finally, Jesus the food services guy carting away the leftover bagels, said he didn't understand it.
In short, we'd like you start over.
We'll expect the revise by EOD.
We have two parts to the problem:
ReplyDelete1) a perverse set of incentives
2) people without any backbone
These are clearly linked. It is each agency's interest to have a lot of filler time that they can bill for, so people waffle and entertain terrible ideas.
But more interestingly, this dynamic also applies to (most) individuals who work for the agency. Because doing more "work" makes them seem more valuable, they are perfectly fine with going along with these "journeys."
Sounds like a horrible vacation to me.