The Fable of the Kickboxer and the Marine.

I found this video on a friend's Facebook feed.

I think it's a perfect metaphor for our misguided business.

The kickboxer is the way things are at most agencies.

Self-aggrandizing.

Over-blown posturing.

A look-at-me egoism that, frankly, turns my stomach.

Then there's the myriad flourishes that embellish but add no material advantage.

That's all the kind of shit that can turn an assignment that should take a week or two into a fully-scoped six-month exploratory costing $3.7 million and comes with complete with statements like "your website's broken," "you need a new logo," and "your doing social all wrong." Complete with the word "your" spelled wrong in an elegantly-designed powerpoint.

The Marine takes a different approach.

It's the one I've always preferred. Of course, I come from an old school. The one that believes most marketing problems can be solved with a brilliant :30.

Yes, the Marine takes a different approach.

Blunt.

No bullshit.

That's all.

An approach that might, over the short haul, cost an agency some revenue. But an approach that gets the job done.

Moral: Doing the job is more important than talking about doing the job.