Part of my job is to infuse new thinking (and on my better days new WAYS of thinking) into a process that's been about coming up with something saleable.
It's not easy - people are conditioned into a way of thinking that becomes so natural it seems virtually impossible to break. Throw in a client with similar issues and you get a hard veneer of cynicism ('well nobody is going to BUY that') around the one of intellectual atrophy.
So ad agencies tend to start with the advertising and then ask 'is there something else we can tack on for interest'
Companies tend to start with the current product and ask 'is there a subtle variation that we could make to bring back some interest?' - rather than asking 'is there another way to fulfil the promise of this product?'
Shareholders look at the long term plan and nod, while demanding that the short term plan deliver immediate results - even to the detriment of the long term vision.
And so on and so forth. It's all about getting through the day. But a lifetime spent trying to get through the day is a lifetime spent wishing yourself out of a situation; and that can't be healthy.
I'm not sure what this post is all about... I think it's frustration that I can't change everything at once... but it might not be. Perhaps it's fear that I'm running out of chances to crack the veneer. Oh well...
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