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August 23, 2006

Why being an asshole creative is bad for your career.

Storycruisegi If I had to put money on it, I'd wager that senior clients and agency heads really aren't that much different in mindset than the people who run the big studios.

After all, each of these managers use a creative product to make money. All have learned to be quasi-adept at working with creative souls. All allow a certain amount of eccentricities to slide. But no matter how great a creative you happen to be, consistently acting out just because you can will eventually cost you money.

Everyone loves your freak flag. Just know when to put it away. Your personal credibility as a source for smart thinking and ingenious solutions is worth much more than any any street cred you think you're building with some asshole act. As Jeff Goodby once said, "All we're asking for is a little fucking judgment."

Posted by John on August 23, 2006 at 11:33 AM | Permalink
Categories: Current Affairs , Entertainment , Film , The Creative Life

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Tracked on August 23, 2006 at 05:41 PM

Comments

Great advice. I just posted it on Marktd.com for all to share.

Posted by:Stan Lee | August 23, 2006 at 05:43 PM

Love it. Please tell that to some of the creatives I work with.

Posted by:Jeff Risley | August 23, 2006 at 09:39 PM

By "asshole act" do you mean behavior by somone who acts like an ass but really isn't or someone who is fundamentally an ass down to the molecular level? 'Cause that second group, well, this fine advice will need super-strength, military grade duct tape to stick there.

Posted by:everysandwich | August 24, 2006 at 06:39 AM

ES: I hear you loud and clear. You know, I think a lot of a-holeness of the second kind is really just a mask for a huge amount of insecurity. But, in any case, what I'm talking about here are the huge egofests that, on occasion, all of us may be guilty of taking part in. It just struck me because I can think of almost two hands worth of creatives I have known who egofested their way right out of a job just like Mr. Cruise. That's just dumb. They were/are good. Some were/are great. None are where they should be. A chill pill or two and who knows what kind of success they could have enjoyed.

Posted by:American Copywriter | August 24, 2006 at 07:35 AM

Thanks for marking us Stan.

Posted by:American Copywriter | August 24, 2006 at 07:36 AM

Much of it is insecurity... that's for sure. The absolute worst CD I ever worked with was masking A LOT of insecurity I have now come to realize. He didn't know the first thing about print, interactive, or most marketing/advertising topics. He was a film director, and even there had to use gratuitous dolly/jib moves and smoked up backgrounds as a crutch. In short... a hack.

But, man, was he the first to berate and publicly humiliate you when something went wrong.

He put up the a-hole front to mask that he was largely incompetent. You just didn't feel like expending the energy and blood pressure spiking to argue with him, so he always got his way.

But, when I look at where I am now compared to where he'll be for the rest of his career, I feel vindicated. :)

Posted by:Jeremy Fuksa: Creative Generalist | August 24, 2006 at 11:27 AM

I believe that the karmic nature of the creative universe can work to teach us lessons. I also think that as you get older (or “old” by advertising standards) you can see a little of your former self in your younger colleagues. Call it punishment. Or payback. But hopefully, in hindsight, and from a more objective view, by seeing a bit of your former self, there is maybe just a hair bit of tolerance before wringing the neck of a pouting copywriter or a pretentious, yet rather average, art director. The saying goes, “It’s nothing personal, it’s just business.” But I do believe that advertising is personal. Also every difficult situation with a difficult person can be an opportunity to learn. As dated as this book may be, a little prescription of some Dale Carnegie’s, “How to Win Friends and Influence People” can go a long way to preventing much of the angst of poor communication. It’s really ironic that we claim to be such amazing communicators and that there can be a whole lot of bad communication going on. This is a business based on close relationships with clients and co-workers. And whether it’s unreasonable clients or difficult co-workers I believe that at the end of the day if you’ve done some of the most incredible creative work that wins a ton of Lucite, but you are a failed human being, then you have truly failed. So, if the karmic nature of the creative universe truly exists, then I wonder— if you are good, do you come back as a Weiden or Bogusky? I would settle for just NOT to coming back as the agency cockroach.

Posted by:scott | August 27, 2006 at 06:09 PM

Good book out right now called Juicing the Orange, by the Fallon guys. There's a little section in there called "Fire the Asshole" which seems to echo your sentiment.

Posted by:okay. | August 30, 2006 at 11:40 AM

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