Firstly, I’m pretty happy to have found a reason to name an article after one of my favourite Faith No More tracks. Absolute banger. (A link below for the uncultured among us.)

Creatives, in any walk of life, are truth tellers. Writers, poets, artists, sculptors, filmmakers (and occasionally, people trying to sell a new high-protein yoghurt in a six second pre-roll), we exist not only to capture and display priceless fragments of universal beauty, but to shine a light into the deep, dark, and uncomfortable corners of existence. To dig out what others prefer to keep compartmentalised. To say the things that most are too afraid to, because it might make it too real. We do the work, not only because we have to for our own sanity, but so others can benefit from it. So those who can’t find a way have a flame to follow. (No, you’re not crazy. Nor are you alone. We’re all fighting for our damn lives on this spinning rock.)

And nowhere in the professional world is this conundrum felt more heavily than creative departments. Because, really, more so than ‘writers’ and ‘art directors’, we are problem solvers. You might wonder, why would a big, successful company that employs dozens, hundreds, thousands of people need to constantly outsource their creative problem-solving? Because after six months of everyone agreeing that the Emperor’s new trousers are ‘tracking well’, eventually you need someone who wasn’t at the fitting to say the thing.

Manufactured politeness and universal consensus form the native tongue of the corporation. It makes sense on the surface when you consider the sheer number of people that have to all come together for a common goal. It avoids conflict, it minimises hurt feelings, it maintains a consistent baseline of expectation. Conversational bubblewrap, basically. Useful when you need to protect a bunch of fragile things in a room. Less useful when what you actually need is a sharp edge.

“Without order, nothing exists. Without chaos, nothing evolves.” - Ill Bill

Life is messy. Humans are irrational. And the weight of the mask that people wear in the name of niceties and politeness carries with it a great burden. So our role is to be the necessary chaos to shake people, and organisations, out of their waking coma.

And this is a fine, fine line. One that, at 42, I am still learning to tread each day. One that I still over and under-step on occasion, and will probably continue to do so for the rest of my life. So, if this whole topic makes you uncomfortable, welcome to the party.

“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something in your life.” - Winston Churchill, maybe, every quote attributed to him tends to be something he didn’t say

Agencies are often very eager to please a client, and so they should be. Without them, we don’t exist. ‘Keep the client happy’ is pretty much the modern-day agency mantra. The thing is, though, brands don’t put their business out to pitch because everything is peachy. They don’t advertise because they’re already swimming in sales. They don’t seek internal validation and promotions because they’re content with their current seat at the table. In many, if not most, cases - there is a problem. An obstacle. An elephant standing in the way that no one wants to acknowledge. (Even after you’ve just sat through twelve slides explaining why the elephant isn’t technically an elephant.)

And that’s our job. To point it out. Hooray.

Now, whether they’re willing to gaze upon the elephant is often what separates a good marketer from a bad one, and at times it may be a futile exercise, but a lot of the time it’s up to how we go about it.

“Clients get the work they deserve.” - David Ogilvy

If you’ve been following me for more than 5 minutes, you’ll have realised that I’m fairly opinionated. I’ve been called ‘too outspoken’ most of my life. All the way back to high school. I’ve been told to ‘fall in line’ more times than I can count. My instinct to get to the heart of an issue and do something about it has been framed as a weakness by many of the people it made uncomfortable. The other edge of this sword, however, has led me to have a more successful career than I ever could have dreamed of 20 or so years ago.

Because as difficult as it is to climb over the parapet and run towards the rounds whizzing past your head, believe me, it hurts more to cower in the trench waiting to be flattened by an inevitable artillery round.

I’ve known a lot of talented people who’ve worn the mask for too long. Been agreeable in order to be liked. Kept the peace. Never rocked the boat. Keept the inconvenient truths hidden to stay in the good books. In the short-term, it seems like a good strategy, but over time it actually erodes trust. Because you cannot cover rust with a new lick of paint. It will continue to corrode beneath the surface until the paint blisters and peels away.

The work becomes so comfortably recognisable that it ends up being in-housed. Or the results dry up, and change is needed for the CMO to save their own skin. Or a new CMO comes in and spots the apathy.

If your professional opinion is always exactly the same as the client’s, someone in procurement is going to start wondering why they’re paying for it twice. Our job is to give our opinion. Whether uncomfortable or not. We are here to challenge convention. To shine a light on the dark corners of a situation, whether others care to look or not. Now, this is not to say that we should be belligerent in how we do so, tact is incredibly important. Don’t be an asshole. There’s more than enough of those in the world. Building a convincing argument is absolutely critical. (Your strategist is your best friend with this one, ‘I reckon’ becomes considerably harder to dismiss when someone puts a chart behind it.) You will still fuck it up. You will make enemies along the way, but that is sometimes what must be done in order for you and others to grow.

“If you avoid conflict to keep the peace, you start a war within yourself.” - Cheryl Richardson

So, in the immortal words of Mike Patton, be gentle about how you make your enemies. Do it thoughtfully. Irrefutably. Paint a picture so vivid as to be inarguable. It will not always be appreciated, and at times, you will have to fall on your sword. But it will also make you, and your career, in the moments you are the only one unafraid to point directly at the looming spectre.

It’s a cross to carry at times, but sometimes it’s better to be respected than loved. I’m lucky to have a lot of friends in this business, but I’m sure I have a few enemies too. The thing is, though, I have no idea what any of them are doing right now. Haven’t seen or heard of them in years. Maybe they’re thriving in an extremely harmonious meeting as we speak. Either that or off huddled in a trench somewhere.

 You have no enemies, you say?
Alas, my friend, the boast is poor;
He, who has mingled in the fray
Of duty that the brave endure,
Must have made foes! If you have none,
Small is the work that you have done,
You’ve hit no traitor on the hip,
You’ve dashed no cup from perjured lip,
You’ve never turned the wrong to right,
You’ve been a coward in the fight.

-Charles Mackay

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