How to work well in a bad company
What can I say? I needed money. I had small children, my agency was at an impasse, and I needed a job - right now. The phone rang. The recruiter told me about the company, which promises a lot of money, and where you can get to work tomorrow. One catch: it was a creepy, terrible advertising agency. Going to his reception was like being in a horror movie. I was thrown into a cold sweat by the ad that this agency was doing.
I don’t spread much that I worked there. But when I left six months later, I had some good advertising in magazines that brought the company the first major award in her life. And I learned a lot about the differences between a good company and a bad one. They are not at all what you think.
1. Think of the employer as a good company - in the future
“Work as if you were living in the early years of a more worthy nation.” These words are carved in stone on the wall of the Scottish Parliament. And they hang over my desk. If you work in a landfill, you do not have to act as if you are working in a landfill. Build a new best company in your own head. Write a manifest. Come to work in the same building as everyone, but follow the ideals of your invisible company.
Nancy Wonk is a partner at Swim, a coaching company for creative directors. She advises creating your own "microclimate" inside the company. “Another creepy meeting?” Find out what the problem is for the business. Gather a group and brainstorm. The main thing is diversity: let a person come from the finance department, let a new trainee come with burning eyes, incapable of self-censorship. Even “terrible” customers recognize and praise good ideas. And if this rebellion gives an excellent result, then usually it deserves forgiveness. "
You are not the only person in the company whom she is upset with. There will be others who want to work in your "best company within a terrible company." Choose at least a few people and you will see: these are the first days of something better.
2. Good companies are not more talented, but more stubborn
James Bond is the most famous fictional character in the world. How can I make a bad James Bond movie? Yes, very simple. Agree to all the amendments that are offered to you. This is exactly what happened when they first tried to make a film about Bond. I can imagine how it all was: “Bond is too English for our audience. Let's make him an American. James is some kind of pretentious name. Let it be Jimmy. ” And so on.
Recently in Cannes, I spoke with one of the most successful directors of commercials. For the past few years, he has worked with the most famous advertising agencies, but his career began in a small provincial company. So what is the difference, I asked him, between an excellent agency and a disgusting one?
“It's not about talent,” he replied. - In bad companies there are not so many mediocrity. Behind the worst videos in the world, there is often a mass of brilliant minds. The difference is that the best agencies hold on to the idea. They do not allow her to be washed away and meaningless. ” Most sloppy ideas started with the right thoughts. But on the way to the result, they fell apart under the load of a million minor improvements. Ask Bond. Jimmy Bond
3. Such garbage is only here
In every company there is a person who repeats this. Such people imagine themselves the perfect company where money-waving clients run in from the street and beg you to win rewards. Of course, they themselves did not work in such a company, but their friends certainly worked. So - do not be such a person.
Someday you will find yourself in a worthy company. But there will also be people who walk along the corridors and whine: "Such garbage does not happen in Dro5a." Someday, maybe you will get to work in Dro5a. And I'm sure the same thing will happen there. And then for sure someone will say: "Such garbage certainly does not happen in Wieden."
A place where "garbage does not happen" exists only in the minds of offended people. If you have to communicate with them, at least try not to think like them. At the beginning of a career, there is a great temptation to seem cool and cynical. But that’s how you turn into mediocrity.
4. Part time
David Ogilvy, perhaps the most successful person in the advertising business, took part-time jobs. And many of his famous advertising finds were not created at the main job. And if Ogilvy, an aristocrat in the advertising world, whose name is on the sign of one of the largest agencies, did not hesitate to come up with cool things on the weekend, then you are allowed to. For many years, one informal team at Ogilvy led one major sports client exclusively in their spare time. I was a member of this team. And I think old Dave would approve of that.
5. The best opportunities - right in front of you
There is a list of customers that all advertisers would like to get. In a way, this list is a disappointment. After all, this is a list of great and famous brands. What is the thrill of working for a brand that someone else has made great? When I started working on IBM advertising, technology company ads were some kind of ghetto for geeks. All fashionable people were advertising beer. But there were no rules, almost no expectations, and if you managed to do something worthy, people noticed it.
If you left the elevator today with the thought, “Oh, if only Apple had ordered me an ad, I would have done something cool,” then you will have to wait a very long time.
Whatever you work on today, you have a chance to do something amazing. And if you work on something that seems boring, then people will be even more impressed when you do a job brilliantly. And if you are limited by the terrible company where you work, create a new company in your head.
Go to work as if you were at the forefront of a cool company in the future. And I promise you this will happen.
I don’t spread much that I worked there. But when I left six months later, I had some good advertising in magazines that brought the company the first major award in her life. And I learned a lot about the differences between a good company and a bad one. They are not at all what you think.
1. Think of the employer as a good company - in the future
“Work as if you were living in the early years of a more worthy nation.” These words are carved in stone on the wall of the Scottish Parliament. And they hang over my desk. If you work in a landfill, you do not have to act as if you are working in a landfill. Build a new best company in your own head. Write a manifest. Come to work in the same building as everyone, but follow the ideals of your invisible company.
Nancy Wonk is a partner at Swim, a coaching company for creative directors. She advises creating your own "microclimate" inside the company. “Another creepy meeting?” Find out what the problem is for the business. Gather a group and brainstorm. The main thing is diversity: let a person come from the finance department, let a new trainee come with burning eyes, incapable of self-censorship. Even “terrible” customers recognize and praise good ideas. And if this rebellion gives an excellent result, then usually it deserves forgiveness. "
You are not the only person in the company whom she is upset with. There will be others who want to work in your "best company within a terrible company." Choose at least a few people and you will see: these are the first days of something better.
2. Good companies are not more talented, but more stubborn
James Bond is the most famous fictional character in the world. How can I make a bad James Bond movie? Yes, very simple. Agree to all the amendments that are offered to you. This is exactly what happened when they first tried to make a film about Bond. I can imagine how it all was: “Bond is too English for our audience. Let's make him an American. James is some kind of pretentious name. Let it be Jimmy. ” And so on.
Recently in Cannes, I spoke with one of the most successful directors of commercials. For the past few years, he has worked with the most famous advertising agencies, but his career began in a small provincial company. So what is the difference, I asked him, between an excellent agency and a disgusting one?
“It's not about talent,” he replied. - In bad companies there are not so many mediocrity. Behind the worst videos in the world, there is often a mass of brilliant minds. The difference is that the best agencies hold on to the idea. They do not allow her to be washed away and meaningless. ” Most sloppy ideas started with the right thoughts. But on the way to the result, they fell apart under the load of a million minor improvements. Ask Bond. Jimmy Bond
3. Such garbage is only here
In every company there is a person who repeats this. Such people imagine themselves the perfect company where money-waving clients run in from the street and beg you to win rewards. Of course, they themselves did not work in such a company, but their friends certainly worked. So - do not be such a person.
Someday you will find yourself in a worthy company. But there will also be people who walk along the corridors and whine: "Such garbage does not happen in Dro5a." Someday, maybe you will get to work in Dro5a. And I'm sure the same thing will happen there. And then for sure someone will say: "Such garbage certainly does not happen in Wieden."
A place where "garbage does not happen" exists only in the minds of offended people. If you have to communicate with them, at least try not to think like them. At the beginning of a career, there is a great temptation to seem cool and cynical. But that’s how you turn into mediocrity.
4. Part time
David Ogilvy, perhaps the most successful person in the advertising business, took part-time jobs. And many of his famous advertising finds were not created at the main job. And if Ogilvy, an aristocrat in the advertising world, whose name is on the sign of one of the largest agencies, did not hesitate to come up with cool things on the weekend, then you are allowed to. For many years, one informal team at Ogilvy led one major sports client exclusively in their spare time. I was a member of this team. And I think old Dave would approve of that.
5. The best opportunities - right in front of you
There is a list of customers that all advertisers would like to get. In a way, this list is a disappointment. After all, this is a list of great and famous brands. What is the thrill of working for a brand that someone else has made great? When I started working on IBM advertising, technology company ads were some kind of ghetto for geeks. All fashionable people were advertising beer. But there were no rules, almost no expectations, and if you managed to do something worthy, people noticed it.
If you left the elevator today with the thought, “Oh, if only Apple had ordered me an ad, I would have done something cool,” then you will have to wait a very long time.
Whatever you work on today, you have a chance to do something amazing. And if you work on something that seems boring, then people will be even more impressed when you do a job brilliantly. And if you are limited by the terrible company where you work, create a new company in your head.
Go to work as if you were at the forefront of a cool company in the future. And I promise you this will happen.
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