Sometimes The Magic Just Isn’t There… Keep Going.

By Casey Schultz, Agency Partner

Being in a creative profession, we all think we’re full of great ideas. Most of the time, our ideas are pretty great (IMO), but sometimes we swing and miss. It’s to be expected and our team knows that we can’t always have the perfect solution to every problem, but that’s one of the reasons why our clients work with us and one of the rewarding parts for our team.

We’ve all heard that failing is a good thing, and the infamous ‘Fail Harder’ wall at W+K and that even Michael Jordan has missed game-winning shots, but he keeps shooting. It all makes sense. Sometimes you just need to get the terrible ideas out on the table so everyone can agree that ‘yes, that was a terrible idea – get it out of your head and let’s move on.’ This is where having thick skin becomes a crucial necessity to grinding out a great idea once your initial ideas get stopped in their tracks. It almost always happens, to some extent.

Everyone has a different approach to coming up with the next great idea. Some of our most successful ideas have developed from initial ideas that were deemed terrible (or at least not-so-great). Once we all establish ground zero, we can then begin to develop something better. You might hear something like ‘OK, that’s a bit off track, but what if we put a new spin on that idea….’ Or ‘Not so much that, but what about this…’ This is the point during the brainstorming session that the team comes together and feeds off each other. ‘Yeah, that could be cool’ and ‘I like that angle’ or ‘I’ve never thought of it that way.’

Bingo. New idea, new angle, new thought process. New magic is beginning to form and we’re off and running.

This way of thinking generally comes as a refreshing new approach for most of our clients, since they’ve generally been thinking about an idea from their side of the table and we’re bringing new ideas from our side of the table. Once those ideas collide, then everyone on the team can be working towards the same goals. Until that point, it’s anyone’s guess.

No matter how great you think your idea is, it can easily be derailed by the seemingly smallest detail when someone with a different perspective adds their knowledge. Instead of feeling deflated and sorry for yourself, this is when you need to re-focus and grind out the idea. It’s tough. You’ll be frustrated because you might think you didn’t have all the info you needed ahead of the pitch. The client might be frustrated because they’re surprised you didn’t think of it from their side. But in the end, this hurdle generally leads to deeper thinking, sharper focus and a better final product.

Beyond a better end product, it also strengthens the connections between you, your team and your client. It shows that everyone has a voice in the project and process. It also establishes a level of professionalism and mutual respect between all parties. No one is more important that the other – it’s truly a team process. It’s never easy, but generally the greatest ideas are the hardest to come by. Those are the ideas we’re after and we hope our clients are as excited about the challenges ahead as we are.