On taking initiative

So after a couple harrowing weeks, two all-work weekends and an all-nighter, my art director and I have settled down to a more manageable schedule. Perhaps too manageable. On top of that it’s the week of the Christmas party, so it’s been exceptionally slow.

But slow is the time when anybody pursuing a passion they love should begin to feel uneasy. The time when nothing’s happening is the perfect opportunity for, well, anything. Peace should provide the perfect conditions for innovation. Instead, it often leads to stagnation.

The truth is, you won’t get a better time to launch your pet project, slap that deck together, corral the stakeholders and make something you love, than during downtime. As a creative, you’re never just being paid to show up, and never is it more important for you to earn your keep than when you aren’t expected to. You’ll look more impressive, be more prepared to pull off bigger risks, and remind your boss of herself when she was younger. Best of all, you really have nothing to lose.

Despite the slowness of the week, we still managed to get the regular projects out the door while at the same time:

  • Checking in with R&D to test out some theories for a pitch project not due until the new year
  • Blowing out said ideas into better executions
  • Catching up with friends and acquaintances in the industry outside Boston
  • Presenting two game-changing ideas to higher-ups within our agency
  • Writing this blog post

Advertising creatives get a bad rap for being lazy. I don’t think that’s true. When creatives don’t have immediate work a lot of them are off paying back attention they owe to their neglected families. Some write screenplays or rehearse with their bands. Which is all well and good. But the thing is, if you really want to stand out and become the CEO or ECD or Founder you have to be working when you don’t have to work.

Which is not to say you shouldn’t have a balanced, enjoyable life. You should. It’s just that for some advertising’s just a job, and for some it’s a driving force that they’d rather do even when they’re given the chance to do just about anything else. Unfortunately for the former, it’s the latter that get noticed and rise above their station. Fortunately for the latter, they’ll get to choose whether they’re staying when everyone else is being let go.

Notes