3.
DON’T REJECT IDEAS — ASK FOR MORE

Here’s what my first boss, Bud Boyd, used to do:

I’d show him a proposed ad for, say, a bank, and he’d say:

“Good. Good. Let’s pin it on the wall over here. Now, let’s see if you can do one that’s a little more impactful, one that leaps off the page.”

So, I’d go away and do a simpler, bolder, more impactful ad, and he’d say:

“Good. Good. Let’s pin it on the wall next to your first one. Now, do me one that will win us an award.”

When I came back with what I thought was an award winner, he’d say:

“Good. Good. Now, pretend you’re applying for a job in another advertising agency and the creative director there wants to see only one ad — the best ad you’ve ever written. Do me that ad.”

The lesson Bud taught me was a simple one: There’s always a better way. Always.

Perhaps Lincoln Steffens said it best. In 1931 he wrote:

“Nothing is done. Everything in the world remains to be done or done over. The greatest picture is not yet painted, the greatest play isn’t written, the greatest poem is unsung.”

Decades later, he’s still right: There’s always a better idea. Always.87

So if you don’t quite cotton to the ideas that the people you work with come up with, don’t say:

“Those are lousy ideas. I don’t like any of them.”

All that does is make them doubt their abilities.

Say instead:

“OK, we’ve got these. Let’s hold them so we don’t lose them. Now, what else can we do?”

Since there’s always a better idea, they very well might come up with it.