Wherever I go, whatever I read, it seems I can't avoid bon mots, musings and quips. The things people say that make me think "I wish I'd said that".
You know the sort of thing - the witty comeback, or well-phrased barbed comment that I only ever think of about half an hour later.
Here are a few favourite ones I have heard, read or come across recently.
"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple, and learn to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen".
John Steinbeck
"I'm not a Catholic. But I gave up picking my belly-button for lint".
Emo Phillips
"Creativity is contagious. Pass it on".
Albert Einstein
"In the gym the other day I laid down on the mat to do some sit-ups, and woke up two hours later. I felt fantastic, so I treated myself to a frothy coffee and a chunky Kit-Kat".
Mickey Flanagan
"I can't understand why people are afraid of new ideas. I'm afraid of old ones".
John Cage
Friday, 27 April 2012
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
They might be right.
One of my
favourite stories of the 60’s and 70’s Ad Men concerns Bill Bernbach.
A child of
both the Bronx and the Depression, Bill rose from the mailroom to Chief
Executive of Doyle Dane Bernbach, creating and developing an intelligent style
of advertising that is recognised and respected even today.
He is also credited with the idea of putting
writers and art directors together as a creative team – until DDB they worked
in separate departments.
One of his
personal quirks was that in client meetings, he would sometimes be seen to take
out a small piece of card, read it, and place it back in his top pocket.
When a young
intern once asked about the card, Bill took it out and revealed the words “They
might be right”.
“They might
be right”.
The client
might be right. The critic might be right. The other opinion might be right.
Bill
Bernbach never allowed his confidence in ideas to cross over into
arrogance. He never
assumed that just because he had an intelligent and elegant mind, no-one else
had.
He didn't presume that the client – or the account handler – couldn't have opinions every bit as valuable as his own.
Understanding
that others might be right doesn’t stifle creativity, it adds to it.
It adds a
questioning vigour. And an openness and willingness to consider new
alternatives. It encourages us to listen to the opinion of others.
Of course,
too many times “they” will want you to tone it down, to avoid risks, to try the
same old same old.
But that way
lies boredom, failure and anonymity.
Looking at
things from a new perspective, from the point of view of others, can be a
valuable route to new ideas.
What would the client say if they were in the
meeting now? What would our competitors say? What would Bill Bernbach say?
That way lies
innovation, and the confidence in your own ideas that comes from having
considered all angles.
They might
be right. And so might you.
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