by Emma King (@EmmainSA) Ours is not an industry for the softly spoken or the faint-hearted. It’s one in which, often, those who make the most noise are the most respected (or at least, the most well-known). And it’s one in which, I often think, success does not necessarily come to those who are the most experienced or competent, but rather those who have an opinion (credible or otherwise) and the confidence to fight for it and execute it well.
What happens when strong opinions collide?
The question, then, is what happens when we need to collaborate — when a number of strong opinions collide?
The business that we now work in — where we cannot divide elements of campaigns into neat little boxes, where we cannot hope to be experts in every possible platform or execution, where the work that we do needs to be global in its very nature — is growing ever more depending on collaboration.
The partnership benefits all parties; all bring unique understanding, insight and experience to the party which the other needs.
Forced into juxtaposition
But the very values that we bring to the collaboration — the differences in our experiences and outlook, the unique understanding and insights — set up a situation where our opinions are forced into juxtaposition.
But, as many an idealist communist has found, the theory of everyone’s opinion being equal doesn’t always translate into harmonious reality. It’s human nature that someone has to lead, and someone needs to sort through the debris and decide upon which idea, or opinion, is the one to lead with.
And so there’s a need for compromise, or for one opinion to take precedence over another — a challenge for individuals who, in their very nature, are used to fighting for their opinions, convinced they are the best.
A question of when
It’s a question then, of when to fight for an opinion, and when to let go of the ego.
It’s something I tell junior staff often when they are getting upset or emotional about an idea that is getting watered down or bastardised. “Learn when to fight your battles and when to let go”, I say.
For businesses that are finding they moving into models of collaboration, I would counsel the following:
- At the outset, work out and agree upon who is going to be responsible for making the final decision. As much as everyone can (and should) contribute ideas, someone needs to sort through this all and decide the way forward. This cannot be a compromise or a watered-down version of the best.
- Likewise, this can only work when there’s an appreciation of the value of each member’s contribution. Collaboration can never work when some participants are there just for window dressing, without a real role to play.
- There will be a time when it’s right to fight for something — when you know in your gut that it’s right, and when you have the understanding, credibility and experience to know that it’s wrong to do anything else. When this happens, have the confidence to believe in yourself to do so.
- It’s just as powerful, however, to be able to understand when someone else needs to lead the thinking, and when it’s time to step back from an ego and let something go.
“Art is not a democracy”
Things work best when people bring together skills to work in teams. But there needs to be someone who makes the decisions. As George Martin said, “Art is not a democracy”.
— Emma King is head of PR at The Jupiter Drawing Room (Cape Town) and you can find her on Twitter at @EmmainSA. King contributes the monthly “The Dissindent Spin Doctor” column on PR and communication issues to MarkLives.com.