PLEASE EVERYONE? FORGET IT

"When you do important work, work that changes things and work that matters, it's inconceivable that the change you're trying to make will be met with complete approval.

Trying to please everyone will water down your efforts, frustrate your forward motion and ultimately fail.

The balancing act is to work to please precisely the right people, and just enough of them, to get your best work out the door.

Shun the non-believers."

Seth Godin, marketing Guru.                        

The Simplest Solution - A True Story

       A couple of years ago, I had a chance to shoot a commercial in the Kalahari Desert with
     a real Bushman.

  

    We dropped him at the far end of a salt pan, some 5Km away and had him run towards camera.

   On the other end of the pan, we were shooting on long lens though a heat haze. Pretty standard.

     But dammit... He didn't run straight, or he ran too slow, or too fast... 

    We tried yelling but he was too far away. And we couldn't give him a radio because it would be noticeable in shot.

    After a couple of NG takes, some genius said -almost in jest- "Shove a radio up his arse".

    Hmm.  Not a bad idea, you know...

    Of course, after that, no one in the crew wanted to use Radio V3 for the rest of the day.

  

 Sometimes the best solution comes from the simplest idea.

 

John Hegarty ~ Hegarty on Advertising                            

Sometimes Is Great All The Time

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I love that word: Sometimes. It’s the get-out-of-jail card of the communication game.

It’s as noncommittal as maybe, now-and-then and occasionally without the ambiguity. You can get away with anything if you know how to say sometimes. Every time.

Say for example, you don’t care at all.

“Maybe I don’t give a fuck”. Bitchy. Not good. Change it to “Sometimes I don’t give a fuck”. Suddenly you’re sensitive. A victim of circumstances, perhaps.

Let’s look at another example.

“Now and then, you don’t treat me well” sounds sporadic and wish-washy -it's like you’re inviting further abuse, really. And you probably deserve it. Change it to “Sometimes you don’t treat me well” and then you found a nice way to say ‘Stop abusing me’. You’re raising a flag without sounding like a nag -au contraire, you look like a victim. Again.

Has the penny not dropped yet?

“Occasionally I feel like writing a blog”. What’s this occasionally nonsense? Sounds like you’re not committed. Take that man’s computer away! Close his account!

Now, say it again and change the crucial word.

“Sometimes I feel like writing a blog”. How wonderful is that cry for help? Only the most hardened criminals and politicians -who are similar creatures- would not encourage you. Everyone else would say “Do it. Write a blog”.

OK. I will. Sometimes.