A decade (1995-2006) in advertising taught me to value “inefficiency.” It was the secret behind most of our true Wow ideas.
How did it work? A client would explain his problem. I’d write a brief and rush to pass it to the creative team. Great—the process had started.
And what did the art director and copywriter do? They might laugh about something in a meeting room, flip through fresh magazines, or go for a walk in the park.
From a manager’s point of view, they were slacking. Wasting time. When I asked nervously, they just shrugged: “Nope. No ideas yet.”
The deadline kept getting closer, and I began to panic. I pictured myself standing in front of the client with… a blank sheet. Shame and disgrace.
But every time hope left me, those magicians would appear at the door. They showed work that left me speechless.
The miracle happened so often that I almost got used to it. “Almost,” because the anxiety never fully left: “We’re screwed. The magic is gone.”
When I became CEO and co-owner of the agency, the temptation was strong — track every hour, count team budgets, allocate overhead, all of it. Business must be efficient, right?
Of course, I cared about P&L and revenue per employee. But I no longer had the illusion that profit comes from timesheets.
No. The agency grew and got richer precisely when I killed “efficiency.”
I canceled timesheets. I stopped managers from pulling on the creative team. I focused on the quality of ideas, not team discipline.
We also worked hard to build a nourishing environment:
subscriptions to cutting-edge magazines,
a dedicated budget for brainstorms,
wild parties we still talk about years later,
and unusual outings like the “drunk bus.”
But none of this would matter if we hadn’t learned how to sell our ideas:
First, we knew exactly which client we wanted most. Second, we tied our reward to their results. Third, we poured ourselves fully into every project.
Sincerely yours,
-Alexander
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