What. A. Week.
In fact, what a year. But we won’t focus on that right now.?!?!
This was a quintessential agency week. One filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. One where you have moments that you know, without a doubt, this is why you do this, and you have moments that you question with every ounce of your being, is it worth it. One that in the end, reminds you, through magic moments, that you were born to do something.
Through a couple of extraordinary circumstances this week, I found myself locked in a room with my college filmmaking buddy (who actually runs our production studio at the agency) ideating and writing scripts for one of our largest clients. It was a high pressure situation, timing was tight, and in a matter of 3 hours, we had concepted and written multiple scripts, were coordinating with the clients and legal and making arrangements to shoot one (or more) of the chosen concepts. Laughing, cursing, thinking, riffing. We were totally and completely in the mix, doing what we do. None of it felt like work.
In the end, we made a video. It’s a really good video. But that’s not my takeaway for the week. That’s not the magical part.
The magical part was actually the doing. Everything that went into making that video. It began with the belief that, against numerous odds, we could do this within the parameters we were given. It included taking a few risks through some of the concepts that we presented. And, most of all, it was about operating in our sweet spots – those zones where there’s 0 thinking about how to do it, you just do what you do, and something comes out as a result.
Work, no matter what business your in, is a grind at some point or another. It’s easy to grow complacent and go through the motions. For creators, this is death. Whether it’s you or one of your staff, recognize those things that enable you to operate in your sweet spot. It can be concepting and creating something or it could be organizing an event or it could be figuring out an enterprise-level network installation. Don’t be afraid to take risks, and above all, don’t be afraid to take on a challenge.
Magic just might happen.