Get me in the room — Newsletter issue 010

Two clients recently offered to act as a buffer between me and their stakeholders.

To save me from the unfiltered feedback.

The internal misalignment.

And to translate internal noise into a neatly packaged brief, or a feedback doc that’s been stripped of all that is blunt or uncomfortable.

It was well-intentioned. But I’d rather they didn’t.

Because that's exactly where the magic is. Where discussion gets heated because everyone cares so much about getting it right.

It’s a space where a single throwaway comment, heard by the right person at the right moment, sparks the idea that shapes everything.

Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy, puts it simply:

The brief rarely contains the real why. By the time it reaches us, it's been filtered through internal politics, competing opinions and organisational caution. The most interesting thinking gets edited out. What remains is logical, safe and – as Sutherland would argue – likely to get you to exactly the same place as your competitors.

A few years ago I wrote about ditching the big Mad Men era board room reveal, for a more collaborative approach – inviting clients into our process and showing them the thinking before it's polished. It produced better work. Every time.

But it was only half the picture. Wouldn’t it be better if it was both ways?

Show us yours and we'll show you ours.

The messy conversations and internal politics are far more revealing than any brief. So save yourself the effort of writing one and invite us into the room.

Then we'll write it for you.