Little Thoughts #1: Everyone likes to get involved.
Here’s the introduction of a new series of little thoughts that won’t really fill out a full post.
Everyone likes to get involved.
If you have people in your pipeline that have to approve your work, at any level, they’ll probably want to get involved with your work. To make their mark. To make a difference. To take some form of action to justify the fact that they’re “doing their job.” Even if your work is absolutely perfect, they’ll have something to say about it.
This is often a pain in the ass, and it’s inevitable. More often than not, they’ll pick out something that’s a nightmare to change.
But hey, what can you do?
I’ll tell you. :)
What I suggest to you — whether you’re a manager looking at your boss, an artist looking at your AD, or an AD managing an artist — is find ways to leave your work looking about 95% complete. Make the final 5% it needs obvious.
People WILL meddle and want to have a hand in whatever you’re doing. Position your work in such a way that the final 5% that needs doing just immediately jumps out at them. They’ll point it out and suggest a change. You’ll say “Oh, shit! You’re right! I’ll do that!” then go in and fix it, show it to them again, get their approval now that they feel they’ve done their job, and the asset is done.
Everyone, everyone, everyone wants to feel involved. To have their say. To feel like they made their mark. Anticipate this! Simply define the boundaries in which people can be involved freely without severely affecting what you’re doing.
This requires a soft touch. Doing stupid, insulting, obvious shit like leaving a head off of a character or forgetting to color a concept is a slap in the face. It will make you look stupid and prove you don’t follow directions. Be subtle, be smart, and be respectful of peoples’ need to participate, and you’ll go far.
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May 15th, 2007 at 11:49 am
You’re right. I actually do “leave well enough alone” quite frequently, but I do feel like a bit of a git when I say, “hey, that looks great! Let’s call it done!”
You’ve helped me to not feel like such a git: well, unless people are leaving out the 5%, and I’m not noticing. Damn!
May 18th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
haha, I’m glad this helped you! I’ve actually received some criticism over this post sounding too arrogant. :)
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Always wondered why the client we are currently working for always had something to add everytime we had work for him to approve. Even though he praised it for 15 to 20 mins throughout the meeting, the last 5 minutes always ended the same; with him finding some small detail he wanted to adjust or change. Which is fine because that’s part of the job but…when it started to feel like a pattern, it started to be quite annoying. Little things. So when i meet with the group tommorrow..I’m gonna read this post to them and see what they think. Doesn’t sound arrogant at all. Definitely closed a book in one of my chapters. Thanks great post.
May 24th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
This can backfire though. I think it leads others to evaluate you at a lower level than your real potential, which obviously can have an impact on major things like promotions, higher pay rates, referrals.
Better IMHO to put my all into the piece, within my budget. If someone wants a change, fine. Of course, depending on who’s asking, and how much work it is.
June 4th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Dwayne, thanks, man! It’s cool to hear about this kind of stuff being validated in the field. Glad you dug it, and I’d love to know what the team thinks!
Eric, that’s an excellent point. The safest way to act on knowledge like this is simply to use it as a tool for understanding people better. People do like to get involved… you don’t necessarily NEED to act on it, but you can benefit from understanding it. You be more patient, open and considerate of them, which will improve your relations and open you up to the potential for gaining valuable insights you might not have if you’d been more closed off. Which is always a good thing. :)