1) 9-5 no longer works for me. I find my most productive times are from 6 am to 9 am and then from 7 pm to around 10 pm. Yet management seems obsessed with appearances in the office, still. With all the connectedness I have access to, and with my peers located all over the world, I can't be confined to getting real work done AND being glued to a chair to meet outdated expectations. Plus, where's the measurement for all the work I do 24/7--via texting, the phone, Facebook, my blog, on and on? I just can't be successful within old paradigms.
2) I seem to get paid to travel yet the expectations are for productivity. I can no longer accept the idea that I need to produce deliverables while spending most of my time at airports, on planes and trains, in hotels and various places of transit. Something has to give. My productivity is limited by the expectations that I need to commute all over the country--to 'work'. If the perception is that my merit and value is in thought leadership, affecting change throughout the organization, weighing in on matters of corporate importance, etc. And yet my true activity is tied to being in multiple places for meetings. I can't be successful that way any longer.
3) I can no longer know everything, all the time. And then be expected to write about it, spread my knowledge, and influence momentum for my company and my clients. I can barely keep up with all the change--even when immersed all day, all hours, all the time. Change happens so fast in this business, and world in general, that I am simply overwhelmed--like most--and cannot meet the expectations of being in the know about every innovation and happening. I can't read all the blogs I subscribe to, read all the Tweets of influencer's, read every WSJ article, listen to every podcast, keep up with YouTube, know the daily fad...whew. It's just too much for any one person--especially me.
4) The lines are too blurred these days when it comes to role. I am, by title, an Executive Creative Director, and yet I am expected to provide strategic direction, inspiration, technical expertise, marketing insight, statistics on ROI, know all the trends, be up on the latest research, know why Foursquare is of value, spur utilization in my department, increase collaboration across disciplines, show progress to a board, run interdisciplinary councils, write, speak, judge, work on corporate mission...oh, and still focus on innovative ideation. I can barely focus on any on thing let alone cover all the increasing areas of contribution.
5) I hate the term EBITDA. Or is is EBIDTA? See, I can't even get that right. And largely because I really don't want to be a financial guru. The word utilization is like scraping fingernails on a chalkboard, to me. I don't like revenue calls. Or spreadsheets with pipeline forecasts, billable trends, and such. I cringe when I get an email demanding I have my merit evaluations in by EOW. When did I even start talking in these terms? My art school never had a course in stretch goals, KPI's, metrics, attribution models, leverage models, and all the other terms I choose to refrain from using. I got into this business to build brands...not massage excel documents.
6) Interactive still doesn't 'get' what we are really in business to do--and that's marketing. Building brands. Moving brands forward. Providing value to consumers. Serving customers on behalf of our client's brands. And management has forgotten that if and when you do that, and well, the company reaps profits--because clients will seek us out and beg us to do it for them. When they succeed we succeed and multiply. This isn't about technology, or selling services, or designing widgets, or making Flash experiences, or focusing on hourlies, it's about gaining mindshare for brands and delivering value for their customers. I don't want to be in the business of business--I want to move brands forward via valuable, branded interactions.
7) I hate what the acronym BS stands for now. I began my career assuming it stood for BrainStorming. Now, far too often, ideation is more around climbing the ladder, or maneuvering for fame, than it is creating ideas that matter. Again, the naive me always believed that great thinking and even better execution would take care of all things relating to profit, and gain. I miss the days when innocent, idealistic, altruistic creative's got in a room and fantasized about the what-if's that could change the world. And we got paid to do that. Now it seems like we begin sessions with project plans, hours we can spend, do's and don'ts with the client. I am tired of concentrating on practicing presentations when I should be focused 100% on an idea that will make them famous.
8) I HATE that we now talk in terms like 'social strategy', Facebook tactics, Twitter campaigns, viral attempts, iPad POV's, yada yada yada. Whatever happened to the simplicity of, "What's the big frickin idea?" Why do we now talk in terms of channels, even fads, or hot trends, when we should be talking in terms of 'ownable position' and strategic idea? 'Nuff said...
9) I am sooo tired of 'calls'. We get 5-10 people on a call and everyone pontificates, argues, talk semantics, throw words around like 'synergy' and 'action items' and 'next call...'. I spend so much of my time on calls. I get to wear a nice little headset and sound intelligent and defer action items to others who made the mistake of missing the call. I have to listen to people I've never seen produce anything tell me what a deliverable should look like, contain, do, and so on. I have to be real polite and listen to everyone's ideas so my performance review wills state that I am collaborative...a team player...inclusive. When I first started in this biz my CD's were jerks who said it was their way or the highway and they acted like prima donnas, cussed, spit, offended, all in the name of brilliant work. Because that was ALL that mattered. I would be fired if I were to scream and throw my pencil at the wall while on a call and have people believe I was doing it from passion for excellence. So, I guess if I am to be fired for that I might as well quit now.
10) April Fools. I love my job! But not for any of the reasons above. I love it because I get to work with smart people and I can still entrtain the notion of changing the world, and company, in which I live--to do better work. To do things that matter and are good for others. To leave the world a better place. Call me naive but I still believe.
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