One of the things I do when I first get a brief is try to see the creative opportunity.
Where we can make the biggest and most interesting difference.
Changing something.
Pushing something.
Destroying something.
However the reality is that in many briefs, this isn’t always clear – mainly because so many are written from quite a transactional perspective, designed for an agency to ‘answer it’, rather than use it as a springboard for bigger, more powerful and more sustainable impact.
And that’s why the best thing you can do is ask questions.
Explore.
Prod.
Challenge.
Not just in terms of who authored the brief, but the people who are responsible for what comes out of it.
There are some people who think this approach has the potential of alienating clients, but in my experience it has quite the opposite effect. People in power regard this as a demonstration of someone who gives a shit … someone who wants to help them achieve the best outcome in ways that can best serve their business. Ideas they may simply never have seen or considered before.
And that’s exactly why I do it because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t know the level of the clients ambition … their desire for change and impact … and without that you can’t possibly see the creative opportunity you have in front of you and you may go down a path that leads to nowhere because you have made assumptions that simply aren’t true.
Don’t get me wrong, we all need new business to survive – let alone thrive – but my point of view is that if people aren’t excited or clear on what we are looking to do, then it either leads to a painful journey with painful work at the end of it or just mistrust and quite frankly, I haven’t got time for either of those in my life.
So what’s all this got to do with the title of this post?
Because I recently read an article on the famous Woodstock festival and was reminded – from a comment by Tommy James from the band, Tommy James and The Shondells – how dangerous ‘assumption’ can be.
And who is Tommy James from Tommy James and The Shondells?
Well, this might tell you why you haven’t heard of him or them …
Don’t assume the person communicating with you has total clarity on their situation.
Don’t assume the people around you have total clarity on the situation.
Just don’t assume.