The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

As we all know, there’s a ton of talk about the longevity of the industry with things like corporate consolidation, AI and processes and systems.

I get that and there should be that … but what bothers me is a lot of the conversations are not focused on what got us here.

Because for all the talk about the obsession with efficiency and the ‘illusion’ of effectiveness, what is rarely discussed is the lack of investment in training.

Don’t get me wrong,’outsourced, for profit’ training programs have their role and value in developing skills – even if many have been devised by people who have often never even worked directly in the industry, let alone made anything of note within it – but so much of this is about creating industry conformity, rather than creation.

Worse, it’s industry conformity often based on an individuals definition of what good work is … which is ALWAYS self-serving for them.

And while – as I said – it still offers some sort of value, it also actively devalues individual talent, potential, craft and creativity.

Or said another way, it allows all the things we are spending so much energy complaining about – to thrive.

Add to that too many people only wanting to develop in a bid to get more money – rather than more ability – and you can see how we got where we’re sitting.

But what bothers me most is how some companies are reacting and responding to this shift.

I don’t mean agencies – who, in the main, are not exactly shining with their ‘strategies’ – but companies.

Because for all the demands they have in terms of expectations and standards, they end up showing nothing really matters as much as cost and time.

Part of this is because – sadly – many companies don’t know the difference between quality and quantity.

Part of this is because – even more sadly – there is a lack of training in their organizations as well, so they’re only empowered to say ‘no’, rather than ‘yes’.

Part of this is – possibly most tragic of all – is that many companies have put themselves in a position where they have allowed procurement to be the ultimate decision maker – despite the fact the only thing most know about other industries is how to ‘compare prices’.

Case in point …

Recently I spoke to a strategist who is not just incredibly experienced, but is pretty incredible.

By that I mean the work they’ve done and the impact they have enabled.

And yet, despite all this, they’re finding it hard to find work … exemplified by recently losing out on a project where – objectively – they would be one of the most qualified people in the entire industry to do this job.

They didn’t lose out because they weren’t known.
They didn’t lose out because they weren’t available.
They lost out because the company thought they could ‘hack the system’ by hiring someone who had worked at the same company as the strategist in question, who was asking for a much lower fee.

Now I get – on face value – that sounds a smart move.

Except that was the only requirement for hiring this person.

They ignored the fact these strategists didn’t work in the same office.
They ignored the fact these strategists didn’t work on the same clients or category.
They ignored the fact they never worked or interacted together.
They ignored the fact one strategist has led work, the other has just supported it.
They ignored the fact one strategist has 16 years of experience, the other has under 5.
They ignored the fact one strategist is at a ‘head of planning’ level, the other is ‘strategist’.

I should point out this does not mean the strategist they chose isn’t good – I know who they are and they have some interesting perspectives – but their experience, context, exposure to senior leaders and overall ability is miles off what the other strategist in question has to offer. There is literally no comparison.

Now this is not their fault … with time, I imagine their abilities [like all of us] will increase dramatically, or it will if they are exposed to people who are willing to develop them, rather than expect them to just execute which sadly – even if they had a full-time job – is increasingly seen as a ‘cost’ rather than an investment … but while I have no desire to deny anyone the ability to make a living [especially young talent who have been forced out of jobs because of costs, workload or mental health] everyone is going to lose here.

Everyone.

The ultra-qualified strategist has to look for another job.
The strategist who has been hired is going to only execute based on their frame-of-reference and standards which, as I pointed out, is not what a job of this magnitude requires. And that’s before we even consider how much this job could hold back their development because they’re not being paid to learn, they’re being paid to do.
The company ends up having a solution that doesn’t liberate the opportunity they have … or the issues they need to contend with.

Of course, where you work has a huge impact on how you grow … and the place both these strategists worked, is excellent.

But there’s a massive difference between being there a few years and many years – not just in terms of the work you do, but the challenges and growth you are exposed to – and so when companies choose to deliberately ignore this … be it for cost, convenience or control reasoning … not only are they undermining their own business, they’re undermining the potential of the person they hired and so we all end up contributing to the situation we’re complaining about while also being blinkered towards.

Train properly.
Pay properly.
Place value on experience, standards and craft.

If you don’t, the position of mayhem that we’re in now will be seen as one of the golden ages of where we’ll end up.

Happy New Year … hahaha.