Simon Veksner: Beware of nice people
July 15 2014, 11:40 am | | 7 Comments
By Simon Veksner, Creative Director, DDB Sydney
DDB has a philosophy of hiring people who are “talented and nice.”
And I agree with it.
I’ve worked at agencies in the past where some people weren’t nice, and it’s a ball-ache.
7 Comments
I worked for an agency a few years back that addressed a client’s continued ‘feedback’ regarding a campaign over 6-9 months (never realising that the client didn’t actually want to make the campaign).
Eventually, after countless re-writes and a head-hours bill well into 6 figures, the client finally mustered up the courage to say “No”.
Oh, and because they never REALLY wanted the idea in the first place, they wouldn’t pay the amount owed.
People lost their jobs and it became the catalyst for the agency’s demise.
Just Say “No”!
I often wonder if Simons posts are a reflection of something happening where he works or just a casual observation. Knowing what a nice guy he is, I’m sure it’s the latter 🙂
Ha! You’re quite right, my posts are inevitably influenced by stuff going on around me. And that was true here – though it wasn’t a case of observing someone being ‘too nice’, and then passively-aggressively criticising them via a blog post. It was just that a couple of us happened to be discussing the ‘talented and nice’ philosophy the other day, in general.
Which reminds me, another Agency CEO was telling me recently about her hiring policy, which she described as ‘naughty and nice’, which I rather like.
Some of the most successful people I’ve worked with over the years have been wilful to the point of crushing those in their path, ignoring the nicities in their quest to see their ideas get up. Because there will always be resistance to fresh, new ideas, most people – including clients and, shockingly, many of one’s colleagues within the agency – find it all too hard to do what’s necessary to ensure those exciting but at times frightening ideas see the light of day. So these not-so-nice people ride roughshod over the recalcitrants to see their ideas realised. They are singleminded in their determination, a quality often spoken about but rarely demonstrated because it’s easier to roll over in the interests of a harmonious working environment. Of course these outsiders inevitably become pariahs, spoken about in derisive tones behind their backs, but ironically they are also the ones who pick up the much sought-after awards the rest of the agency is proud to claim as their own.
I’ve met a lot of supposedly nice people in advertising. Get to know them and they’re far from being nice.
@nice
Yes, I’ve met some of the ‘nice’ people in advertising and found out it’s just an act.
Especially watch out for the ones who PR themselves as ‘nice’.
But, of course, Simon is referring to something totally different here…as you were.
We had a saying in the 90’s. ‘Get professional’.
That’s all you need. Nice comes with that.