NORTHERN PLANNER

Like I’ve said before, we’re all good at something and we should respect and celebrate that, or in another way, those that do things we can’t, or don’t want to. When I worked on Morrisons I had to spend some time working a checkout and failed miserably, checkout people make it look very, very, easy. There’s a world tiddly winks champion, and good for him, he’s spent thousands of hours getting that good.

This goes for agencies, where the culture seems to celebrate the big names, the thinkers and the ideas people. On one hand, take away the junior suits who organise the meetings for other people who have to be cajoled, bullied and coaxed into meeting rooms, who do the contact reports and oil the whole client relationship where it really matters, the bread and butter day to day. A background as a suit make’s me quite organised for a planner, but I pale next my ghd team, they love the jobs I hate and make it look so easy.

Think about the real doers, traffic, the studio, the buildings manager, production, TV department…accounts who make sure we’re payed, dreaded HR who sort out pensions for us. No none talks about them, says thanks, or says hi enough.They should, without them we’d fall apart.

When you start in an agency, make sure you get to know the junior suits, creatives and clients really well, they’re the ones that make things happen. But if you really want to know how a place works, if you really want to get things done, make friends with the real doers..traffic, productions, buildings managers and, of course, the receptionists and PA’s. These (usually girls) know EVERYTHING, and can do lots of little things for you..the battle for rooms, the battle for their masters’/mistress’ time, and lots of supposedly little things that matter a great deal.

Here’s to the doers…ideas are nothing without them to see them through.