DUMBING SIDEWAYS

AdMedia, Feb 17, 2003 by Jeneal Rohrback

When starting to write this article, I looked up mono-culture in the dictionary and found this definition: The continuous growing of one kind of crop.

Almost perfect, but I thought the following definition was a more appropriate introduction to my theme: Monoculture is the continuous growing of one kind of CRAP.

The point being that as a creative director, whenever I talked to new clients about how I set up my creative department, I always made the point that all the people in my department were different. Different in that they had different interests, different personalities, different levels of skill, different sex and so on. But, most importantly, that they were all different from me.

This statement usually provoked a round of laughter and the occasional smart-ass remark like, 'Thank god for that'.

Well, thank me, actually. I fundamentally believe that this was a key reason for instigating very rapidly a very successful creative department.

In any agency of a decent size, there will be such a diverse spread of clients and products that the ability to deliver a variety of insights, skills and solutions is paramount. Then why is it that so many of us fall into the trap of keeping the status quo when hiring people? The trap of 'Dumbing Sideways' (not to be confused with dumbing down, which is deliberately catering to the lowest common denominator). 'Dumbing Sideways' ( Rohrback 2003) is when you don't dumb down, but neither do you 'clever up'. It is the poisonous state of the status quo, and it is insidious and has the same effect on creative standards as having sex with your cousin does on the gene pool.

'Dumbing Sideways' in a creative department is the situation where creative directors hire people like themselves. Who have the same sorts of ideas, who have the same sense of humour, who have the same taste in what makes a good ad. And why not - it's easy to hire the people that laugh at your jokes and agree with everything you say.

But will this enhance the agency's creative work? I don't think so. Because inevitably and insidiously, it has a cloning effect on firstly people, and then the work they produce. Hey presto, all the ads coming out of an agency are the same. And, god forbid that this is an award-winning formula; the sameness spreads out to infect other creative directors, and their creative departments, and suddenly everyone is doing carbon-copy advertising.

In the short term, I admit that this 'infection' can look very effective. But if you want a truly progressive and highly creative department that has longevity, then you need to stop hiring the same sort of people.

Just as we as individuals have to keep looking outside of our comfort zones to create great work, so do creative directors. We should actively encourage and seek out different ways of thinking, different forms of creativity by hiring and encouraging different people.

This is hard - it sort of goes against the whole concept of creative 'direction'. And it's a brave person who can allow stuff through that they don't feel comfortable with.

But having diversity in a creative department will produce a dynamic powerhouse. Not a monoculture. So, as long as the work is strategically sound and appropriate, variety of thinking in a structured, disciplined creative department creates not just different ads - it creates world-class, highly effective, award- winning ads.

My fear is that we are in danger of becoming an advertising culture of all the same people. Who all think the same way and produce the same ads. Let's stop it happening.

Start collecting all sorts of people; people with different skills, personalities, idiosyncrasies, gender, and interests. And don't just look to hire people within the industry - look for fresh thinking and new insights.

And above all, consider people you don't feel comfortable with at first.

I've taken on a lot of individuals that had big question marks over their heads, but I took the risk because one thing I always knew they had was talent - a spark. However weird, even dysfunctional they appeared at the time, I knew they would grow and eventually fit in with the other talents of the department, and help the agency do exceptional work.

Finally, I urge you at least to ask yourself these questions - Am I challenging myself enough? Am I doing things differently? Am I really being a creative leader, and encouraging creativity in the people around me?

If you even hesitate to answer, the answer is probably 'no'. Face up to it - at the very least you are dumbing sideways, but in today's fast-moving world of shifting fads and thinking, in effect you're dumbing down.

In conclusion, we need to do things differently. To stop being slaves to the status quo, by filling our creative departments with inspirational people, not clones. To stop dumbing sideways.

Change is scary, but it's the only way forward if we want to make a difference. Even if it's only to the small world of advertising. Basically, keep an open mind, absorb and act like you're out to change the world. As Steve Jobs said about Apple: "Aim to put a dent in the universe". Think it, live it and it will happen.