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| image courtesy of AMC |
Not all of your best ideas are going to come from the top
down.
I was binge-watching the entire season 7 of Mad Men last
night. For those of you who are not hip
to this AMC drama is about a fictional ad agency set in the 1960’s. One character who’s grown over these 7
seasons is Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss), who rose from secretary to copywriter to account
manager fighting all the way despite the roadblocks erected within the old boy
business network of the time.
Peggy is smart and ambitious. Her old boss, Don Draper (Jon Hamm), recognized her
talents and pushed her to get better by giving her the autonomy to come up with
her own creative advertising ideas. She’s
an up and comer. Then at the end of
season 6, Don Draper is “placed on extended leave” and Peggy finds herself
working for new boss named Lou Avery (Allan Havey).
Lou’s a smug and arrogant old boy who’s been in the ad
business so long he’s been relying on reputation to sell and promote his agency
and its ideas. Any creative bone in this
man’s body exited him years ago as he’s just as happy giving his clients the
bare minimum as long as he can bill it.
This puts a creative Peggy at odds with her boss.
Peggy, with the help of a freelancer, comes up with a
phenomenal pitch for their client Accutron watches and she can’t wait to pitch
it to Lou in a copy meeting that afternoon.
Lou shoots it down.
It doesn't matter that it’s an ad worthy of a potential Clio
award (the ad man’s Oscars) Lou just doesn't care. Nothing wrong with the old pitch he’s
initially approved he says. Just make it
and bill it. When Peggy pushes back Lou
gets agitated. Over the next few
episodes Peggy realizes that the agency is losing its creative edge – something
that her old boss Don Draper was (and still is) a genius at promoting.
Don recognizes talent when he sees it and reads it. Throughout the seasons Don is guilty of
ripping all the ads out of his wife’s magazines and newspapers when he sees a
truly original and well written ad. He
not only recognizes the talent in Peggy his old secretary but he is able to put
aside negative personal feelings for other employees that he knows are a value
to the company even as some of them were plotting to take his job.
As flawed as Don Draper is he still understands the value of
his employee’s ideas. Don may always be
the best but sometimes an idea comes around that’s better than his. Instead of pushing it aside like Lou Avery
did with Peggy’s monster hit he would have encouraged her - even pushed her to
make it better-right into the stratosphere.
Most of us as managers are not consciously pushing good and
creative ideas aside. We can look at
what made the Mad Men’s agency Sterling, Cooper and Partners under Don Draper’s
command the best at fostering great ideas from all levels and apply them to any
work environment:
Autonomy
The Mad Men Way:
Everybody
had a chance to have their ideas heard.
Even Peggy Olson who as Don’s secretary was busy getting him coffee,
typing his memos, and juggling his work and social schedule still had some
autonomy to work outside of her job description. It wasn't easy but she had the ambition to become
a copywriter and Don did allow her to take on a small project. That allowed him to see her potential.
Every Manager’s Way:
Let
them have some time to work on their own projects for the company. Other companies do this right now. LinkedIn has InCubator that lets their
engineers work on their own projects.
Apple has Blue Sky and Microsoft has The Garage which also allows this
freedom to all employees. Gmail was born
because Google allowed their employees this type of freedom. It doesn't matter how big or small your
organization is you can always find the time to allow your employees to come up
with not just new ideas but improve existing processes. Try giving them a problem, set a timeline and
give them some deliverables. Allot a few
hours a week and sit back and marvel at how ingenious and intelligent your
people are.
Collaboration
The Mad Men Way:
Ad man jam sessions. The artists were all in the same office and
when they weren't there they took over a room at the agency where they hashed
out ideas. There was art and copy all
over the walls. They were free to really
think outside the box and bounce ideas off each other. The media department and creative directors
would always drop in to contribute. The
collaboration on this show even involved working with a rival ad agency on a
major automotive account which arguably ended up saving the Mad Men’s agency.
Every Manager’s Way:
Encourage your people in all
departments to collaborate in ways that work for your organization. They don’t have to sit together but you can
have them conference in or include in some way different departments or profit
centers. Leaving some employees out of
the loop or not including key people in email strings for major projects or
ideas can divide your group. Also, most
of us don’t want to work with our competition but you certainly want to lend a
keen ear to any of your employees that worked for your competitors at one time. It’s not trade secrets you’re after but potentially
better or more efficient ways of solving a trade problem.
Action
The Mad Men Way:
The ad
men would come to a consensus and then pitch it to the client. Sometimes it wasn't Don Draper doing the
pitching but his copywriters and account managers were on the front lines. If you think as a manager you’re always the
best person to act on something you may be missing a huge opportunity to let
someone else take the reins.
Every Manager’s Way:
You’ll see the leaders come
out of the woodwork when you give your employees autonomy and let them
collaborate on projects. Even the ones
you thought were quiet and didn't have much to contribute will show sparks of
enthusiasm. Use your skills to challenge
these people to act – to go out of their comfort zone a little and watch them
grow. As a leader don’t be hesitant to
let these employees grow. Not only will
you be fostering a thriving environment for new ideas you’re creating new
leaders in the process. Look at all the
all-stars Don Draper left in his wake…
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