We all want to deliver perfect creative work. Work that’s truly different. Work that smashes targets. Work that’s genuinely as good as it can be.
So we think about it. Of course we do.
We analyse our customers. We analyse the competition.
We construct positioning statements. We pour over the minutiae.
We spend hours talking about the brief. Thinking through the options.
We pour over the creative detail. The copy, the tone, the colours, the images.
We want it to be right.
We take pride in it.
But it’s easy to think too much – to become paralysed by thought.
Research? OK, but we don’t always have the time. Or the budget.
Sometimes we just need to go with our best guess.
When Bill Shankly questioned one of his strikers as to why he’d hesitated and lost the ball in front of goal, the young lad said, “I couldn’t decide whether to lob the keeper, nutmeg him, or send him the wrong way.”
Apparently Shankly replied: “Look son, if you ever find yourself in front of goal with the ball at your feet, just stick it in the net and we’ll discuss your options afterwards.”
It’s a quote worth remembering.
Strive for perfection by all means, but when push comes to shove, stick your laces through the ball and shoot.
You won’t score unless you do.
