Anyone who makes a living from their creativity will, sooner or later, come to realise one very important point: having an idea is one thing; convincing others of its value is something else entirely… a completely different skill.
The progression of learning that skill often goes something like this:
1/. You realise management are claiming credit for your great ideas, and blaming you for the ones that fail.
2/. You come to realise there is nothing you can do about it.
3/. You begrudgingly allow people to think they have come up with an idea that is clearly yours.
4/. You intentionally manipulate people to think they have come up with an idea that is clearly yours.
The Noah’s Arcade pitch scene from Wayne’s World is a notable demonstration of this principle in action.
What’s fascinating about it is that the scene is played deliberately hammy, evoking a skeptical response: “There’s no way a real advertising agency world work like that!” But you know what, they kinda do.
And, after having this practice outed in a popular Hollywood movie, you’d think it would be once-and-for-all exposed as the blundering, Dummies Guide to Reverse Psychology stunt that it is.
But you know what? It lives on. Seemingly unstoppable. As if Titanic hit the iceberg, but the iceberg sank.
