Thursday, July 13, 2006

Schadenfraude

I write this in the spirit of rejoicing in someone's much deserved comeuppance.
I speak only and exclusively for myself.
After about a year and a half of mass demoralization and the destruction (almost) of a once functional, powerful, healthy advertising agency, finally the powers that be, them who had hired the new boss in the first place, decided that enough was enough and they sacked him. It was plain to see that the fabric of a place had been torn, people had left in droves, and many of those who stayed, did so without motivation, dreading to go to work every day, but I guess accounts and income needed to be lost before the proverbial doodoo finally hit the fan. In the end, the guy ran the agency to the ground, but what about the people who kept him there? Did they even know what was really going on?
When his arrival was announced, many people, myself included, were excited and energized and looked forward to a much needed change in the agency, but we were disappointed from the very start. To be fair, there were some improvements, particularly in giving the creative department more prominence. Fresh, young creative talent came in.
However, my brief encounters with the boss and his horrifying management style (petty micromanagement, unbridled arrogance, rudeness, an inability and total unwillingness to listen to others, complete disinterest in motivating personal loyalty, and utter contempt for the people who worked there) persuaded me that life was too short to spend anywhere near this individual, so I left. Months later, people said they were amazed at how lucky I was to have left on time, before things went downhill. But it wasn't luck. I didn't like what I saw from the get go.

This means great news for my former agency, which, despite the losses it has sustained recently, surely stands to recover soon from this unfortunate and unnecessary episode in its history. The widespread perception that it is a doomed place will soon evaporate and although my dear friends may go through a rough patch, I can't imagine it can possibly be worse than what they had to endure until now. Hopefully, the agency will use this new transition to become better, sharper, more creative. Hopefully, it will retain all that was good before this debacle and discard all its bad habits from the past. If it succeeds in doing that, it's going to be a formidable place.
So my heartfelt congratulations to all my dear friends at Bravo. They must be dancing the Conga. If they aren't, they should be. This is the best that could happen.

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