…I recommend questioning everything: the media buy, the research, the whole reason the client is advertising – all of it. It’s likely you won’t be able to change anything one bit…But in the asking, in the challenging, whole new approaches may reveal themselves. Remember, the most important word a creative person can use is why. – Luke Sullivan
I can’t help but think of Lia Purpura and Wislawa Szymborska any time I read Sullivan’s words. They, too, talk about asking questions so that one is propelled into the world of “I don’t know,” the place of new spaces and patterns. It’s a way of freeing oneself from what is and what has been defined in order to explore what could and possibly should be.
It isn’t that Sullivan or the other two are suggesting a rebellion; asking “why” isn’t a sign of that. It’s simply a way to rid oneself of preconceived ideas and notions. It’s the desire to dig into the proposed problem and ensure that that problem really is the problem. It’s to push against the boundaries of defined limits to ask if those limits really are as far as one can go.
Sometimes the problem has been identified. Sometimes the boundaries are clear and cannot be transgressed. Sometimes the client won’t want a new perspective. Sometimes, the work has to be turned in so quickly that an in-depth questioning can’t occur. Sometimes, the answer to the questioning already exists in the proposed answer.
That doesn’t negate the need to question. Ending up where one started or didn’t start isn’t a waste of time. It’s the way of ensuring one is on the right track, of staying motivated while doing the work, and of being able to answer the tough questions that are sure to come when the work is reviewed by the creative director or submitted to the client.
What do you think? Is asking “why” important?
Image: John Logan (CC BY NC SA 2.0)
Asking “why” is hugely important. Things cannot and will not change unless you question why something is being done the way it is. People won’t change if they don’t question their actions or responses. We cannot hope to change government unless we know the reasons behind their decisions. We need the facts.
The caveat to that is that the asking must be respectful, and not question the person, but the decision, the reason or the problem. Those are separate from the person or institution putting forth the idea.
There are times why asking “why” is not the right thing to do in certain situations. Why a fireman tells you to get out of a building, you don’t question why – you just do it. When your coach tells you to bunt and not swing, you don’t get into a philosophical discussion and ask why – you just do it.
Michelle Spear I think what you’re getting at is blind obedience versus open-eyed obedience. The one questions nothing; the other understands the reason for or against obeying whether that be in the case of a building being on fire or a new marketing initiative.