I’ve also bled my cheek, and ‘even’ failed a time or two at ‘letting it pass’
Your way is better for sure.

I’m moving to where the movie people are and going to be ‘testing’ the ‘let’ it pass – style of working… life’s to short to stress over 1 pixel up no no no 1 pixel down no no no … back to where it was… lol

thanks again
mrmacc

I can echo a lot of what has been commented already – I work as an internal editor and motion designer for a large (and well known) company. I constantly deal with the convoluted approval process where we get one approval after another (and do the work to a state of being ‘finished’ every time) until just one man has complete veto power. But he refuses (or is not able) to give input early on – so we often do a lot of work for nothing. Each person down the ladder of course wants to impress their supervisor and so-on, so there is really no ‘offline’ or ‘previs’ stage. My requests to streamline this process seem to fall on deaf ears. Everyone seems to acknowledge that the process isn’t great, but noone seems to have the power to do anything about it.

Over time I’ve certainly gotten better about dealing with the changes and re-designs that inevitably come up with this, but I have to say – it’s tough to take the high road and put your ego in check when you’re in a room full of ego’s who don’t seem to appreciate the time and effort you’ve given. At the end of the day (or the beginning of the next one) it’s easy to see why it’s best to take the high road, but when you’ve just been up all night working it’s tough to fight through the exhaustion and frustration when a guy looks at it for 30 seconds and “hates it”. The fact that I’m internal (and full-time staff) means I can’t say ‘ok, we can do that but it will cost you $x’ which I suppose might add some layer of comfort to it (or make them rethink just how important the revisions are).

As you can see from my mini-rant even though it is something I’m aware of and that I know I need to work on, it doesn’t seem to get much easier to deal with. Thanks for this video and for giving some tips – I’d love to see this discussed perhaps in even more detail in the future.

Scott

Best, Robin

Best, Robin

Human dynamics can get complicated, but they usually boil down to essentials like fear and greed. The more you can learn about what decision-makers want to get more of, and the things they are trying to avoid – and help them achieve these things, the more valuable you become.

Best, Robin

People get very good at using your attachments against you – to bargain you down. It’s nothing personal, it just works.

One thing I do very early on in a business relationship is seek to understand a person’s primary logical and emotional attachments. This helps me create value for them AND negotiate more powerfully when necessary.

Mental and emotional attachment in the business setting can and will be used against you at some stage. It usually ends up costing you dearly.

Far better to deliver excellence but become detached from the process and outcome. It’s not about you and your feelings, it’s about doing what’s necessary to build an ongoing, mutually valuable business relationship.

Best to you, Robin

Too many times I’ve seen people burn the business relationship so as to be ‘right’ and win the short-term argument. Far better to keep your eyes on the prize – the coveted long-term, mutually valuable business relationship.

Does this mean giving in to a clients every whim? No. It means putting time and effort into developing your negotiating and diplomatic skills so that when necessary, you can push back hard AND keep the relationship.

Best, Robin

Approval processes are much faster and smoother if you have a very clear picture of what all the key stakeholders want, how they want it, and how your deliverable (project, design etc) gives them what they want.

The more time you spend upfront in comprehensively understanding the details of the decision makers and the decision-making process the stronger you can negotiate.

I’m often shocked at how little people know about the decision-makers who literally hold their work, career or business in their hands. Sure, it takes time and effort, but the pay-off is manifold.

If someone has the decision-making power to make or break my success, I want to know how they decide better than they do.

Thanks for your link – very useful.

Best to you, Robin

Internal approval processes are certainly challenging at times. It’s very good practice for negotiating. The more you can learn about people and what they really want, the more you will be able to get your way.

Best to you, Robin

Far better to hold your peace and guide the client to a better solution than ‘take the shot’, feel good few a few seconds but then regret it later.

Happy clients certainly tend to be more lucrative that unhappy ones.

Are they always right? No. But their perceptions are right for them. If they perceive that you’ve got it wrong, either communicate with them persuasively to change their perceptions or do what they want.

Best to you, Robin

Thanks for your encouragement and your feedback.

Best, Robin

Best to you, Robin