It’s the easiest word in the world. Can basically be applied to anything you encounter. It is also that phrase of 2-year-olds all over the globe in the battle of wills with their parents. Parent or not, this word has driven people insane, on the verge of wanting to throw laptops, dishes and anything within arm’s reach through the window.

NO.

It is so much easier not to do something. I have written in an earlier blog about this as well. Fear of the unknown, fear of sticking your neck out, not having a magic globe to see the future, all those kinds of motivations lie beneath the surface.

Sometimes though, you should say “no”. It is those moments where you are presented with an idea or concept which just does not quite sit well. How often have you seen people trying to save the concept and give feedback to make something out of it? How often does this result in great work? Hardly ever. Because if the concept does not work from the start, it likely will still not do the trick after having some conceptual limbs and extensions bolted on to it. This is that moment, where instead of sitting down and writing lengthy feedback, you resort to the “Maybe we should have a new look at this.” response.

A key reason to keep on going and drag that dead horse is that people are afraid to disappoint their agency and the creatives. The thing is, coming up with concepts is the name of the game. Sometimes, it is not nailed first time round. That is not a bad thing, that is what it is all about. It is about working with your agency to get to the right concepts, and unfortunately, creativity doesn’t come as canned goods. If you have a solid relation with your agency, there is no need to sometimes having to say: NO. Sounds good, yes?