When Bad Stuff Happens to Good Creatives:
Using Spin Control to Save Your Butt
by Allen Rabinowitz
There's no doubt about it, you're definitely a hot shot: Thanks to the trade mags, creative journals and local media, your name and headshot are well known in both the creative world and the community at large. You're asked to judge competitions, join organizations and provide work pro bono. All the current locations and cell numbers of Those Who Matter are programmed on your Blackberry.
Just about the time you're convinced you've earned a statue in the park, the unthinkable happens:
A big project for a huge client is a major disaster on the scale of the Hindenburg or the Titanic. It's said that victory has many fathers, but defeat is an orphan. It's your karma that the mess was dumped in your lap. Whether or not you deserve to be, you have to account for yourself. There are several options: Jump on the midnight bus to anywhere, change your name and become the night shift clerk at a convenience store in the wrong part of town, be a weasel and blame everyone else, or die like an aviator and go down in flames. If those choices are unacceptable, your best course is to use spin control.
Although spin control was born in the political arena, and nurtured by multinational industrial empires, it's time to play the home version. The rules of the game are easy to follow, fun for all ages and, if played correctly, will save you from receiving a lovely parting gift.
Before you begin, understand that spin control is not about lying, covering up or casting blame, but rather placing your particular emphasis on an incident and presenting what happened from your perspective. The best definition of spin comes from a certain British knight who once advised a young friend to "take a sad song and make it better."While it's important to be positive, it's critical to be honest, because it all comes down to accountability and doing the right thing. Be truthful but careful in presenting your take on what went wrong.
Keep in mind that you are a professional and very good at what you do. You possess the right mixture of intelligence, imagination and ingenuity to have been given the challenge in the first place. Despite all the hard work that went into the task, something happened, and it just didn't work. That's yesterday's news; the primary focus is on discovering what should not be repeated.
You are being told that you have some explaining to do, but you don't need Perry Mason in your corner building a defense. Remember, the guillotine is illegal in the USA, so your worst-case scenario will not happen. If you can project a professional demeanor and display assurance and confidence, without appearing to be a Monday morning quarterback, the following advice might get you out of a sticky situation. There are no promises or money-back guarantees, just some real world strategy to guide you into becoming your own
spin doctor.
In the spirit of the Ten Commandments, the first self-improvement guide, here are seven rules to follow. Thou Shalt Not:
1) Attack with malice or anger.
2) Use such phrases as "It's not fair," "It's not my fault," or "They messed up." You come across as guilty, juvenile and
paranoid.
3) Over-explain. Instead, make your case by speaking simply and clearly.
4) Dramatize and make what happened into a soap opera.
5) Be a bundle of nerves. Instead, take command of the moment and control over your emotions.
6) Try to place blame. Rather, take responsibility for what you did and said, and emphasize your efforts to create a successful outcome. Outside of Willard, nobody likes a rat.
7) Be a hero and take the fall for the real culprit, no matter the strength or length of your friendship. You'll never be recipro cated, and worse, you're allowing an incompetent to get another shot at screwing up.
You don't need to refer to the wartime strategies of a long-dead Chinese general or Renaissance political advisor. You should by all means plan your presentation, but use common sense.
1) Start from the beginning; say how the situation came about, whom you spoke with and what instructions you were given. Remain positive and stress past experience with principals in this situation. If applicable, remind others of your past success in similar circumstances.
2) In clear, uncomplicated terms, describe your actions, how you approached the task and what you were asked to deliver. Rely on a chronology derived from notes, email and other documents.
3) Pay attention to details; be sure to have dates, times and relevant numbers at hand. Always state how information was relayed to you, e.g., by phone, fax, email, face-to-face, etc.
4) Address communication efforts with key players. Know who spoke to you, at what point in the task, and what they said in regard to their expectations of the task. Pay special attention to third-party instructions, that is, "So and so told me they want..." Identify the sources of such information and their place in the chain of command.
5) Discuss communication breakdowns, complaints or criticism; how you handled it; and what actions you took to remedy the situation. If some expectations were unreasonable or undoable, state why you thought so and how you dealt with them.
6) If there has been a troubled history with anyone else, mention it but don't dwell on it or present it as a personal attack. If a key player was difficult to reach, did not return calls in a timely manner, and was rude, brusque or condescending when they did, mention it, but don't make a major issue of it.
7) Address resentments. If things were said behind your back, or if decisions were made without your input that affected your ability to produce the job, state them as being detrimental to the success of the task first and then add any personal feelings or injuries. KEEP THE FAILURE OF THE TASK AS THE MAJOR REASON FOR FEELING HURT. Do not suggest intentional sabotage unless you have several irrefutable actions, witnesses or documents to illustrate your claim.
8) Refer back to that portion of the task you were able to achieve with success, the new insights you gained, the suggestions you made that helped others gain better understanding of the difficulties involved in meeting their expectations and most importantly, the unique solutions you discovered to alleviate concerns.
Remember above all that believability is the key to successful spin doctoring. Stress that you are a professional who seeks challenges and is not afraid to take on difficult assignments. Do not act too humble or too arrogant, and show
appreciation for the opportunity to present your side. Look upon it as a learning experience and accentuate what you've gained from this situation, but don't make any unreasonable promises about the future. If your spin is acceptable, you'll move on to the next project with renewed faith in your personal growth and development.
