"What I learned this year" - Lee Einhorn

Dear SF Egotist,

Hi.

I know I’m late. Thanks again for including me in your upcoming piece. I just have one little favor to ask. Do you think it would be possible to get maybe one more day, two tops, to send in my “What I learned this year” assignment? After you reached out to me last month, I was so excited by the brief that I immediately sat down and wrote my entire reply. I felt I was on to something pretty smart so I sold in the idea to my own creative director (Victoria, my wife) and I was done and done.

But after running it by a colleague at work maybe a week or so later, she had some great thoughts on the main story structure. So, in light of this thinking, I decided to refine it a bit more, eventually almost completely reworking the main story arc while keeping the core idea intact. At that point, it was perfectly where I wanted it to be.

Or so I thought anyway. You see, after a particularly inspiring director screening at the agency last week, I was encouraged to explore changing course with the media platform. In a moment of total clarity I knew that my story would best be told by filming it with my kids and our beloved family pet Taco, a half Chihuahua/half something who the camera always loves. But after a few initial rehearsals, a general lack of interest from my kids and Taco tearing apart a stuffed turtle, this platform proved to be unfeasible.

So, back I was, ready to submit the written version of my idea. With my cursor on the send button sometime last week, I suddenly had a new thought that I knew would up the social conversation around my idea. So I made a call, got a developer involved, and the idea is now being kicked around in a loft in SOMA by an amazing flash team who promises to get something back to me this weekend.

Meanwhile, while I wait, I’ve had some time to reflect on the year that has just passed and the opportunities I was given to lead a number of really great projects. Each one of them has helped to reinforce my thinking that good ideas get great with age. The stories and engagements we develop and sell to clients ripen the longer we live with them and get to know them. We push them, we fight with them, and continuously find and create new platforms to tell them on. In fact, I believe greatness can only come from this process. Too often even great creatives are content with an idea before it has had its chance to reach its full potential. As we create, we need to remember that all breakthrough creative ideas are amorphous, ever evolving right up until the last minute.

So, in the spirit of creativity, if I can get just one, or two, more days I think you will be really happy with where this post ends up. I just read about a innovative new media tool that I’d like to run my idea through.

Or maybe just use this note and next year I will learn how to be better with time management. But no promises.
Onward,

LEE

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Lee is a Creative Director at Venables Bell & Partners.