So True

I just came across this great article from Forbes, Never Act Like the Smartest Guy in the Room. Not that I would ever claim to actually BE the smartest person in a room, but this is superb advice. Grab your cup of warm milk, it's story time:

Back in the day, when I was young(er) and neon green, I was working my first freelance gig. The client was passed to me by my professor, who knew that this organization needed a designer and had had students do work for them before. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to cut my teeth, learn a little something and make a bit of money in my chosen field, beyond my regular paycheck from Dick's Sporting Goods. So client and I, hand in hand, embarked on a journey together. Things went well, they liked my work, and I learned many lessons in collaborating with print shops and finalizing files and how to work around less-than-ideal photography assets. But I made one major mistake; for a minute, I got a little too big for my britches and decided, at the end of the project, it was time I educate the client on something.

Then I wrote an email....I wanted the client to know that I truly enjoyed working with them and it was wonderful experience, but may I make one suggestion? And suggest I did....looking back now, I realize I basically told a client, who'd handled their annual report many times without my all-important help and worked with the same print vendor for years, that they were a bad partner. I informed them that as a designer I know how important it is that people be fair to their team and that they (the client) should really be more respectful of their print vendor. I felt that we didn't give them enough time to produce the piece, that we gave them too many changes that should've been taken care of up front, and that the way we handled revisions was unfair and inappropriate for a "professional organization such as theirs."

WOW. I was an idiot. While I may have made a couple good points, my delivery was awful, and I was definitely forgetting how much experience my client had. They knew what they were doing, and I was standing up for a print vendor who quite frankly, didn't seem bothered by what I was so vehemently defending them from. The client kindly responded that I had much to learn and they wished me the very best in the future. We didn't work together again. Lesson learned.

I think of this experience often. I've learned a lot since then, and I know I will continue my education through adventures in advertising. But it doesn't hurt nearly as much to learn from someone else's mistakes. So carry the main points of Forbes' article into your next meeting with you: People know you're smart, don't make them choke on it. And remember, chances are, they're smart, too! (I mean, they hired you, didn't they?)