Signs it’s Time to Switch Creative Agencies

Your relationship with your creative agency should have all the signs of a positive and healthy partnership. It's one where the lines of communication are always open, creative energy and ideas are free-flowing, and there is respect for contributions to the association.

Like any relationship, one or both parties don't feel heard and respected; worse, there is a feeling of contempt towards the partnership.

It's difficult to leave an unhealthy personal relationship, but a professional partnership shouldn't be difficult to break away from when it's clear the relationship has broken down.

Sure, there is fear and questions.

Will my new agency be respectful of my time and value the relationship?

Will I feel satisfied with the creative output? Will it have a clear direction and purpose?

Will working with a new agency provide me with new opportunities for growth and freedom I no longer enjoy with my current employer?

Ok, now you know we're not suggesting businesses walk away from their current agencies, but we're asking the people working in a creative agency, does your employer respect you?

Are they upholding their end of the social contract that comes with working in the exciting world of creative marketing?

Our industry has a bad reputation for treating people less like people than cogs and grease that keep the machine running, but it doesn't need to be that way.

Take a moment to consider your current agency and look for the signs it might be, at best, lacking or, at worst, a toxic soul-sucking cesspool that makes it tough to wake up each morning for fear of another day of bad bosses, unlikable coworkers and wasted creative efforts that go unappreciated even when your ideas beat out the bosses nephew's hack artwork he cribbed from DeviantArt.

Psychologist Dr. John Gottman of The Gottman Institute is a relationship specialist who's spent his career researching what makes a successful marriage and discovering the signs of one destined for failure.

Gottman determined that the Four Horsemen that predict divorce are criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling.

The four horsemen can also translate into our working relationships. If you consider your current working environment, let's see how many apply and ask yourself if it's time to switch agencies.

Criticism is the first of the horsemen. It should not be mistaken for healthy feedback. In this context, criticism attacks people's character rather than their work.

Too much criticism becomes a habit, and it changes how coworkers can speak to each other. It can leave everyone feeling defensive and afraid to take creative risks for fear of harsh judgment.

The creative stifling leaves people feeling resentful.

It all leads to contempt; this is the deadliest of the four horsemen, as it comes from long-held negative thoughts about your coworkers, bosses, or employer.

Contempt is a feeling of moral superiority over another. In a toxic agency, if a person misses a deadline or their initial drafts aren't up to par, some take pleasure in these failures as they feel morally superior for meeting the deadlines or submitting a better first draft.

It's divisive and hurts the quality of everyone's work in your agency.

The third horseman is defensiveness, which is a direct response to criticism.

Again, not to be confused with healthy feedback.

Too much criticism makes everyone feel defensive, and the lines of communication break.

When your teams can't communicate effectively, your work suffers. If you already have a contemptuous relationship with a coworker and they criticize your latest designs, it's an automatic reaction to defend yourself against it.

Unfortunately, these all become habits, and we can no longer hear honest feedback about our work. Without honest feedback, our work suffers as we fail to improve beyond what we know is our "absolute best work, and you're crazy for even suggesting tweaks or changes."

The fourth horseman is stonewalling. Stonewalling is a response to contempt, and it's when we've finally checked out.

When stonewalling sets in, we no longer feel engaged in the relationship. Rather than dealing with the three other horsemen that lead us to check LinkedIn jobs for a way out, we withdraw from the relationship.

Did your boss send an "URGENT" email, and you leave it unread until you can't ignore it anymore? That's stonewalling.

When you see troubles in your personal relationships, you should seriously consider Dr. Gottman's marriage rescue plan. If you're noticing any or all four of the horsemen at your job, it's time to switch creative agencies.

Merchant North is looking for people to join our diverse and inclusive creative agency, where we respect and value our brothers, sisters, and siblings.

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