Book review: Paul Arden

Posted Sunday, March 26, 2006 at 2:52pm in Blogging  | 

In a previous post, I mentioned as a side note that I have been reading a book by ex Saatchi and Saatchi executive creative director, Paul Arden. The book is rather inspirationally titled, It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be. In its own words it “is a concise guide to making the most of yourself - a pocket bible for the talented and timid to make the unthinkable thinkable and the impossible possible.”

Now, I’m not a believer in self-help books that claim to dramatically change a person’s life or way of thinking in one read. Claims by such people like Paul Mckenna who say they can give you Instant Confidence, Make You Thin or Change Your Life in Seven Days are, in my opinion, just predatory methods to lure fragile individuals seeking social assistance.

I do, however, think that this book has some great tips and pointers that can be applied first-hand in the real world, or more specifically, the world of PR. Although, it does claim that it is applicable to anyone who aspires to succeed, my opinion is, it would be more useful to media types.

Quite clearly, Arden is a little of-the-wall, shall we say. He tends to look at things a little differently compared to the normal lateral thinkers of the world and I suppose it was this type of thinking that kept him at the forefront of one of the top ad agencies for 15 years. In the book he is described as a creative genius, albeit a wayward one; his own colleagues even reference him as a prototype man created by God some 60 years ago, but after God had seen what he had done, he quickly destroyed the mould.

The book itself is of pocket size and the page count is relatively low at 127 pages. No page looks the same and it tends to use illustrations throughout to make a point or to back-up an idea or notion.

Arden tends to look at negative points as positive and positives as negatives. For example, he looks on making mistakes as a positive advance forward in one’s life, career or whatever. He knows that failures and false starts are a precondition to success and gives reference to working at Saatchi and Saatchi where a person would not be fired for being wrong but would be fired for not having initiative.

He says that being right is wrong and claims that knowledge comes from the past, so it is ’safe’. Which means it is out-of-date, thus, the opposite to originality. Being right, he claims, means you are set in concrete - you cannot move with the times or with other people.

Being wrong, on the other hand, Arden says anything is possible. You are in the unknown - there is no way of knowing what can happen. It is risky, but risks are a measure - people who don’t take risks want to preserve what they have.

Was it wrong to use this architect?

Some of Arden’s points are, what some people would say, common sense. But it is his drawing from past experiences and using useful examples to demonstrate them that makes the book an exceptional read.

Working with the best, he says, is hard - they tend to be single-minded, tunnel visioned and reluctant to compromise. But it is these traits that allow an person working with such individuals to excel in their chosen career. His page titled “Get Out Of Advertising” (or in this case, PR) relates to how the majority of advertisers get their inspiration from other advertisers or advertising books. Thus, the work is recycled or copied and not original in thought. His advice is to seek inspiration and knowledge from unexpected sources.

Arden clearly has vast experience of dealing with clients. In the book he equates the difference in what you think is right and what the client actually wants. In one instance, he references a client pitch he and his colleagues had worked on for three months. In the running with four other agencies, his team was told they had not made it to the final three. After asking the reasons why they quickly assembled a second presentation and presented the following day. They won the account.

Other points in the book could be pertinent to blogging. His “Do Not Covet Your Ideas” page where he says “give away everything you know and more will come back” is highly appropriate to the blogging idealism. Just like blogging, if you give away all your ideas then it forces you to look further and deeper into your reserves.

There are numerous examples in the book to draw upon - some common sense; some a little wayward and some controversial. His claim that being fired from a job can be a positive career step can be disputed somewhat. His idea that headhunters find it an asset because it shows initiative is what I believe to be an artificial idea and one that stands at a loss more than a gain. Never-the-less, in his five dismissals from previous jobs he claims his career took a step forward with each.

All-in-all, this book will prove to be a crucial read for those who are eager to learn how one of great creative minds of the advertising industry thinks and works. One such audience I had in mind would be wannabe students hoping to break into a particular media industry.

One has to wonder though, now that postmodern advertising is becoming less effective in the 21st century due to dissolvement and saturation of the message, and also consumer culture’s built up barrier to the message, will this book become less of a must-read to advertisers themselves?

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