Madmen and the folly of perfect advice

While I love the pop culture nostalgia and cringe at the routine misogyny and racism of the post-war decades, what gets me most about Madmen are the things that haven’t changed.

For those unfamiliar, the popular AMC series chronicles a Manhattan Ad Agency through the rise of US consumerism in the 50s and 60s.  (Update: Madmen is now available on Netflix.)

The scene in the video demonstrates a timeless constant of the advice business: advice doesn’t need to be perfect, it needs to be helpful.  The research pointed to something the client wasn’t prepared to do.  So, Don intervened with an option they could accept.

Developing helpful advice is much more difficult than giving advice based on ‘best practice’ or other canards of the industry.  The reason is simple: best practice doesn’t need to account for reality—it is the median effective response to other situations.

The actions that should be taken (perfect strategy) seldom resemble the actions that can be taken (those that reflect the client’s situation as bound by corporate culture, budget, etc.)   Being able to give good advice often comes from understanding the difference.

I learned this lesson as a client.  I was in a corporate communications role and my job was to build support for the organization and promote its mandate.  My consultant advised that a TV ad campaign was required.  In fairness, the situation clearly called for it.  My problem was that TV ads simply weren’t on the table—something known by all from the beginning.  But, my consultant advised TV ads anyway.  Yes, it was the best option in a theoretical sense.  In reality, it wasn’t something I could execute—it was bad advice.

When a course of action is justified as ‘best practice’, I get suspicious.  In my experience, ‘best practice’ falls into one of two categories: something everyone does because the rules require it; or, something that is seldom done as it is aspirational and rarely applicable to real life.  Finally, if you do find yourself in a situation that calls for ‘best practice’; before you call a consultant, try a textbook for advice.

As a consultant, I have learned to evaluate my work by asking: “Is this helpful?”  It is an important question because ‘perfect’ advice and ‘best practices’ won’t always be.