In 1942, Montgomery took over the Eighth Army.
They were disillusioned, demoralised, defeated.
They’d just been kicked all the way across North Africa by Rommel.
They were just waiting for the inevitable final defeat.
Montgomery arrived with a simple brief from Churchill.
Get a victory, by any means necessary.
Any means.
Montgomery realised, before he stood a chance of beating the enemy, he had to conquer his own troops.
He had to put some spine into them.
He had to make them believe they could actually win.
He began shaking things up, doing everything differently.
Driving everywhere, making sure everyone saw him.
Always wearing a tank beret, not a General’s outfit.
Letting everyone know exactly what he was asking them to do.
But not just by saying it, by doing it.
Making sure even the lowest ranks knew what the job was, and their part in it.
Suddenly Montgomery was everywhere.
Checking on everything, changing everything, talking to everyone.
Making sure they knew that this time, they’d have enough of the right kind of weapons and supplies.
Incredibly, this one man lifted the moral of an entire army.
Belief filtered down from the top.
Men were reinvigorated by his energy.
Under Montgomery, the Eighth Army won the The Battle of El Alamein.
It wasn’t a brilliant piece of strategy.
It was a tough, ugly win.
But it was a win.
And, after that, they kept on winning.
Montgomery turned it around.
Not by tactical brilliance, Rommel was a far better General, with far better equipment.
Montgomery did it by energising his army.
So their concentration wasn’t on Rommel anymore.
It was on Montgomery.
He had more energy, and moved faster, and he wasn’t waiting for anyone.
I noticed the same thing when I was a young copywriter at BMP.
I’d go on shoots and watch how directors worked.
Shoots with most directors were always pretty laid back.
The directors would be lying on the ground, looking at the set from different angles.
While the crew played cards, drank tea, read The Sun.
When the director eventually made a decision, the crew would wander over and have a chat about what was wanted.
Then they’d move the camera to the new position.
Then go back to reading The Sun.
But there was one director who was the exact opposite of that.
Tony Scott.
All the crew were on their toes, watching Tony’s every move, waiting to see what he’d do.
Because he didn’t waste a second.
He was a bundle of energy.
He’d move around, pick a spot, then pick the camera up and carry it to where he wanted.
He wouldn’t wait for anyone.
If the crew weren’t quick he’d do their jobs.
Which meant they might not have a job.
Not if the producer saw Tony picking the camera up and carrying it.
The crew would get a massive bollocking for not paying attention.
And the producer would get a different crew next time.
So the entire crew were on their toes around Tony Scott.
Making sure they were ready to do it before he did it himself.
The mood on Tony’s shoots was totally different.
Everyone was working, everyone was up, no one was bored.
His energy made him direct more ads than just about anyone else in London.
It took him to Hollywood where he made hit film after hit film.
He’s now one of the most prolific, most successful directors in the world.
And one of the hardest working.
Sure, Tony Scott is a talented director, but more importantly he knew what Montgomery knew.
Energy beats talent.
Energy beats talent, until talent starts working hard.
steakandcheese - 9 July 2012 5:10 am
Steak&Cheese,
Quite right, that’s why believing it is the creative equivalent of Pascal’s wager.
Dav Trott - 9 July 2012 7:30 am
An established screenwriter once said to me: It’s not necessarily the most talented writers who succeed, it’s the most dedicated. Your article elucidates this observation with aplomb.
Julian Williams - 9 July 2012 9:24 am
Dave, one thing I’ve always observed is this. All agencies get about the same amount of work killed. The bad ones give in and come back with work that’s not as good. The good ones after their work is killed come back with something better.
Maybe that’s what Monty did. Come back with something better.
george tannenbaum - 9 July 2012 12:21 pm
@ George T. Reminds me of what Sir Johm said, years ago, when asked what his agency did when the client killed work his agency liked. ‘Come back with something better.’ Of course, only works if clients allow agency to experiment and also agency wants to.
Robin. - 9 July 2012 1:51 pm
Sorry, Sir John – speck on screen.
Robin. - 9 July 2012 1:52 pm
Robin, as Steve Hayden always said, “The best revenge is a better ad.”
George Tannenbaum - 9 July 2012 2:05 pm
George,
I think it’s more like your brother who just won’t be beaten, he’ll work anyone under the table.
Dav Trott - 9 July 2012 4:19 pm
Dave,
How long ago did you drop that e? Are we back to the out of mind experiments?
john p woods - 9 July 2012 4:43 pm
George,I suspect globally, most agencies, especially bean-counter-led ones are more interested in a better balance sheet than a better ad.
Robin. - 9 July 2012 5:52 pm
Dave,
Talking of being out of your mind. Now that you are a bit more zen do you think you would have dealt with being overlooked by John Webster for that ECD role a bit differently i.e do you think Dave Trott today would have waited it out instead of heading straight out the door?
Is pragmatism the be all and end all?
john p woods - 9 July 2012 10:36 pm
John,
I did wait, it took me nearly a year to get GGT together.
I was smart enough to know not to jump until I had a parachute.
That’s not zen, that’s east London and Brooklyn.
‘Deputy ECD quits BMP to start own shop’ is a bigger headline in Campaign than ‘Ex-BMP creative starts own shop’.
Dave Trott - 10 July 2012 6:01 am
Dave
The general rule with headlines, whether it be The Sun, or Campaign, is that the more words u use, the smaller the headline.
There4, I’d say ‘Ex-BMP creative starts own shop’ would be @ least a point size bigger than ‘Deputy ECD quits BMP to start own shop’.
Grilla Login - 10 July 2012 10:21 am
Grilla,
You assume they’d give the same space to a headline about a BMP breakaway as headline about an unemployed bloke getting a job.
Dave Trott - 10 July 2012 1:13 pm
I enjoyed the Sun’s DIAMOND’S AREN’T FOREVER, Dave.
Grilla Login - 10 July 2012 1:23 pm
I’m sure it didn’t help Tony that his older brother was Ridley Scott.
No, wouldn’t of helped at all.
Richard - 11 July 2012 10:48 am
How’s that cynicism working out for you, Richard?
Dave Trott - 11 July 2012 12:33 pm
“Just do it”.
Kev - 12 July 2012 7:55 pm