April 13, 2009
Disrespect or disruption?
I believe that respect is crucial for any project to succeed, whether it’s a web development project, a theatre production, a baseball game or even running a country. There has to be a respect by the participants for each other, for the chain of command, and for the project itself.
When respect goes out the window, so does quality, trust and, well.. fun. This is not to say that one must be polite and suck up to the boss at all times, but there has to be a line that will not be crossed no matter what.
For example, when my boss comes to me with a web development project, he gives me guidelines. “I want this logo here,” he says. “And I want an image to pop-up in a lightbox. It’s a really cool image. I made it myself. Oh, and lets put an animation over here and can we make the background image change depending on what day of the week it is?”
As a web developer, it’s my job to make it the best website possible. So when my boss gives me these guidelines, I have essentially two options as to how to respond:
Option A: I can agree to what he asks for and get right on it, or
Option B: I can disagree
The first option is pretty self-explanatory. It’s good advice and I’m going to follow his instructions. The second option is a little tougher.
You can’t just disagree. You can’t just say “That’s a stupid idea; I won’t do it.” You just can’t do that. Why not? Well, quite simply, your boss has the power to fire you.
So what do you do when you disagree? You have to sell your version to the guy in charge. You have to explain why it’s a bad idea and what a better solution would be. If you think your idea is better, fight for it.
“Well, sir, I can definitely do the background change, but you might want to avoid the lightbox pop-up image. You see, users don’t like things that pop-up when they didn’t click on something. It sends warning sirens off in their mind and they think it’s an ad. They’ll close it immediately without bothering to look, and it will make them want to go somewhere else. The Flash animation that you asked for would look really cool, but not everyone has Flash and it’s not very accessible for our disabled users. I think the Flash animation would be okay to do, as long as you understand that not everyone would see it. I would recommend against the splash image. Instead, make it the background or the header image.”
Now I’ve laid out my case, and my boss now has two options. In fact, they’re the same options I had when he gave me the assignment. He can agree or disagree.
Unfortunately for me, my boss doesn’t have to explain himself. If he agrees, I win. If he disagrees, I don’t have much recourse other than to do what he asked me to do. To do anything else risks his ire and may wind up costing me my job.
The same thing applies in theatre. When you’re acting on stage, the director will give you notes. If you feel that the director’s choice isn’t the strongest choice, then you have an obligation as an actor to say so. Offer an alternative, lay out your case, and await the director’s decision. And then abide by whatever the director says. Don’t pout, don’t sulk, don’t argue back — it might cost you your role, whether in this show or future shows.
A good director will respect your thoughts and your ideas. He might not agree with them, but he’ll respect them.
Bob, the writer/director of Devils Don’t Forget, respects my ideas and my input. He doesn’t always take them (in fact, I’d venture to say that he incorporates a little less than half of my suggestions), but he at least listens to me, takes the notes under consideration, and then decides. And when he makes his decision, I don’t make a scene arguing for it.
There are two or three points in the show during which I have brought up the same point multiple times, because I felt strongly that there was something that could be improved. Some of them got better, some of them didn’t. But ultimately, the decision rests with Bob and I, as assistant director, have to respect that.
Our actors have to respect that.
Having said this, your input as a subordinate is nearly always helpful. It helps your superior, whether it’s your boss or your director, make a better informed decision. It gives him insight into other perspectives and helps make the show better.
Prolonged battles over motivation and intention don’t. They slow down the process and cause tension that doesn’t need to exist.
Since Bob wrote the show, he has had a very clear vision of what he wants this show to look like. I see my job as my responsibility to give choices, options. The more options Bob has to choose from, the more choices that he hasn’t thought of yet, the better the show’s going to be. I don’t mind that he doesn’t take my suggestions — I’m just throwing them out there — but I would mind if I felt he was disrespecting me.
I look forward to working with Bob in the future, because I respect him as a director and writer, and he respects me as a colleague.
Don’t be stupid. Don’t argue and push and shove and be difficult for the sake of your choices — it’s not your job to make all the decisions — it’s your job to offer options and accept the final decision from the director.
Trust me. It’s the difference between being cast again and never getting another chance.
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“There are two or three points in the show during which I have brought up the same point multiple times” sounds like arguing to me…
You can’t say you’re bringing up a point he hasn’t considered — if he’s rejected it more than once, then he’s considered it more than once.
I committed this same mistake when I was editing and nearly lost a friendship because I got too caught up in my own way of seeing things.
Comment by Tru — April 13, 2009 @ 3:32 pm
From the way I wrote it, I concede that it may sound like arguing, but I think there’s a difference between bringing up a point multiple times and stopping the process to begin a debate and not letting us move on until the debate is resolved. The former is bringing an issue to the director’s attention that he may have not fully considered multiple times, whereas the latter is arguing.
For instance, there was one particular beat during a scene where Dennis says “Wait!”. The way he delivered the line didn’t work for me. Thinking as an audience member, I didn’t get why he was saying wait. As an assistant director, I knew why he was saying that line, but the physical actions weren’t matching up with the intent. I brought it up once, and the director brushed it aside, saying it didn’t matter that much right now. The second time I brought it up (the next rehearsal we ran that scene), I mentioned again that it was bugging me. Again, this was early enough in the process and Dennis hadn’t fully learned his lines, so the director brushed it off again. The third time I brought it up, the director asked me what was bugging me about it, and I explained my reasoning. He shrugged and said it didn’t really bother him. Nevertheless, Dennis figured out what I was saying and after that I felt the delivery was much better.
Notice that I didn’t stop the rehearsal process to demand that my note be discussed, and I didn’t argue. I just let my concern be known, waited for the director’s verdict, and we moved on.
There have been times where the director makes a choice, and the actor argues “My character wouldn’t do that”, the director explains the asks “Why not?”, the actor makes his case, and the director makes his decision: “No, I think you should play it the way we originally planned” or “Maybe we can meet in the middle — you say it like this..”. Instead of abiding by the director’s decision, the actor will continue to press his case. In most cases (98% of the time), this simply annoys the director and wastes everyone’s time. Rarely will the director cave in.
Anyway, you’re absolutely right about if he’s rejected it more than once, he’s considered it more than once. The key here is to determine when it’s worth fighting for and when it’s not, when it’s worth bringing up again, and when it’s not. Sometimes bringing it up the first time isn’t worth fighting for, but the third time, it’s worth it.
And yes, fighting for a choice at the wrong time can cost friendships. Kind of the point of my post. Thanks for the input
Comment by admin — April 13, 2009 @ 9:07 pm
I would also say that sometimes even if I agree with you I dont always act on the agreement right away. There have been times where you gave me a note. I nodded in agreement or shrugged my shoulders becuase I thought we’d get to that beat later. And sometimes just becuase I have my mind in dozen different directions, I need to reemphasize something we might have agreed on but I just happened to let slip by.
Of course, different folks will direct the moments differently. Sometimes I do hear you, but choose to act later.
I just directed a short play, and the actor was saying a certain line with too much emphasis. My asst director mentioned it at the first rehearsal…I nodded but said nothing, the producer mentioned it…at the third rehearsal…I nodded and said nothing… to some I might have even been brushing off the comment. Then during the next to last rehearsal when I felt like it was the right time… I asked the actor to change it, he did…bingo! Sometimes I agree with a note, I just dont agree as to when to give it.
Brian I would suggest that some of the comments you make I agree with but perhaps dont act on right away. Now that is not to say there hasnt been disagreement.
Also, when I think a moment or idea that you suggest really works I also attribute it to you during rehearsal often (maybe not everytime but often). I think that helps enable conversation.
A director should want to create a vision they feel some ownership, but they should also want to get the best ideas on stage rather than it always being merely their ideas.
I think the hardest thing sometimes is that we tend to only remember the times the director says “no”.. and forget the times a director says “yes” (that is not a direct comment to you Brian, but a general observation of human behavior within the rehearsal process).
Comment by Bob Fisher — April 28, 2009 @ 9:50 am
Absolutely! I was actually using you as an example of how it should be done — the director gets the final call, everyone else gets to make suggestions. I wasn’t complaining at all about the way you use my notes. It’s partly because you and I see certain things in different ways, and I know that my notes aren’t always going to be what you want. I’m okay with that.
My post was referring more to when someone brings up a point more than once when the dismissal has been clear. When you say “No, I don’t want that,” it gets dropped. I figured out early on when you were brushing things off because the time wasn’t right and when you were clearly rejecting an idea. But some people don’t pick up on that idea and they keep bringing up the same points over and over or crying wolf about so much bullshit that it slows down the process and we get held up while trying to deal with whomever it is that is bringing the point up over and over again.
Comment by admin — April 28, 2009 @ 11:56 am