Here’s what’s on mine. Meet Ross, Kate, and Elizabeth Bassett. When people ask me how I was able to survive such a long career in advertising, I show them my computer screen.
It occurred to me, I’m kind of like the Navy pilot in Top Gun. You know, the one who had a picture of his family taped over his instrument panel but then he lost his nerve and if hadn’t of been for Tom Cruise we would have crashed his jet fighter into an aircraft carrier? But that’s not the point I’m trying to make.
The point I’m trying to make is, isn’t the keyboard on my MacBook Air my instrument panel? And isn’t the wallpaper above my instrumental panel the picture I see every time I climb into the cockpit? Okay, this metaphor is going nowhere. Let’s. start again.
How did I enjoy, and love, such a long career in advertising?
First, I avoided office politics as much as I could. I tried to keep my head down and just do my job. Over the years, there was a lot of political intrigue swirling around me. Fortunately, I was always the last to know.
Second, as my mentor and long-time friend the late Mike Hughes said, “Do work you love with people you love.” This philosophy not only made going to work more fun, it made the work we created together more powerful.
Third, as a creative thinker I got to make things that had never existed before. You’ll see evidence of this in many of my blogs. And sometimes the things we made even made a difference.
Fourth, I got to regularly work with people who were smarter than I am. That meant, for me, every day was a learning day. What more could you ask from a career?
And last but not least, it’s true, year after year my kids kept me moving ever forward. Their encouragement, their love, and their beautiful faces on my computer screen every morning were all I needed to zip up my flight suit, climb into my cockpit and…sorry, there I go again.
Let me just end with this. Thank you, Ross, Kate, and Elizabeth. You are my hearts.
A life in creative thinking 