We are from different worlds…different universes. We speak different languages, and therefore we cannot understand each other. One stands for art, the other for commerce. We are opposed.

We are…the creative department and the sales department in the broadcast industry.

Silly of course, to use such dramatic words to describe people that work in the same business, the same building, down the hall.  But even though it’s an exaggeration, it IS understood that we DO indeed come from separate ‘worlds’…worlds being another word for a set of principles.

While in an acute sense, it’s not wrong to describe it this way…but in the bigger picture, it does end up being wrong.

Of course, we are all different…men/women…asia/europe…green/blue…and we need those differences to counter-balance the other…and at the same time, we need to be so complimentary to them, that only something very similar can do it.  Men can’t live without women, asia is connected to europe, and green easily turns into blue with the help of purple.

My point here is that the creative side of things is not so different from the sales side of things.  We need each other…and only something similar to us could be the yin to our yang.

These are things we know inherently, but do NOT know consciously.  So sometimes it’s a good idea to consciously reflect on it to remind ourselves that we aren’t so different.

The biggest drawback is from the creative side, thinking that we are the only ‘creative’ ones.  Something one might forgive since it’s literally in our name.   But creativity takes place in sales all the time…maybe ALL the time.  You have to be resourceful, uncanny, precise and loose all at the same time.  You go into a sales meeting (that took creativity to get in the first place) with a set of rules in your mind of how it should go – and on top of that, a set of alternate routes to take if things go south.  All of these need to be in your mind already, lined up, ready to go in an instant.

The ability to bend yet also be un-bendable is a trait i have admired in sales forever.  Knowing how to talk, WHEN to talk, how to reply, how to groom, how to help, and to know when NOT to help are all talents one might have if they were in an improv show.  I can tell you that at least for me, creativity is likely the ONLY thing you need in a ‘who’s line is it anyways’ type of show.  But these are all traits of our cousins in the sales department.

Creative dept people lose track of that sometimes…and think that just because we hold the paint brushes, that we are the only artists in the building.   It’s great to have a paintbrush and have all the masses walk through and see (hear) our paintings.  But someone had to pay for it, someone had to commission it…and to bring a cold call to a business, all the way to a painting on the wall (as i keep with the painting/commercial comparison) is an amazing feat – a wildly creative feat.

One i will always admire. I love sales peoples art…it’s hard to see it…but when you do, you realize it’s all around you…and the only reason anyone can see (or hear) yours.

We are the same…just two sides of the coin…sometimes we can’t see each other…but we have each others back.