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Writer's pictureBridget K. Brown

How very sad!

As many of you know, along with my storytelling coaching and dynamic, interactive facilitations, I do a lot of E-learning work. I am especially known for creating fun scripts for animated learning videos. 


So, when a client of mine called asking me to “ghost-write” a new employee orientation video for one of her clients, I was happy to help. 


First, I wrote a really funny 4-pager that featured one of the company’s main products with a big joke at the end. Yes, it included the company’s values and how they treat their employees. But then I thought better of it, figuring it was too jovial.


I then took a more creative approach, animation-wise, using the general idea of the product the company produces as something that is often played with by children when they are imagining things. It was fun and light, as the animation of children playing in the background revealed itself. 


And this was the feedback: 

“Ideally, we need to present a more professional image. . . Using an image of kids playing would be too playful . . .”


And I just thought, “how sad!”


But the customer is always (okay, in this case, sometimes) right, and so I wrote the straightforward, boring version and submitted it. 


But here is a question for you. Why would anyone want to work for this company who claims to be a creative all over their website, but clearly doesn’t like “playfulness?” 


I couldn’t help but think of my colleague who teaches the importance of “play” as, not only a team-building skill, but also a skill to tap into creativity. After all, play is the soul of creativity.


I wish the company well. My video script is good in spite of that feedback, but I can’t help think that what really happened here is that they told the true story of working at that company. 


“Welcome to our company! Please, whatever you do, be creative so we can tell our clients that you are, but don’t ever have fun.”

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