| If you run an organization it’s absolutely critical to listen to everybody at every level. Not only to get a sense of what is going on, but also to understand the issues and the dynamics of an organization. About ten years ago, I was in charge of children’s programs for ITV.I was coming across from Central Television, where I was Director of Broadcasting.? My first day on the job was like the Post Office letters to Father Christmas. There were sacks and sacks and sacks of proposals. I thought: “How do we go through all of this?” So my PA, Elspeth, and I literally just burnt the midnight oil to get through them. To be frank, you can read from the first page whether it’s good or bad, and we invariably had to take some pretty visceral decisions – yes, yes, no, yes, no. We got through it all with a certain amount of speed and were very, very ruthless. As I say, you could tell straight away whether something was going to work or not. If something was going to work and you wanted to get the production company in, you’d say: “That’s a number one response, so get them in the diary; we’ll get them in and talk to them.” Number two would be – and this was very rare – a: “Maybe, but I just need a bit more information”, or “I just need to see how the schedule pans out.” Number three – the second best answer in broadcasting – is a swift: “No”. A number four would be a swift no, but it would be a swift no with respect, so we would send it out seven days on. If it came from a very well-known production company or one of the ITV companies, you wouldn’t turn around and say “No” immediately because they’d think: “Oh, you haven’t considered it”, whereas you had considered it, and you knew.? But you didn’t say that to the companies because they would get really upset if they got a rejection the next day.? So it would be a number four; which was a polite turn down, but we’ll send the letter in seven days. And so one of the shows came from an independent, and it was about St. Tiggywinkle’s, which is a little wildlife hospital in Buckinghamshire. I said: “Elspeth, that’s definitely a number four,” and she said: “Oh, I rather like that idea.” I said: “Well I don’t really care whether you rather like the idea or not. I don’t, and I’m the Controller of Kids’ Programs. Number four.” So we were doing a review, which I always do at the end of each week to see what’s outstanding and what letters we have sent out, just recap and see if there are any patterns in terms of what’s going on. I said: “That number four hasn’t gone out yet – the St. Tiggywinkle’s. It should have gone out.” Elspeth said: “Well, I’m not going to send it. I don’t think it should be a number four. I think they should come in and talk to you because I think it’s a really good idea.” I said: “A bit cheeky. Just go back to making the coffee and typing up.” And she replied: “Nope. I’m going to ask them to come in.” I looked at her: “Give me that proposal again.” So I read it, and I still didn’t quite get it – quite cutesy, with little hedgehogs with their arms in plaster and all that – very sweet, but… But I said: “All right, then.” She had just kept banging on about it; it was a week later. So we got the company in, and actually it was a nice idea. I thought: ‘Well, if she’s really passionate about it maybe she’s right; maybe we should commission it.’ We did, and it did spectacularly well. Now this is a lesson in listening to a voice which is employed to do one thing, but actually is very bright and can input into what you’re doing and just occasionally say: “You don’t have all the answers, and I think you should rethink what you’re doing.” And she was absolutely right. You do have to listen to those people around you and just sometimes stand back and say: “Yes, actually you should have the chance to do this.” I now operate a system with my key creatives. As I said, I’ve got 20 years’ experience in television, so I like to think I know what I’m doing most of the time. But programming is not an exact science. So I give all of my key creatives two cards, which they’re allowed to play at any point because these are imaginative cards. They can come along and say: “This is something I know you are not going to like. In fact, I know you’re going to hate it. But I really love it and want to do it, and I’m going to play that card.” And nobody has ever let me down. They’ve always been right. So you give what are not quite “get out of jail” cards, but “something that you really want to do that I can’t question, because you’re employed as a senior creative” cards. I’m employed to give guidance and strategic direction and to try to give the benefit of my experience. But my experience is different to somebody else’s. And you can’t be dogmatic; you can’t say you have the answers all the time. You say: “OK – play your card. If you play it and you’re right, you get two cards back.” And it works. | 在管理公司时，听取各级员工的意见相当重要。不仅为了了解员工现在在做什么，也是为了了解公司的问题及发展的动力。
大约10年前，我负责ITV的儿童节目。之前我在英国中心电视台担任广播主管。我上班第一天的工作就像忙着看信的圣诞老人一样，桌子上堆了好几麻袋的建议书。
我心里想：“这么多我怎么看得完？”后来我与私人助理Elspeth一起熬夜把这些建议全部读完了。老实说你只要看第一页就能知道这建议是好是坏，我们几乎是以直觉在做判断，以极快的速度处理了这些提议。
正如我所说，你可以凭直觉判断建议是否有效。如果有些建议确实有效，你想把它们付诸实践，那你就可以对自己说：“给这人一个‘第一类回复’，将这个建议记录下来，然后找提议者讨论一下。”
第二类回复是比较罕见的——“我需要再多了解一点信息”，或者“我要看一下日程表再做打算。”
第三类回复就是很迅速地说“不”。
第四类回复也是说“不”，但要委婉一点。这类拒绝信我们一般会在7天后发出。如果建议是来自一个非常著名的制作公司或者ITV的子公司你就不能立马拒绝，因为即使你已考虑过他们的建议，你不能把拒绝意见马上告诉这些公司，因为如果第二天就收到拒信他们会非常沮丧。所以说第四类回复是一个礼貌的拒绝，我们会在7天后发出。
当时有一家独立制片公司想做一档关于圣提基温克的节目，那是位于白金汉郡的一个小型野生动物医院。我对Elspeth说：“给一个第四类回复，”但她说：“我很喜欢这个想法。”我说：“我并不在意你是否喜欢这想法。反正我不喜欢，我是儿童节目总监。给他第四类回复。”
那时候我一般会在每周末检查一次，找出不错的点子，确认哪些信件已经发出，然后做一个总结看看现在进展如何。
当时我发现圣提基温克的回复还没发出。我说：“你应该早把它发出去了。”Elspeth说：“我不准备发出去，我觉得这个想法很好，应该请他们过来谈谈。”我说：“你真是无礼。给我去泡杯咖啡，然后把拒信打印出来。”她回答说：“不，我会请他们过来谈谈的。”我看看她说：“把建议书递给我再看一下。” 于是我又读了一遍，仍旧没有理解它好在哪里。建议是关于刺猬的腿上打了石膏的事，可爱倒是可爱，但是... 我说：“就这样吧。”她软磨硬泡了一个星期我才答应。
于是我们把这家公司请来谈了谈，这确实是个不错的想法。我想：“她真的对此充满信心或许她是对的，或许真的应该试一试。” 后来我们实践了这个创意,效果非常好。
上述实例说明：在做一件事情时，]听取下属的意见是非常重要的。他们可能非常聪明，他们偶尔会对你说：“这事儿你并不全对，我想你应该重新考虑一下。” 她是完全正确的。你必须听取你周围人的意见，有时你可以放手对他们说：“行，你可以去试一下。”
我的手下是一批核心创意人员。我在电视行业拥有20年的从业经验，所以我想我非常清楚我正在做的事。
我给手下的核心创意人员两张牌，他们可以在任何时候使用一张牌来做他们想做的事。他们可以直接对我说：“我知道你不会喜欢这个主意，事实上我知道你会讨厌它。但是，我确实很喜欢它而且想执行它，所以我要用一张牌。”从来没有人让我失望过，他们总是对的。
我给他们牌的目的不是告诉他们“想干什么就干什么”，而是表示我不会质疑你真正想做的事，因为你是一位高级创意人员。我的职责是提供战略指导意见，交流我的经验。但是我的经验不同于其他人的经验。你不能太过武断；你不能说你知道所有问题的答案。你应该说：“好的，就按你的想法去做。如果你这次用了牌并且获得成功，那我还会再发给你两张牌。” 这个做法真的奏效了。 |
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