I never lose. I either win or learn something.
Nelson Mandela
I never lost at Cannes.
Oh, that doesn’t mean I always won. Hardly.
I’m no different from any other shnook, scouring the shortlists and praying to see a project I worked on, only to feel completely crushed when it didn’t appear.
But while I earned a few Lions in my time, my real victory was what I learned.
And that’s why I never lost.
I channeled Nelson Mandela, who once presciently said, “I never lose. I either win or learn something.”
Looking back with the benefit of maturity, experience, and hindsight, Cannes was best when it was my University of Creativity.
The Palais stage was a lecture hall. The Palais basement, a museum. And the best classroom of all — the TBWA Global Creative Directors meeting.
Looking back, I was one lucky s.o.b.
In the early to mid-2000’s TBWA would host the global CDs on the Wednesday of the Cannes week at the Carlton Hotel. In a back conference room off the famed Terrace, I would sit and take notes from some of the world’s best creative people.
Lee Clow would remind us to “Make it smart. Make it beautiful. And have fun.”
John Hunt would instruct us to, “Make the complicated simple, and the simple simply amazing.”
Jean-Marie Dru would remind us that Disruption was the answer no matter the question.
Marie-Catherine Dupuy would offer that the more human you can be, the better your work will be.
Trevor Beattie would always show us that ambition, imagination, and creativity can be transformed into magic.
Andy Blood would demonstrate what can be created when you combine imagination and energy.
Erik Vervroegen would show us craft, craft, craft.
And all of the other incredible CDs, from all over the world, showing the best of the work they did on any given year, would always plant some nugget of wisdom in my brain that I could take back with me to inspire our teams and raise our work.
In fact, after all the years we did that Global Creative Director meeting, I learned and absorbed and became ever more creative and savvy.
Then one June, the meeting stopped happening.
The clients, media, and tech people invaded the Croissette.
And everything changed.
Everything went from transformational to transactional.
But maybe Cannes is simply a microcosm of the world.
That said, one of the things I learned at Cannes was to be an optimist.
I’m of the belief that Creativity is not lost or gone forever. It’s just been chased off the Croissette by all of the “brand spaces” and blah-blah-panel stages. You see, Creativity has been in exile like the Stones in ‘72. It’s been holed up in one of those little dark bars near the Marche Forville, by the train station in the north end of the city.
And maybe next year or the year after or the year after that, someone is going to find Creativity, conspire with it, make something wonderful, and then walk it right up the red carpet steps back into the Palais.
And we’ll all be waiting.
Meantime, what did you win this year, as in: what did you learn?
Rob Schwartz is the Chair of the TBWA New York Group and an executive coach who channels his creativity, experience and wisdom into helping others get where they want to be. This was originally posted on his Substack, RobSchwartzHelps, where he covers work, life, and creativity.
Header image by Philip Oroni for Unsplash+.
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