Robbie Brammall's Fuckup

"This one still makes me cringe. I was a young creative director at DDB working on the Hipages pitch. Actually, I was leading it. And I already had a decent idea. We had a great chemistry session with the client, and spent hours asking insightful questions, the answers to which all supported my idea.

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Word filtered through that we were their preferred agency. Boom.

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I confidently went to work executing the idea. I think it involved Tim the Toolman Taylor from Home Improvement, and from memory it had legs— full of distinctive assets, campaignability and a built-in demystifying of what Hipages was about (home improvement).

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We sent the work in and awaited the call up to the next stage. It never came. We were the first eliminated. The work was hugely off brief for this proudly Australian brand, a nuance I’d missed in my enthusiasm to justify my idea.

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Oscar Trimboli describes this as 'the difference between listening and hearing'—two people can have the same conversation but completely different understandings of what’s been communicated. Apparently, that’s because we humans are programmed to listen for similarities, but that’s not where understanding lies.

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So, steal this tip from Oscar and pass it off as your own: Listen out for things you disagree with, and as soon as you hear them, lean in and say: “Interesting, tell me more.” "

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