Devil's Advocate 😈

Onegai shimasu (おねがい します)  🙇

In my opinion all director level managers (like Art Directors) need a Devil's Advocate. They need someone to ask the hard questions. Someone who is on the front lines with the rest of the crew. A person who can keep an objective view of the goals and the team. What Directors DO NOT need are suck-ups and yes-men. They don't need anyone to feed their egos. Independent thought is so important as well as double checking to make sure the Director is on the right path for the team.

This means the Director must be flexible. To bend and not break. Good Directors are not dictators.   they are adaptive to new and unexpected situations and actively listen to their crew. If the majority of the team is in agreement that the product is going in the wrong direction, the Director should listen. 

One of the toughest things for a Director to do is to make an unpopular decision. Like letting a team member go. These types of decisions must always be for the benefit of the team. Or the company. The Director will have to have a thick skin to withstand the potential fallout and redirect frustrations to creative efforts. So long as the decision is a benefit to the product, or company, it will work itself out. What's even more difficult is if the director has a personal stake in the decision. Example: the person being let go is a friend. I've had the unfortunate duty of letting friends go from jobs. Its worse because I brought them into the job to begin with. If directors appear to be callus or cold it's because they may be doing their best to keep an objective distance of the team and the product. This is why it can be difficult for friends to form and maintain a company. Business and the longevity of the products can sometimes interfere with friendships.

Keep in mind that a Director will do his/her best to maintain scope of the product or company as a whole. Which is why they need a Devil's Advocate. Sometimes the Director needs to be questioned if they decision they are making is a good one. That its actually good for the rest of the team, the company. Directors must always maintain the long view. In which case the Director must seek council with their Devil's Advocate.

A Director's success will be reflected in the rest of the team's success. In the company's success. The rest of the team will want to work with the Director on the next project.
And a tight team, that trusts each other, is a successful team.