Making It Matter

The power of what we do. Image courtesy of emmapebble

I've had a lot of time recently to think about family. And given the particular hand that fate has dealt my family, who apart from myself are all doctors, my thoughts have turned to medicine. Medicine is one of those professions where those on the outside wax lyrical about the nobility that accompanies the pursuit of one's income, but those within the profession often become jaded and the pursuit of saving lives often takes a back seat to administration, KPIs and trying to get out the door at exactly 1700 when a patient walks into the clinic at 1655.

I was discussing this with my brother (who's just about to finish med school) when he made a couple of points that have in the last couple of days really started to resonate with me, given where I think we should be headed as an industry and what I want to do with my career. He told me about this 'Careers in International Medicine' workshop that he went too (you could say the international smoothieness runs through all the Ismail veins) and how he was told by a bunch of people that when you finish med school, you think you can save the world one patient at a time. After a few years you think it's field work in nations with less developed healthcare that will save the world, you soon realize that aid is all about money, and therefore all about governments giving money. But politics is a dirty game, and he was told politicians really only answer to one thing, and that's mass communication. Or more accurately, the pressure that mass communication can put on them by giving the masses information that the politicians may not necessarily want in the public realm. Readers from the UK will know that the MP expenses scandal is a perfect example of this. All this has got me ruminating on communications and the role our industry can play in doing amazing stuff.

It's easy to lose focus when we're being pulled to two extremes, the pressure of having to produce creative that will eventually entered into award shows that never matter and are presided over by failed directors, artists et al; and the pressure we face when forced to increase sales year-on-year that sucks any kind of innovation or intellectual enthusiasm out of our work.

Having a job where we have input into how businesses behave and communicate in in the 21st century is an immense responsibility given the challenges we face as economies and as a collective humanity. To waste that opportunity by chasing frivolity or mechanical efficiency would be a massive shame.

The future of communications isn't Twitter, or the internet or whatever else banal trend watchers would have you believe. It's doing something worthwhile for a person or people, be it education, providing a service or removing a barrier that stops them doing what they want to do in their day to day existence.

It's that simple.

Sometimes it's easy to lose sight of that, the vast potential we ignore on a day to day basis, so props to my little bro for reminding me how fortunate we are, and why this really matters.

Comments

[Willem van der Horst]

Thanks for the post - it reminded me one of the main reasons I got into this business is because I believe mass communication can be used to make a difference for people - in the same sense you said, making it worthwhile for people - whether because it puts a smile on their face, allows them to learn something new, help them in some way, etc.

Thanks for reminding me, it's so easy to forget.

[Sam]

It's the only way to roll dude, appreciate the comment :)