Years ago, I worked at this creative agency.

It was a small but busy operation, so I was constantly swamped, constantly running behind. 

One day I broke down to my boss:

“I'm running behind,” I said. “Way behind.”

I had a campaign due the next day.

“I can’t ship this tomorrow,” I said. 

My boss looked up at me. He removed his glasses. “Oh,” he said. 

“Well,” I hesitated, “I can, technically, but I’d rather not. I don’t think it’s where it needs to be.”

He leaned back in his chair. 

“Then don’t ship it,” he said. 

I wasn’t expecting that. I was expecting something else, something harsh. 

“Really?” I said. “You’re fine with that?”

“Eddie,” he said, “if the campaign is on time but doesn’t work, we’re gonna lose the client,” he said. “We’ll get fired.”

He leaned forward. “But if it’s late and it works,” he said, “we’re in business. They’ll forget it was ever late in the first place!”

“Ah,” I said.

My boss put his glasses back on. “Take your time,” he said. “Get it right.”

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Eddie Shleyner
VeryGoodCopy, founder

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