As my career has unfolded, it’s tempting to look back on the early years and cringe. How earnestly I fought over the photo choice, lighting option, or word selection. Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees! Or the project for the commas. A couple of quotes have helped me over the years to put “being right” into perspective.
“Do you want to be right and dead?”
― My mom, teaching me to drive defensively around Boston drivers who had a creative view of right-of-way
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
― Maya Angelou
No one is going to die if we structure our DAM by region rather than date, sure, but some of those discussions feel life-or-death in the moment. I have learned that you need to make the right choice easier than the wrong one by creating systems and training after talking over the current workflows, values, and business impact with those who will actually be using the DAM. As long as the logic holds, an argument can be made for several root structures for your DAM, tag library, or site structure as long as the result can be replicated and maintained by the team you have, not the wishful thinking of the rigid “best way” only.
And sure, Dr. Angelou was probably referring to more serious topics than digital asset management when she penned her famous line. It doesn’t make it any less impactful to the world of technology, consulting, and business in general. I still remember how I felt during heated talks viscerally in my shoulders - the topic, lost in the sea of time. Sure, we need to prioritize excellence in our work, but never at the expense of making someone feel stupid, small, or lazy. Could be I’m mellowing with time (fact check: untrue if my spice rack is any indication), or maybe it’s a post-pandemic reflection on what’s really important, but none of us are the single source of truth as human beings, so let’s stop acting like we are.
Maybe all we can do is gather the facts and “do the best we can” (another favorite quote, this time from my dad) to bring our ever-growing knowledge and a sense of curiosity to work together to design a solution that will work with the values, resources, and goals you have. Consultants (sometimes rightly!) get called out for saying “It depends” when tasked with giving a straight answer. And yet, the best DAM solution should depend on the needs of the client. Building a DAM that can grow as those needs change while reflecting the technology best practices of the time is probably the best we can do.
Once you have a solution to share, including examples from the client can also help them feel heard. Include change management and training plans, since a beautiful Day 1 DAM will not last without the team acting as Day 2 stewards. When everyone can see the logic behind the decisions, adoption and ownership follow. Respecting people’s needs goes a long way in any successful relationship - why not in the relationship between you and the whole DAM team?