What’s the best way to work out if an idea is worth it? Try everything in your power to kill it.
That’s the advice of Maz Farrelly, creative and communications powerhouse and former executive producer of Big Brother. Farrelly was speaking to The Growth Distillery’s Stories (Un)Told vodcast during Cairns Crocodiles, presented by Pinterest.
“Think harder. Don’t think in the cliched way. I love people around me who disagree with me. At the beginning of my career, I wanted everyone to agree with me,” she said.
“As I got smarter, I would surround myself with people who disagreed. So I know by the time I do that keynote or I go into train, I can ask a friend if it’s good enough and they say ‘No it’s dull’ and I think what a gift you’ve given me. I’m not going to stand in front of these people if they’re going to lie down and have a snooze.”
Farrelly puts that ethic to work brilliantly during Cairns Crocodiles, where she expertly MC’d the Keynote room, keeping attendees glued to the content. But the process she takes to deliver incredible speeches, talks and training may seem confronting to some.
“I want everything I do to be the best it can be. I really care about what I do… Rinse them [your ideas] and kill your idea. Do everything you can to kill your ideas,” she said.
“If you do everything you can to kill the idea and it’s still breathing, it’s a good idea. Then take it to market. People say you should take it to market and the market will tell you. Don’t. Don’t pitch people ideas that are half thought-through… I want to know that any question you ask me, I can answer it.”
One piece of Farrelly’s work that hasn’t yet seen the light of day is ‘The Night The Men Stayed In’.
“It means one night a year, every man in Australia stays home. It means that every woman can be safe for one night. We can go anywhere, do anything, go for a drink, walk home drunk. We can walk across the park, wear a bikini, sleep with our windows open, park in a dark place. Because the rest of the year, we’re careful and we have to be,” she said.
“The BBC liked it. It went a long way but thought it was too controversial. They said ‘I don’t know what you’re seeing.’ But the whole point is that it would start a national conversation. How many men would stay home? How many will argue about it? How many will say, you know, we should? What are guys going to talk about to other guys?”
The other piece was called ‘The Meeting’.
“It was two people who’d had an enormous falling out or two people who were enemies. We’d sit in a room and say who do we want to talk to each other? Say Clinton and Lewinsky. We’d film the call to Clinton’s office, Lewinsky, the journey to the table, the two of them outside the room if they decided to do it,” she said.
“Then we’d say, we’re not producing this this. We’ve given you no questions… It’s a conversation of all the stuff you’ve been looping in your mind for the last 30, 40 years.”
It’s big ideas and bold thinking of this ilk that led Farrelly to produce a litany of hugely successful shows. We only hope that more people follow her lead.
