I design artisanal teapots for a company. I make a new teapot each quarter, and the company sells it. Every time I submit my new teapot to the company’s social media manager, she sends a criticism of the kettle to the whole team. She critiques the design, points out why it’s ugly and says it won’t sell. Not only does it seem like she’s trying to turn everyone at the company against me, but she’s also hurting my self-esteem. I want to keep working for the company, but she’s hurting my creativity. What should I do?
—Orange Calls the Kettle Black
Jay: Can this social media manager design a better teapot? If not, I think you should challenge her to a design contest. Put your teapot up against her teapot, and the best one wins. I’ve known some social media managers, and I doubt she can craft a good teapot, especially if you make cool teapot designs. I could use a cool teapot myself—I’ll buy the winning one when you take down this social media manager.
Eliza: Make a teapot that doesn’t photograph well, so she can’t make a good social media post. You could make it shiny or use colors that won’t display well on the web. Maybe some people think it’s blue, and others think it’s gold. Then, when the boss says something, you say, “She’s not very good at this. I think you need to decide if you’re going to keep her or not because I’m embarrassed to have my teapot represented this way.”
Gene: I mean, it’s obvious. This means war. You need to start sending company-wide emails criticizing her social media work. See a mundane tweet? Blast that to everyone. You think she could have picked a better font for an Instagram post—make sure everyone knows why it sucks. If this is the game she wants to play, you can win. You only send a teapot once a quarter. If she’s any good at her job, she posts 7 times a day at least. 7 times a week? 7 times a month? I don’t know the right formula, but she must post a lot.
Kenny: Have you tried talking to her about your problem? Maybe you could just explain how it’s interfering with your creative process. If you don’t feel like you can do that, you could ask for specific feedback when you send the design to her. I’m also not ruling out Jay or Eliza’s strategies. I definitely wouldn’t try Gene’s strategy. However, try talking to her first.
About Sitcom Advice: This column takes the idea that four classic troupe characters in comedy play out repeatedly. These four tropes are the patriarch, the matriarch, the clown and the professor. Using shows like Seinfeld, Arrested Development and How I Met Your Mother, we explore Sitcom Advice from these four lenses.