Mike Nichols and the Chair

I once read an interview with director Mike Nichols. He was preparing a play and he and the interviewer were sitting in the theater seats talking while stagehands and technicians were arranging things up on stage. Nichols was in the middle of discussing the creative process when he was interrupted by someone on the stage. A set designer was holding up two chairs: one was an Early American the other was something else, maybe something modern, and the person asked Nichols which chair he liked better. The interviewer wrote that the director only paused for a moment before saying “The one on the right,” before slipping back into his discussion about creative decision making.

When Nichols finished his thought, the interviewer followed up about the decision he had just made. For a beat, he had to think about what the guy meant.

“You mean, the chair?”

“Yes,” the reporter replied. “How, for example, did you make that decision?”

Nichols answered, “That was easy; that was just a chair.” You could almost pick up the shrug off the printed page. “ I picked the one on the right.”

He went on to explain that, in this case, he was more concerned with the decision making for the big things: the actor’s performances, the presentation of the story, the lighting, and stagecraft. The easy things, like the chair, didn’t require much agonizing over.

I’ve used that story as a test over the years in my own career. When working through a complicated creative decision, if I find myself, or my team, in the weeds, overthinking some element, I will ask, “Is this just a chair?” I find this is a useful way to prioritize time and resource management. Of course, everything has to be done right. Work should look good and the devil is in the details. Those are the givens and you should always attend to all of that. But sometimes, you have to ask yourself, what is the purpose of this piece of creative? Is it a one-off for something short term? Is it going to be on the air - or is the consumer going to see it - for a long time? Is it for a major company priority? Or is it something of less importance? Even within a piece of creative, are you agonizing over a reasonably small element and missing the bigger issue of whether your message is clear to the intended audience or consumer? Or, are you burning out your staff reworking something for the sake of reworking it? (I have definitely found myself working for and with people who spend a lot of time on the “chairs.”)

Sometimes, I apply the question and the answer is “no, it’s not just a chair” and then we keep on spending the time perfecting the work. But when the answer is “it’s just a chair,” you know it’s time to move on. I’ve worked with co-workers where we have established this as a shorthand: “We need to make an xyx, but don’t worry, it’s just a chair,” and we knew to put the right resources on the project.

What decisions are you facing that are “just chairs,” taking your attention away from your bigger priorities? How can we work together to better use your time and creative resources?

POST SCRIPT:

The interview that I recall from above must have been conducted by the playwright Tom Stoppard. As I mentioned, I have used the chair test many times and shared it with my co-workers. After writing this post, I remembered that my colleague and friend Greg Heanue, who was Vice-President of Consumer Marketing at The Hub Network, sent me a clipping from The Hollywood Reporter shortly after Mike Nichols died in 2014. In an article dedicated to remembering the great director, Mr. Stoppard wrote about his friendship with Mr. Nichols and included his recollection of the story that had stuck with me all those years. (Tom Stoppard and I share a birthday, so I am positive that is why we focused on the same detail, right?) I dug out that clipping and, besides prioritization, I was reminded of another insight from the master: speed. Sometimes the smaller decisions need to be made quickly. Decisiveness can instill confidence in those who work for you and if the decision is not consequential, it can be easily changed as you move forward.