There are good sides and bad sides to having committees involved with a project. Oversight and a variety of opinions can be helpful, but things can often get bogged down if consensus can’t be reached.
One thing that committees should never try to do, though, is to be creative.
In his classic book “Confessions of an Advertising Man“, David Ogilvy said it simply:
“Much of the messy advertising you see on television today is the product of committees. Committees can criticize advertisements, but they should never be allowed to create them.”
Taking it a bit further, he shared this thought:
“Search all the parks in all your cities; you’ll find no statues of committees.”
Committees can be helpful, but they should be kept under clear restraints when working with a creative project of any kind. Let them criticize, but never let them create.
