Paralysis by committee

In the documentary Art and Copy, legendary copywriter Hal Riney says "I would rather deal with a tyrant than with a committee."

It's hard to work with tyrants. They come in all forms. Some are demeaning. Some are obnoxious. Some are abusive. Some are slimy. Some are arrogant. But in the end, a tyrant is just one entity. Some of them just need to be heard and understood before they soften. Others are just downright despicable. Either way, they're one entity. You can decide whether you want to spend your time and energy getting them on the same page or if you want to walk away.

Committees are a different animal altogether. They are usually a bunch of people unwilling to sign-off on something. Everyone has an opinion and invariably, the bigger picture gets lost. This can be misleading. Just when you think you're home, someone reverses their opinion. You're trying to please a group of people, most of whom whose opinions aren't aligned.

Does that mean you pick a tyrant to work with? Not really.

It's easier to walk away from a tyrant, but much harder to wrangle yourself out of a committee.