Rejection as Muse

There’s a number of similarities between PR and architecture. Both are iterative processes, which means that for every success, there are shortcomings as well. For architects, many designs are rejected before arriving at the one that fulfills all [or most of] the needs of the client and community. For public relations professionals, a parallel situation can be drawn with the story pitch; in a perfect world, all editors would jump at the opportunity. Yet it’s often the fine-tuning of the proposal that eventually reveals the full value of the content

This autobiographical article, written by a senior communication designer in Ideo’s New York office, sheds light—and elicits laughs—as it chronicles a creative person’s embrace of failure as he doggedly pursues excellence and acceptance.