Things I Wish I’d Known Twenty Years Ago: No2.: Doing is the Best Way to Learn

20 years in, the most important things I know, I learned by getting them wrong...

The trip that nearly crashed the company

In 2012, I flew back from New York genuinely convinced we were in with a real shot at opening an office there. We’d had great meetings with enthusiastic potential clients, encouraging lawyers, and a genuine sense that the timing was right. We flew home buzzing.

There was just one small problem. While we'd been busy exploring New York, the small company that we’d left behind had developed problems with five of our six major clients.

Some of them were really quite bad. It turned out there were these things called ‘spreadsheets’, which are really quite useful for managing multiple projects simultaneously. You could even use them for budgeting. Remarkable.

Beautiful work isn’t enough

These were still relatively early days for the company. Up to that point, we had always believed that if the work was good enough, the process didn’t matter. Once they saw the stunning film, the client would realise it had all been worth it. Or so we believed.

We quickly realised that it was not enough to make beautiful films.

The process to get the client there had to be equally good – if not better – or they wouldn’t even want to watch the work when it was delivered.

We learned that our clients cannot afford failure. They want to look good in front of their colleagues and boss. Missing deadlines and being sloppy on the process kills that.

So we pivoted our entire architecture to deliver every time, without fail. Of course, the work is important, but the process has to be as good.

It led us to professionalise the entire business, and it is possibly one of the most important lessons we have learned on our journey to the Casual of 2026.

What’s your version of this story?

I'd be willing to bet you have a version of this story. The moment you learned something the hard way that no course, book, or mentor could have taught you in quite the same way. The thing that stung at the time, but that you now consider one of the most valuable lessons of your career.

That is the thing about doing. It teaches you in a way that nothing else can. We learned process by nearly tanking the company; I learned filmmaking by making films. Same principle, similar egg-on-your-face potential, same outcome.

Institutionally, across 50,000+ films over the last 20 years, every single one has taught us something. Some lessons were consequential (charging, riderless horses are really (really) hard to control), some were less (always make sure the Steadicam op gets a decent breakfast), but all of them have added up.

Can-Do and Proactive

And when we hire, we look for the same thing. It’s the reason one of our five values is: Can-do and Proactive.

When I look back at the hundreds of job applications and internship requests we've received over the years, the ones that stood out were not necessarily the people with the most impressive academic credentials.

They were the ones who'd gone out and made something. Anything. On their phone, with their friends, on a shoestring. If you're early in your career and you haven't made anything yet - what are you waiting for?

The tools have never been more accessible. There is genuinely no excuse not to start.

You get ready by doing

Readiness, in my experience, is largely a myth. You get ready by doing.

And frankly, what’s the worst that could happen? What’s the best? Yeah, you may look a little foolish, but if you live to fight another day, you’re only going to be better next time.

Always open to learning

That said, doing without reflection is just repetition. Doing has to be paired with asking:

What did that just teach me?

Every project, every mistake, every uncomfortable conversation with a client is data. Use it.

Twenty years in, I'm still trying to ask that question. I hope I always am.