Golden Rules of Creative Turn-Around

My few 'golden rules' for a creative transformation and change management.

You can argue that the recent health crisis, accessibility, technology and globalization have brought us many daunting challenges and changes, which are sometimes tough to manage and even more difficult to comprehend. Yet by the same token, change today means that if someone drops a pin in the remotest corner of the earth, we can hear about it almost instantaneously wherever we may be. Whether good or bad, that’s simply the way it is.

So, let’s focus on the good and seize the opportunities that lay at hand.

In all honesty, no creative agency or in-house creative studio would acknowledge that they have a problem with their creative quality and output. Acknowledgement of trouble is something that is entirely missing in the creatives humble DNA.

In the middle of the growing number of client projects (or the lack of) that need to be done and delivered, it is also very difficult to foresee and judge the lingering issues. One simply doesn't have enough time to re-work and constantly develop the creative environment, that enables the team to feel the pulse of the real world outside the studio and push the thinking and creative output to levels of quality never imagined before.

Fact: change is uncomfortable

The big question is: how much safer is it to carry on within our current comfort zones?

• We all know that positive change can quickly drop from the agenda when managers have dozens of projects piling up on their desks.
• A blinkered, conveyor-belt mentality can take over quickly. When the stakes of winning a pitch or launching a new product are high, the temptation is to churn out whatever may have succeeded last time. When shareholder demands, the bottom line or even survival itself becomes top priority in a difficult economic environment, risk-takers are often shown the door.
• In the short term, this limited strategy might allow the company to muddle through. Employees will deliver the same old results in a robotic ways, without inspiration or new rationales. But creativity soon stagnates. “We’ve always done it this way” and “we don’t have enough time” become mantras to live by every day.?

Although even the smallest changes can have a huge positive impact!

Complacency has never moved the world forward??

Change may well be the scarier path to choose, but it is also the safest. Change is crucial for a systemic and sustainable future. Always.

01 Change is empowerment.?

Doing things differently – in a more inspiring way and discovering unchartered territories – is what change is all about. We can find fruitful and exciting new stimuli along the way. When put into the right context, these can rapidly propel a business forward.

Change can be the single and most potent motivating factor for employees and brand owners. It is what separates stagnation from standing out.

It all starts with changing the mindset through intelligence, inspiration and innovation.?

02 A clear vision and path to success

Our industry is rapidly changing. Are we changing too??The need for change or transformation can be identified through various occurrences.

• Key accounts leaving, loss of pitches
• Lack of or loss of the perception that you are not the hottest shop on the high street anymore
• Loss of talent
• Brake-off of the bottom line and income

These – and a few more – are all a very common signs that things are not running like a well oiled machine.

It's not just the roller coaster ride of the looming recession and the uncertainties we are confronted with on a daily basis that makes it very difficult to project or forecast what the next two quarters are going to look like. It is the consistent change of how we need to deal with what is going on around us that challenges us daily.

• Changing consumer behaviours and instantaneous brand response and feedback demand an instant success
• Generally, everything has to speed up
• There is a heightened need to deliver projects or pitches quicker then ever before
• We see the need to be more responsive, more agile and satisfy clients' need and desire much quicker

And our clients are of our age and generation – unlikely to stick a life time with their employer, and thus want us to make them look good as fast as possible – they are more demanding, more connected and much better educated in management, design philosophy and strategic marketing.

They've also worked with a few other agencies and tell you about it too, just in case you can't deliver.

Add to the mix that the various generations of our employees have a different attitude towards work – life balance and the creative education systems from which they graduated is struggling with its own legacy and quality of programmes.

It is a complicated universe of aspects that need to be tackled.

It sort of becomes obvious to establish a vision (short, clear and precise) and clear strategic path (the mile stones you and your teams need to reach) in order to be able to turn things around. A master plan that everyone can follow and – most importantly – a plan and vision that staff and colleagues can believe in and contribute to (internal engagement). Transformation is always a process. You can take the slow, winding scenic route, or you can decide to take the super highway and get some 'horse power onto the road'.

You might have to change a wheel-set or two (see next point), or stop at a red light. A left turn at the cross road might get you quicker and better results. But that is part of the exciting journey, and as it is in this fast ever changing world: you never know what the business world throws at you!

03 People, people, people

Turning a business or studio around is always about people.

Roughly one third will embrace the new way forward immediately:

• These need to be managed and brought together (rather than run disparately into different directions, and ultimately burn out) in order to fuse all their strengths together into one powerful force
• This group will keep the momentum going. Make them become part of your vision

The second third will wait and observe:

• Most often cynical and critical and observing if in fact the new changes are effective or if management has "told us another of those nice sounding stories".
• Crucial is that the first group acts as ambassadors to the second to motivate them and convince them to join up the forces.

And finally, important are the final thirds:

• They are hesitant and follow a deeply rooted believe that change (whatever it might be) is alien and has no value whatsoever
• They most often come with most of the "old baggage"
• We call them "snippers" and they are a powerful group that potentially can bring it all down or to a complete stand still (they are negative influencers).

Because a change, turning the business around or a simple transformation (of mind and heart), will eventually make people also think about their own career. They will either be excited about the future and what they see and believe in, or embark on a new challenge and leave.

Ultimately this is a loss of talent and potentially inflicts pain and disbelieve. Pro-actively managing people, teams and tribes (groups that are closely nit together within the organisation) become a crucial aspect. HR and team leaders need to work closely to counteract the loss of talent in order for the transformation not to loose its momentum.

Again, a great mix of intelligence, inspiration and innovation is needed to land exciting new talent that comfort the current work force and make them want to follow the vision of change.

04 Love thy boundaries

The balance between commercially viable operations, processes and structures that do not overpower or suffocate the creative geniality that is necessary in order to create world class design and creative is a tricky endeavour. One that needs both inspiration, creative entrepreneurship and patience in order to ‘inflict’ positive change throughout the entire organisation without – and this is the most important aspect – being stuck in the theoretical world. Being hands on and pro-active at every step of the transformation process will guarantee success.

In short: make things visible and enjoyable!

Respecting the corporate and commercial boundaries (see note No. 9 below) establishes a playing field where the creative development can happen.

• It defines a clear sense of direction for success
• Eventually every creative solution and innovation needs to have a clear direction and boundary in order for you to be able to carry on with your transformation

Stagnant businesses tend to go back to safety and that means most often R&D or the progressive ways and processes are unfortunately eliminated. That is the nature of the business. In recession times, shareholders bosses and colleagues are more likely to fall back to what they know works, rather than try new things.

Create smart processes

Absolutely crucial in identifying the boundaries is to understand that process is needed. But probably not necessarily overtly bureaucratic and permission based. Make process obvious and explain when it is not needed. Define what I call a "value chain of creation".

• Long, cumbersome meeting are not always the most efficient way of collaborating or exchanging information.
• Sending large teams to the client – who don't pay people for just sitting around – is a brutal costly miscalculation (both in time and energy) and does not guarantee a perfect flow of information. We all know the?information exchange key for updating teams and colleagues internally.
• Managing by email is dangerous and can lead to misunderstandings and inefficiencies if what needs to be done or how it needs to be done is unclear.
• People are hesitant to ask four or five times (or even write what has been discussed down in a note book) if they don't understand something (our business and the tasks can sometimes be very intricate and overwhelming!), so they carry on with the task, for you to later on realise that this was not how it was discussed nor how it should be done. Now you end up doing the same task three times – where as it could have been done once.
• Searching for?direct dialogue – something that needs to be continuously worked on – solves lots of issues and doesn't prolong things that need to be tackled asap.
• Managing – sometimes w/o being seen – and monitoring the progress of how precisely people communicate is important, as it gives everyone the chance to suggest improvement and a sense of togetherness.

05 Involve & focus

Everyone can have an idea, but always push for great ideas (whether big or small contributions) that pushes the business forward.?Sharing?and exchanging these ideas is important. Put even more focus on documenting:? Even if people say they don't have the time, make time or give them the opportunity – and publicise internally what positive impact these ideas had (results).

I always found that involving people throughout all disciplines and through ranks (motivate junior people to contribute too), and using this as a driver to fuel the transformation process, is very successful and has people start very quickly to identify and own these ideas.

However focus on a few promising ideas rather than a catalogue. Only things that get done will be effective (see No. 6 below).

• Most importantly:?get momentum with a few quick wins
• Sometimes small changes can have a huge positive impact and picking up some great motivational positive notes along the way can do wonders
• Encourage colleagues to take a positive experience and replicate it, and strengthen their believe that they can make mistakes, so we can all learn from them
• Establish an awareness that there are good mistakes and bad ones. Help teams to be selective because the good mistakes can excel the business or the ideation tremendously

06 Make change happen in the real world and don't get stuck in theory

Only a visible and tangible transformation will have an impact. Being stuck in theoretical practice doesn't deliver results that people and colleagues around you can believe in.

• Make visible improvements, change of practices and a consistent push (or poke) to do things differently and in new ways rather than the "same old, same old"
• This will ultimately result in great feedback internally and be visible externally, when for example a client (or the competition) comes back with great feedback.

07 'Cross-firtilization' is necessary and important

Good cross-business policies foster better results. Use the know-how of other departments to make your products and services better.

• Strategy and creation should go hand in hand
• Passing tasks on from one department to the next, often results in a brake of the value creation chain.
• Then the results are weaker than when teams from multiple disciplines work together from the start. It's also more invigorating and fun!

08 You need a mentor and someone that keeps your back free

Everyone needs a mentor. Whether it is a career coach, a shoulder to cry on, or simply a more superior person that supports you in case things don't go the way they should.

In our line of business it is not always smooth sailing. After all, we are in the people’s business, and where there are humans, there is emotion, unpredictability, and the need for understanding.

• A mentor is also something like a "guidance system" that you should tap into in good as well as in tricky times.
• Most often I found that both mentor and mentored can excel in their career and daily activities, as they both learn something from each other.
• I also encourage to do this in more junior levels, where you pair a person that has been with the company with someone that just started, or from different levels.
• As a newly hire, it can take up to 6 months to become efficient in the culture of a company. The shorter you can make this period (together), the better, as that person becomes more economically efficient for the company.

09 Care about F & A

Thoroughbred creatives have the tendency to ignore or be very biased towards anything to do with finances and administration (as well as structures and processes) other than their own salary. Until they are either put to the test by running their own studio or company or having to be heavily involved in staff resourcing or budgeting of a large project and then it is a struggle.

• Learning very quickly on from a junior level on, what it costs to execute an idea or concept makes the difference between executing great results and projects and amassing a catalogue of ideas that never see the light of day.
• Being able – and sensitive to – understand what budgets are needed or what fits into a certain budget enables you to steer creative outcomes and smoothen the process.
• This understanding also gives you an ability to argue why wanting to buy the 'Ferrari of all campaigns' will cost an extra penny as compared to a mid-level campaign execution or project.

10 Track and measure

Most often CEO's start to listen carefully when you talk about numbers, but get quickly bored with 'creative' stuff.

• Tracking and foremost measuring the successful milestones that are needed to change an environment, product or service is an efficient way of proof for the business, that what you do will have a positive long term effect.
• Controlling and monitoring the progress enables you to adjust and tweak the creative studios ops and the quality of creative output.

You made it to the bottom of the article. I hope there are some nuggets in here, even if it's just refreshing some topics and bringing them to the forefront of you daily life at work.

Take care, till next time.

Gion-Men