Making space

As I write this on a train from Somerset to London, it’s just over 10 years since I wrote the manifesto that led to starting Manifesto; the agency that’s consumed most of my waking hours for the last decade. As that milestone approaches, I’ve been making work and life plans for the coming weeks, months and years.

The paradox of trying to create a company you’d like to work for is that you never get to work for it - you’re always trying to make it. Constantly reinventing the next level of challenge, setting new goals, making a vision that’s bigger and more bombastic than the last.?

Eventually, though, the time is right to make some space. To see what others would do without your voice in the room and to see it take on its own life. For me; that time is now. Taking Manifesto from ￡1500 initial investment to being part of a publicly listed business in The Panoply has been a rocket ship of a journey.?

So, starting with the main change - from September I’ll be stepping down as CEO and handing over to Rebecca Hull who I know will do an amazing job taking up the role of Managing Director. I’ll remain a board member and continue to work in the business moving to four days a week in September then, three from April 2022.?

A decade is a long time to hold the same position, it’s been an amazing, inspiring, difficult, brilliant journey so far – and it’s definitely not over, but in the last couple of years lots has changed in the world and in my life so I’m going to make changes in my work too.?

At the core of this is making space…?

Space for the Manifesto team

Over the last year or so we’ve implemented a new structure at Manifesto with people leading autonomous parts of the business. In July, the group that Manifesto is part of (The Panoply) announced plans to bring all of the businesses in the group together as a single organisation under a single brand.

This change creates an opportunity for leaders in the business to continue to grow and develop in this new organisation. One of the most rewarding parts of running Manifesto is seeing people learn, grow and take on responsibility or become better at what they do and where you can, contributing to that.

To this end, Manifesto is in the best shape we’ve ever been in. We grew substantially last year, and our team is the best it’s ever been. This feels like the perfect moment to make some more space for this awesome team to take the business forward as part of the new organisation.

Space for new ideas

The Panoply bringing its businesses together under a single new brand means that brand needs to be created and since June I’ve been spending half of my time working on developing that new brand and I’ll continue to work on this after its unveiling in September through its full launch next year.

I’m also going to explore some other projects - getting better at skills I’ve half-gained, exploring Somerset (where I now live), researching ideas I’m interested in. I’m not tying myself to specific outputs, if something comes from it that’s great, but if not that’s cool too.

I didn’t start Manifesto so that I could run a large business. I did it because I have a passion for using digital to have a positive impact. Many agencies say that now – but when I wrote it in the manifesto it was different to what most other digital agencies were talking about, it’s something that’s as true now as it was then.

Don’t get me wrong. I love running the business, I love the numbers, the spreadsheets, the strategy that goes with it – but as the business has grown, with my very hands-on approach it becomes harder to find time for the random thoughts and ideas I used to love so much.

When I get involved in things it tends to be small 30-minute, 1 hour or sometimes 2-hour chunks and whilst I bring the benefit of my experience to those situations it can feel like you’re trading on that and not bringing much new to the table – it can feel a bit empty; you’re constantly wishing you had some new reference points and thoughts to bring in. Conferences like SXSW help a bit, but it’s the space for new thoughts unconnected to your day to day that really make the difference.

To me, right now the best way to achieve this is to be responsible for fewer things. Throughout most of the pandemic I was doing between 35-40 video calls a week (my single day record being 14) all in small chunks about completely different topics. This level of context shifting had a profound impact on my enjoyment of work and I’ve already made changes to rectify that, whilst doing the same job, but I want to create a little bit of extra space too.

Space for my family and my health

Throughout my career and particularly since starting Manifesto my health has come lower on my priority list. My health has also suffered directly because of the lifestyle and pressure I’ve put on myself in running the business.

I’ve had everything from digestion issues, to gout, to a bowel operation and since December I’ve had permanent tinnitus. My body has been making polite requests for me to slow down for ages, for many of these I’ve worked through them rather than dealing with the underlying issues. Stress tends to manifest itself in my body more than in my mind.

I haven’t helped myself along the way. I would frequently go to 3 or 4 evening networking, team or industry events a week and for a time, in the early years, Manifesto had a culture that revolved around the pub too much. I’d wake up with a hangover and then exercise at 7am to freshen myself up to go again.

That changed several years ago and over the last year I’ve left London and moved to Somerset. When I reduce to four days a week, that spare day in my schedule is primarily about my health and family.

This will benefit me and those around me, I want to be a good Dad to my daughter Millie, she has Down Syndrome and at nearly two, I want to help her learning and I want to be a contender at school sports day – not the agency casualty who is either at a pitch or not in shape enough!

In building Manifesto, I missed a lot and gained so much. There’s still lots of plates to spin but I’m making a change to spin some of them a little better.

If you're passing through Somerset drop me a line - you can come and help pick some fruit...

Jim x