Issue No. 573 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting describes the transformation process of a global creative agency with 12 independent offices (silos) and on its fifth CEO in just four years. Yikes! And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies), click here for over 550 book reviews, and click here for my review of Attitude Is a Choice―So Pick a Good One: Practical Steps to a Positive Outlook, by Bob Phillips.
Remember this clever EDS commercial? The team at the digital creative agency, Huge, would clearly identify with the huge challenge of rebuilding an airplane in the air! View the one-minute spoof here.
"Faster Horses" Not the Answer
It’s still summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, but—if you’re honest—while you may still be on vacation, you’ve been thinking about the next round of your strategic planning process. Today’s book will get your juices going again. Read:
The Transformation of Huge
and the Redefinition of the Ad Agency Business
by Michael Farmer
“Huge” is the corporate name of a digital creative agency. Their first client was IKEA. With 12 independent offices worldwide in 2021, the owners had just named their fifth CEO in four years. (That definitely calls for a YIKES!) IPG, “one of the big five global marketing communications holding companies,” somehow cajoled Mat Baxter (who immigrated with his family to Australia at age 12), to take a swing at this huge challenge (no pun intended).
Remember—this was during COVID, so when Baxter agreed to become Huge’s Global CEO, he began meeting with small segments of their 1,200 employees over Zoom. Across their 12 offices (London, Singapore, Bogotá, Toronto, Brooklyn, Chicago and other cities), each led by an “office president,” he discovered more than 100 job titles in the agency! There was no uniform “Huge Way,” or common approach with clients. Just 12 fiefdoms. Growth had stalled. (Does this sound like a fun job to you?)
Stunningly, Baxter invited the author, consultant, and prof, Michael Farmer, to shadow the hoped-for transformation process as a “fly on the wall.” Gratefully, readers can soak up all the learnings (and the missteps) as Farmer chronicles the 17-month process in 2021-2022. (He includes his notes in the book.)
And yes, they wore COVID masks during the first of three executive leadership team retreats. And get this: at their first retreat in Maine with 20 global execs (plus the author), Baxter intentionally did not provide an agenda in advance! Think about that! The retreat began with an ice-breaker dinner then focused on seven key questions for the next two days.
• If you’re a consultant (or a consultant wanna-be), you’ll love this book.
• If you’re a CEO or senior team member—facing no growth or slow growth—Madison Avenue Makeover is a must-read.
Fascinating. Enlightening. Templates. Replicable Ideas. Cartoons! And a promising exercise for your next senior leaders retreat.
HERE ARE 5 TAKEAWAYS:
#1. GUTSY SELF-ASSESSMENT REQUIRED! If you’re in need of a transformation, this book will give you courage—watching how the team at Huge pulled it off. To calm the obvious fears of major changes coming, the executive leadership team prepared and distributed an extensive “Frequently Asked Questions” document for every employee. (It runs 22 pages in the book’s appendix.) The FAQs includes this quote from Andy Grove, former Chairman and CEO of Intel, “To understand a company’s strategy, look at what they actually do rather than what they say they will do.”
Farmer writes, "To use a tired analogy, Baxter would have to rebuild the plan while it was flying." (View the EDS video here.) And they needed to keep the team informed and productive, which reminded me of Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, by William Bridges who writes, “It isn’t the changes that do you in, it’s the transitions.” (See also my ECFA blog post, “Beware the Emotional Effects of Transitions.”)
#2. MARKET RESEARCH SAYS: “FASTER HORSES!” Mat Baxter immediately retained a consulting firm to give guidance to the transformation process. (Warning: Strong opinions. Deep-seated cultures.) What will prompt revitalization and growth: Plan A or Plan B—and how will we know? The author notes, “Huge’s product approach was similar to what was carried out at Apple under Steve Jobs, who is reported to have said:
‘Some people say, “Give the customers what they want.” But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do. Henry Ford once said, “If I’d ask customers what they wanted, they would have told me, a faster horse!” People don’t know what they want until you show it to them. That’s why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.’”
#3. GIVE THE PROCESS A MEMORABLE CODE NAME! “Within the ELT [executive leadership team], the transformation program was codenamed 'Project Polpo'—polpo being the Italian word for octopus, the complicated sea creature with eight arms, a soft and adaptable body for squeezing in and out of tight spaces, and a high brain-to-body weight ratio.”
Words matter—and I imagine this creative code name brought chuckles and motivation to the ELT. The author (in his fly-on-the-wall role) had full access to meetings and documents. The book includes the unedited snippet of a “Polpo Playbook Review,” led by the recently promoted Chief Product Officer.
#4. TRUST YOUR CONSULTANT! Baxter retained TBMC, a consulting firm with a unique process. Michael Farmer notes that “TBMC uses a unique, stylized vocabulary when describing advertising industry practices and the content of the consultancy’s transformation program.” Another gut check: what if the CEO or ELT doesn’t trust the process?
This reminded me of the wisdom from my friend and colleague, David Schmidt of Wise Planning. Dan Busby and I quoted Schmidt in ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: “Your strategic planning consultant, facilitator, or volunteer will use different tools to get you to the top of Mount Everest (a completed plan). But it’s important to let your facilitator use his or her own tools.” (Read more here. Download Tool #14 here.)
#5. YOUR NEXT CEO: WHAT COMPETENCIES? When Mat Baxter agreed to become the fifth CEO of Huge in four years (!), he brought a critical competency with him: Turn-Around guy (see The First 90 Days and the four kinds of organizations). The challenges (did I mention this?) were huge: silos, no growth, global, new guy in town. The author quotes Baxter extensively—and you’re reminded that, as Peter Drucker urged, leaders must lead from their strengths. Drucker: “Effective leadership is not about being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes.”
Farmer notes that Baxter engineered a paradigm shift—with a new approach: “a results paradigm” focusing on seven outcomes (see pages 136-137 in the last chapter). One critical outcome: “a corporate mission to improve client results.” This reminded me of Peter Drucker’s observation about Leadership Network, founded by Bob Buford: “The fruit of your work grows on other people’s trees.” (Read more.)
There’s more—so I urge you to read and learn from this fascinating book:
• The “Fears, Gaps, Challenges” pre-retreat assignment for all senior leaders.
• “GOAT”—the firm’s “Go Away Time” 30-day sabbatical when a team member reaches 10 years of service.
• Metaphors: Huge landed on three unique “front doors” (learn about doorbells also) and what they first labeled “drawers.”
• Categorization (the 3-page template for the 3 front doors): Experience Transformation, Technology Realization, and Growth Creation (plus: 45 new "products" for helping clients grow).
• History, context, and pricing for creative agencies today: fascinating.
• The work from home dilemma for a global firm: read where Huge landed.
• More Metaphors: Conversion from being a “light bulb” for the clients to a “laser.”
• And this:
Did the transformation work? Read the book!
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Madison Avenue Makeover: The Transformation of Huge and the Redefinition of the Ad Agency Business, by Michael Farmer. And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.
YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:
1) In discussing the best business model for Huge, their consultants delivered an overview of various business models—and their pros and cons. They warned, “Employing the wrong model contributes to client churn and talent burnout.” What’s our business model? How long have we had it? Is it working? Is it time for an upgrade? Can we do it while flying the plane?
2) Someone on your team should read another fascinating book on the advertising industry, The King of Madison Avenue: David Ogilvy and the Making of Modern Advertising, by Kenneth Roman (read my review). A popular Ogilvyism was, “You can’t save souls in an empty church.” Discuss the fine line between advertising and manipulation. Spotlight one of your print ads, brochures, email blasts, or website page that generated remarkable results recently. Why did it work?
Mastering 100 Must-Read Books - Part 7: The Contrarian Thinkers
Book #43 of 100: Talking to Strangers
For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by spotlighting Book #43 in Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.
Talking to Strangers:
What We Should Know
about the People We Don't Know
by Malcolm Gladwell
Books #41 through #45 spotlight five unique authors I’ve labeled “Contrarian Thinkers.” Bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell writes, “The issue with spies is not that there is something brilliant about them. It is that there is something wrong with us.”
• Read my review.
• Order from Amazon: Talking to Strangers
• Listen on Libro (8 hours, 57 minutes)
• Download the 100 Must-Read Books list (from John and Jason Pearson).
THE BIG IDEA: Really smart people (the CIA, military intelligence, regulators, university officials with Ph.D.’s, the list goes on…) are not that smart when discerning if people we don’t know well are hoodwinking us (think spies, double agents, Ponzi schemers, football coaches, job applicants, the list goes on…). So…what chance is there for the rest of us with average intelligence? Gladwell: not much! The author elaborates on two puzzlers:
PUZZLER #1: “Why can’t we tell when the stranger in front of us is lying to our face?”
PUZZLER #2: “How is it that meeting a stranger can sometimes make us worse at making sense of that person than not meeting them?”
Also on this theme, read my reviews of Fool Me Once and Code Name Blue Wren.
The authors of Future Normal are realists: “The truth is that the future is abandoned, defunded, ignored, or ridiculed just as often as it is realized. So the real challenge isn’t predicting the future but rather predicting what will become normal.” Read my review of Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work and Thrive in the Next Decade. And for more book reviews, visit the Pails in Comparison Blog.
The 4 Big Mistakes Board Seminars:
Sept. 29: San Diego
Oct. 12: Irvine, CA
The Barnabas Groups in San Diego and Orange County are hosting seminars for nonprofit CEOs and board members. On Oct. 12, John Pearson and Mike Pate will present "The 4 Big Mistakes to Avoid With Your Nonprofit Board: How Leaders Enrich Their Ministry Results Through God-Honoring Governance.” Contact TBG/OC for more info about the Oct. 12 seminar. John is also presenting the seminar on Sept. 29 in San Diego for TBG/San Diego. Can’t attend? Order the 107-page workbook from Amazon.
____________________________________________________
PEARPOD | TELLING YOUR STORY. Would "The Man in the Hathaway Shirt" ad or the VW Beetle "Lemon" ad still work today? Need new ideas or even a new business model? Need help with AI innovations? We can help. Contact Jason Pearson at Pearpod (Design, Digital, Marketing, Social).
____________________________________
Your Weekly Staff Meeting is emailed free two to four times a month to subscribers. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. PRIVACY POLICY: Typepad, Inc. hosts John Pearson's Buckets Blog. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform for Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews. By clicking (above) to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy policy here.
Comments