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WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM START-UPSTRANSFORMING THE WAY WE WORK

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INTRODUCTION

I believe in entrepreneurship. We lost it as the industry. We are the hostages of corporate rules and became clerks driven by our agencies’ fear of change.

Good news is the world is not only us. Beyond our solar system there is life.

Vibrant, filled with passion and ultimate belief that boundaries do not exist.

This is the world of start-ups.

We will learn to act like them or we will perish.

Transformation starts from the state of mind.

Here are some thoughts.

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BE THE MARKETER

As a startup you develop your business from scratch. You start your new life as a holistic entrepreneur tackling on all those areas that you had no clue before.Business models, sales startegies and low budget SEO, PR, SEM, Social Media and Gd knows what else…

ERGO: we should encourage and incentivise our people to work on their own ‘side-projects”. Doesn’t matter what – an idea, process, model, platform – but building sth from scratch will significantly improve their commiunications skills and add consulting competencies.Both within the industry and on broader scale.

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USE EXISTING MANPOWER

The key to success is to do stuff for as little as possible (we know the name of the game anyway). We have the resources so it is only a matter of proper brief and guidance. Design, marketing, planning, art, media – you name it. There is always someone who has the required skilled (and usually free to go).

ERGO: we need to share. Skills in the first place but also knowledge and tools. Most of our development activities take place in silos – usually badly timed and/or exclusive to few. Incentivised and encouraged skill-sharing scheme will clearly contribute to the transformation and know-how acceleration.

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OUT OF THE BOX (THER IS NO BOX)

Startups go out. Meet-ups, conferences or hackathons. We don’t. But there you get to know the most interesting and versatile people. From packaging designers to rocket scientists. Their unique perspective of a problem sharpens your senses and improves your ideas.

ERGO: ad people don’t only have to think out of the box – they also need to be OUT OF THE BOX. Networking, taking part in hackathons and staying in permanent touch with startup community helps to get interesting feedback, better insights and ultimately more valuable own outputs. Not forgetting about the access to a vast talent community.

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CRITICISM IS CHALLENGE

Startupers live in ‘lean rules’. It is the iteration of ‘build, measure, learn’. Making mistakes is given. Launching a perfect object isn’t the goal – testing the minimal viable one as quickly as possible and improving it even quicker. They are looking for honest opinion ready to swallow their pride in exchange of progress.

ERGO: we need to create and endorse the culture of ‘failure’. A culture where you can have an honest and bold discussion, idea challenges and open criticism. Only that will lead to faster everything. From idea creation to greater creative executions.

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T-SHAPED YOU BECOME

Startup is lean. To succeed you need to be multitasking in all areas. The best team members are those who are t-shaped and are savvy in many different areas besides their own. This gives them the ability to collaborate super-efficiently.

ERGO: we should stop thinking within our own disciplines. Planners need to have design, copywriting and programming skills (some). Vice-versa: creatives should be able to put on paper good strategy. Overlapping skills would improve collaboration, understanding and the ultimate creative result.

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MATCHMAKING

Startup rely on a small team of people. It HAS to fit socially and professionally. That’s the critical success condition. Sometimes it needs a lot of dating before the perfect match. Obvious take out: best recruits are those who think like co-founders and stake-holders and do not need to be closely managed.

ERGO: we need to improve the working conditions to increase the amount of best talent. The team should be integrated already at the beginning of the process which will help proactiveness. This point seems to be obvious but it is very often underestimated.No chemistry, no progress.

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JUST F DO IT

Startup equals risk failure. It is all about survival and that makes their leaders more proactive and agile than anybody else. You hunt and hustle people, do and execute, try and experiment. Learning by doing – amazing things happen when you just fucking doing it.

ERGO: we and our clients have the tendency to overthink the ideas and tactical executions. We need to be more risk-taking and a bit more spontaneous. You cannot measure everything every time. And we are in the business of transforming behavior not reflecting it.

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OUT OF BED

Great thing about start up is its flexible time scheme. You have the freedom to work from wherever you want – what really matters is your performance and not your constant physical presence. To write your winning presentation ou of your bed can be more efficient than sitting in front of your desktop at the office 9 to 18.

ERGO: self-management is the characteristics of good people and makes them more productive. If you combine it with an adherent reward system you have the chance to boost creativity and productivity. And if not bed – then at least hot desk.