Twenty-seven. That’s what number of instances I provided a superb freelance inventive director a full-time job after I was chief inventive officer. Twenty-seven instances, they mentioned no. 

It drove me loopy. They already freelanced with us usually, cherished the group, crushed the briefs, and (apparently) tolerated me simply nice. The cash was nice. What was the issue? 

Once we lastly bought to the underside of it, their reply illuminated all the things improper with how businesses develop expertise: “I don’t wish to take care of purchasers. I don’t wish to run a bit of enterprise. And I don’t wish to handle anybody.” 

In different phrases, they simply needed to do what they did greatest—cook dinner up nice work. 


The agencies that thrived in an uneven year for the industry.

Inside businesses, we’ve constructed these inflexible departmental constructions the place profession development means taking over extra tasks that always don’t have anything to do with what made somebody distinctive within the first place.

We’re obsessive about making everybody do all the things. Received somebody sensible at cultural activations? Nice, now make them lead a 360 inventive platform. Have a author who can craft the right script? Superior, put them accountable for managing 10 folks and attending standing conferences. Excel at model identification? Right here’s a stack of banner adverts to supervise. 

It isn’t simply improper, it’s wasteful. We’re taking our greatest specialists and turning them into mediocre generalists. And the answer isn’t difficult: Construct groups, not departments. 

Take into consideration any nice sports activities group. They win as a result of they’ve gamers who excel of their positions and complement one another. They don’t drive their star quarterback to play protection. They don’t ask a man who hit 50 homers and stole 50 bases to pitch. Wait, unhealthy instance. You get the gist. 

So why will we hold doing this in promoting? 

As a substitute of constructing hierarchies the place everybody must be a jack-of-all-trades to advance, we ought to be creating versatile groups of specialists who’re past sensible at their craft. Desire a large cultural second? Carry within the earned media virtuoso. Want a platform that can outline your model for the following decade? Get the strategist who’s completed it twenty instances. In search of innovation? Faucet the one who’s launched billion-dollar merchandise.