Glen Quagmire
From Innovationclass
10 Point Manifesto
1. Create a Unique Environment • Becoming better organization is not about doing things more professionally or done by following strict business standard. There will be no cubes, no tucked away offices because this inhibits communication. A tight standard business model is not the right structure for today’s innovative company.
2. It’s ok to fail • Failing leads you so often to the answer. • “I can accept failure, but i can't accept not trying...failing so often is why I am a success.” - Michael Jordan
3. Leadership happens through dedication to a goal • Every person brings different traits and strength to the group. Just because someone is fit to lead in one situation, does not mean they are fit to lead in another. Playing of strengths can make the task of solving a problem that much easier.
4. Get the right people on the bus and get the wrong people off. • Find the people who have the company’s core values built right in. They need to have theses inherent values of the company , we cannot teach them how to believe what the company does. Higher the person, not the position.
5. To change the world you have to be in it • No one was ever successful sitting in an office guessing about how there potential clients or customers interacted or felt about the world. • To understand a process get involved in it. Don’t read about it or make hypothesis.
6. Listen…to everyone • Great ideas can come from anywhere. Facilitating discussion between the whole team is key. The more people involved, the better an idea may become.
7. Be Brave and Never Give Up • Believe in what you are doing and believe in the people that are around you. If you refuse to buy in to what you are trying to accomplish, failure is inevitable.
8. If there is “enough” ideas, get more • Brainstorm. Brainstorm. Brainstorm. Do it in groups or alone. While at lunch or at the office. Getting the most ideas will help make progress to the best solution.
9. Be Open for Change • Just because it may be the correct way to do something in one moment, doesn’t mean it will be in another. • Learn what the past has to teach and apply it in future issues.
10. Play • Have fun. Just because it is a job does not mean it can not be fun.
Agencies I have interest in
Strawberry Frog (http://www.strawberryfrog.com/)
StrawberryFrog is at the vanguard of the blossoming advertising scene, blazing a trail with unfettered energy, breakthrough strategy and creativity and fresh ideas. The buzzword is momentum. There's never been anything like it, and there still isn't, yet.
From USATODAY.com Goodson saw an opportunity to create from scratch a creative agency that was small and flexible, but had a global perspective. Within three years, he had Strawberry Frog up and running in Amsterdam.
Today, it has a second office in New York and a roster of big-name clients, including Old Navy, Heineken and Diet Coke. Billings of about $300 million this year are expected to result in gross revenue of $30 million, the privately held company says. Goodson won't disclose its profit margins but says they exceed the industry average of 15%.
Strawberry Frog's unusual organization also includes an international network of about 100 freelancers assigned to work groups for clients. The approach keeps overhead down and lets it mix and match a pool of global talent with clients' needs.
Increasingly, today's ad clients are looking for borderless ideas that work across the Internet and around the world.
Set on creating a new, nimble agency model, Goodson wanted a name to set it apart from old-style agencies he considered dinosaurs. It occurred to him that frogs certainly are nimble and, as he bounced around ideas, he came across the rare — and poisonous — Strawberry Frog (Strawberry Poison Dart Frog to be precise). The name is meant to embody agency goals — to be unique and fun. What about the poison part? "One man's poison is another man's passion," says Goodson. "The name takes on a personality. We wanted to create a phenomenon, not a traditional agency."
"We don't just want to do ads," McKeon says. "We want to shape culture."
Goodby, Silverstein, and Partners (http://www.goodbysilverstein.com/main_site/main.html)
AdAge: Can Goodby's culture, its flat structure and its ability to encourage original, distinctive work go mass with 500 or more employees? Goodby "prizes originality but doesn't punish the misfires," Mr. Simpson says, adding: "There are no right answers in this business -- there are just better answers. A lot of different voices come through, not just one style. It's a democratic culture. We approach a brand and try to find a voice for that brand. There's an HP voice, not our voice."
Tribal DDB (http://www.tribalddb.com/) - In the business of communication, idea is king - 2008 Global Network Agency of the Year
