The People to Source Code Relationship : a Google Firestarters Provocation
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The document discusses the evolving nature of agency operations, emphasizing the importance of simplifying organizational structures and removing redundant practices to enhance adaptability and efficiency. It challenges traditional hiring practices in the communications industry and advocates for a focus on measurable client outcomes instead of conventional advertising methods. Ultimately, it suggests that agencies should build themselves around modern principles rather than legacy systems to remain relevant in a changing landscape.
The People to Source Code Relationship : a Google Firestarters Provocation
- 1. The People-to-Source Code Relationship a Google Firestarters provocation by Ian Fitzpatrick, 3 December, 2014
- 2. Operating System: a collection of assumptions and convictions compiled into repeatable routines.
- 3. Code compounds. Lines of Code, Windows OS, 1992-2009 1992 WIN 3.1 • 2.5 MM 1993 NT 3.1 • 4.5 MM 1994 NT 3.5 • 7.5 MM 1995 WIN 3.51 • 9.5 MM 1996 NT 4.0 • 11.5 MM 2000 WIN 2K • 29 MM 2006 WIN VISTA • 40 MM 2009 WIN 7 • 50 MM
- 4. So do assumptions & convictions. Publicis Groupe Employees, 2000 - 2014 2000 29K 2005 36K 2006 40K 2009 45K 2014 63K
- 5. “Products have their attendant bureaucracy embedded within them. It is this that enables them to plummet or soar.” Dan Hill in Dark Matter and Trojan Horses
- 6. When we speak of agencies as ‘nimble’, ‘large’, ‘lean’ or ‘massive’, we’re talking about lines of code, not scale or billings.
- 7. For your consideration: The new agency OS is defined by the parts of the agency source code we strip away, not what we layer on top of it.
- 8. For your consideration: The new agency OS is defined by the parts of the agency source code we strip away, not what we layer on top of it. the people we hire how we organize the role of leadership the financial model what we deliver
- 9. For your consideration: The new agency OS is defined by the parts of the agency source code we strip away, not what we layer on top of it. t-shaped people acting like a startup tribes innovation labs
- 10. What is the people-to-code relationship? Smaller isn’t necessarily leaner. There are plenty of large 30 person agencies in the world.
- 11. LEGACY AGENCY OS NEW AGENCY OS Maximize talent Organize by role for repeatability and process Optimize the efficiency of the model Retainer-based compensation with hourly billing Serves the hardware: manages cycles, memory and resource allocation Advertising Maximize the talent-to-legacy code ratio Organize for the capacity to plug into networks and existing client programs Optimize the capacity of the organization to adapt Hybrid model with project work and value-based pricing Serves the user: manages interoperability, contextual relevance and value Communications products HIRING & PEOPLE AGENCY STRUCTURE ROLE OF LEADERSHIP & ADMINISTRATION OPTIMIZED TO FINANCIAL MODEL DELIVERS
- 12. A provocation: If you were starting a comms agency today, would you begin by hiring people from advertising agencies? If not: How would they organize themselves? Would they begin with briefs? Would they divide learning and making into discrete roles? What kinds of client relationships would keep them engaged? What would your agency feel like?
- 13. A provocation: If you were starting a comms agency today, would you begin by hiring people from advertising agencies? If not: How would they organize themselves? Would they begin with briefs? Would they divide learning and making into discrete roles? What kinds of client relationships would keep them engaged? What would your agency feel like?
- 14. We are Scott Forstall. Most agencies build down from an existing OS. How, then, do we decode ourselves?
- 15. Gum up human resources. Insist that our teams make concerted efforts to hire talented people who aren’t precious about the role or methods of advertising.
- 16. Update our libraries and APIs. Replace the oppressive language of means with the language of measurable client business outcomes.
- 17. Find open formats. The value of your output will be measured not only by its quality, but by its value both across the client organization and through the client’s networks.
- 18. Eliminate peripherals. Add scale and functionality by plugging into new networks, not by growing new operational appendages.
- 19. Finally, delete bad code. If someone can’t point to the connection between ‘this is how we do it here’ and a closely- held organizational conviction, then it’s not code worth keeping.