tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43447836803029670552024-03-13T09:31:26.382-07:00Wrage / AntwortFolker Wragehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04901811476635767473noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4344783680302967055.post-8500225274920801262014-03-11T12:12:00.002-07:002014-03-11T12:12:16.989-07:00Werbewoche - Translation<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Note: This is the translation of the article below. Werbewoche is Switzerland's most important advertising trade magazine. In every issue they have something called the "head of the week" a portrait of someone they find worthy for such a feature.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Another note: The name of the company... An eplanation: My last name "Wrage" (as often in German, the "W" is spoken like a "V") sounds almost like "Frage" which is the German word for "question". As you might have already guessed, "Antwort" is the German word for "answer". Makes for a pretty good name. In German. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Wrage’s
Agency For Boosting Creative Powers</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">After 20 years in international advertising
agencies, Folker Wrage is starting his own consulting company. His “Wrage/Antwort”
wants to help companies find creative answers to business challenges.</span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">During
recent years, his work was characterized mostly by change management projects.
On his last assignment that lasted over a year and ended in August 2013, he
helped bring back McCann Erickson in Istanbul
almost “from 0 to 100”. Wrage’s answers to change were also in demand when
McCann Erickson wanted to improve their position in Zurich in late 2010. Their change management
was well on its way when their headquarter in Frankfurt
lost the Opel account globally. In Zurich,
this was more than half of the business. Consequently, the office was closed. “Not
the right decision”, as Folker Wrage is still convinced today.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Still, this
turned out to be a fortunate turn of events for him. “Without my transfer from Zurich to Istanbul,
I probably wouldn’t have gone back to school again.” Folker Wrage turned his experience
with the creatives on the Bosphorus into his thesis at the renowned Berlin
School of Creative Leadership, earning him his MBA. The subject of his thesis: “U-Turn
– How To Turn An Agency Around In 12 Months.”</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">When the
Turkish office was running well again without him, taking the courage to start
his own thing was the logical next step. His new company Wrage/Antwort is
operating from Zurich
and offers companies a variety of consulting products. One of the main offers
is a combination of interim and change management, aiming to use times of
transition in the management to start working on important change projects
within the company. And even in shorter analysis assignments, an integration
into the work process is sought.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">“The basis
for this is my conviction that after many rounds of cost cutting and efficiency
programs, companies will increasingly need to tap into creative potentials
within their company and use them to differentiate themselves from the
competition. This is not only true for communication and product development,
but for all other parts of their business.”</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Discovering
creative potential</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The offer
is primarily directed towards companies of the creative industries, but is explicitly
not limited to those. At the moment, Wrage is in conversation with his previous
employer McCann, and is already working on several small projects for the Swiss
branch of an international brewery. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Wrage can
also help find answers when, for example, an agency or any other company does
have creative abilities and capacities within their organization, but somehow
struggle to “transfer” it into the creation of their products. “We put too much
focus on simply carrying things out, just operating, and don’t make any
progress in creativity” is what these businesses might be concerned about. Wrage
also thinks that many agencies have not been able to tackle the digital
challenge very well yet, both on an organizational and on strategic level. “That’s
a question of structures and processes, really. My role in this can be either
strategic or tactical – but always very close to the work process” explains
Wrage who can look back on more than 20 years of experience in different
agencies.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Folker
Wrage started out studying psychology. Around that time, he also worked as a
flight attendant for five years. “But that’s not necessarily a profession that
you really want to do all your life. So the question arose: What can I do that
challenges my brain more?” The answer for him was writing. The music connoisseur
that still DJs from time to time on his days off, worked his way up to being an
editor-in-chief for a magazine for the club- and in-crowd in Frankfurt,
primarily writing reviews. And since he knew a creative director at OgilvyOne,
the music journalist could occasionally take jobs writing on small advertising
assignments. His work was well received, and so he was finally asked to work
100% in advertising. In just ten years, the DJ moved from being Junior
Copywriter to CD, and finally Executive Creative Director at OgilvyOne.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In 2003,
Wrage moved on as CD to Leo Burnett in Frankfurt.
2006 he changed for the same position in the same town to Saatchi &
Saatchi. And finally, in 2008, he was called to work in Zurich. At Publicis Dialog the task was to creatively
push the integration of Fisch Meier Direkt.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">After the “fire
drill” at McCann Zurich the troubleshooter was offered an assignment with an
even more difficult task within the network, in Istanbul. “I didn’t exactly know what was
waiting for me down there. But after a whole day of talks in the agency and
dinner with the new CEO I simply looked into his eyes and knew: This is a big
challenge, but also a chance.” </span>Three weeks later, Folker Wrage moved to
Istanbul. </div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The McCann
office at the border of Europe and the orient
was „de facto devastated, both regarding motivation and the business. Without
their own fault, the office had lost two large international clients. As a
consequence, many employees had to be let go. The executive creatives had left
the agency, as well as the Chief Marketing Officer. “It was a mess. But I tried
to find among the people that were left those that I could motivate again to
create positive change. We immediately started to make some important
decisions, primarily because most of the leadership had left. On the other
hand, I wanted to go for a new positioning of the agency. I quickly saw that we
needed to create a digital product that would be creative, visible, and of high
quality. Without that we wouldn’t have had a chance to differentiate ourselves
in that market. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">After just
three months they were already there: The creative department that “had been left
without pride and confidence” had been turned into an “active, modern, and happily
working department.” Of course, a bit of luck was involved as well. “We quickly
won a large new client. That helped grow trust quickly.”</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Developing
in different directions</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Towards
fall 2013, Folker Wrage moved back from Istanbul
to his tastefully renovated farm house close to Dübendorf. Here, he could take
the time to enter the last chapters of his thesis for the Berlin School of
Creative Leadership into his computer.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">But the
idea for this additional education had been circling in his head long before Istanbul. “There comes a
point, when you have worked your way through the creative departments of the
international agencies to reach management level, when you have two options:
You either think everything is just fine and you’re satisfied with what you
have achieved. Or – and in my case this is what happened – you want to take on
more responsibility than “just” as the head of the creative department.” Most
agencies, he says, are still organized in a way “where even the CCO is regarded
as a CD, and not as part of the management.” Folker Wrage was way too
interested in leading and shaping a company to be limited to this traditional
CD role. “With an MBA, you do get more respect.”</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">With his
international professional history in different agencies, and now with his
degree, Folker Wrage counts primarily on advertising agencies to be interested
in his services as consultant and coach. “Many companies have been reduced to
efficiency and have been shrunk to the max. How do they want to improve their
position now? They are under heavy pressure. Employees are overworked,
motivation is low. In short: There is simply no more time for an “extra round”,
do do something on top. In cases like that my job is to enable this
organization to take a more creative look at how they work and how they are
structured.”</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Folker
Wrage is convinced that there is more creative potential in every organization
than suspected, “and that’s what I want to help harness.” How this is done and
in which areas doesn’t have to be specifically defined in advance. “That
becomes clear in the first conversations with my clients. They understand that
they could do more, and then we approach the task together and analyze, what
can be done where. There is no shortage in tools and models.”</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Of course,
being from Germany, Wrage
has also thought about the possibility of starting his business somewhere else,
and not in Zurich.
He wants to work internationally, and has just published a long article in the American
issue of Forbes. But the German feels that he is in the right place, even after
the latest elections [that ask for a limitation of foreigners moving to Switzerland]. </span>“Switzerland
is an international place. I can work well from here, serving Germany, and
Eastern Europe.” <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Plus: His
wife Constantine, who was looking after their home during Wrage’s excursion to Turkey, is
deeply busy with projects herself. As an independent producer she is working
for different advertising agencies, and has just completed the production of a
new TVC with Roger Federer for Credit Suisse. “That’s a big one,” as Wrage
comments. From time to time he enjoys her help in organizing his projects. But
starting an agency together is – for now – not an option.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Wrage/Antwort
was constructed primarily around the experience of his creative head, and will
work using his “exciting and diverse network.” He also relies on this network
in communicating his new services. Wrage built it as a jury member of various
creative awards and festivals like Cannes Lions, New York Festival, John Caples
Award, and Golden Drum, as well as by being a speaker at a number of summits.
This March, he is speaking about change management at the World Summit of
FESPA, a global organization for the print industry. And in May, he will lead a
workshop in Prague,
asking “how can I make my company more creative?” The founder is convinced: “By
being present at these events, and by presenting content and ideas, my business
is more or less building automatically.”</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Being asked
whether Wrage/Antwort might one day turn into a “real” advertising agency, the versatile
consultant wants to “keep all options.” A lot of people in Zurich that had worked together with him,
would like to work in agency with him again. But: “I prefer not to define what
Wrage/Antwort will turn into. I like to leave that open, and I find it much
more exciting to start now with something that I believe in, and then look how
people react to it. I compare this to prototyping, something that is normally
done in product design. It’s one of the principles that I started this company
with: a business model that is constantly adapting while the company is
developing, going through phases and steps of change.”</span></div>
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Folker Wragehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04901811476635767473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4344783680302967055.post-14219989445524090362014-03-10T04:34:00.002-07:002014-04-30T05:42:47.701-07:00Wrage/Antwort in der "Werbewoche"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span id="goog_1449469420"></span><span id="goog_1449469421"></span><br />Folker Wragehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04901811476635767473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4344783680302967055.post-31031839898385523722014-03-08T11:24:00.002-08:002014-03-08T11:49:15.407-08:00Chances And Challenges Of Change<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Note: This is the script for a speech at the
FESPA World Summit 2014 in Munich.
It was directed at top executives of the print industry – but due to the nature
of the subject, it will be interesting for other audiences as well.</span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For 20
years, I have been working for international advertising agencies like Ogilvy, Leo
Burnett, and McCann. About half of those 20 years, I was working in management
positions.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">During
these years, I have seen lots of things change. When I started, there was no
internet. We were sitting in front of monochrome monitors, working with MS-DOS,
and none of the art directors had a Mac. They didn’t have any kind of computer.
</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Like I said
– really lots of changes. But what I have never actually witnessed in any of
these companies was something that could rightfully be called a change
initiative, or a change project. Not even in the most extreme cases.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Change Management?</span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We bought
other companies – no change management. We lost big clients and plenty of
people – no change management. Even when we successfully turned around pretty
big agency offices, it wasn’t actually treated like a proper change project.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It made me
think. Why is that? And I have come to the conclusion that there aren’t really
many people around that truly understand change, and how to deal with it. It’s
such a basic word, such a common thing, and we don’t need a definition of it,
we all know what it is. But do we really?</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What Is Change?</span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It’s not
that easy. Yes, we know, if something is one way one day, and different another
day, something has changed. And we can all say smart things about it, like
change being the only constant in life, and things like that.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Most of
these expressions reflect how we look at change quite well. A change is gonna
come. Change is something that is inevitable. An outside force, something we
can’t control, almost like the weather. <br />
<br />
And it’s true. It’s a force of nature, in a way. But that’s not all, of course.
Because we know – we all can change the world. Or at least part of it. There is
that feeling of self-efficacy. As much as we all are forced to live with change
– we’re also very much capable of changing just about anything we want to
change.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE;"><br clear="all" style="page-break-before: always;" />
</span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Inside and outside</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So there
are two kinds of change.<span style="color: red;"> </span>The change that comes
and the change we bring about. We learned a lot of smart things in business
school, but one of the smartest was this: If the rate of change on the outside exceeds
the rate of change on the inside, the end is in sight.<span style="color: red;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Both forms
of change are related to each other, of course – but not necessarily in a way
that we need to react to the change coming from the outside with the change we
bring about on the inside. We need to be quicker than that – and actually
change on the inside before the change that comes from the outside actually
affects us. So if we manage change well, both kinds of change are good.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And if it’s not good?</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now – we
sometimes find ourselves in situations where change seems to be something
really bad. Like for example when a new technology is giving us a hard time,
maybe even threatening to put us out of business completely. Like for example
the digital revolution.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But if we
look at the subject closely and honestly, we will have to admit a few things. First
of all: This didn’t happen overnight. As quickly as the world may be changing –
the idea that the digital revolution might be changing the game for a lot of
industries has always been pretty obvious.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Secondly:
The digital revolution has opened up millions of business opportunities, and it
still does, for everyone, including advertising, including printing –
absolutely everyone can benefit from it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So how come
the changes of the digital era have turned into a problem for some people?
We’ve heard it a moment ago. Because in those cases the rate of change on the
inside must have been slower than that on the outside. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What do we do?</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
question, obviously, is – well, how do we change? Sticking with the subject of
the digital revolution, and looking at positive examples it is quickly obvious
that some people have already taken advantage of it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">You will
find examples in every single industry. Automotive: The first car manufacturers
are teaming up with Google and Apple to get an advantage over competitors.
Advertising: Some agencies have started to change their organizations as much
as 15 years ago – and deliver a seamlessly integrated product today. And yes,
of course, there are people in the printing business who are taking advantage
of the new possibilities that have come up over the last decade or so. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE;"><br clear="all" style="page-break-before: always;" />
</span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What you really need: Honesty</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There are
two things you can’t do without if you want to manage change. Number 1: Honesty.
Primarily regarding yourself and your company. It’s really hard. You’re proud
of what you are doing, proud of what you have achieved, and we all know how it
is – you like to see things in a positive light. We all do. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">You can’t
change anything if you are not able to analyze your current position honestly
and objectively. Sometimes it’s very easy. On my last assignment, we had almost
no senior management left, the agency had no digital strategy whatsoever, and
no visible digital product, it had a structure that didn’t represent the size
of the organization and didn’t give it a chance to answer the needs of the
market. Sounds like a nightmare? Not if you have been sent in to change things.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It’s a lot
more tricky if the need for change isn’t as dramatically obvious. It’s up to
you to be honest to yourself, and to ask yourself: Do you have the right
people? Do we have the right structure? Are we investing in the right
technologies? Am I still the right guy to run this company? Are we still
producing the right products? Are we selling our product the right way? Don’t
paint it black, but don’t fool yourself either.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What need even more: Creativity</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Crucial
point number 2: Creativity. I really don’t know any industry that hasn’t been
under intense pressure over the last two decades. Rounds and rounds of cost
cutting, endless restructuring processes, and plenty of efficiency initiatives
have been run. It is very exhausting. Today, we are working more and harder
than ever, and we have become incredibly efficient.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Did that
ease the pressure? Did that help us be more relaxed regarding our competitors?
Of course not. It’s like the race between the rabbit and the hedgehog. Can’t be
won. And for a lot of companies this has led to a situation where motivation is
low and sinking, workload high and rising – with negative effects on corporate
culture.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">My answer,
clearly, is to start getting creative about solving business challenges. You
don’t want to run the efficiency race, the cost cutting race, the price
slashing race – it’s a killer. To a certain extent you will probably have to,
but you need to do more. Get creative. Open your mind. Creativity isn’t just
something that goes into your products, it should be something that is part of
every aspect of your business.<span style="color: red;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Look around</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">You can
find inspiration everywhere – new ways of doing things, of looking at things,
of managing things. Simply because everyone is basically facing the same
challenges you are. One of the most interesting definitions of creativity, or
of an idea, is “</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">making
connections between or among concepts that the thinker previously saw as
separate and unrelated.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So look,
learn, and apply. Other industries are doing things differently – and often in
ways that can help you at least take a critical look at how things are done in
your company. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="page-break-before: always;" />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Example #1: Think about structure</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Look at how
the most creative companies in the world are structured, how they are organized.
You will see that they look at structure in a very different way, and I bet
there is something in there that can help improve how you work. Most companies
that struggle with change have very rigid and hierarchical structures. There is
a good chance that less formal structures could help, and that project based
teams can solve problems better than fixed teams.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Example #2: Think about workflow</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Take a
really good look at how projects are managed in your company – and how other
industries handle it. It’s really hard to get people to learn and apply a new
way of organizing workflows, and it needs training, but it can make a huge
difference. Look at Agile Project Management as an alternative. Yes, it’s a
method that is applied in design agencies and in software development, but it
is clearly not limited to it. People who work with Agile almost always say that
they achieve better results in a more structured way and with much better use
of the time that is available.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Example #3: Think about innovation</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Almost
every company is convinced that they are innovators, but the least of them are.
Again, be honest about it. Understand that it takes more than just the will to
innovate. You can’t just tell your employees to start inventing things.
Innovation needs to be understood, and people need to know methods of
innovation. Yes, do create an innovation spirit, but support it with innovation
knowledge. Choose your most creative minds, teach them, create a skunkworks. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Example #4: Think about workspace</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Even in
industries that are centered around creativity, the workspace rarely is
designed to inspire and to interact. Most of the time, even the meeting zones
are terribly uninspiring, and they usually can’t be accessed for group work.
You don’t even have to look at Google or Facebook to understand how companies
enable creativity, new ideas, group dynamics. At Bloomberg for example, there
are dozens of social zones where people meet, have a free snack, enjoy a free
soda or juice, and talk about projects. It’s not a small investment, but it
clearly pays off for them. Interaction creates opportunities.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Example #5: Think about technology</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Even if you
are working in a high tech industry like large format printing, it pays to try
and find new ways of looking at it. Sure, it pays to invest in machines and
systems that are designed to save time, money, resources, that are designed to
give you the chance to produce something that others can’t deliver. But it
doesn’t help so much if everybody else buys them too. Develop your own opinion
and path regarding technology. Sometimes even looking back helps. If everybody
is going digital, it might pay off to look the other way. Try to find a good
letter press printer in Germany,
for example. Difficult.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Example #6: Think about finance</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Yes, finance
and creativity. Not creative accounting, no – but it might pay off to look at
finance critically and analyze if the way you are handling finance is actually
helping your business – or if it is creating obstacles. Apple for example – it
is fair to say that one of the reasons why they are creating better products
than other companies is because they just have one bottom line, and not a
dozen. No silos. No conflicting interests. If your company consists of several
corporate entities, chances are that this is keeping you from getting better
results.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Example #7: Human resources </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Actually
most of the six previous points automatically lead to changes in and around
human resources. Which obviously is only possible if HR is a valuable part of
your organization – and in a lot of companies it simply isn’t. A lot of
companies rely on employees suggesting newhires – leading to organizations that
are made up of homogenous circles of friends. This may result in a good
atmosphere to work in, but usually not in a work force that is able to tackle a
wide variety of challenges. Nothing is as dangerous as homogeneity in your work
force. Your business is complex, no matter what your business may be – and you
need a good variety of talents and characters to handle it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What else?</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And
strategy? My advice would be to not get too complicated about it. Stick to the
simple equation of defining where you are now, defining where you want to be in
two, three years, and defining what it takes to get there. But do it
thoroughly, with a good deal of research, analysis, and honesty. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And be sure
to understand change management. If you don’t know John Kotter’s eight step
change process yet, make sure you and your most important managers do. There
are a million things you can do wrong in change projects, and most of your
competitors will. It’s a big opportunity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Folker Wragehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04901811476635767473noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4344783680302967055.post-80065731227081998142014-01-29T08:58:00.002-08:002014-01-30T02:29:46.719-08:00Shut Up And Play Your Guitar. Or: Creativity Takes Over<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">People
talk. More than ever. We have reached an era in which people redistribute other
people’s thinking and build their reputation on it. Flow-heaters are called
influencers now. They are running around saying super smart things like “Make
is the new think” – and make nothing. It’s like talk is the new make.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Not that
there is a way to underestimate the value of inspiration. But I keep wondering
how much of that inspiration is actually turned into action. So when I decided
to write something like a call for action, the title of a Frank Zappa album
came to mind. “Shut Up And Play Your Guitar”. Zappa was always very creative
when it came to album titles, and you can almost see where this one came from –
auditions with guitar players who would just talk about their approach to the
instrument rather than showing what they can do with it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Should?</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">In
advertising – and I am sure this will apply to almost any other industry – we
are even worse. We sometimes don’t even bring our guitar. We just sit there,
all agitated and willing, and throw around a whole lot of “we should”. Like in
“we should invite inspiring people to come to our agency and learn from them.”
Or in “we should think about structure, reduce rigidity, form teams based
solely on project requirements.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Sure – change
is a lot harder than people think. Simply deciding to change something and
expecting different results automatically is a great way to make sure that no
one will ever attempt to change anything after that. Resistance to change, and
the tendency of even the good-willed people to fall back into old patterns are
forces that are extremely hard to overcome.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Whiteboards and foosball</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">As well the
inability to apply. We tear off all those posters from a big wall in the
agency, put up a board, and tell everyone that they will fill it with great
ideas, projects, inventions. What happens? Nothing. A few juniors will put up
print ad ideas, and a few seniors will look at them with scepticism. The board
turns into a new place to play the same old game.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We create
playgrounds, put up playstations, x-boxes, foosball tables, funky sofas and
other loungy furniture. And then we’re waiting for the miraculous burst of
creativity that is going to result from all of this. In the end, some of the
work time is turned into game time, and as a consequence some of the free time
is turned into work time. No. Increased amounts of time spent ego-shooting your
way through Siberia do not pave the way to Cannes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So even if
we bring the guitar, we don’t get far beyond strumming along the old “Smoke On
The Water” riff and maybe pumping a fist or two. And we don’t see that while we
are calling ourselves creative agencies, we’re often just profit generating
machines with a creative zoo attached.</span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Obviously,
there are ways to do it better. Simply by understanding creativity, by
respecting it, and by making sure that it has a chance to do its magic. One thing
is painfully visible every day: If we don’t let creativity be the heart of our
organization, its products will also not be creative.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">So what does it take? </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Creativity
comes from loving something, and love is fragile. Creativity needs the right
ecosystem. It needs commitment, trust, openness. And if you really take a look
at your own organization and be truly honest about it – you probably don’t find
much of that. Yes, we do have these great PowerPoint presentations that
proclaim that creativity is at the heart of the organization – but that’s usually
where the story ends already. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Actually, most
of the time we are unable to truly work on it – especially in multinational
organizations. Regional management just about has the right to proclaim and
voice demand – but normally not the power to act upon it. Try to tell a local
CEO how to hire and fire – he won’t be happy, and usually doesn’t follow suit. And
as long as he comes up with the bottom line he is supposed to deliver, he’s
pretty safe too. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Divisions divide</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">We keep
looking at the amazing story of Apple, we marvel at their creativity, their
superior design, their incredible ability to come up with products that the
consumers didn’t know they wanted badly. What’s the magic? We’ve read it a
thousand times. It’s commitment to creativity, and putting all resources
together to work as one team. And we have also read it: At Apple, there is just
one bottom line, just one P&L.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Does anyone
apply? Not really. Especially not in advertising. Most of our global networks
have separate corporate entities for advertising, digital, media, PR, event,
etc. We behave like Sony did when they had the huge opportunity to come up with
an iTunes kind of product before Apple did. They failed. The reason: Separate
divisions with separate P&Ls and separate interests. Does that ring a bell?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And no, we
don’t really trust creativity. We trust the numbers. We deliver money, not
greatness. And how many people have said it: Let’s come up with great ideas,
the money will follow. The only ones that have proclaimed this and are still in
business are the ones that never meant it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Space and joy</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Creativity
needs the right environment, it needs space. I don’t know how many office
buildings I have visited that simply don’t offer any space for people that want
to sit together and dig for greatness. It’s mindblowing. And even if there are
spaces, they are connected to endless bureaucracy. Come back later, your ideas
have to wait.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Without
joy, without happiness, without playing around, there is no creativity. If you
don’t have space, you can’t play. If you have to fear the consequences of
saying something stupid, you can’t talk about ideas. If you don’t have the
freedom to explore, to be stupid, to be outrageous, to think the unthinkable,
you will always be stuck with the ordinary.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Do they really know?</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Another
thing we think and claim to have learned from Apple is that it doesn’t help to
ask the consumers what they want. It doesn’t help to walk around and do tons of
market research, trying to minimize the risk of doing something. It leads
directly to mediocrity. And no, it’s not really Steve Jobs that taught us this.
Henry Ford was just as smart plenty of decades earlier when he said that if he
had asked the people what they wanted, they would have said “faster horses.”</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">It’s not
new. But again, we don’t apply. We don’t trust our instincts, we suppress gut
feeling, we kill intuition. We have unlearned to use everything we know,
everything we have learned, and connect it with what we feel is right – and
then make a decision. We still think that if we do that we are taking a monstrous
risk, and instead ask the only people that are guaranteed to NOT have the right
answer – and then put our money on that.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Risk aversion is risky</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">That’s why
our organizations are full of people who don’t do anything great, but also
don’t really fuck up on anything. Risk averse, defensive, bottom line improving
tight people. Creative people can’t manage, they say, they are unreasonable,
don’t know anything about business. And then they go back to their computers
and add “creative thinking” to their impressive list of abilities on LinkedIn,
and boldly twitter stuff like “fail harder”. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And as much
as this may sound like something illogical – creativity needs process, and
structure. But usually not the kind of structure that is implemented. If we
look at the most creative organizations on this planet, we can clearly see that
their way of working, their process, their structure, their approach to project
responsibility and accountability has nothing to do with the way other
organizations are set up, including advertising agencies. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And what can be done?</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Obviously,
you can’t turn an organization around to incorporate all of these aspects just
like that. After all – you also need the right people to do this. It takes
years to build a creative organization, or to transform one to be creative.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Actually,
it’s really easy to come up with a lot of “But” on every single aspect. There
are always reasons why things are difficult, why people think they can’t be
done. There are endless numbers of people who will happily block every change
initiative that moves an organization towards a more creative culture.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Still, no
organization will be able to think, decide, and implement on any of these
points without difficulties. The answer to facing these difficulties is simple:
Be creative. Finding ways to change things in your company is clearly the very
first test of the creative abilities of that organization.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Step by step</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Don’t
tackle them all at once. Define change projects, read your John P. Kotter, and
get going. You can’t turn your six P&Ls into one? Well, that’s just the way
it is. The question is – what can you do to minimize the adverse effects this
has on the creative powers in your company. Can you find a way to work around
them? Look at process, structure, reporting lines, personnel. There is a
solution. For sure.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">You would
love to create more space for your people, but you can’t, because your
headquarter would kill you for exceeding the square meters per employee limit?
Again – there will be an alternative to renting additional space. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">And culture?</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">One thing
you won’t be able to simply improve with a change project is your corporate
culture. You can’t build trust, accountability, passion, and loyalty with
change management. But you don’t have to. If you work your way towards an
organization that supports creativity, you will alter your corporate culture as
a consequence of it. Much of that transformation is a direct result of simply
deciding to take that direction.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">After years
of cutting cost and personnel, and endless projects that increased efficiency,
creativity is one of the few areas that will give an organization a chance to
compete successfully, and leave the competition behind. <br />
<br />
There is no alternative to being a lot more creative in the future – on all
levels of your organization. And don’t tell anyone you can’t. Because you can.
For sure. So shut up and play your guitar. Play it well.</span></div>
Folker Wragehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04901811476635767473noreply@blogger.com0