“We had the pleasure of having Simon work with us for around 18 months. During that time Simon challenged us and presented us with ideas for taking Hyphen to new levels, and getting us out of the box it’s all too easy to get into as busy business owners”….more.
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Design-led Innovation at Hyphen
Edengene has recently explored the benefits and pitfalls of Design Thinking to understand what big businesses may be able to learn from designers. Here they interview my client Mike Elam for an inside perspective on how Hyphen approaches innovation…more.
2012 Olympics Wayfinding Designer joins my client CCD
Chris Girling, one of the UK’s top wayfinding design experts and lead wayfinding designer for the London 2012 Games, is joining CCD Design and Ergonomics to drive the agency’s wayfinding offer.
At LOCOG (the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games), Chris was lead wayfinding designer, responsible for the design and delivery of the London 2012 wayfinding and signage kit of parts. He worked with senior management designing a wayfinding and signage strategy for all competition and non-competition venues including the Olympic Park Common Domain, the Olympic Village and the Media Broadcast Centre. His work included the creation of a comprehensive set of guidelines detailing every aspect of the design and products required for games time.
In addition he was responsible for the delivery of the wayfinding and signage for a number of competition venues within the Olympic Park, such as the Velodrome, BMX, Basketball and Eton Manor….more.
Hyphen and Marks & Clerk form strategic alliance
Delighted to announce that leading intellectual property (IP) specialists, the Marks & Clerk Group, have launched a product design and IP consultancy service in partnership with my product design and development consultancy client, Hyphen Design. The Group’s consulting arm, Marks & Clerk Consulting, will now offer product development services with IP protection at the heart of the brief. In particular, consultancy will be provided for functional products such as professional equipment and tools, household and leisure products.
IP protection for functional products, in the form of a patent, grants a party the right to prevent others from exploiting its invention for up to 20 years. This allows a patent-holder to market their product and restrict imitation by competitors.
The consultancy provided by the new joint venture will assist entrepreneurs and in-house design teams in the designing of prototypes and production models, which maximise the protection that can be afforded to the designs. It will also support clients that need to redesign existing products because of IP concerns. The design and development process can be completely outsourced to Marks & Clerk Consulting or carried out in collaboration with an in-house design team.
The Marks & Clerk Group offers a range of IP services through its constituent firms, such as patent and trade mark filing through Marks & Clerk LLP, litigation support through Marks & Clerk Solicitors LLP and commercial advisory services through Marks & Clerk Consulting LLP. Launched in March 2012, the latter provides IP valuation services and financial analysis for royalty audits, licensing negotiations and mediation, patent landscaping and analytics.
Hyphen Design is a leading development and design company specialising in functional products. It has worked with companies such as Ericsson, Schlumberger and B&Q to develop products that are now widely available to consumers.
Simon Mounteney, Partner at Marks & Clerk Consulting LLP said:
“We have seen that many businesses, from start-ups to large corporates, need some extra help to get their product ideas off the ground, through the development stage and onto the production line. This is further complicated by the need to maximise the intellectual property rights that can be used to protect a product from competitors.
“Intellectual property in all its facets is firmly on the boardroom agenda across the business spectrum. Businesses realise that in order to secure their market position, they need to have their patents, trade marks and other rights in order. For the first time now, organisations can work with a proven new product development design service that is fully coordinated with intellectual property protection advice.”
Cameron Treeby, Managing Director of Hyphen Design Ltd, adds:
“In our experience, whether it be working with entrepreneurs that need a helping hand to make their idea a reality or in-house design teams at large companies, it is extremely important that intellectual property considerations be taken into account throughout the new product development process. This is why it is exciting to be working hand in hand with intellectual property specialists to integrate our respective areas of expertise in one offering.”
Extracts from a LinkedIn Discussion posted in the ‘DBA’ Group | July 2012
The author Ann Landers once said, “There are really only three types of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say…What happened?”
Which of these people-types reflects you and your design team’s current behaviours – the proactive, reactive or generally inactive?
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There is only me in my team, on a full-time basis anyway Simon, but I would like to say I aspire to the 1st – for my sins.
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So long as you’re proactive to all of the above you may be alright. Watch, question, deliver.
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Personally, being a ‘driver’ and having a thirst for innovation, it frustrates me when others criticise rather than participate and then contribute no ideas of their own. If someone betters an idea I might have proposed, I am delighted and embrace it.
However, too many people look only for negatives and fault – so I would add a fourth category to Simon’s list – there are those that stop things happening!
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I hear and empathise with your frustration. I’m sure you recognise that the problem here is (largely) that it’s so much easier to criticise than to offer / originate constructive thoughts…..like a default setting it’s pre-programmed human behaviour for the majority, no?
The point with this discussion is that a little self-reflection every so often, whether that brings out positives or negatives, has to be a good thing.
My partner Lisa kindly tells me ‘you make things happen’ which I receive as a compliment, but still struggle with the act of receiving a compliment…I don’t know why. Easier to just see myself as someone that is ‘proactive’, because I am self-employed and drive myself to remain so.
There you go…a little self-reflection, anyone else?
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Hi Simon, What do you think about the idea that the three types exist on a paradigm and we can inhabit any of them, dependent on the specific situation. This gets away from the pressure to boxing ourselves up into extreme categories but turns the focus towards the specific conditions that contribute to behaviour.
One area where attitudes have changed from boxing to paradigm is in the introvert/extrovert area. The current thinking suggests that rather than being one or the other, we tend towards either depending upon the situation, this was a revelation for me because I felt that I oscillated between the 2 but now I realise that’s dependent upon the situation I’m a lot more relaxed about it and embrace both!
If you’re interested in finding out more, some decent books on personality type: Quiet, the power of Introverts by Susan Cain and I’m Not Crazy, I’m Just Not You: Real Meaning of the 16 Personality Types: Amazon.co.uk: Roger R. Pearman, Sarah C. Albritton: Books.
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Yes… I think you raise some really interesting points John, and in essence I would probably agree with you.
I’m familiar with MBTI which refers primarily to ‘preference’. I know some large organisations where this is the preferred business language of choice, and have put their management teams through lengthy training courses to enable the organisation to speak the ‘language’. However, my experience is these only really work when the knowledge and understanding is universal…widely used.
It is particularly useful when working with high performing teams that are skilled and active in giving and receiving feedback….and all familiar with the language, types and preferences.
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That’s a good point, that everyone needs to know it to make it work well (misused and this knowledge can be like nitro glycerin in the hands of a unicyclist on cobbles). Although I wonder if perhaps more self-knowledge is no bad thing- that these concepts could be used by the self-aware individual to better understand the environment that they work best in.
They could also be used with empathy to better understand colleagues and why they behave how they do. I was chatting to Rod Petrie yesterday and we were discussing how strengths and weaknesses are treated within the performance review context and where the emphasis of a performance review ought to be to get most out of the process for all involved. any thoughts on this anyone?
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Following on from your comment John, I wonder what percentage of the day at work people out there really spend playing to their strengths? Do I still get the feeling that when it comes to individual Performance Reviews a higher percentage of the time is spent on their weaknesses, then their strengths, then even more time on none of that stuff.
In my experience the brilliant people, the brilliant agencies and the brilliant teams all play to their strengths. Am I alone in my opinion?
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Rod I’m sure you’re right about performance reviews. There can be a tendency to ‘fix’ the weaknesses. There is, however, no doubt in my mind that self-awareness is the foundation for greater performance, be it individual, team or group, and so if reviews provide time for reflection and awareness so much the better.
Widening the context again to Simon’s original point I also wonder how different it is for leaders/business owners v team players. For business owners – taking action is a given. (OK we all might have bad days but fundamentally we would not be ‘in business’ without it). The make-up, psychology of teams and the balance to make 2+2=5 is a more complex and utterly fascinating dance.
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Hi Liz, agree with self-awareness as the foundation for greater performance. I wonder what proportion of ‘taking action’ involves creating a system that supports and compensates for problems compared with uncovering the true extent of the problem space and taking action to resolve it.
It crops up in my conversations with members particularly when they talk about the conflict/stress of working in the business rather than on the business. Something acutely felt by small design businesses (who let’s face it are in the majority), which pulls them in. I wonder if these difficulties create actions as reactions rather than actions which would have been chosen. The decision whether or not to enter into competition for work that involves providing unpaid creative work perhaps falls into this category (but that’s another hornet’s nest!).
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Some people need an arm round the shoulder, some people need a kick in the pants! Performance reviews leads to HR and if you get me started on that topic you’ll regret it….!
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In the end, people are people. And all you can hope to do in life is learn what your strengths are, and then try to play to them. Whilst Maxine is right, and no one wants to be around those who stop things happening, equally too many Chiefs and not enough Indians can be just as counter-productive.
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Hi Jason, maybe motivation has a lot to do with it.
I saw a good talk by Daniel Pink on TED called the Surprising Science of Motivation. He talks about intrinsic motivators having the strongest pull for people. if these are working for you, you do things because they’re part of something important, they matter and they’re interesting. In terms of job function, his view is that there is strong evidence to say that 3 things underpin our working lives to create motivation.
The first is Autonomy- the degree to which you are self-directed in what you do (quotes a couple of good examples from companies that introduced initiatives to enable their staff to work on stuff that interested them, as well as the work they had to do). I guess that one design equivalent might be pro bono charity work? Or perhaps it might be the opportunity to choose the work you want to do rather than have the work choose you (tough at any time I expect but even more so at the moment.)The second was Mastery- the opportunity to get better and better at something and to see that happening. The third was Purpose- having a purpose larger than ourselves. he quotes an interesting comparison between Microsoft Encarta (failed online encyclopedia) and Wikipedia (successful encyclopedia).
Maybe the difference between Ann Landers ‘types’ is that the first is doing something that satisfies these criteria and the other 2 have not plugged into these values in what they are doing?
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It’s an interesting discussion John and as many others have said, at the end of the day it comes down to a willingness to learn and share irrespective of position, age or status, self-confidence & above all, the generosity of spirit of the people leading and participating.
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Thanks to those who contributed.
Simon
Marketing Is Dead
A candid perspective by Bill Lee for Harvard Business Review
Traditional marketing — including advertising, public relations, branding and corporate communications — is dead. Many people in traditional marketing roles and organizations may not realize they’re operating within a dead paradigm. But they are. The evidence is clear.
First, buyers are no longer paying much attention. Several studies have confirmed that in the “buyer’s decision journey,” traditional marketing communications just aren’t relevant. Buyers are checking out product and service information in their own way, often through the Internet, and often from sources outside the firm such as word-of-mouth or customer reviews.
Second, CEOs have lost all patience. In a devastating 2011 study of 600 CEOs and decision makers by the London-based Fournaise Marketing Group, 73% of them said that CMOs lack business credibility and the ability to generate sufficient business growth, 72% are tired of being asked for money without explaining how it will generate increased business, and 77% have had it with all the talk about brand equity that can’t be linked to actual firm equity or any other recognized financial metric.
Third, in today’s increasingly social media-infused environment, traditional marketing and sales not only doesn’t work so well, it doesn’t make sense. Think about it: an organization hires people — employees, agencies, consultants, partners — who don’t come from the buyer’s world and whose interests aren’t necessarily aligned with his, and expects them to persuade the buyer to spend his hard-earned money on something. Huh? When you try to extend traditional marketing logic into the world of social media, it simply doesn’t work. Just ask Facebook, which finds itself mired in an ongoing debate about whether marketing on Facebook is effective….more.
Role Model #2 – Anomaly
Defining succinctly who you are and what it is that makes you ‘special’ is a challenge for anyone in this industry. However, a clear positioning can deliver much-needed clarity in a time-starved world and saturated marketplace.
Whether in advertising, media, research or design, those agencies that have enjoyed the most consistent success have powerful intellectual content – they’ve developed models, tools, structures and processes that demonstrate and articulate their beliefs. In making clear statements of these ideas, they not only position and differentiate themselves, they also create a culture that attracts like-minded employees and clients.
A good example of how this has been done well is Anomaly in the US, which called itself a ‘new model agency’ when it set up (originally in the US) in 2004 with a totally different remuneration structure to the normal agency. Anomaly worked on the basis of a share in profits in ‘true partnership’ with clients. The agency launched with these principles at its core, and I believe has stuck by them. Today Anomaly has offices in New York, London, Amsterdam and Toronto.
For me, Anomaly seems to want to be an example to others, and is an agency that doesn’t seem afraid.
I find myself pointing agencies towards them as just a great example of a creative firm doing things differently. This is how we build reputation, make ourselves memorable, engaging, and become recognised by clients and seen as valued collaborative partners.
Extracts from a LinkedIn Discussion posted in the ‘Design Council’ Group | April 2012
“Owners of small design firms – to what extent are you working IN and/or ON the business?“
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Hi Simon, this varies for me throughout the year and in all honesty I have probably been working too much in the business rather than on it recently…today I am probably working 70% on developing the business and 30% on actual project work!
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Too much working IN the business is why the majority of my design clients work with me. However structure and discipline is a dual-edged sword as many creative thinkers run screaming from the very idea.
Finding a harmony between the detail in each job and the blue sky above is a very important task to tackle for many creative businesses.
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Hi, four years ago I was working in the business and we made a loss of £65k at Exesios. Since then I now stand back and ‘work on’ the business and we have now been back in profit for the past two years. My main point of contact has been our accountants?? They have instilled a sense of financial discipline and forward planning that we never had when things were going well before the ‘crash’. I am now the “managing” director as opposed to a “design” director. We now plan and make our luck as opposed to ‘see’ what comes through the door. it has been a very tough lesson but a valuable one. At some point in a business designers either have to stand back and start planning or employ an experienced planner to work alongside.
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I am in the process of setting up my planning & design consultancy. I need to network people to find out what they are up to, get lessons from their experience, share experience, etc. I think IN is very important people like me entering new into business.
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Paul Vincent’s response is an excellent, concise rationale as to how we should all be running our businesses. Our business has been a chronic example of “firefighting” our way through the workload and assuming someone else will always come knocking to keep us in jobs. The work that comes in has not always been of the kind we’d like though, and for the last 8 months we’ve been redeveloping our consultancy with great advice from a mentor.
We’d long searched for an appropriate mentor with the right balance of business and design skills. As designers, our sole concern is not with “the bottom line” and at this point in our working lives we wish also to improve the creative potential of our work alongside functional product design and development. Our mentor has been – and continues to be – worth her weight in gold! She has the vision and enough emotional distance from the business to recognise what we should be doing and how we should be doing it, as well as extracting from us what we’d most like to be doing and helping us to construct processes to get to this point.
Since using her skills and vision, the work we’re starting to take on is already more interesting and a valuable use of our skills and experience, which in turn improves both income and “creative wellbeing”.
So, the short answer is that a mentor can be as useful as good accountants (we have those thankfully) and assuming you can find the right one for you, possibly even better!
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I’m pulling myself out of working ‘in’ so I can focus on working ‘on’ the business. It’s less fun, and less satisfying, but a lot more responsible!
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I’m lucky as I share control of my business with my business partner, he works 100% IN the business (he is ultimately responsible for the making of our models, prototypes and components), whereas I work 70% on developing the business and 30% working IN the business, but my involvement working IN is limited to taking care of the general management of the company (inc working with suppliers and taking care of the finances) so that my business partner is shielded from this distraction and can focus solely of what goes out of the door.
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Hi Simon, I totally agree that working ON the business is vital – especially for small companies, such as ours; where ‘feast and famine’ keep a strong hand on the business activity.
After reading a lot of the other threads on this group I feel we all have a HUGE job to do – not only in helping our own businesses, but in promoting the further understanding of what design can offer to business in general.
There is a lot of discussion about the ‘value’ of design and the fact that designers feel they are not understood by clients, manufacturers and the public in general, leading to a ‘degrading’ of the profession.
My feeling is that we are all responsible for this misconception and misunderstanding of design in general and that we should all be working on this! -
One of the places that we could start is by explaining to the ‘outside world’ what it is we do, how fundamentally it can impact on all aspects of business and then get to grips with why ‘everyone thinks they are a designer’!
We need to start to explain our profession in simple terms (design our approach) rather than using the complex jargon terms and ‘mystical psycho-babble terms’ that designers are so fond of (or too lazy to try to communicate without trying to look clever?) so that the world at large will begin to see the real value of the profession.
I like the terms you’ve used – as for once I can understand what is being proposed.
So what I’m saying is we all need to get working “ON” even a little bit more generally, as this is going to help all of us in the long term.
Sorry to babble on – But thank you Simon, this has made me think a lot about how we present ourselves!
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What an interesting dialogue your question has started Simon. It is one that has been rolling around in my consciousness for the long,long time that I’ve been a designer. I have run successful design businesses and been a Partner in one famous one and Consultant to another and the ‘ON’ and ‘IN’ position has often been a question to ask of all of them.
I should have come to a conclusion but I am ‘creative’ at heart which brackets me not as a responsible adult director but a (nearly) long haired hippy determined to bring creativity to my most unreceptive client! A perception only far from the truth on some days.
I firmly believe in working ON the business and sure, it’s difficult not to work IN, especially as my own business is now smaller and busy with detail decisions for our projects. It seems to me that balance is what is required.
My input here in my studio is about creative leadership followed by good client relationship and with an eye to business structure,change and flux in the market and the financial future of this consultancy. I think that has been the situation in all of the organisations I have worked with and includes many of the client bodies too!
As for expanding a message to help our clients understand I’m very surprised that the design bodies operate without much direction on that front and have singularly failed to develop a simple guide to design and designers for industry and the general public. The degree to which people are mis-informed can be seen by the number of young people lining up to get into Design Groups for work experience – they just don’t know what we do.
So work ON the business, don’t give up working IN the business and have a mentor. The more the merrier and the easier to understand. Its not easy this multi-tasking but it makes sense.
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Glad if this discussion thread has got you thinking about the whole ‘value of design’ conundrum/debate Roger which is undoubtedly a long and well trodden road.
I agree with your views and would add that the more agencies put themselves in the client’s shoes and ‘challenge’ their own offer and behaviours the more they are likely to connect with clients and find the common ground. I have some useful material on my blog which may help here.
Getting back onto the question of ‘to what extent designers are working IN / ON the business’, you’re right David that finding the right balance for your own situation and people arrangements is key. It is also about having a framework or structure to your working week that you (do your level best) to remain disciplined around.
Also, the more accountable/experienced your staff, the more owners should be able to delegate responsibilities confidently, which in turn should help to create the space required to be able to spend more time working ON the business. Designers are prone to employing the younger ‘more affordable’ staff that can be ‘shaped’ which can be appropriate for some but prove to be a false economy for others.
I’m interested in hearing some percentages. As a guide, it is my view that owners should generally be in (or manufacture) a position to be able to spend 50% or more of their time working ON the business, however that is achieved through each working week.
What would you say your % is?
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Hi Simon – I’ve worked in-house at several ‘big’ agencies and their rule of thumb is that senior management should spend about 60-65% of their time ‘on’ the business. But as they’re big agencies they have the staff to do the ‘in’. I would say that your 50% rate is probably about right for smaller agencies.
Like you, I’m a now a consultant, and what I’ve found with smaller agencies is that the biggest challenges are around softer things. Agency owners know that they need to focus on the ‘on’, but often it’s extremely difficult from a psychological perspective for them to ‘let go’ and not be in control of everything.
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Hi Simon – I agree with Stef, many agency owners feel an obligation to roll their sleeves up and exercise a degree of ‘doing’. Some of the agencies I’ve worked with over the last two years actually seem to benefit from a hands-on approach by the leaders. Conversely the work I do with agencies reaps dividends when it’s implemented or championed by someone who’s not too involved in the nitty-gritty. It’s a challenge for agency owners and always will be.
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Good discussion stream, Simon, and one that’s very much needed in our sector.
It’s about balance isn’t it? And it’s something, as we all know, that can be hard to achieve. Making time for the ON is tough when we’re busy. I’m a great believer in a good, old-fashioned, expertly facilitated away-day every so often. Assessing the current picture; identifying and facing future challenges and making plans to deal with them; learning from failures; celebrating achievements. All equally important.
I would just add that the most successful design firms worldwide seem to be those run by designers who not only have the vision, the skills and the passion, but who have also invested in the necessary time and trouble to train properly in business skills (which are nowhere near as difficult as design skills, by the way). Or those which have in place a closely-bonded director/management team with differently-skilled people – whether in-company in larger firms or external in the smaller ones – who between them can take care of all of the operations in the firm.
What doesn’t seem to work long-term is when a businessperson is solely in charge. The firm’s ‘product’ – design – inevitably suffers, and the firm’s reputation rapidly declines. And although we constantly hear that a firm’s greatest asset is its people, I think it’s a myth. In my view, a design firm’s greatest asset is its good reputation, which is based on a great product delivery. Without that, it’s nothing.
ps Even some of us ‘consultants to the consultants’ can find it challenging when we’re busy to make the time to do the ON as well as the IN (well, maybe not you of course, Simon). Now then, back to that forward business plan…!
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Thanks to those who contributed.
Simon
Introducing…teer Role Models
I’ve chosen strategic design agency Good to kick-start ‘teer Role Models’ which will aim to become a regular feature for designers / agencies.
Role Model #1 – Good
So how do designers demonstrate or explain the value of design, that Achilles‘ heel and well-trodden road?
For me, Good takes the best possible (and commendable) approach to demonstrating the value of design and presenting their work for clients, by allowing some tangible ‘facts and figures’ to lead you into their case studies. Explicit evidence of the positive impact their work has had on their clients’ business.
Actually, a great website overall…clear positioning and persuasive tone of voice.
Long may Good maintain this focus on how they present their story, and the value of design.
Refs: Outcomes at the outset
A view through the client lens
Brief extracts from a recent talk by John Gleason from ‘A Better View Strategic Consulting’ (formerly 20 years at P&G)
Client challenges:
Speed (to market)
Scale (desire/need to grow…’being bigger is better’ thinking)
Complexity
Innovation (rarely delivered, more an aspiration)
Value (demonstrating/seeing this clearly for their company, and cost containment)
Agency pointers:
Engage your whole team.
Try to reveal/show/explain clearly how clients will experience your process.
Client lists (whether written or often presenting the client’s logo)….what does this tell a prospective client about your role/achievement/s for those companies – ROI?). Client logos can look impressive but they tell nothing.
Don’t try and be ‘all things’ or a one-stop-shop!
Agency awards don’t ‘buy’ clients.
Articulate what the client will ‘experience’ in working with you, and the reason/s to trial you.
Declare; Who you are, What you do, Why you’re a good fit for the client, What makes you the expert.
Your ability/credentials in the context of the client’s business.
Have a point of view – don’t be afraid to say what you really think.
Be bold and memorable! Believe that ‘fortune favours the brave’.
Larger clients generally seek focused/specialist external consultancy/expertise.
Be critical and challenge yourselves. Ask yourself ‘so what’ to the explanations you give and the way you present yourselves/your information.
To conclude:
Be a great brand / specialist.
Stand for something specific.
How you behave – does it make you stand out? Know this about yourselves – declare it loud and clearly!
Stop stating the obvious that every other agency is stating – clients are fed up with hearing all this.
Know your prospects – show this, do your research!
Who are we? What do we do? Why are we right for you? Make sure all this is relevant to the prospect!
Who are your competitors and why you’re better. Is what you offer what the prospect actually needs?
Learn how to say ‘no’ and walk away when necessary. You have more power / control than you think.
Plan, Practice, Prepare!
Everything is negotiable….provided your ‘advantages’ stack up favourably against the competition!
Become the client, and continually ask yourself…..so what?
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