A couple of days ago, a colleague emailed me a question that got me thinking. She’s faced with creating an effective, efficient creative team, and was looking for any resources be: industry best practices, proven frameworks, or ‘this is how you do it’ recipes.
I‘ve been thinking about such things for quite a while, so I had a lot to say—so I started typing. Here‘s what I sent her:
“That’s a great question, but I’m going to answer it in a way you may not be asking for.
Why? Because you can easily Google (as I did) ‘creative department structure’ and you can choose from around 214 million results offering up the opinions of just as many people. Me, I’d go to the ‘Images’ tab to see page after page of department org charts.
But I don’t think that’s really what you’re asking for. Job title best practices are one thing. Creating a high performing creative team is completely different.
Head. Hybrid. Hands.
From my point of view, titles do very little and mean very little inside creative departments. I remember reading about the great Fallon McElligott creative Bob Barrie refusing to accept any title other than ‘art director,’ even as his career skyrocketed. In other words, titles don’t make you good, capable, experienced, or anything really.
I propose another way of thinking about your department. Who are the ‘heads’, ‘hybrids,’ and ‘hands.’
Head = pure strategy and direction.
Hybrid = plenty of strategy, but still getting their hands dirty with execution.
Hands = purely tactical, executing clearly defined tactics.
Is one better than the other? NO.
Back in the day, when things went at much slower speeds, this kind of structure helped increase output. One person(s) created the strategy. A second understood the strategy, and converted it into creative concept. And a third did the technical, typically time-intensive, paste-up work needed to get the project to the printer, etc.
Today, we’re all moving a lot faster, but IMHO, that three-tier model still applies—and applies not only to departmental structure, but its people too.
Here’s a Q / A from Adweek® with a mega-award-winning creative named Bob Barrie in 2004:
Q: You could be a top creative—why have you chosen to stay an art director?
A: The simplest answer would be self-preservation. I decided early on that I love creating and producing ads far more than I enjoy sitting in meetings talking about creating and producing ads. I have never been motivated by the politics of advertising. I’ve been very fortunate to work at an agency that hasn’t penalized me economically for wanting to remain an art director. Actually, once they were printing up new business cards and they put a fancier title on my new cards, and I made them print them over.
You can read the whole interview here: [Bob Barrie On The Spot – Adweek]
As you know, I’m a big believer in the mantra ‘Know who you are. So you can be it.’™ You can clearly see that concept come alive in Mr. Barrie’s answer. “I decided early on that I love creating and producing ads far more than I enjoy sitting in meetings….” This guy is clearly a Hybrid. Brilliant strategically, but also driven to execute.
Is there such a thing as a completely happy Hand? Absolutely. Take video editors. Sure, some of them shoot their own footage, but most love dealing with material that was concepted and shot by someone else. They have a script that someone else wrote as a guide, but when it comes to telling that story cinematically, that’s where editors shine. Martin Scorsese may be the marquee name on his movies, but Thelma Schoonmaker has been his right-Hand editor for over 35 years (and three OSCAR® Awards). Arguably, both she and Martin are Hybrids—but you get my point.
So who are the Heads, Hybrids, and Hands on your team?
As you can see above, I’ve thought a lot about this over the years (perhaps too much?). But I think it’s imperative that you match person and personality to needed role in order to create a truly high performing creative team. Putting a Hybrid in a purely Hand’s role, or a Hand in a situation where you really need a Head is deadly.
One other thing: keep an eye on your Hands and Hybrids.
That Bob Barrie guy mentioned above? Yeah, well, he kinda grew out of the Art Director thing, and is now Partner and Executive Creative Director at Rise and Shine and Partners in Minneapolis. Just ‘cause you’re a self-confessed Hybrid doesn’t mean you have to stay there forever.
Another can of worms labelled ‘General. Colonel. Sergeant.’
We’ll talk about this complementary model later. It’s similar in structure, but more definitive when it comes to responsibility. Let me know if you’d like to hear more about this framing, and the way it works with the Head / Hybrid / Hands model.
-dp
