Beyond the Five Whys: Exploring the Hierarchical Causes with the Why-Why Diagram
17 Rules To Make Ad Agencies Actually Awesome Places To Work
1. 17 Rules To Make Ad Agencies
ActuallyAwesome Places To Work
As told through the heroes of stock images.
Because these people get it.
2. 1. Keep every meeting size,
project team and approval
process as small as possible.
Layers of people are the enemy of good
work. Just look how happy and efficient
this guy is in his two-person meeting.
3. 2. Neversquash an idea
during brainstorming.
If you don’t like it, make it better. Or at least
keep your mouth shut like this fella here.
4. 3. Always assume there’s a
wayto make it happen.
Your job is finding creative ways to solve
problems. So get on with it. And then celebrate
with hands raised over your head in an
alternating fist-pump situation.
5. 4. If you’re ready to make a decision, do it.
As long as it falls under a domain of expertise
someone hired you for or trusted you with, don’t wait
for approvals, coworkers or other extraneous puzzle
pieces. Just give it the toothy-grinned thumbs up and
keep shit moving.
6. 5. If you don’t know, sayso.
No one’s going to be mad at you for genuinely
looking for help, but faking understanding or
preparedness could seriously hurt a project
and damage your coworkers’ trust in you.
JUST LOOK AT THIS FACE OF BETRAYAL.
7. 6. Come in when you feel
like it. (But by10am.)
If you work better at 6am, by all
means go for it. We’ll see you at
9:30ish, with our IV drip of coffee
and cream attached beneath our
rolled up suit sleeves while we
work on 2004 Acer laptops.
8. 7. Leave when you’re done.
Butts in chairs don’t create great
work. Happy people motivated by
trust and freedom do. This rib-
tattooed woman is clearly enjoying
her flexibility. Shouldn’t you?
9. 8. Schedule all meetings
between 10am-5pm.
Anything else and you might become
the only reason someone has to be at
the office. Which will result in your
coworkers feeling like this toward you.
Which is unadvisable.
10. 9. Neverbrag about working
more than 40 hours a week.
Late-night and weekend work isn’t
something to celebrate. It’s something to
fix. Look how cute this lady’s house is.
That’s where life happens. Not the office.
11. 10. Protect your coworker’s
inbox like it’s your own.
Keep emails as short, functional and real-
persony as possible. And for the love of god,
question every cc before hitting send. Either that,
or you might as well be punching your coworker
in the face with novelty-sized boxing gloves.
12. 11. Fight against phone calls.
They’re disruptive by nature and
generally accomplish nothing that a
solid email couldn’t. This woman’s
reaction? It’s not because she just got
a GIF-filled work email. It’s because
her phone is actually ringing.
RINGING. The audacity.
13. 12. Neverleave a voicemail.
Ever. Foranyone.
This lady is only smiling while
checking her voicemail because
she’s about to find out who she
will permanently cut out of her
professional and social life.
14. 13. Become friends
with clients.
You’ll make better work if you
love them, and they’ll trust
you more if they love you.
You could even say it’s a circle
of trust. GET IT?
15. 14. Neverdress up.
Not even for clients.
Come out from behind that
facade of client clothes,
friend. After all, you’re not
performing surgery or going
before a judge. You’re
pitching an idea about a pop-
up petting zoo. You can wear
jeans for that.
16. 15. Checkyourbad
mood at the door.
You think this lady is ready to
create great work and have fun
doing it? Attitudes are
contagious and life is short.
Chin up, kiddo.
17. 16. Always have music playing.
Music is the easiest and most powerful
way to foster a positive, energetic
environment. It may create a few
challenges at times, but everything
will be A-OK in the end.
18. 17. Have fun.
Like this photo, the creative industry is hilarious and crazy and full of
amazing people who (also) never thought they’d never be in
advertising. The projects you’ll work on together, the situations you’ll
find yourselves in, the number of times you’ll believe you’re the only
sane ones on the planet...embrace it all. And when you can’t
anymore, you’ll know it’s time to move on. Simple as that.
19. Help others run with their
hands over theirheads.
Share this presentation.
It’s good for your soul.
XOXO,