1. The People-to-Source Code Relationship
a Google Firestarters provocation by Ian Fitzpatrick, 3 December, 2014

2. Operating System:
a collection of assumptions and convictions
compiled into repeatable routines.

3. Code compounds.
Lines of Code, Windows OS, 1992-2009
1992
WIN
3.1
•
2.5
MM
1993
NT
3.1
•
4.5
MM
1994
NT
3.5
•
7.5
MM
1995
WIN
3.51
•
9.5
MM
1996
NT
4.0
•
11.5
MM
2000
WIN
2K
•
29
MM
2006
WIN
VISTA
•
40
MM
2009
WIN
7
•
50
MM

4. So do assumptions
& convictions.
Publicis Groupe Employees, 2000 - 2014
2000
29K
2005
36K 2006
40K
2009
45K
2014
63K

5. “Products have their attendant bureaucracy
embedded within them. It is this that enables
them to plummet or soar.”
Dan Hill in Dark Matter and Trojan Horses

6. When we speak of agencies as ‘nimble’, ‘large’,
‘lean’ or ‘massive’, we’re talking about lines of
code, not scale or billings.

7. For your consideration:
The new agency OS is defined by the parts of
the agency source code we strip away, not
what we layer on top of it.

8. For your consideration:
The new agency OS is defined by the parts of
the agency source code we strip away, not
what we layer on top of it.
the people we hire
how we organize
the role of leadership
the financial model
what we deliver

9. For your consideration:
The new agency OS is defined by the parts of
the agency source code we strip away, not
what we layer on top of it. t-shaped people
acting like a startup
tribes
innovation labs

10. What is the people-to-code relationship?
Smaller isn’t necessarily leaner. There are
plenty of large 30 person agencies in the world.

11. LEGACY AGENCY OS NEW AGENCY OS
Maximize talent
Organize by role for repeatability
and process
Optimize the efficiency of the
model
Retainer-based compensation
with hourly billing
Serves the hardware: manages
cycles, memory and resource
allocation
Advertising
Maximize the talent-to-legacy
code ratio
Organize for the capacity to plug
into networks and existing client
programs
Optimize the capacity of the
organization to adapt
Hybrid model with project work
and value-based pricing
Serves the user: manages
interoperability, contextual
relevance and value
Communications products
HIRING & PEOPLE
AGENCY STRUCTURE
ROLE OF LEADERSHIP & ADMINISTRATION
OPTIMIZED TO
FINANCIAL MODEL
DELIVERS

12. A provocation:
If you were starting a comms agency today,
would you begin by hiring people from
advertising agencies? If not:
How would they organize themselves? Would
they begin with briefs? Would they divide
learning and making into discrete roles? What
kinds of client relationships would keep them
engaged? What would your agency feel like?

13. A provocation:
If you were starting a comms agency today,
would you begin by hiring people from
advertising agencies? If not:
How would they organize themselves? Would
they begin with briefs? Would they divide
learning and making into discrete roles? What
kinds of client relationships would keep them
engaged? What would your agency feel like?

14. We are Scott Forstall.
Most agencies build down from an existing OS.
How, then, do we decode ourselves?

15. Gum up human resources.
Insist that our teams make concerted efforts to
hire talented people who aren’t precious about
the role or methods of advertising.

16. Update our libraries and APIs.
Replace the oppressive language of means with
the language of measurable client business
outcomes.

17. Find open formats.
The value of your output will be measured not
only by its quality, but by its value both across
the client organization and through the client’s
networks.

18. Eliminate peripherals.
Add scale and functionality by plugging into
new networks, not by growing new operational
appendages.

19. Finally, delete bad code.
If someone can’t point to the connection
between ‘this is how we do it here’ and a closely-
held organizational conviction, then it’s not
code worth keeping.

20. You’re very kind.
@ianfitzpatrick