London Business School Review's 'Office Space' Feature on my work at Bow & Arrow, for 2015's Spring Issue.

1. london.edu ©LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL review Issue 1 - 2015 55
PHOTOgraphedmarshall
The way we work
Officespace
Tiago Correia, of the growth consultancy Bow & Arrow, opens his office doors
oho Square is one of
London’screativehubs.
It is a haven of green
amidtheexcitableurban
hum of commerce. All
creativelifeiswithinwalkingdistance
of the offices of the growth
consultancy, Bow & Arrow, which
nestle in the corner of the square.
Previously this eight-storey office
block (resembling a wedding cake
fromanaerialview)wasthehomeof
England’sFootballAssociation.Itwas
from here that sundry England
football managers were hired and
ingloriouslyfired,andfromherethat
errantplayersboltedintowaitingtaxis
astheywerehandeddownDraconian
fines for their misdemeanours.
Now, after a refit to bring the
building into the 21st century, it is a
suitably fashionable home for the
consultancyBow&Arrow,whichboasts
some stellar corporate names as
customers,includingGoogle,Spotify,
DixonsCarphone and News Corp.
Tiago Correia, originally from
Portugal,joinedthecompanyin2013
afterdoingaMastersinManagement
atLondonBusinessSchool.Previously,
hehadworkedatPwC,Amazonand
CNN,andhadalsofoundthetimeto
launchaconsultingstartupbusiness
offering business students as a low-
cost alternative to mainstream
consultants.Thestartupcontinuesto
thrive, but Tiago Correia is now
firmlyathomeincentralLondonafter
nearly18monthswithBow&Arrow.
“Wedescribeourselvesasagrowth
andinnovationconsultancy,”hesays.
“We provide clients with growth
opportunities. We don’t simply cut
costs or look for efficiencies. Our
businessisaboutworkingwithclients
tocreatenewproductsandservices,
to discover new consumers and to
allowthemtofindgrowthfromwithin
their customer base. We combine
strategy, product development and
design thinking.”
Bow&Arrowistheantidotetothe
traditional strategy consulting firm.
There is none of the hierarchical
stuffiness you might encounter
elsewhere. The fifth-floor office,
designedbythefirm’screativepartner
NatashaChetiyawardanaandSLATE
–Design&Build,isopenplan.Music
isplaying–somehowdemocratically
decidedonamongthe35people.The
walls are decorated with projects in
progress,statementsofthecompany’s
valuesandlogosofallthecompanies
Bow & Arrow has worked with.
“Itisaveryopenandcollaborative
workspace,”explainsCorreia.“There
is a mix of strategists – like me – and
creatives.Weallworkcloselytogether.
At the moment I sit opposite two
creatives. We all have our own desks
butweliketospicethingsupbyhaving
a complete reshuffle every three
months so everyone moves around.
It is important to keep things fresh.
“I actually work here most of the
time. We visit clients and meet
consumers, but we don’t operate on
client sites the way traditional firms
often do. Indeed, the opposite tends
tohappen.Weoftenhaveclientswho
ask to work here because they like
the atmosphere.”
We like to
spice things
up by having a
reshuffle every
three months
Office tour
Aesthetic minimalism
Bow & Arrow preaches
and practices the
eradication of the
superfluous. Correia’s
desk is clear apart from
a desktop screen,
laptop, notebook and a
pile of business books
on everything from
design-driven innovation
to building a great
organisation by hiring
strange people.
Gimmickry RIP “There
is a tendency to make
workspaces interesting
and happy with pool
tables and so on. But
we don’t believe in
gimmicks. We pride
ourselves on being a
high performance
organisation and our
workspace is a
reflection of that. We
are a young tight-knit
group of friends. We are
open and transparent.
If I need to talk to a
partner I can walk across
the room and talk to
one. There is no open
door policy because
there are no doors!”
Paperwork “I mostly
use Muji notebooks
with ‘Tiago’s Notes’
written on the front! And
I use Muji gel pens,
which quickly disappear
from all our desks as
they are so good.”
Tiago Cor r eia
S