Five Steps to Collaboration at 72andSunny

Where does an idea come from? Individual inspiration or collaboration?

Is an idea only original when it comes from the soul of one person? Or, can originality be born from partnership? Would Jobs have conceived Apple without Wozniak? Did Lennon or McCartney write Yesterday?

Charles Day, founder, TheLookinglass

It’s an historic debate, and even Lennon and McCartney weren’t sure who was responsible for their timeless creation. But this conversation draws little attention from today’s most disruptive business leaders for one simple reason.

In today’s business world, we can create nothing of economic value alone.
Creativity is a critical business resource for its ability to change the way we see the world. But the old rules by which to unleash this awe-inspiring power no longer apply.

Today’s most reliably disruptive companies are built on collaboration: the ability to draw creativity from every corner of the organization and combine them to change the culture.

True collaboration is an agnostic supporter of ideas, enabling its proponents to expand their understanding of both the problem and the possibilities for solving it. It draws original thinking into the vortex of debate, and raises the standard of ideation and execution. Instead of dumbing the process down, collaboration – properly instilled – gives breath to nascent thoughts that are otherwise too frail to survive the self-doubt of many individuals.

A lot of companies have tried and failed to build a collaborative culture. According to a recent Harvard Business Review study, eighty percent of senior management time is now invested in collaboration. That makes it an incredibly expensive practice when it’s not working.

The good news is that in disruptive companies, collaboration is not an accident. It’s built into the DNA by design.

72andSunny has understood this from its inception. Today, the company is recognized for its ability to unleash highly talented people to make the one thing that matters most to them: A difference.

In my analysis, 72andSunny creates collaboration through a series of five practices.
In the spirit of collaboration, they’ve allowed me to share them here. The quotes belong to John Boiler, the company’s CEO, taken from a series of conversations over the last few months:

1. Hire Collaborative People
“It takes a lot of bravery to share your knowledge and to share your lack of it.”
Companies consistently try to hammer square pegs into octagonal holes. 72andSunny are clear about the characteristics that succeed inside their environment:
• Generosity – a willingness to share your time
• Bravery – the courage to share your knowledge
• Vulnerability – the openness to admit what you don’t know
• Curiosity – the desire to seek answers to new questions and old
• Teacher – the desire to develop other people
• Self-Esteem – the confidence to give up ownership of an idea to a group

2. Make Collaboration An Architectural Commitment
“When you’re really contributing to the work, people step up on the platform.”
72andSunny believes you have to make a physical commitment to collaboration:
• Work-Walls. Teams gather around public-facing work walls where ideas are openly shared, debated and analyzed. Over time, a platform in front of the walls – originally designed to hide an electrical conduit – has organically become a natural soap box for people to make their point.
• Team Design and Seating. Teams are grouped by client, with every discipline represented. This fosters natural exchanges – enhanced by hiring people who instinctively bring collaborative characteristics to both the metaphysical and literal table.

3. Establish Collaboration Rules
“When it’s on your desk, it’s yours. When it’s on the wall, it’s ours.”
Ideas are attached to ego, whereas collaboration requires a detachment of ego.
Within the agency, there is an absolute commitment to the group’s ownership of any publicly shared idea. Once shared, the idea is never referenced, even casually, through the lens of, “to Matt’s point.” Everyone, including the originator, has emotional permission to explore the idea on its merits,. The result is an extraordinarily positive environment for vigorous debate.
“We attach ego to the ultimate marketplace outcome we’re all trying to achieve – usually impacting culture in some regard. When you get hooked on that drug, then the idea of ownership can be a good thing.”
Building a collaborative environment requires replacing personal success with something more significant. Attach ego to a broader definition of success and you create instant alignment.

4. Build a Values-Based Environment
“If you can’t build an environment of trust, you’ll never get anyone to contribute something.”
A lot of companies talk about values. 72andSunny live by them. There are three that matter most:
• Trust. Without it, human beings don’t collaborate. It requires you practice what you preach, so your people understand you mean what you say.
• Transparency. This means giving everyone access to the work at all times and sharing knowledge about each other’s expertise.
• Investing in people. The company carried out performance reviews on 92% of its staff last year. They learned about each individual’s personal journey so they can map both progress and upcoming obstacles. One direct benefit is better project casting.

5. Cast Projects Three-Dimensionally
“Our mission is to create a platform for personal growth and creative self expression. We want to help create great people.”
As project-based agency-client relationships become industry foundations, casting a multi-disciplinary project has become a much more sophisticated skill.
The factors 72andSunny pay close attention to:
• Constantly re-assessing active contributors versus those who ‘just needs to know.’ “Having everyone there all the time is chaos. And expensive.”
• Balancing the project development path with each individual’s career development path
• Ensuring that junior people experience senior people in action.

72andSunny is a curious, self-aware, relentlessly human organism. It collaborates by intent through consistent, considered effort. It never stops learning.
They will be the first to admit they are not perfect. But their quest to become a little less imperfect every day manifests itself in multiple ways, some creative, some economic.
The sum total is a complex organization that is diverse, disruptive and respectful. Competitive advantages for any modern business.

Charles Day is the Founder of The Lookinglass – a Creative Leadership Practice. He is an advisor to leaders of many of the world’s most disruptive companies. He ca be reached at [email protected]

Be sure to check out the Winners’ Circle webinar series that will explore success in today’s creative industries. As the host of the series, Charles will be joined by guest speakers including Wendy Clark, Carter Murray, Susan Credle and other industry giants.