Creative/Organization

Will today’s creative company structures drive the best ideas for the 2020s and beyond?

I’ve been thinking a lot about what a creative company looks like today.

And what it should look like tomorrow.

We are post-Covid, semi-WFH, and multi-generational when we show up at the office.

We are scattered and fragmented when it comes to being an audience and participating in any marketplace.

We are all our own programmers on multiple platforms from YouTube to TikTok to Twitch. Our culture is no longer a “monolith” media with the likes of MTV or am/fm.

Add to that the world itself. Hardly a “Brave New World.” Rather we are living in the VUCA world — Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity

Now, who wants to get creative?!

Well, before we can cut through the Great Malaise, let’s look at a few creative company structures.

I define these as companies with a creative priority that produce a product or service.

Here are several to consider:

Imagineers: Disney

The OG ”creative department.” People and technology. Develop talent. In-house resources. High tech investment. Own the IP.

Skunk Works: Lockheed

Technology plus focused staff. “Inside-Outsider” model; meaning get inside people to work separate from the normal structure and process. Use product revenue streams to fund the R&D.

Assembly Line: Original Motown

Core staff. Talent discovery and development. Find outside talent and develop inside with mostly in-house resources. Own the IP.

Story Artisans: Pixar

Technology and people. In-house resources. Develop talent. High tech investment. Own the IP.

Writers Room: Hollywood TV (Succession, Seinfeld, Sopranos)

Human capital. Story drives all. “Dictator” model. Showrunner overlords staff. Unionized. Salary plus some IP ownership.

Production Team: Hollywood Studio

People plus technology. Focused core team at studio. Near-total outside staffing by project. Unionized. Mostly salary. Some IP ownership.

Creative Department: Madison Avenue

People plus light technology. Hierarchical. Develop in-house talent plus freelance. Salary. Fees and project revenue. No IP ownership. Limited equity.

Celebrity Creative Department: Ryan Reynold’s Maximum Effort

Celebrity talent surrounded by people and light technology. Build around the celeb. Light staff. Some freelance. Fee-revenue plus equity in clients

Art and Design Collective: MSCHF

Relatively small core team (Under 25 full-time) staff. Collaborate with outside artists and freelancers. Produce limited run products. Own the IP.

Product Lab: Xerox PARC

People plus technology. Relatively small, highly-educated and experienced “creatives.” Invent, don’t simply innovate. Think 30 years ahead. Problem-finders, rather than problem-solvers. Revenue funds experimentation.

Visionary and Vision: Ralph Lauren

Large staff. Strong understanding of brand (and boss). Chronic iteration. Own the IP.

Independent Design Studio: Italdesign

People plus technology. Augment car company and other industrial brand design departments. Combination of solving existing problems and inventing the future. Staff by project. Own some IP.

Now, as you can see, there’s no one way to do it.

What is clear is that the world is changing and it’s the perfect time to examine and interrogate how you’re working.

Do you see yourself in one of these models? Should you adopt a new one?

I’ll leave you with one final thought from writer, Bob Lefsetz. Bob was writing about the music business but this applies to any business in this particular moment.

“…those who put in the effort, on both the creative and business sides, are the ones who will revolutionize this business. It's coming. If for no other reason than it just can't go on like this.”

Image: Google Gemini