Changing client/agency behaviours

Monday evening saw a record attendance at the IPA's event on the topic of 'applying BE to client/agency relationships'.

With Rory Sutherland in the chair, David Wethey, of IAA, as keynote, and panel contributions from Chris Hirst (CEO, Grey), Alison Wright (Strategy, Engine Group), Colin Fleming (COO, AMV.BBDO) and Richard Woodford (Procurement News International) it was bound to be a big draw.

The old chestnuts were revisited: remuneration models, PBR etcetera.
But there was some new inspirational stuff in the form of new ways to address the main issue which David Wethey cleverly defined as
"the system is stopping the cleverness coming through":

1. Changing the 'setting' of client agency relationships
- Overcoming 'frame' blindness - answering the wrong question
- Insights upstream
- Solving 'mysteries' not 'puzzles'
- Outcome-based/'best' not 'best priced'

2. Treating strategy as a 'flexible guideline'
- relax control structures
- set clear objectives and high ambition but allow individual team players to interpret it freely
- adapt in real time
- use creative to guide strategy
- make decisions emotionally not rationally

There has been a good deal of feedback and you can see the tweets about the event here