Is The Right Team On The Field?

“When you hit the beach, who do you want to be by your side?” – US Marine Corps expression.

Ideas don't run businesses, people do. I'll say it again; Ideas don't run businesses, people do. Sounds simple enough, right? But, relying on the person that came up with the idea to actually make it work is a big reason why many great ideas never reach the intended consumer.

We've all worked with or for companies that had that "idea guy." The one that throw out all kinds of big ideas at meetings - some of which were even really good - yet was nowhere to be found when there was real work to be done to make the idea reality. Or, he would quickly get bored of the last idea and favor a new one. He started the race fast but would always pull a hamstring in the first 10 yards.

To put the right team on the field, companies must find a balance of those employees that can develop great ideas and those that can execute them. When you find those people that can both generate the idea and activate it - never let them leave. But, that is a rarity. In the advertising industry, most (not all) of these types left the "big" agencies to start their own shops - some great ones include Jeff Martin at Mighty Karma http://www.mightykarma.com/ and Carl White at Think Brownstone http://www.thinkbrownstone.com/.

The point? When you're building your teams to win new business or to deliver on client promises, make sure that you make it clear who is to do what and by when. Don't expect the "creative type" to deliver a strategy that breathes the most life out of her big idea. Don't expect the account person to drive idea generation (in fact, make it clear that you don't want them to do that). Sounds like common sense, but only the best companies REALLY stand by this approach. Most of us, including me, try and do too much with too little. We build our little walls and fear the delegation process. We often end up with PowerPoint decks filled with clever ideas and no clients to fund them.

Communicate, hit the beach, divide and then concur.