You’ve probably heard the term “flywheel” before, but do you know what it is? I’m not talking about spin classes–I mean an actual flywheel. A flywheel is a wheel that stores its rotational energy to regulate the delivery of energy from motion to machine. In business, the flywheel effect describes the accumulation of more and more small wins over time leading to inevitable organic growth.
I see the metaphor this way: those “small wins” are straightforward. Every time your company adds a new client–whether you’re building a customer experience program for a Fortune 500 brand or helping to scale up a startup–that force starts to build. The flywheel harnessing all of that growth energy consists of the services that you provide to keep things moving. And everything is stabilized by an axle–the people who make all of it possible.
But not every flywheel looks the same. Most agencies will tell you that they offer unparalleled strategic insight and killer creative. Some might also tout their data engines or other technological advances. But there’s another element that is equally important and deserves a place among your core offerings: exceptional delivery. If you don’t prioritize exceptional delivery practices, everything else falls flat.
So, what does prioritizing delivery look like? At Tangible, we work to follow five simple rules to make delivery a cornerstone of our business:
- Make a plan, work the plan.
- Embrace the evolution of the plan.
- Program management in the driver’s seat.
- Delivery, party of everyone.
- People before tools.
Let’s unpack these.
Make a plan, work the plan.
Be as good at program plan development as you are at creative and strategy development. Don’t let your creative and strategic superpowers go to waste because you de-prioritize the power of a plan. With a strategy and creative vision locked, make a plan and then work that plan. Don’t look back, only look forward!
Embrace the evolution of the plan.
Know and be OK with the plan changing. Believe that any and all obstacles are solvable and don’t be anti-collaborative in their solutions. As Tangible’s Founder and Creative Chairman, James Young, says: “Work in a circle, not a chain. Too many teams have gotten used to just throwing things over the fence via email or messaging.” And that is how you drain energy from your flywheel when changes to your original plan strike. Bring the team to the table, workshop together, and share one brain in how you’ll move forward. Be rigid when you need to and know when you and your team can color outside of the lines. Reset the plan and work the reset plan. And remember, YOU set the tone. If you’re panicked, everyone else is panicked. If you believe, everyone else will believe <insert Ted Lasso>.
Program management in the driver’s seat.
Your program management team isn’t just there to make timelines and calendar invites. And if they are, you don’t need them. Program management has to be a part of a new program process from opportunity definition to scoping and beyond. When they’re not, programs go awry. Program managers drive approach development and team definition in partnership with all other craft leads. This allows them to flag and manage risks from the jump as opposed to in real time (and without all of the valuable context gained in client and internal meetings during the initial conversations).
Delivery, party of everyone.
Exceptional delivery is a team sport. It’s not just on the program manager and/or client partner to manage delivery. Each craft team has to do its part. This looks like:
- Hitting internal and external deadlines. Always. No exceptions.
- Flagging early and often the blockers that stand in your way.
- Asking for help–and letting help in.
- Doing more. Going above and beyond and letting your personal pride enter the room.
Our clients and partners also play a part. They need to understand and be reminded of critical path moments and be held accountable. That doesn’t mean we set the timeline, forget it, and hope that they remember. That means helping them meet deadlines amongst a mountain of other work. Maybe that means reviewing a shared document separately where they can use comments; maybe that means a meeting to capture their feedback in real-time. It’s different for everyone and it will vary throughout the program. We need to meet them where they are, not where we want them to be.
People before tools.
The best program leaders understand that they’re managing people–complex, fun, difficult, brilliant…people. And tools are just there to support them. So, prioritize the people making the delivery happen. Is something happening in someone’s life outside of work? Take care of them. Are they struggling on a particular part of a deliverable? Help them. Are they juggling a few programs and struggling to keep up with the tools? Give them a 1:1 hot list each day until they’re able to manage again. Don’t make your people’s lives harder. Prioritize servant leadership above all else.
These are the essential parts that enable the wins you need to grow. Your strategy, creative, and tech expertise don’t matter if you can’t deliver on your promises, and your level of delivery sets the tone for all of your client relationships. So, next time you’re evaluating your growth strategy and looking for new ways to build your pipeline, take a good hard look at your work. Are you delivering for clients the way that you’d want them to deliver for you? If the answer is “yes,” that’s great. And if the answer is “no,” get real with yourself, understand why, and make a plan (see what I did there?!) because you have some work to do to move forward.