FOR AGENCIES
Your agency can run a lot faster and happier.
And you need to be ready for what’s coming.
I’ve spent 15 years inside 200+ agencies, many of them like yours. The challenges you’re facing right now are complex and interrelated…often something that you can feel but can’t quite name.
AGENCY PERFORMANCE
“We were better when we were smaller.”
I hear this from almost every agency leader I talk to. The agency that ran beautifully at 15 people feels broken at 45. Not because the people got worse — but because the coordination model didn’t scale. Decision bottlenecks, meeting overload, rework cycles that consume a third of capacity. When I measure it, the numbers are remarkably consistent: 25–40% rework rates. Less than three hours of productive flow per person per day.
The key move is structural, not motivational. Shorten the distance between the people doing the work and the people it’s being done for. Team-driven scoping. Reverse-communication briefings. Pod-based structures that put judgment at the point of contact. These aren’t theories — they’re methods I’ve deployed in 200+ organizations.
THE AI FUTURE OF AGENCIES
“We adopted all the AI tools. Why isn’t anything changing?”
Every agency leader I know is asking some version of this question. They bought the tools, trained the teams, and production got faster. But the business didn’t get better. That’s because AI collapsed the cost of the assembly layer — the drafting, the structuring, the producing — but it didn’t touch the judgment layer: knowing what question to ask, whether the answer is right, and what it means for this client in this situation. The assembly looked like the work. It filled the hours and justified the invoices. Now it’s nearly free, and most agencies haven’t figured out what that means for their business model.
The key move is restructuring, not adopting. Understand which parts of your value chain are durable and which are exposed, and rebuild around where value is actually moving. I saw this firsthand with a global agency that deployed every AI tool and got disappointing results. I didn’t touch the AI. I redesigned the interaction model — teams working directly with clients, judgment at the point of contact, translation layers removed. Same tools, completely different structure. Span time dropped by more than half. Labor costs dropped by more than 30%.
THE REAL SOURCE OF CLIENT VALUE
“Our clients like us. But they keep pushing on price.”
This one comes up in nearly every advisory conversation I have. The client is happy with the work — but they’re still shopping, still benchmarking, still treating the relationship like a procurement exercise. What most agency leaders don’t realize is that client relationships operate on two independent layers. The first is execution — good work, delivered reliably. The second is perception — does the client see you as a strategic partner or a production vendor? Most agencies invest everything in the first layer and wonder why clients still treat them as interchangeable.
The key move is perceptual, not executional. Shift how the client experiences working with you — from “we work for you” to “we work with you.” The research is striking: out of 91 attributes, work quality ranks only #30 in driving high client ratings. The top-rated agencies aren’t the ones doing the best work. They’re the ones whose clients feel most strategically supported.
TRACK RECORD
15 years. 200+ agencies. The results are consistent.
Looking for AgencyAgile? The methods live on.
The Workstream Program
The full AgencyAgile methods — team-driven scoping, reverse-communication briefings, pod-based structures, daily coordination redesign. Refined across 200+ engagements over 15 years.
Better Company Camp New
Cohort-based practitioner and leadership training in the AgencyAgile methods. For alumni, new hires, and agencies experiencing the methods for the first time. Launching spring 2026.
ARTICLES AND INSIGHTS
Tame Collaboration Complexity
Pod-based structures reduce coordination overhead in matrixed organizations.
The Smooth-Talking Psychopath in Your Office
What happens when the smartest talker in the room understands nothing.
What AI Actually Breaks When You Sell Thinking for a Living
The assembly layer looked like the work. AI just made it nearly free.
How AI Is Making Your Projects More Dangerous
Faster production, same broken coordination, faster failure loops.
Why Scope Fails in Your Agency, and How AI Will Make It Worse
The ignorance gap is the root cause. AI makes it invisible.
Agency Chaos Is About Structure. AI Makes It Louder.
The structural problems were always there. AI just turned up the volume.
Want to find out more? The first conversation is free.
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No pitch, no pressure. Just a conversation about what you're seeing.