Introduction
Virgin is called Virgin because we were new to business and a little bit nervous, but we were also very excited to get started.​ The transformation taking place in the world right now makes virgins of us all, and that's the reason why Velocity matters. We're living through a time of big and little changes in the way we do just about everything and the only people and organisations guaranteed to make fools of themselves are the ones who think they have got it all figured out.​ Change is often seen as a threat, but to an entrepreneur it's oxygen. It's what being alive and enthusiastic about business rests on. When the established ways of doing things are in turmoil, new energy has the best chance to step in and succeed by doing things better than they've always been done before.
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A good idea for a business can also become a bad one if your timing is off. (If I had started taking bookings for passenger space flights when I started out in business in 1966, I probably would have been institutionalised.) ​
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When Ajaz founded AKQA in the 1990s, many people thought 'digital' was just a new fad. At Virgin we saw it as exciting. Virgin was one of AKQA's first clients. It's a very natural fit for us to hire a youthful start-up rather than a bureaucratic conglomerate.
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Stefan Olander, VP of Digital Sport from Nike, and Ajaz, now Chairman of the world's largest digital agency, have put what they've learned on their journey so far in this book to pass it on to anybody not satisfied with the same old routine.
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Entrepreneurialism isn't about what happened last night, but about the morning after. If you hide under the covers because you can't face another day of the same old grind, you clearly need more change in your life. If you leap out of bed precisely because, today, everything is going to be different and something is sure to surprise you, then you're halfway there already. This is Velocity. Enjoy the ride.
- Richard Branson
The Velocity Principles
We don’t take it for granted that we’re lucky to work with people and companies we love, having careers that feel more life an adventure than a job. Or that the organisations we work for are still thriving in highly competitive and unpredictable times.
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We don’t take it for granted, either, that we’re often asked to share insights, stories and thoughts about how to improve and evolve in a business environment undergoing unprecedented change.
We’ve had the good fortune to live the digital revolution from the inside, discovering what works and what doesn’t. As a result, our work has always obliged us to see ‘the new’ as an opportunity, never a threat. That’s the philosophy, the gift given to us, we want to pass on to you.
Yes, the economic balance of power is shifting to emerging markets. Yes, fearless innovators are reconfiguring the commercial landscape, endangering long-established ways of working. And yes, it’s a demonstrable fact that more new technologies, new competitors and impenetrable new bits of jargon appear every day. But what matters is the extraordinary potential amidst all this.
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Two billion people are already online. E-commerce sales are $8 trillion a year. Today, change is happening at a pace and scale with no historical precedent.
One of us started his company in London in 1995, aged twenty-one. It’s now a global concern with over 1,000 employees, the largest, most awarded firm in its sector. The other joined an iconic brand just as it made early steps into the digital world, leaving the Austrian Alps behind for a journey from Sweden via The Netherlands, ending up in Oregon. We’ve lived very different lives and had very different experiences, but, since we first worked together, we’ve each come to see that our insights, observations and enthusiasm about digital are mirrored in the other.
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We started work on this book as a side project about two years ago, recording some of our conversations. We then refined our themes and finally distilled our insights into seven timeless laws that we passionately believe in.
Our intention is to provide some clarity to navigate and define the new environment – an environment we call Velocity because of the abilities it requires you to master:
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Speed: because in competitive markets that are being redefined you have to think ahead, but also act fast.
Direction: because in uncertain times you can’t meander. You need a clear sense of where you’re heading, the metrics that matter, the agility and focus to get there.
Acceleration: take advantage of speed and direction and you will increase the rate at which you set your work apart, multiplying your contribution.
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Discipline: because through consistent behaviour you must inspire a culture of strong values, learning, delivery and service. Or nothing will ever get done.
Velocity is also about optimism. It’s a positive force that gives you the mind-set and tools to create a better future.
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Not how to do, but what to do
We know a lot of books get bought but fewer get read. So we want to find an accessible way to share what we’ve learned. To our knowledge, this is the first time a client and agency have teamed up on one.
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This is also the first management book that’s been written as a conversation. We chose this format because a conversation is the truest way to reflect how we work, think and solve problems. It’s the to-ing and fro-ing by which we hone, revise, and road-test thoughts. It also means you can dip in and dip out of chapters at will or share any quote you are inspired by or take issue with. The most boring exchanges are the ones where everyone agrees, so we hope you’ll want to join in.
Like any book, Velocity also captures a moment in time. We don’t expect, or claim, to have covered it all. We do hope to spark your curiosity enough to propel you off on your own voyage of discovery – and if you find anything the book missed, we’d love to hear about it.
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The future inspires us. We work to inspire.
We think the best way to contribute to the future is by giving our all to the present. This book is part of that contribution. We’ve always been doers and are happiest when we’re trying to create something. You lose yourself in something bigger when you’ve got a goal.
Now it’s in your hands and we’re back at work, creating what’s next. We hope those creations are as satisfying for the people who make them as they are for those who ultimately use them. By sharing our own thoughts in Velocity we are passing the baton on to you, to do the same. We hope that these principles, laws, stories, insights and behaviours will encourage you to find your own direction.
- Ajaz Ahmed & Stefan Olander
01
A Smith & Wesson beats four aces
Velocity doesn’t care who you are or how good you were yesterday. It’s coming for you anyway. Don’t be a sitting duck. See the big picture. Find the pain points, see patterns taking shape and act.
Evolve immediately. Entitlement kills.
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It's easier done than said
Velocity takes courage, focus and determination, but gives back efficiency and rewards intuition, iteration and gutsiness.
Get going. Then get better.
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03
The best advertising isn't advertising
Wondering which half of your ad spend is wasted? Velocity says: ‘Wrong question. Try again.’ Instead of interrupting people, serve them and make them feel something. Sorry, but that takes longer than thirty seconds.
Make meaningful connections
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Convenient is the enemy of right
Velocity needs you to be streamlined. The requisite craftsmanship takes perseverance and discipline. Obsess over important details, and edit ferociously.
Never have anything to apologise for
05
Respect human nature
Digital is the means, not the end. Technology sometimes obscures this ultimate truth, and makes it easy to forget that at the far side of an app, a Tweet, an anything, there’s a person.
Make yourself proud by making people’s lives easier, richer and more fun. Don’t just give people choice, help them to choose
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No good joke survives a committee of six
For organisations with structures that sand down all rough edges and desiccate anything juicy, something terrible will happen: nothing. It’s time for decision making regimes that hold up to Velocity.
Have the balls to make the calls
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Respect human nature
Digital is the means, not the end. Technology sometimes obscures this ultimate truth, and makes it easy to forget that at the far side of an app, a Tweet, an anything, there’s a person.
Make yourself proud by making people’s lives easier, richer and more fun. Don’t just give people choice, help them to choose
The 7 laws of velocity
Be the disrupter not the disrupted.
No one owes you anything. When you’re faced with altered conditions or contexts, rapid acceptance of your new reality combined with appropriate action can help to turn potential disaster into opportunity. Athletes have to be brutally honest about their own strengths and weaknesses to reach the top. Even when they get there, they never think they’re too good to be coached or keep learning. Strive for a constant state of responsiveness so you can take Velocity in your stride. Be your own competition.
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It's good to be first. It’s better to be good. It’s best to be both.
It’s tempting to believe that the market will obey your will, forgive your compromises and beat a path to your door. It won’t. Ensure a high level of quality control across everything you do. Benefit from digital distribution platforms that provide immediate scale which allow good ideas to spread quickly.
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You can’t improve what you can’t measure.
Quality and integrity is the driver of earnings and growth. No one ever developed an ability to make better decisions through successes alone. Innovation has unpredictable outcomes. Embrace it and create a culture that celebrates experimentation and learning as much as revenue and profit.​
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Travel light.
Velocity moves fast, and sooner or later exposes everything to public view like an X-ray machine. Don’t carry more than you need, or get caught saying one things when you’re doing another – risks that get greater the bigger your firm becomes. Be agile, take only what you need to make your contribution, so you’ll be ready to react to new opportunities and not get stuck at check-in with everybody else.
Figure out what your customers want before they do.
Be an observer as well as an inventor. Take account of the world not just as it is, but how you want it to be. Be interested in what’s going on so your antennae are fine-tuned to the distant signals coming your way.
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Be beta now and get better tomorrow.
Do and Learn, don’t Wait and See. Get started and be prepared to improve as you go. Being ‘beta’ doesn’t mean dropping your responsibilities on to users, or that it’s ever okay to put out something sub-par. It means first making sure you truly ‘have a product’, and then making it better. Pick a clear target. Reassess. Now go again.
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Unite and rule.
Smart collaborations and pooled expertise are a hallmark of Velocity success stories. If you spend years researching a new era rather than going direct to an expert in the field with a proposal for collaborating right away, chances are somebody else will steal your thunder before your project gets off the ground.
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Make the leap from saying to doing.
Mantras are cheap. Meaning what you say is priceless. Don’t tell me you’re funny, tell me a joke. Your mission should stem from you convictions, not your copywriting department. Nobody cares what you day you do until you show that you do it. Do what you promised you would and everybody loves you.
Create Wonder.
Aim to produce the labours of love, the pockets of excitement, the stuff that just rivets people in unexpected ways. The magic is in the product, the values and spirit of the brand, so seek to amplify these truths in an interesting, consistent voice across multiple customer touch points. Wonder is the destination. Velocity is the vehicle.
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New media needs new thinking.
Don’t retrofit traditional mechanics into new formats. Don’t chase or get blinded by the latest buzzwords. Instead focus on creating fame and familiarity in the hearts and minds of audiences. Use digital tools to provide the kind of powerful, relevant and accessible customer benefits that analogue cannot reach.
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Briefs should be.
Briefs are called that for a reason. Long-winded, verbose instruction documents that are pages long are time-consuming, oxygen-consuming and don’t help anyone. Focus on your desired outcomes, not your essay-writing skills.
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Counting clicks isn’t what counts.
If click counts are all that dictate your decisions, you’re shutting out your chance to make a real connection. The metrics that move the needle and matter most are: consumer connection, brand equity, sales and shareholder value.
Everything is in the execution.
It might not be seen as sexy to roll up your shirt sleeves and get stuck into the details. But that’s exactly where the action is. Being hands on is what makes the difference. If you lose sleep over things 99 per cent of your customers will never notice, you’ll spot problems before even your harshest critic has time to do so.
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Create structure to release and channel creativity.
Never just go through the motions. Use process as a tool to give you the discipline to get things done, but don’t expect to end up with a great product just because you’ve ticked certain boxes. Magic is the name we give to the friction between vision and reality. Strive for the impossible to deliver the amazing.
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Make the complicated simple. And the simple interesting.
Nothing in life worth having comes easy. Make life easier for people means making it tough for yourself. Doing something genuinely worthwhile takes imagination and commitment.
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Discipline and focus. Focus and discipline.
When efficiency or creativity are the highest priority, focus in solitude rather than meandering to the inevitable distractions and dilutions of interactions with others. It just gets in the way of getting stuff done.
Understand people.
It’s not about the content, it’s about the vibe. Velocity is about understanding people. Their behaviours, desires, motivations, passions and needs, and then applying technology in a way that helps them do it better. Velocity doesn’t get blinded by technology. Human nature is its true north.
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Make everything Useful, Usable, Delightful.
These three words create the ‘phenomena formula’. Because it’s one thing to do work people can admire, but it’s another thing to create something they will desire. Inspire your audience’s emotions and senses by attending tirelessly to the details that enhance your impact. That’s how you create experiences that are unforgettable and incomparable.
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The interface is the brand.
Digital touch points are fast becoming the most visible expression of any brand. It means every company needs to be a software company and that means learning to articulate your brand values through technology. Understand, experience and influence the entire customer experience at every touch point to ensure it’s accessible and friction-free. Set new standards in quality, and excellence. Every touch counts.
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Ask the right questions.
‘So what?’, ‘What’s in it for me?’, ‘What’s cool about that?’ Make sure you have good answers because these are the three questions that will decide the fate of your work and the ones your customers will ask even if you never hear them. When your product is good enough, you should be delighted to answer them over and over.
Give groupthink a rest.
Debate, discuss, shout ad scream, fight harder and don’t cave in until you reach the right decision. Know that it’s better to raise your head above the parapet with the risk of being shot down, than being a slave to the rules and never standing out from the crowd.
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Filters are your friends.
With a set of filters as your guide, you can steer a clear course to executing your project correctly, and avoid giving or taking offence as ideas are refined and rerouted by the development process.
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Your project can only move as quickly as your team.
Being a leader is less about playing by the rules than knowing when to change them. Filters free up the people in your team to discover strengths they didn’t know they had, creating a Velocity-ready hunger for change and challenge to make the end result better. People resist change to their routine or challenge to their expertise for the usual reason: fear. Demonstrate how a culture of experimentation will benefit them, as well as your business.
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Don’t be a backseat driver, but do know when to take the wheel.
Be a meritocratic boss, but still be a boss. Your team can only evolve and improve if you give them room to do the right thing by following their own instincts instead of always second-guessing yours. If you’re not adding meaningful value, get out the way. But when it comes to the crunch, you have to step up, take responsibility and say ‘My aircraft’ without a moment’s hesitation.
Be alive to being alive.
Be driven by curiosity, not conformity. Young hearts run free. If you want to change the world, you have to shake off the security and routine of your grown-up way of doing things. It’s not about ‘big ideas’ or ‘small ideas’, it’s about good ideas.
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Love is contagious.
Seriously. If you’re ashamed to say you love what you do, then, deep down, you don’t. Do something you love, or find some way to love what you do. Put soul and humanity into your work. If you don’t obsess over what you’re doing, your customer won’t either. If you do, and they do, the rewards will surpass your wildest expectations.
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Open hearts first. Worry about wallets later.
Your job is to serve, so the customer is always right, even when they’re wrong. Sometimes they’ll drive you crazy, but then so do your kids. If customers know you care and you keep proving it, you will keep your business thriving. Make recommendations that help your customer to achieve their goals.
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Dream in widescreen, then push on in pixels.
Dreaming big gets you enthused and is practical motivation – provided you break your dreams down into achievable realities and get going in meaningful ways. Heroes, and hero companies that you respect, can guide, teach and encourage you. Being good at being influenced is as worthwhile as being good at influencing.
Stefan
Some businesses claim they’re not ‘technology companies’ and use that as an excuse to shy away from investment and organisational change. Not everyone should strive to become a tech company, but every company should strive to become a technology-proficient organisation, with infrastructure and competencies to manage consumer connections. That doesn’t mean beefing up the IT department for its own sake. It’s about rethinking the business with the consumer at the centre and then aligning technology, analytics and organisational investments to support it. Without a platform to manage and nurture every interaction with its consumer, a company has no spine.
The second you think you hold the upper hand you lose your focus.
Obsess the details and the rest will sort itself out.
It’s the idea of training like you’re number two to remain number one.
Smart partnerships and sometimes acquisitions are crucial if you intend to operate with Velocity. Thinking that you can figure it all out yourself is, as they would say in Star Trek, futile.
To a very large degree, you are your customer, or ought to be. Then, because you’ve been living and breathing this stuff as a super-user, you do what you think is right as a creator, as a product developer.
At a bare minimum, you always have to think of yourself as the user of your product, and passionately love it.
Innovation is absolutely not the same as originality.
Velocity is about seizing the momentum of a beta world in perpetual motion.
We need to rethink the role of advertising. It’s about service rather than a persuasive technique.
I think one reason we progress is because we never get caught up in the latest fad. We just try to think of the best way to serve our consumer, and find partners who can help us find the right way to make a meaningful connection.
You’ve got to be interested in people. That way, you can actually learn what it takes to be interesting to them.
Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should.
Just because something’s impossible doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it. Just because something seems a no-brainer doesn’t mean you should do it.
Just because something’s new and different, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better. Or that anyone cares.
We trust our gut.
Collaboration s essential for any success, but someone needs to know exactly what role each person, division or function will play.
We stay relevant by expanding our connection and increasing our relevance to customers.
There has never, ever, been so much to play for.
At Nike we have the patience of a two-year old and the memory of an eight-year old
Charlie Denson
President, Nike Brand
Innovation is about embracing change, but understanding context
Mark Parker
CEO, Nike
Nike does not create advertising. Nike creates wonder
James Hilton
Co-Founder & CCO, AKQA
We’re not in the business of keeping media companies happy
Trevor Edwards
VP, Brand and Categories
Ajaz
It’s really easy to lose it. And the quickest way is believing that you’re great. It’s not about a job title as a sign of prestige. It’s not about how many trophies are stacked up in a cupboard. It’s not about glowing media reviews. It is about the responsibility to not settle, especially when you’re winning.
Feedback delayed is feedback denied.
The things that provide a sense of safety, security and self-esteem today just might not be relevant tomorrow. Somebody else may make a discovery or uncover a new opportunity away from those who keep thinking they know it all.
There’s never been a better time to be an entrepreneur with a disruptive idea.
One of the reasons why it’s a struggle for an established organisation to innovate is because the existing team already has its hands full doing the current job. Big organisations are usually built for efficiency, not for innovation. There’s a core business to keep running, so every task becomes predictable and repeatable. In many aspects, innovation is seen as the opposite of efficiency because it is not routine and has unpredictable outcomes. This can create an environment in which there is no investment into future revenue streams because of the short-term impact on margins. As a result, the established business becomes resistant to innovation because it feels threatened by it, creating forces that actively discourage new thinking.
You are what you read. You are what you do. You are what you experience.
Great brands are about smart and artful storytelling. Great agencies help clients to amplify a brand’s authentic voice.
In an age where transparency is the norm, what matters perhaps more than your wealth is your reputation. In an era of collaborative consumption, where we are increasingly sharing, it’s more important to be trustworthy than to be rich.
People don’t just buy products for the purpose they serve, but for the values they embody.
Innovation by its nature has unknown outcomes but it helps you to become a better decision maker.
Nothing in life worth having comes easily. If something seems to you to be too hard even to try, chances are that’s exactly what makes it worth trying.
Language is just as important as icons.
For me the most important attribute a manager can have is the people they bring into the team, how they develop them and the standards of excellence they inspire. You’re only a good leader because you have a team with which you can have frank, open-minded discussions that will enable you to reach the best decision. Maturing at what you do means learning to welcome constructive criticism, like you welcome anything that can make your work better.