We already wrote about most of the principles stated in going to get fired”. In such a safe environment all the marketing stakeholders feel comfort- our mission above, but we just want to elaborate on how able enough to tell the truth, and that is crucial in our standups or other meetings. We just we work on achieving transparency and accountability, want to take away that crippling fear of failing that is such a big obstacle for not only effi- which really are two of the most essential ones of our agile ciency, but creativity and innovation as well. marketing approach. In all of the projects they are involved in, our Engagement Managers want to cultivate the feeling that “we are all in this together”. They want the stakeholders to feel that they are Zapping the not just doing their own thing but are part of a greater whole. Everyone is there on an equal playing field. No one is more important than the next man. There is no hierarchy. There is Have you noticed corporate nod no ‘boss’ on an engagement. Just a bunch of people trying to achieve the best project they that when you ask ever did, together. A key feature for achieving this kind of responsibility is peer pressure, of people how they course. People will just try that little harder in a transparent environment where their efforts are, they always tend to answer “Fine” or “Great”, even if are permanently out in the open. As we said, the tricky part is, of course, not to slide into a they are not? We call it the corporate nod. And it’s all about Big Brother environment, governed by command and control. being afraid to say you are not going to meet a require- ment or a deadline—for whatever reason–and keeping it But the accountability of our marketing stakeholders is not merely driven by peer pressure. to yourself. It is about being ashamed to admit that you are We try to endow our colleagues with a sense of pride and joy about what they have accom- “failing”. Because whatever outcome other than the one plished together. That is why we always hold extensive demonstrations at the end of each that was projected up front is a flop in our eyes. It’s natural. engagement. So everyone can see the results. Yes, we do bask together in the golden light We hit on this already in chapter 1. of the successful ones. But we remain critical as well. We have retrospectives too, where we talk about the lesser outcomes or what could have been done better. So we can learn from 35 The ‘corporate nod’ is a habit that’s very hard to break. those and get better. But we think we’ve cracked it to a large extent. One of the driving forces behind this was that our leadership team really meant it when they said “If you have an idea, try it. If it blows up or even smolders to death, that’s ok. You are not