Operational Complexity
If it feels harder than ever to run a design business today, that's because it is.
Everyone I've talked to has said the same thing: This year has been wild. Volatile. Brutal.
Marketing budgets get cut → agency & design fees get cut. Investment dollars are scrutinized down to the penny → the value of branding & strategy gets nickel and dimed.
Pandemic aside, the last time the design world felt such a major upheaval was 2008. However, I also think 2008 was…simpler?
Not easier by any means, but less complex, specifically from a management POV. Here's why.
2008 was a more binary challenge. Less dollars = less project work = less jobs. It was about tightening belts and cutting costs; for argument's sake, it was mostly about the work/dollars, and how to save or get more of it.
But today, in 2024, as a creative leader or agency owner, you have a lot more INTERNAL and OPERATIONAL challenges taking up precious mental real estate and energy.
Because HOW we work keeps changing, which means our focus and flow keeps getting fractured and fragmented. On top of the work/dollars you're chasing, you're *also* reckoning and wrestling with three major things that either didn't exist in 2008 or has significantly changed:
📌 Remote/hybrid work and distributed teams: how to communicate, collaborate, build human relationships, not to mention ALL THE ADMIN: from HR/financial compliance to technology and equipment, etc.
📌 New technology: forget AI, we didn't need a "tech stack" back in 2008. Today we're inundated with new software/programs/tools; I'll lump social media in here too, in terms of marketing/comms channels. The sheer amount of options keeps us in a distracted state of Shiny Object Syndrome with infinitely more things to keep track of. Oh and also, AI.
📌 Different talent generation: Employees today demand more: more comp, more feedback, more transparency, more mentorship, etc. Don't get me wrong, these are all GREAT things for your people to ask/want more of, but it also demands more of your attention, resources, and energy.
I say all this not because I have a solution (sorry!) but just to acknowledge that if it feels harder, it's because it IS harder, and not just because the biz dev math isn't mathing. The proportions of what demand our attention as responsible leaders and business owners have changed; growing revenue alone won't change the fact that these 3 things (and more) will still take up brain space. The sooner we recognize the current complexities of our business, the better equipped we'll be to come up with holistic solutions.
