up there everywhere and pentagram: models for the firm i want to start

03 Oct 2017

sometime earlier this year or maybe even last year i was inspired by a firm called up there everywhere. i think i heard an interview with the founder, julian stubbs, on a show i used to listen to a lot called obsessed with design. when i was talking with spencer once sometime back in sept, he said i should write down these thoughts and so here they are.

i think the model for my own firm/agency/whatever will follow somewhat along the lines of up there everywhere (ute). ute describes itself as a “global cloud-based agency”. i think want that except for it’ll be about personal, communal, and societal development. i’m currently calling my little firm the institute for the self, but we’ll see if that sticks.

actually, maybe what i’m thinking about is some combination of ute and pentagram. i can’t remember exactly which parts come from which firm, but the functionality is this:

there are as many principals as prove themselves able to earn enough work to support themselves and the team they need to do that work (including some general organizational overhead like payroll, hr, etc). each principal is a top-level leader and the principals form a board that makes decisions together only when necessary.

otherwise, each principal sort of runs their group / little wing of the agency however they like. they earn work, do projects, and generally make the firm look good. sometimes, non-principal employees can get pulled onto other teams short-term, and even over time, they might shift entirely.

the other cool thing (and this is definitely ute) is that the teams are highly virtual. in fact, it seems rare that multiple members of a team are in the same city. the only requirement is that each project must have at least one person in the city of the client. that way, in person meetings can happen without huge large travel budgets.

the firm has developed excellent workflows (and i think even an app) to stay in touch with clients while having a global team. it sounds like the best of globalization (which, in some ways, i absolutely hate, and in other ways, it seems like the only thing to do because it’s already happening so why not harness it for good and minimize its harm?).

anyways, i think that’s what i want for my coaching practice. people in physical communities have access to coaches near them but the coaches are part of a global network.

and with that, i’m off to work!

words / writing / post-processing
417w / 11min / 12min