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That's me at my first job out of college, in 2003. An office on 35th Street in Manhattan. Desk phone, a handheld in its cradle, printouts taped to the wall. Every morning, an everything bagel with cream cheese and a coffee with cream and extra sugar from the same bodega.
The job was digital production. Websites, mostly. Every project ran on the same timeline, the same steps, in the same order. Predictable. And I was good at predictable.
Then I moved to an ad agency.
The agency had process documentation for how every type of project was made. My first project was a 30-second launch video for a major digital campaign, made in motion graphics and Flash. That was covered.
Then feedback came in late, and the launch date didn't move. And the creative team had a better idea: add live action. For the time, that was far more complicated to make for me. Same deadline.
So we adapted. We split the project into separate workstreams, mapped where they depended on each other, and let the pieces that could move ahead go first. We hit the date. And the campaign performed above the previous fiscal year's targets.
That's when I realized what the job of a producer actually is. Not following the process. Knowing it well enough to adapt it when the work gets better.
Good work needs a process. But not every step applies to every project, and nothing great gets made by running a checklist.
Every agency producer knows this moment. The idea gets better. The date doesn't move. Someone has to figure out how.
Here's what I've done ever since:
Process documentation matters. It's how a new producer learns the job in weeks instead of years. But I've also seen 80-page operating models, in decks and Word documents, that nobody on the team truly understood. A model like that doesn't get followed. It gets ignored.
It's the same on the brand side. The teams that make the best work aren't the ones with the thickest playbooks.
A good operating model is a shared language and a foundation: how work gets briefed, who decides, how timelines and budgets get set. Simple enough that everyone uses it. Run by experienced people who know when to step off it.
The best ideas often arrive late. Leave room in the plan for them, and ask your agency what a change will cost before you say no. And if your operating model can't be explained in a few minutes, simplify it.
When you step off the process, say why, and show the business case. A better idea without a reason and a plan is just a change order.
A process should be a foundation, not a playbook you never deviate from.
A marketing operating model is the shared foundation for how work gets made: how work is briefed, who makes decisions, and how timelines and budgets are set. It should be simple enough that everyone on the team understands and uses it.
Operating models written as long decks or documents are often too complex for teams to understand. When nobody understands the model, it doesn't get followed. It gets ignored.
When the work gets better in a way the process didn't anticipate. Experienced people should know the process well enough to adapt it, explain why, and show the plan and business case for the change.