ANTIGENcy

we are a groupof former antigency

people makingantigens to

protect companies

antigens = stick a little bad in to create good

They motivate heroic things to go do what they do best

When you were born

you were very likely injected with at least three antigens

They were called inoculations

The intent was to help you

Build Defenses

against Measles, Mumps, Rubella

and others.

You cannot see antigens. But they play a daily role in your ongoing wellness and

survival.Do you wish you could thank them?

Antigens are a part of your immune system.

What if yo

ur

company h

ad an

immune

syste

m?

...that could sense instantly when something was not right…

and

DISPATCH HELP

long before you knew something was wrong

This is what ANTIGENcy is working on…

SOFT

A frame of mindAn alternate to conventional approaches

An escape metaphor

HARD

Proactive scenario planning

Anecdotes/Antidotes

Idea comes from:

Immunological mindsetEpidemiology -> vaccine scienceManagement consulting shortcomings

20 years of addressing corporate problems in creative agencies

How does it work?

1. It starts with a change in mindset

from “broke-fix” to

“predict and prevent.”

2. It is all about company culture.3. Its about injecting something bad.

Management Change Leadership Systems Processes Roadblocks Passion Drive Involvement DisturbanceVision and DirectionTeam LeadershipCommunicationsHiring / TrainingAccountabilityTransparencyToxic Employees

1.

Pred

ict

& Prevent

decreased customer loyalty * loss of revenue * diminished workforce effort * Low morale

* low productivity * low quality *low quantity * low innovation * no creativity *

uncontrollable turnover * poor schedule adherence * abuse of leave/FMLA * excessive

absenteeism * Constant complaining * apathy * no

solutions for problems offered * micro-management * adversarial relationships between staff and management * excessive

coach and performance time * acceptance of average * resistance to change *

BOREDOM

TrustFairness

AccuracyAccountability

EngagementContinuous Improvement

ChallengePositive Ownership

Common Cause

2. Cult

ure

move from aCommand and Control - Fear-

based Competitive - Competition-based to a

Collaborative - Learning-based Innovative - Creativity-based

3. A Culture Antigen

Management Change Leadership Systems Processes Roadblocks Passion Drive Involvement DisturbanceVision and DirectionTeam LeadershipCommunicationsHiring / TrainingAccountabilityTransparencyToxic Employees

Com

man

d an

d C

ontro

lC

ollaborative / Learning / Innovative /

Creative

Com

petit

ion/

Fear

-Bas

ed

Com

man

d an

d C

ontro

lC

ollaborative / Learning / Innovative /

Creative

Com

petit

ion/

Fear

-Bas

ed

Management Change

Antigen: a management change steers your Corporate Communications team into disarray. • Crises are not averted • Zero understanding or use of social media• Department is run like an old newspaper relations team• Fear of trying new approaches• Undervalues creative

Com

man

d an

d C

ontro

lC

ollaborative / Learning / Innovative /

Creative

Com

petit

ion/

Fear

-Bas

ed

Leadership Systems

Antigen: Leadership meets bi-weekly to discuss corporate issues and integrate the Balanced Scorecard.• Not thoroughly canvassing the workforce. • Too much leadership exists exclusively in the theoretical.• Leadership undervalues creative.

Com

man

d an

d C

ontro

lC

ollaborative / Learning / Innovative /

Creative

Com

petit

ion/

Fear

-Bas

ed

Process Roadblocks

Antigen: We are way too caught up in process.• We shut down process improvements because we haven’t seen them before (fear of unknown).• Mistakes are not valued. Fear of failure.• Continuous improvement methodologies are seen as a waste of time.• We allow process to remain the domain of IT.

Com

man

d an

d C

ontro

lC

ollaborative / Learning / Innovative /

Creative

Com

petit

ion/

Fear

-Bas

ed

Passion

Antigen: Too much passion is locked too far down in the lower echelons. • We have no effective way of surfacing great ideas. • We are fostering a disengaged workforce.• How do we create “passion buoyancy?” • Do we celebrate passionate exuberance? • Our culture undervalues creative – where passion hides.

Com

man

d an

d C

ontro

lC

ollaborative / Learning / Innovative /

Creative

Com

petit

ion/

Fear

-Bas

ed

Drive

Antigen: The company’s people aren’t bringing the ethic or creativity to the workplace.• We need to get them excited and feel valued.• Need to address the declining drive / brain drain in aging workplace population.

Com

man

d an

d C

ontro

lC

ollaborative / Learning / Innovative /

Creative

Com

petit

ion/

Fear

-Bas

ed

Involvement

Antigen: No one seems to get involved in anything except their direct jobs.• Extremely low level of initiative.• Lack of creativity/innovation.• People don’t feel incentives to involvement. • Lack of clear communication and leadership.

Com

man

d an

d C

ontro

lC

ollaborative / Learning / Innovative /

Creative

Com

petit

ion/

Fear

-Bas

ed

Disturbance

Antigen: Lay-offs have completely taken everyone’s mind off the purpose.• People are clogging up HR.• Attrition engine is cranking up.• Poor communications is fueling the fire.

Com

man

d an

d C

ontro

lC

ollaborative / Learning / Innovative /

Creative

Com

petit

ion/

Fear

-Bas

ed

Vision & Direction

Antigen: The CEO is too busy to do course correction.• Everyone is following a slow/misguided leader.• Fear of overstepping bounds.• Not considering broad market changes.

Com

man

d an

d C

ontro

lC

ollaborative / Learning / Innovative /

Creative

Com

petit

ion/

Fear

-Bas

ed

Team Leadership

Antigen: We have no vision in our leadership ranks. • Everyone is afraid to step up.• Failure is seen as a cancer.• Old boys network.• Fear of trying new approaches – seen as too crazy• Comfortable with old ways

Com

man

d an

d C

ontro

lC

ollaborative / Learning / Innovative /

Creative

Com

petit

ion/

Fear

-Bas

ed

Communications

Antigen: We are not open and regular with our communications. Too guarded. • We aren’t saying the right things to the right people at the right times. • Our markets are not aware of what we are doing.

Com

man

d an

d C

ontro

lC

ollaborative / Learning / Innovative /

Creative

Com

petit

ion/

Fear

-Bas

ed

Hiring & Training

Antigen: Our hiring practices are old school.• Our awareness of candidates seems myopic.• All good people are going elsewhere. I hear it every day.• Our salary and benefits may not be in line with averages?

Com

man

d an

d C

ontro

lC

ollaborative / Learning / Innovative /

Creative

Com

petit

ion/

Fear

-Bas

ed

Accountability

Antigen: A key management member has made a big mistake and is not owning up to it.• How do we deal with that?• What is impact on employees?• How do we ensure greater accountability across all levels of our business?• How is it incented?

Com

man

d an

d C

ontro

lC

ollaborative / Learning / Innovative /

Creative

Com

petit

ion/

Fear

-Bas

ed

Transparency

Antigen: everything is closed and no one knows how the business is doing. • Economic Crisis is/is not affecting us? • Is my job stable?

Com

man

d an

d C

ontro

lC

ollaborative / Learning / Innovative /

Creative

Com

petit

ion/

Fear

-Bas

ed

Toxic Employees

Antigen: a toxic employee is really knowledgeable but very hard to work with. No one likes her. • She’s hoarding corporate knowledge.• Toxic to peers/management and clients.• Department is scared to lose that knowledge.

These are ANTIGENs

Every Company Has Need to Change.Some Will Wait Until Its Too Late.Some Will Proactively Create Scenarios > Plans.

ANTIGENcy uses Design Thinking to help create bad scenarios that wake people up and force them to think about things they may not know can harm them…

then injects them into their system to build

immunity.

THANK YOUantigency.comSteven Keith