• by Larissa Faw , April 9, 2018

Forsman & Bodenfors' CEO Silla Levin, 72andSunny's COO Evin Shutt and Anomaly's COO Karina Wilsher joined moderator Scott Kauffman, CEO and chairman of their parent network, MDC Partners, during Monday's 4As Accelerate conference in Miami to discuss how these agencies are shaping, protecting and evolving their respective culture through differentiated models.

Forsman & Bodenfors' flat culture mandates the art of collaboration. "We aren't the smartest people in the world or even the smartest people in Sweden," says Levin. "By collaborating, we got smart together."

The Swedish-based agency's small team structure — four to six people — makes everyone accountable to the office. The "one boss" is the task itself, says Levin.

72andSunny's Shutt recommends identifying roles for everyone attending client meetings. A decider and influencer are selected, she says. Influencers must agree to be on board with whatever decision the decider makes, while the decider must listen openly to all suggestions. "It helps drown out noise that is afraid of change," says Shutt.

72andSunny's model also benefited from opening two offices in Amsterdam and Los Angeles on the same day. This meant that collaboration and open communication were critical to its structure from day one.

The success of one office means all tides rise, says Shutt. You need to be open to new energy and evolve along with a new generation of talent. 

Anomaly dropped the "preciousness" of legacy thinking when it was launched 14 years ago. Its core development was based in building a more progressive model, says Wilsher. Her agency has a "hub and spoke" structure with a business at the focus and various talents serving as the support wheels.

Another entrepreneurial mind-set is that the agency never charges based on time. Anomaly's value-based compensation places a higher priority on the work, team and performance, rather than basing its billings on dragging out the clock.