Monday, February 26, 2007

Mr. T-Shaped People

Mr T. could drive a truck as well as turn lawnmowers into cabbage firing machines and kick arse.

I assume the is why the new concept of T shaped people was so named. Once was, ok so upto about year ago, if you didn't fit into a planning/creative/account/digital/direct/traditional box you were a pariah.

Now it is almost a necessity to have a core vertical skill with complimentary horizontal skills. As agencies struggle to cope with the changing communications channels and how to navigate them cost effectively the need to have smaller teams of more versatile people who link together across their shared skills will increase.

The term was coined by David Guest in "The hunt is on for the Renaissance Man of computing," in The Independent, September 17, 1991.

I would however agree with the people who have said that this is overly simplistic and the agency of the future will require people of all different shapes integrating across a variety of levels but we are starting from a low base.

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3 comments:

Unknown said...

hey Giles, just discovered your blog...Its quite cool!

and i belong to the ogilvy family as well...work for David in India...soon to be part of the Bates Asia network!

Loved the point about T-shaped people. cheers

Ven @ Money Making Tips said...

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