Today marks my first year at JWT Shanghai as Director of Digital and below is a reflection on my learning journey so far.
今天，我加入智威汤逊上海团队担任数字总监职位刚好满一年了，下面我想分享一下我的心路历程。
My brief: To transform JWT for the modern Connected Age.
我的信念：引领智威汤逊迈向现代互联时代
To identify gaps in the organisation, define the nature and size of these gaps, then formulate and implement solutions to plug those gaps.
找出组织存在的差距，确定这些差距的性质和程度，之后制定解决办法，弥补这些差距。
Ultimately, taking a role with the rest of leadership to make JWT the best ‘product’ it can be in the marketplace.
最后，跟其他领导层合作，把智威汤逊最好的一面展示给市场。
My role: To serve as the Digital Beacon.
我的职责：数字领域一盏明灯
Beacon, Catalyst, Boat-Rocker, whichever name we call it, Digital Beacons in each of the JWT offices just happen to be resolutely curious and passionate about digital technologies and it’s impact on consumers and commerce.
指明灯、催化剂、不安之人 – 哪个称谓都无所谓，每一个智威汤逊都需要数字指明灯，要追根究底、激情饱满，探索数字技术，探索其对消费者和业务的影响。
It helped that the diversity of my past work experiences gave me multiple perspectives from the various departments within an agency.
过去丰富的从业经验，让我在智威汤逊不同部门之间都可以有自己的多重视角。
You take that and supercharge it with my Masters Program from Hyper Island and I was armed to the teeth, ready and waiting for this sweet gig.
这样的多重视角，与我在Hyper Island的硕士课程紧密结合，让我全副武装，整装待发，迎接全新的角色。
I landed at a time of tumultuous change within the agency with a huge change-out of senior leadership. That was however more a changing of times and less a reflection of past competency, so my appointment was symbolic of a need for bigger change and I had to prove that I was a part of inertia for positive change.
我加入公司时，正好赶上管理层大变动，公司气氛躁动不堪。但是这主要是由于时代的变迁造成的，而不是公司过去能力的反射，我的任命体现了巨大变革的需要，我也要证明自己有能力推动积极的变化。
Expectations were high and I needed to move fast or I could get swept up by the tsunami of change if I did not establish and set quick goals and early wins.
人们对我抱有很高的期待，所以我必须步伐迅捷，否则就会被变化浪潮席卷，我要快速设立目标，尽快赢得人们的信任。
Fortunately I had this: The First 90 Days.
好在我不负众望：最初的90天。
The key takeaway was simple: Each leader had 90 days to make a positive impact from the day of arrival and the first step was to identify which of the 4 situations you were in: Start Up, Turn-around, Realignment or Sustain?
我给大家的建议很简单：从你进门的那天算起，每个领导者都有90天的时间一展身手，第一步要明确自己处在以下四种局面中的哪一种：创业公司、公司转型、公司改组和公司维系？
I set out quickly to gather as much evidence as I could and I learnt that the digital narrative within the agency was largely unclear and inconsistent.
我行动迅速，尽量多收集公司的知识，然后我了解到公司的数字领域非常模糊、反复无常。
It was clear, this was a Turn-Around situation we were facing. We had to make tough calls early and push the reset button on things.
毫无疑问，我们面临的是公司的转型期。要尽快严肃起来，重新启动。
The first objective was to defend the outflow of projects and instil rigour and discipline on delivering current scope of works. We needed to recapture the briefs that were going out of the door and to restore confidence from the clients and internally, and reset the digital narrative. Digital could not be a thought of as a department, but to rather a mindset and culture moving forward.
首要目标就是阻止项目外流，给我们的作品呈现注入严格的标准。需要扭转外流的文案，重建客户和内部团队的信心，重新撰写我们的数字战略。数字不是我们作为某个部门的理念，而是一种思维模式，一种不断发展的文化。
The first 30 days were complete chaos and riddled with doubt, fear and uncertainty and I went through some very dark moments. There were raging fires everywhere and they kept getting lit faster than we could extinguish them.
最初的30天全然混乱，疑虑重重，恐惧四伏，很不确定，我确实经历了很多灰暗时刻。到处都充斥着怒火，一波未平一波又起。
We were close to selling in a content idea and for the very first time were set to take on the social delivery execution of the content piece. This was going to be a category and agency first and an idea the client had poured all their resources of the year into. They had immense confidence in the idea and now wanted to ensure the execution could match the concept we had sold in.
我们很快就要卖出我们的内容创作想法，而且也是第一次志在把数字内容交付执行。这将是一个全新的类别，一个全新的广告公司，一个客户这一年里倾注全部心血打造的想法。他们对这个想法信心满满，希望成果能跟概念相匹配。
This was also coming off the ‘Left over girls’ campaign from SK-II which had taken the Chinese social landscape by storm, earning huge coverage for the brand. Our idea could do the same if we could pull off the execution right. We had never undertaken such a scope before and everyone was sceptical. I also knew that we had to pull this off and use it as a quick win to build credibility for the team. We could not fail.
这时恰好出现了SK-II《剩女》广告，在中国社会激起热议，同时也给品牌带来了巨大的曝光度。我们的概念如果能得到很好的执行，也会有同样的效果。我们之前从未做过这样的内容，所以大家都表示怀疑。但是我深知我们必须放手一搏，迅速打赢这场仗，为团队赢得可信度。而且我们只能赢。
Fortunately we pulled through and the results spoke for themselves. The clients won an internal Innovation Award and we ourselves gathered a few pieces of metal.
好在我们挺过来了，结果不言自明。我们的客户赢得了内部创新奖，我们公司也斩获了几个奖项。
By the end of the 90 days, I had gathered enough learnings to put in place our plans for Digital Transformation moving forward.
90天后，我已经收集了足够的信息，准备好了数字变革方案。
Fast forward a year later today, and while the transformation is far from complete, we are so proud of the progress we have made.
时间来到一年后的今天，我们的这场变革远未结束，但是我们对目前取得的成绩十分骄傲。
We can now concept and deliver ideas across a wide spectrum of mediums, we can make things beyond advertising, we have broken down internal silos across teams and seen closer and stronger collaborations across all functions and we have a spanking new credentials to show off a new and improved JWT.
现在，我们可以在各种不同的平台上策划执行我们的概念，远不仅仅局限于广告，我们内部团队越来越融为一体，各个职能部门合作越来越紧密，越来越顺畅，现在我们可以向大家展示一个全新的优秀的智威汤逊。
Yesterday’s successful Innovation Workshop with 999 was also great way to celebrate my first 365 days @JWT Shanghai.
昨天跟999成功举办的创新工作坊，也是我在智威汤逊上海工作满一年的很好的庆祝方式。
Key learnings
主要收获
Fast forward a year later, here are some of highlights from my learning journey in this role thus far:
快进到一年后的今天，下面是我的心路历程里最大的几点收获。
Team is everything
团队胜于一切
If my mission was to digitalise the rest of the agency, to encourage and enforce that digital was not a department, then the mantle of the Digital Director is an oxymoron.
我的任务是把公司的其他部分数字化，提倡数字化不仅仅是一个部门的事，否则我作为数字总监职位就大打折扣了。
There are 2 implications behind that
这背后有两点含义
1. Like the true nature of ‘digital’, the Director of Digital functions as the glue or piping behind the scenes that pulls the pieces together. There was no point in just having one person or department be the champion of digital. It doesn’t work that way. I needed to reset my thinking and to invite rest of the management team to be a part of the Digital Transformation force.
正如“数字”的真正本质一样，数字总监的职责就是起到串联的作用，把各个场景连接起来，如果只是某个人或者某个部门独揽数字技术，那就没意义了，不该是这样的。我需要重置自己的思维，让管理团队的其他人也参与进来，加入数字变革大军。
Instead the few of us, George (MD), Brian and Frank (Co-Heads of Planning), and Mankit (Group Digital Creative Director), banded together and created Project Mayhem.
相反，我和总经理George，策划部两位负责人Brian和Frank，集团数字创意总监Mankit，联手合作打造了“大破坏行动”（Project Mayhem）。
True to the nature of the original Project Mayhem in the movie Fight Club, our role was to disrupt our selves and our goal was to create a narrative that culminated in a workshop which enforced the concept of thinking in Customer Journeys when we think and sell our ideas moving forward.
正如电影《搏击俱乐部》里面的“大破坏行动”一样，我们的任务就是要打破自身，目标就是要打造这样一种理念 – 在思考和营销我们的概念时，要站在消费者的角度去思考去执行。
We also made it a point to hire the right talent that not only had the right skills, but also embodied our cultural values of Courage, Confidence and Collaboration wrapped on a head of humility.
我们雇用人才看的不仅仅是优秀的技能，同时还要体现我们的企业文化价值 – 勇气、信心、合作，全部融为一体。
Progression is an imperative.
进步势在必行
The 2nd implication is that my role is always charged with disrupting ourselves, responsible for shaking the status quo and always identifying ways to improve on JWT’s product and service offering as the needs of the consumers evolve. It was vital that we kept our noses to the ground and evolved along with if not ahead of the curve. Which is why JWT APACE sent 12 of us to SXSW to capture and learn the latest and greatest and then bring it back to our respective offices.
第二点含义就是我的职责通常就是要打破自身，撼动现状，找出提升智威汤逊产品和服务的方法，顺应顾客的需求变化。接地气很重要，最起码要保证不被潮流甩在后面。正因如此，智威汤逊亚太公司让我们12个成员前去参加SXSW科技艺术节，捕捉了解最新的潮流，把最前沿信息带回到各个办公室。
Going Agile.
灵活应变
As we started to grow in confidence through the work, the teams started getting bolder and more experimental in dreaming up ideas. We had started to dream and think digital ideas, but were doing patch work when it came to delivery of them. As we shifted from just creating assets to connecting experiences, the extent of the deliverables were something very few teams had seen before, let alone were familiar with delivering.
作品的累计也让我们信心倍增，团队越来越大胆，敢于尝试梦寐以求的想法。我们开始大胆做梦，思索数字概念，但是在执行时还是会拼拼凑凑。我们也从原来的创作内容，转变成联通经历，所以我们所交付的成果也是之前很少有团队看到的，更别提能够熟练做出来了。
Bottlenecks were appearing, empty promises were made as SOW documents became vague which led to vague roles & responsibilities.
我们也遇到过瓶颈，工作说明文件有时候很模糊，会面对一些空洞的承诺，这也使得职责模糊不清。
Enter the kanban – we introduced a hybrid version of Agile to the agency and utilised all the spare spaces we could find. This, unlike Project Mayhem, was not introduced officially, but funnily enough was very well received. Maybe because when we did it, it was usually when shit was close to hitting the fan!
我们也采用了“看板管理”模式，引进了Agile软件混合版本，尽可能利用所有空闲空间，这跟“大破坏行动”不同，不是正式引进的，但有意思的是，它最后的接纳度很高，可能是因为这也给我们省去了不少麻烦吧！
There will be blood
一场血战
As some wise man once said, you cannot fill a cup that is already full.
一位智者曾说，一个满满的杯子，容不下更多的水。
Transforming the agency required us to get everyone to change their mind-sets and ways of working, so some collateral damage was inevitable. During our transformation, we bid farewell to those who were impatient with our pace of change, those who were angry and reluctant to change, those who felt helpless and couldn’t keep up and those who didn’t want to be a part of the change. What was more critical for us was then to bond those left behind who believed in us and wanted to be a part of the change.
公司变革要求每个人都改变自己的思维定式，改变工作方式，所以负面影响在所难免。在这一旅程中，有一些人最终与我们分道扬镳，包括那些没有耐心跟着我们一起改变的人，还有满是怨气不愿做出改变的人，还有那些感到无助，跟不上我们脚步的人，还有不想跟我们一起做出改变的人。所以，我们要做的就是，把那些留下来对我们充满信心，愿意跟我们一起做出改变的人紧紧地团结在一起。
Onward and upwards into Year 2 as I keep the our Hyper Island manifesto close to our minds.
现在迈入在这里的第二个年头，我也会谨记我们的Hyper Island宣言。
Checking out.
完
Gavin
This article was first published on LinkedIn May 10, 2017.
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