So, Code Computerlove?
A month into my internship I was already feeling as though I had made the wrong decision, that perhaps coming to an agency that was familiar with Hyper Island, had read Wheelan’s ‘Creating Effective Teams’ cover to cover (several times over), and subsequently undergone a huge shake-up already, was in fact a place still coming to terms with the change.
If I’m to be perfectly honest, I was always skeptical about how the ‘ever-so-idealistic’ approach to working within teams, at Hyper, would reflect in the day-day running of an agency. When we as students for example, found it difficult to make time for reflection, and feedback sessions between groups were facilitated on a weekly basis by Jo. How did Code manage? The stakes are dramatically higher, time costs money and with a work force of around 70 people, I started my internship knowing that there will have been changes to the methods I had been practicing at Hyper.
Tony is clearly passionate about ‘creating effective teams’, this was evident from the get-go, and I must say that I fed off his enthusiasm when he told me – this is a great opportunity for them too, to take on a Hyper student, ‘landmark’ as it were their involvement with Hyper Island thus far.
“You’ll see things we have done well, perhaps you’ll see things we can do better…”
Perhaps I should have asked for clarity at that point, as to whether he would like me to share my thoughts on said ‘things’. The awkward moment when I found out this wasn’t an outlook appreciated by everyone.
Hindsight is great, and with it I now can understand that the expectations I had of myself were (maybe) not fair/realistic to the situation. Was my ego engorged by Tony’s overwhelming enthusiasm at the time, so much so that I believed ‘this intern’ would epitomise the meaning of ‘change agent’ and revolutionise how Code would perceive all other future interns??! Honestly, no. If anything I felt pressure to impress.
Sure I wanted to know how Code had gone about implementing Hyper ways, and of course this internship was a chance for me to learn about my role within the Experience Team. Gain a deeper understanding of what I’m responsible for and how, what it is I do, fits in with the rest of the agency. I can’t say I gave much thought to how the ‘intern’ title would affect the value of my input. Like many of the Hyper interns, I felt it important to show initiative when choosing to express my opinion. I was getting paid after all, and in some way I felt the need to validate the price they had attached to me being there. No doubt in my mind now, that I had lost perspective. I had convinced myself that I was there to help them get the most out of the changes they had already initiated. Fail of epic proportion…
The ‘Discipline Team Meeting’, these are held once a month (at lunchtime; so pizza is ordered in), we sit in our teams and we talk for an hour. This was actually the one and only time I made a ‘Hyper’ suggestion that, in my opinion, may have made the meetings more productive. You see I was under the impression that these meetings were a chance to reflect on the previous month, take any lessons learnt and apply them to the month ahead. With everyone free to discuss whatever they choose; from work they are proud of, to a book they were reading, to the way other teams work, I asked for someone to explain to me what this hour was for. We were 30 minutes over and I had been hearing a lot about a good book and a decision had been made that the Code ‘scrum’ was making a return to the team’s mornings… I went on to tell them
“At Hyper we found it beneficial to speak on personal experiences…for example ‘I feel this worked well’, ‘I feel like this doesn’t’…”
When I heard the response, it was apparent exactly why it had been adapted to the way it had.
“If I had to spend an hour each month talking/listening about how ‘I feel’, I would want to slice my wrists…”
Wow. Right, I can see how they could think it would be like counselling, but c’mon, 6 months we did it for. You can call it a ‘fantasy’ or whatever, but I had the feeling I had pissed off a lot of people in that team. It would do me well to remember in future – I am not in the Hyper basement anymore - these weren’t ‘Hyper’ ways - these were ‘Code’ ways.
I was in the habit of asking for immediate feedback. In situations I am new to, I want to know I’ve gone about my approach in the correct way. ‘Feedback’ as we know it, was something Code used. Described by my ‘mentor’ as ‘a leveller’, a tool that everybody (in every position at Code) can learn from. This though, was one situation that I didn’t need to be told that my timing was completely wrong. It was however, disheartening to have the episode brought up at my final review (weeks after), by someone who wasn’t actually there to experience it for himself telling me;
“You need to have a bit more empathy for the people around you…
“And also that criticism that the agency hadn’t properly adopted Hyper Island techniques – without thinking outside the bubble of your own experience at Hyper Island, and the differences in a real world application. It can make you seem a bit self centred and naïve.”
I must reiterate that that was exactly why I was there, to gain an understanding of the differences. I’ll be the first to admit, evidently I may have gone about it the wrong way, but certainly my intension was to question why. I now know, changes were made in order to prevent self-mutilation. Ironically, having said what I did, I wanted nothing more then to staple my own mouth shut!
I was set to work on projects that allowed me to familiarise myself with the planning process; deciphering useful data, research into consumer behaviour, developing audience personas, competitor analysis, all of which play a part in gathering insights that will later lead the creative process. I found this work interesting, its what I expected. I was working independently a lot of the time, so is the life of a planner at Code, on projects not yet in full flow. It was great to be brought into ideation sessions. It was then I could really begin to vibe off the creative atmosphere, that I feel was lacking at my desk. It was hard at times for me to take the ‘proactive’ approach I was being encouraged to do by my ‘mentor’. I was extremely weary of stepping on people toes, I found myself apologising for absolutely everything.
A mate of mine tried to reassure me,
“Really this role and this experience is all about you and what you can get out of it, not necessarily what they can get from having you on their team.
“What you’ve got there is an amazing opportunity to learn, from one of the most respected independent agencies in the North, don’t fuck that up!”
One of the biggest opportunities occurred when I overheard a conversation, this lead me to present my work directly to the client. It was fulfilling to see a project I was working on come to a conclusion. In regards to all the other projects, I do think that really taking the time to think about the process and appreciating what it is and why it’s there, will be an important step towards becoming a really strong member of a strategically focused agency team.
My internship at Code Computerlove, I think is fair to say, wasn’t what I had imagined. Perhaps a more accurate interpretation would be to say - I don’t have a clear idea of what my specialism will be, or how it relates to Code, which may have lead to a few unrealistic expectations around the role I had there. The experience never the less is one I have learnt loads from, mostly about myself. When I start my next internship at Sid Lee in January, I shall be so much more prepared, self-aware and open-minded.
