Advertising is all about ‘Diagonal Thinking’
Hamish Pringle, director general of the IPA, explains what defines a top advertising, media and marketing brain and what makes the high-achievers in ‘Adland’ tick …
In 2003, the IPA embarked upon a project called ‘Diagonal Thinking’ to better understand what makes people in the advertising, media and marketing communications agencies ‘tick’
Since the September 2008 launch of the IPA free online Diagonal Thinking Self-Assessment 6,891 people have registered to take the Self-Assessment. Of these 3,521 (51.1%) went on to complete it, with 609 discovering that they have a special thinking skill that are only possessed by 10% of the UK population – they are ‘Diagonal Thinkers’.
This is a large-scale validation of the hypothesis I originated after long observation of the top people in ‘Adland’, which was that the most successful individuals working in agencies are both linear and lateral thinkers – in short, they think ‘diagonally’.
John Gage and Sarah MacPherson of consultancy AgencyPeople were engaged to carry out a piece of exploratory small-scale pilot research and, most encouragingly, this seemed to give the initial validation of the ‘Diagonal Thinking’ hypothesis. On this basis they were commissioned to carry out a second stage comprising a programme of research of sufficient scale to give confidence in the findings.
The second stage of the research project was completed amongst five discipline ‘cohorts’ of account management, account planning, media planning, media buying, and creative people. Creative & Cultural Skills Council recognized the value of the research and co-funded the final cohort. The total sample of 100 is statistically significant, the sub-samples are valid as recruitment benchmarks, and the results were exciting. The hypothesis was not only validated amongst these bigger samples of people within each of the core agency disciplines, there was also evidence that ‘star’ employees had more of this special thinking ability than average performing employees.
These top brains in commercial creativity are innovative, can explain concepts in both rational and emotional terms, have a broad range of interests, and a passion for execution. They can be highly logical, but link ideas hitherto seen as remote from each other. They want to do work that is creative, but also for it to have a practical impact.
The full Diagonal Thinking Self-Assessment uses a unique cocktail of psychometric tests designed to identify people who combine these thinking styles, and is appropriate for use in professional recruitment, but is too expensive to apply on a mass scale. The IPA wished to provide a more widely available practical application of the research and this has been achieved via the free, online, entry-level, Diagonal Thinking Self-Assessment, jointly designed and developed by digital agency V-On, and consultancy AgencyPeople.
Applicants complete the assessment online and can print out their scores, which they can then use as the basis of an application for one of the various roles in the advertising industry.
The Self-Assessment is not designed to ‘screen out’ applicants, but is intended as a career guidance tool to inform people whether they are ‘Diagonal Thinkers’. This will help ensure that a more diverse mix of people is encouraged to apply to the industry, based on their special thinking ability, rather than being put off by fears that they may not have the appropriate background. Applicants can also show their results to prospective employers, as preliminary evidence that they are ‘Diagonal Thinkers’ and hence are more likely to succeed in advertising and marketing services.
In September 2009, a research questionnaire was sent to everyone who had completed the Diagonal Thinking Self-Assessment. Many had found the Self-Assessment useful in guiding their career choice. 34% of all Diagonal Thinkers indicated that they had included their scores in their CV or attached the certificate they received to it. 31% indicated that they had sent this CV to potential employers, 12% indicated that during the course of an interview Diagonal Thinking scores had been discussed, and 7% (43 people) said that the Self-Assessment process had enabled them to get a job.
The wake-up call for agencies is that respondents were less than convinced that the people responsible for recruitment in IPA members were as aware of the usefulness of the Diagonal Thinking Self-Assessment as they should be.
So a key goal for the IPA during 2010 is to increase usage of it by agencies to reflect candidates’ enthusiasm for it. We believe agencies can be more effective in securing the most appropriate talent by making the Diagonal Thinking Self-Assessment the first stage in their recruitment processes.
In addition, we hope that those involved in education, both in Government and in our schools, colleges, and universities, will see the free online Diagonal Thinking Self-Assessment tool as something their students should be made aware of and encouraged to use when considering their career options.
See: Diagonal-Thinking-why-should-agencies-be-using-it
For more information on Diagonal Thinking and to take the Self- Assessment tool go to diagonalthinking.co.uk