How Can I Make Changes to My Agency When We’re Too Busy?

The question:

An agency principal asked, “How do we take time to make changes to our agency when everyone is already too busy?”

My answer:

It’s about priorities, the environment you want to create for your people and clients, and your willingness to accept the consequences of continuing with a “business as usual” approach versus being proactive. And given that we’re already discussing certain challenges, it’s highly likely there will be a higher cost to delay.

I typically hear the above question from growing agencies. And while agency growth is a great “problem” to have, agency leaders need to adapt their operating model along the way to maintain organizational health.

Here’s an example of what I hear from agencies who have grown without adapting their operating model:

“Over the years, our agency added new services to satisfy clients and win new business. We've grown quickly in this way. But as a result, we’ve also lost sight of who we are as an agency. Our leadership and staff are no longer aligned on the types of clients we should target or the work we should and shouldn’t be doing. We no longer have a clear way to talk about ourselves or the problems we solve in a compelling way. Our people describe our agency differently from one pitch to the next, causing further confusion. We’ve been doing “whatever it takes” to satisfy clients and keep up, that it’s become the norm for our culture, which leads to overpromising to clients and falls on teams to deliver, creating more tension. Our growth has caused a lot of internal inefficiencies. We hire more people to cover the workload, but without time to properly train. Our senior people step up to help, but it's burning them out. Quality of work is inconsistent, client and employee retention is now an issue, and our margins are suffering.”

These agencies have taken on “organizational debt.” Organizational debt is when a business grows over a period of time but doesn’t invest the necessary time and energy toward adapting how it operates to keep it running smoothly. One day, they step back and realize they have a set of performance challenges.

Sustainable growth requires a combination of strategic focus, scalable revenue models, and continuous adaptation. Because whenever you add a new service, client, or team member to your agency, you also add complexity. Over time, if not thoughtfully addressed, challenges mount.

Instead of asking, “How do we make changes to our agency when we’re too busy?” you should ask, “Can we afford not to?”