Bill Shander, author of Stakeholder Whispering, explains how to shift from reactive execution to strategic partnership by uncovering what stakeholders actually need before starting work. He shares the Socratic method for guiding conversations without creating defensiveness, why bringing external expertise (not just creative talent) builds credibility with business stakeholders, and what CMOs can implement tomorrow to build cultures where strategic thinking becomes the default.

About the Guest

Bill Shander has spent 30 years bridging the gap between creative work and business strategy, specializing in data visualization and storytelling. He teaches organizations like the World Bank, multiple US government agencies, and major consulting firms how to transform complex information into compelling narratives. His book, Stakeholder Whispering: Uncover What People Need Before Doing What They Ask, addresses the fundamental problem that keeps creative teams reactive: stakeholders rarely know what they actually need, and most creatives don't know how to uncover it. Bill also teaches courses on LinkedIn Learning and speaks internationally on data storytelling, stakeholder alignment, and strategic communication.

Key Topics Discussed

• How to get stakeholders to understand and reveal what they actually need
• Why hitting pause before execution is one of the most important skills creatives can develop
• How CMOs can use "useful paranoia" to run weekly 15-minute sessions where teams question one underlying assumption
• Why AI executes orders perfectly but only humans can read context, body language, and ask the unexpected questions that lead to better work

Connect with Jesse

• Take the free Creative Ops Assessment at www.infocusconsulting.net/creative-ops-assessment
• Connect with Jesse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessekrinsky
• Have a creative ops challenge you're facing? Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out at [email protected]

Why do creatives assume stakeholders don't care about good work, while stakeholders assume creatives are precious artists who can't handle feedback? That fundamental misunderstanding damages relationships, undermines creative quality, and keeps teams stuck in reactive, order-taking mode.

In this episode, Jen Perry, Executive Creative Director at Vagrants, shares what she learned by doing something most creatives never do: going in-house, then returning to the agency world. That dual perspective gave her rare insight into the pressures both sides face. She explains how to build genuine empathy with stakeholders, why information sharing is a core leadership responsibility, and what it takes to position creative teams as business partners instead of service providers.

About the Guest

Jen Perry is the Executive Creative Director at Vagrants, a creative studio in Boston. She spent 15 years at traditional network agencies including BBDO, Deutsch, and Hill Holiday before moving in-house to build and lead a creative team at a tech company. Unlike most creatives who go in-house and never return, Jen went back to agency life with a fundamentally different understanding of stakeholder pressures, business constraints, and what it takes to connect creative work to business outcomes.

Key Topics Discussed

• Why traditional agencies separate creatives from clients and how that stunts professional growth, especially when creatives go in-house
• The empathy gap: what creatives misunderstand about stakeholders and what stakeholders misunderstand about creatives
• Practical ways to build empathy
• Why information-sharing is a core part of creative leaders’ jobs

Connect with Jesse

• Take the free Creative Ops Assessment at www.infocusconsulting.net/creative-ops-assessment
• Connect with Jesse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessekrinsky
• Have a creative ops challenge you're facing? Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out at [email protected]

Subscribe & Review

If you found value in this episode, please subscribe to Creative Ops Compass and leave a review. Your feedback helps other creative leaders find the show and shapes future episode topics.

Why do some in-house creative teams thrive while others get caught in an endless cycle of being brought in-house, then outsourced, then rebuilt, then eliminated again?

In this episode, Lisa M. Watts, CEO and Founder of CREE8, explains why infrastructure designed for velocity looks completely different than infrastructure designed for cost control. She shares practical frameworks for reframing conversations with IT departments, scaling distributed teams securely, and proving strategic value through metrics that actually matter to the C-suite.

About the Guest

Lisa M. Watts is the CEO and founder of CREE8, a cloud-native production platform built around a “Studio-in-a-Box” infrastructure designed to give creative teams visibility into their work, control over their assets, and the velocity brands now demand. Before founding CREE8, Lisa spent nearly 25 years at Intel, where she pioneered initiatives including the first VR esports league and Intel's first virtual CES booth. She's a member of the Television Academy (Emmys), Forbes Business Council, and Hollywood Professionals Association. Under her leadership, CREE8 won the 2025 NAB Show Product of the Year Award and has executed three strategic acquisitions to build an end-to-end platform for creative production teams.

Key Topics Discussed

• The IT department disconnect: why creative infrastructure needs look like "apples and oranges" to IT
• How to reframe infrastructure conversations from cost control to velocity and business outcomes
• Where technical infrastructure steals time from strategic creative work
• Why "velocity minus control plus AI equals chaos"

Connect with Jesse

• Take the free Creative Ops Assessment at www.infocusconsulting.net/creative-ops-assessment
• Connect with Jesse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessekrinsky
• Have a creative ops challenge you're facing? Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out at [email protected]

Subscribe & Review

If you found value in this episode, please subscribe to Creative Ops Compass and leave a review. Your feedback helps other creative leaders find the show and shapes future episode topics.

Why do some DAM implementations transform how teams work while others become expensive digital filing cabinets that nobody trusts?

In this episode, Phil Seibel of Aldis Systems explains why the platform is never the problem. The real difference between owning a DAM and having an effective DAM system comes down to governance, resourcing, and understanding your team's actual workflows. Phil shares practical frameworks for planning DAM implementation, avoiding the side project trap, and building systems around how people actually work rather than theoretical best practices.

About the Guest

Phil Seibel is a digital librarian with Aldis Systems, a media asset management company that helps organizations implement, optimize, and manage DAM programs. Phil brings a library science background to the technical challenges of digital asset management, focusing on user journey mapping, metadata governance, and building sustainable systems. At Aldis, Phil works with enterprise clients across industries to design DAM programs that align with actual workflows and deliver measurable ROI.

Key Topics Discussed

• The critical differences between owning a DAM platform and having an effective DAM system
• Why governance matters more than platform features
• The questions teams don't ask that they should about user journeys and workflows
• Resourcing options: hiring internally, fractional support, or full outsourcing
• The risks of treating DAM management as a side project

Connect with Jesse

• Take the free Creative Ops Assessment at www.infocusconsulting.net/creative-ops-assessment
• Connect with Jesse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessekrinsky
• Have a creative ops challenge you're facing? Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out at [email protected]

Subscribe & Review

If you found value in this episode, please subscribe to Creative Ops Compass and leave a review. Your feedback helps other creative leaders find the show and shapes future episode topics.

We've all heard the quote about insanity being "doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." It's often attributed to Einstein, which makes it feel like scientific fact. But it's complete nonsense.

In this minisode, Jesse challenges this widely misquoted phrase and explores why in-house creative teams give up too easily on initiatives that failed once. From DAM system proposals to strategic positioning efforts, creative leaders often let one "no" define the future. But conditions change. People change. Your team's capabilities grow.

Jesse breaks down how to diagnose why past initiatives failed, identify when conditions have actually shifted, and determine when it's strategic (not stubborn) to try again.

• Why the "insanity" quote is factually wrong on multiple levels
• How in-house creative teams hold themselves back after one failed attempt
• The diagnostic framework: separating stakeholder readiness from solution quality
• Real client example: strategic positioning that failed two years ago but succeeded recently
• When you genuinely shouldn't try again (and how to know the difference)
• Three specific signals that conditions have shifted enough to warrant a second attempt

• Learn more about Jesse's work at www.infocusconsulting.net
• Connect with Jesse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessekrinsky
• Have a creative ops challenge you're facing? Want to suggest a topic for the show? Reach out to Jesse at [email protected]

If you found value in this episode, please subscribe to Creative Ops Compass and leave a review. Your feedback helps other creative leaders find the show and shapes future episode topics.

Most creative leaders think asking for a smaller budget will help them get approval for a studio. They're wrong. In this episode, Lauren Jensen of Provost Studio explains why that approach backfires, and shares the frameworks she uses to help in-house teams navigate the complex process of winning studio approval. From deciding whether to build in the first place through execution and beyond, Lauren reveals why this is fundamentally a transformation project about people and relationships, not technology and equipment.

Lauren Jensen is Vice President of Growth and Partnerships at Provost Studio, a firm that designs broadcast studios and camera-ready branded spaces for major corporations including NASCAR, Atlanta United, and Fortune 500 companies. She helps creative teams translate technical needs into business language that resonates with leadership, and guides them through the organizational challenges of securing approval, building internal partnerships, and executing studio projects. Before joining Provost Studio, Lauren spent over a decade working at experience design agencies and led transformation initiatives at Disguise, a virtual production technology company.

• Whether building makes sense versus continuing to rent or outsource
• Why asking for too little budget is one of the biggest mistakes creative teams make
• Building authentic relationships with Facilities, IT, and other internal partners early
• Managing the studio approval process alongside day-to-day responsibilities
• Why studios should be treated as transformation projects, not just technical upgrades
• What happens after the build: preparing for unexpected demand and use cases

• Learn more about Provost Studio at www.provost-studio.com
• Connect with Lauren on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurendjensen/
• Follow Provost Studio on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/provost-studio/

• Learn more about Jesse's work at www.infocusconsulting.net
• Connect with Jesse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessekrinsky
• Have a creative ops challenge you're facing? Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out at [email protected]

If you found value in this episode, please subscribe to Creative Ops Compass and leave a review. Your feedback helps other creative leaders find the show and shapes future episode topics.

Jesse speaks with Tim Bradley, founder of Pennant Video, about why in-house creative teams tend to play it safe and what that caution costs them over time. Tim shares insights from running a video agency that collaborates regularly with internal teams, revealing the dynamics that keep teams stuck in risk-averse patterns and the practical steps leaders can take to break the cycle.

Tim Bradley is the founder of Pennant Video, a mid-funnel focused video agency specializing in the critical trust-building phase of the buyer's journey. With expertise in helping brands communicate new positioning, support sales kickoffs, and capture customer stories, Tim works alongside in-house creative teams at inflection points where speed, focus, and objectivity matter most. He brings a unique outside perspective on what holds internal teams back and what makes creative partnerships genuinely productive.

• Why in-house teams are more risk averse than external agencies
• The compounding cost of playing it safe
• The case for protected time
• What to look for when evaluating agency partners
• Building strategic value through internal relationships and calendar visibility

• Learn more about Pennant Video at www.pennantvideo.com

• Learn more about Jesse's work at www.infocusconsulting.net
• Connect with Jesse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessekrinsky
• Have a creative ops challenge you're facing? Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out at [email protected]

If you found value in this episode, please subscribe to Creative Ops Compass and leave a review. Your feedback helps other creative leaders find the show and shapes future episode topics.

In this solo episode, Jesse tackles a question that comes up constantly with in-house creative teams: should there be a mandate requiring stakeholders to work with you instead of external agencies? Jesse shares his honest perspective on why mandates often backfire, when they might actually make sense, and what it takes to build a team that stakeholders choose to work with rather than one they're forced to use.

• Why mandates can signal weakness and create the perception that your team can't compete on merit
• The backfire effect: getting compliance without enthusiasm, trust, or early strategic involvement
• The benefits when stakeholders work with external vendors (exposure to new approaches and concrete case studies for your value)
• Three scenarios where limited, temporary mandates might be strategic

• Learn more about Jesse's work at www.infocusconsulting.net
• Connect with Jesse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessekrinsky/
• Have a creative ops challenge you're facing? Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out to Jesse at [email protected]

If you found value in this episode, please subscribe to Creative Ops Compass and leave a comment. Let Jesse know what creative ops challenges you're facing and what topics would help your team work better.

In this episode, Jesse speaks with Priya Shah, CEO and founder of Shah Squared Consulting, about one of the most frustrating challenges for in-house creative teams: getting process improvements to actually stick after implementation.

Priya brings over 15 years of experience helping global companies, startups, and mission-driven organizations enhance their social media presence and operations. In this conversation, she shares hard-won insights about why implementations fail, how to get real stakeholder buy-in, and practical strategies for maintaining momentum long after consultants leave.

Priya Shah is the CEO and Founder of Shah Squared Consulting, a fractional communications firm that helps healthcare and B2B organizations enhance their digital presence through strategic comms and employee advocacy. With her proprietary Shah Squared Communications Model™, she connects authentic storytelling with measurable business results.

• Why teams default back to old processes despite knowing better ways exist
• Overcoming team members' fears about consultants and change
• The critical difference between one-to-many and one-to-one stakeholder communication
• Finding and leveraging internal champions at all levels (not just leadership)
• Creating sustainable roadmaps that account for daily workload realities
• Why cultural differences impact change adoption in global organizations

1. Address the fear factor directly

   Team members often see consultants as "the Bobs" from Office Space. Counter this by showing how new processes free them up for more strategic, visible work rather than threatening their roles.

2. Customize your message to each stakeholder

   As Priya said, "If they care about numbers, come with numbers. If they care about visuals, come with visuals. Speaking their language is essential for buy-in."

3. Think beyond the roadshow approach

   Big Zoom meetings where you announce "here's how you work with us now" often fail. Invest in one-to-one conversations where you can read verbal and nonverbal cues.

4. Build in grace periods

   Implementation isn't a light switch. Create manageable phases, and be okay with pausing during big campaigns or busy periods. Progress beats perfection.

5. Look beyond senior leadership for champions

   Peer-to-peer influence can be more powerful than top-down mandates. Find your hand-raisers at every level.

• Learn more about Jesse's work at www.infocusconsulting.net
• Connect with Jesse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessekrinsky

Have a creative ops challenge you're facing? Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out to Jesse at [email protected]

If you found value in this episode, please subscribe to Creative Ops Compass and leave a review. Your feedback helps other creative leaders find the show and shapes future episode topics.

Jesse speaks with Joel Kaplan, founder of MK3 Creative, about how in-house creative teams can build stronger, more productive relationships with external agencies. Joel shares nearly 30 years of insights from the agency side, revealing what separates one-off projects from long-term partnerships and how better communication in the intake process saves both time and money for everyone involved.

Joel Kaplan is the founder of MK3 Creative, a Boston area creative agency with nearly three decades of experience working with clients ranging from small internal creative departments to major corporate teams. Joel brings a unique perspective on what makes agency relationships work, having seen firsthand the communication breakdowns, missing information, and stakeholder challenges that can derail even well-intentioned projects.

• The critical elements of an effective creative brief
• How to get stakeholders involved early without losing control
• Questions to ask that clarify creative direction and decision-making authority
• Managing the line between helpful input and micromanagement
• What it takes to maintain long-term agency partnerships

The more information you provide upfront, the better the creative concepts and budgets you'll receive. A well-written brief saves time on both sides by preventing unnecessary rounds of revisions and proposals that miss the mark entirely.

Working through concepts without budget guidance is ”like driving with your eyes closed”. Whether you provide an exact number or a range, give your agency partners enough information to propose ideas that actually fit what you're trying to accomplish. If you're unsure about budget, have a conversation about back-of-the-napkin ranges before formal proposals begin.

Build time into your project timeline for key decision makers to weigh in before the end. Ask stakeholders what they've seen that they like, get their vision upfront, and include them in at least one early conversation with the agency. Otherwise, you're setting yourself up for scope changes, blown budgets, and starting over when someone at the top finally sees the work.

Be clear about where the agency comes into the process. Do you need them to develop concepts from scratch, or do you have ideas you want them to execute and enhance? And be honest about who has final approval.

When personalities, preferences, or shiny objects threaten to distract from the core goal, bring the conversation back to the fundamentals: who is the audience and what is the message? Every decision, from script writing to edit points, should serve those objectives..

• Learn more about Jesse's work at www.infocusconsulting.net
• Connect with Jesse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessekrinsky
• Have a creative ops challenge you're facing? Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out to Jesse at [email protected]

If you found value in this episode, please subscribe to Creative Ops Compass and leave a review. Your feedback helps other creative leaders find the show and shapes future episode topics.