06 How much of our internal inefficiencies and problems will be exposed during this process?
Working with an external agency is a bit like inviting a stranger into your home. They’re going to see how you really live, messy corners and all. This step can lead to tensions and conflict, if it’s not handled properly from the get-go.
The good news?
When approached with the right mindset, the resulting transparency can be a catalyst for positive change.
My house is a mess
Be prepared for your agency to uncover a range of internal issues. These might include communication bottlenecks, unclear decision-making processes, technical debt, or misalignment between departments. The extent of exposure often correlates with the depth of the agency’s involvement. Here’s what you can expect:
Decision-making
The agency’s need for timely decisions and approvals can highlight inefficiencies in your decision-making processes. If your organization struggles with this, it will become apparent quickly.
Technical debt
If you’re working on an existing product, any technical debt or outdated systems will likely be exposed. This can be a wake-up call but also an opportunity to address long-standing issues.
Cultural misalignments
Your company culture, for better or worse, will become evident to your agency partners. This might include aspects like risk tolerance, innovation readiness, or how you handle feedback and failure. Rather than seeing this as something to hide, it’s a valuable opportunity to gain an external perspective on your blind spots, helping you become more aware of the underlying assumptions and values that shape your company culture—and ultimately strengthening it.
Resource allocation
The project might reveal inadequacies in how you allocate resources, both in terms of budget and personnel. This can be particularly evident if the agency needs to interface with overworked or understaffed departments.
How to benefit from the outsiders' eyes
While it might feel uncomfortable, this exposure is actually a valuable opportunity. External eyes can spot inefficiencies that have become invisible to your team over time. Embrace this as a chance for improvement rather than a threat.
Use the agency as a catalyst
A good agency won’t just point out problems; they’ll help you solve them, as doing this will benefit them just as much as you. Any successful agency will have been able to gather experiences working with all sorts of companies and teams. Use their external perspective and expertise to drive positive changes in your organization.
Prepare your team
Let your team know that this exposure is part of the process and encourage them to view it constructively. Foster an environment where people feel safe discussing and addressing inefficiencies.
Document and act
As inefficiencies are exposed, document them and create action plans. This process can serve as a valuable organizational improvement initiative running parallel to your product development.
Communication is key
Your agency will likely need to interface with various parts of your organization. This process can reveal communication silos or conflicting priorities between departments. Be prepared for these issues to surface and view them as areas for potential improvement.
A good agency partner will approach any inefficiency or challenges they discover diplomatically and constructively, helping you turn challenges into opportunities for organizational enhancement.
By embracing this process of exposure and improvement, you can emerge from your agency engagement not just with a better product, but with a more efficient, effective organization overall. The key is to approach it with openness, a willingness to change, and a focus on long-term organizational health.
Our take
All companies face chaos at some point. Many stay that way, and still perform well despite their internal politics and red tape. We call it “functional chaos” — and somehow it works.
Here’s what we’ve learned: it’s not about being perfect — it’s about how you handle your rough patches. When you bring in outsiders — especially a design agency — magic happens. They spot opportunities you’ve been walking past every day. While your team’s stuck in routines, they shake things up with simple truths like “This could be better” or “You're missing something obvious here.”
When outsiders make you explain your work, it’s like putting your organization under a microscope. All those “that's just how we do things” moments? They suddenly look different. It’s your perfect moment to reshape everything — don’t let it slip.
Example
If you work long enough with a customer, you’ll find yourself exposed to all the thorny issues that plague every company above a certain size and age. One of the issues no company seems to be immune to (including us), is bad hires.
Every now and again you end up hiring a person that looks great on paper and interviews well, but turns out to be a toxic co-worker or a poor team player. It happens. A company with a healthy culture will react swiftly: provide feedback, outline a clear need and path to change, monitor closely, and if all other options are exhausted – let them go.
When a customer ends up having to deal with a bad hire and not only keeps us informed but also actively seeks out our insight then we know that we are in the right place. There’s little that requires trust as much as the discussion of performance and behavior of your own personnel.