Six ways to represent Research + Creative + Data. Which one captures how you actually work?
Systems thinking — momentum compounds
Each cycle accelerates the next. Research informs Creative, Creative produces work, Data measures results, insights feed back to Research. The wheel spins faster over time.
Jeff Bezos famously drew the Amazon flywheel on a napkin. Each component feeds the next, and each turn of the wheel makes the next turn easier.
For On Common Grounds: the more research you do, the better your creative gets. The better the creative, the more data you collect. The more data, the smarter your research questions.
The value is in the overlaps
Not three separate things. The magic happens where disciplines collide. The centre—where all three meet—is your competitive edge.
Traditional agencies silo these functions. Research briefs Creative. Creative ignores Data. Data reports to no one.
Your model works because people literally share a building. The overlaps aren't org chart artifacts—they're actual conversations over coffee.
A dialogue, not a diagram
Research asks questions. Creative proposes answers. Data tests them. Then Research asks better questions. It's an argument that produces clarity.
Rory Sutherland argues that most business problems aren't solved by data OR creativity OR research alone. They're solved by productive disagreement between all three.
This visual shows process, not structure. It's how work actually moves through your collective.
Spatial — your actual structure
Coffee shop below. Workspace above. The collective emerges from proximity. This isn't a metaphor—it's literally how your business is built.
The questions that matter
The ideas that resonate
The proof that builds trust
Steve Jobs designed Pixar's building so animators would bump into programmers in the atrium. Collision = collaboration.
Your model does the same thing. The physical space forces the cross-pollination that big agencies try to manufacture with "innovation labs."
Productive disagreement creates energy
Doubt. Invention. Proof. Three forces pulling toward the centre. The tension between them is what generates insight.
Traditional framing: Research, Creative, Data. Functional. Boring. Sounds like every other agency.
Sutherland reframe: Doubt, Invention, Proof. These are the actual activities. Doubt challenges assumptions. Invention proposes alternatives. Proof separates what works from what doesn't.
Intertwined — you can't separate them
Three strands that wrap around each other. Pull one and you move the others. The structure is stronger than any single thread.
Adam Grant's research on collaboration shows that the best teams have "task conflict" (healthy disagreement about ideas) without "relationship conflict" (personal animosity).
A braid is three strands in constant productive conflict. They push against each other and that's what creates strength.