When Teams Leave

I think this is a trend that you we see more and more in many industries as bigger businesses lose their appeal. The stuff that is happening with socail software and connecting people together is lowering or wiping out the barriers to entry in many industries. Individuals and small firms are finding it easier to do things (the long tail concept) on their own and to reap all of the benefits. Jim Wilde www.advancinginsights.com

I'm not clear on the issue here. Is this really a surprise? This is how business has operated in the agency-side of America for years which includes PR firms, traditional ad agencies and law firms. You continually work under the gun in these environments and your job security is directly tied to client satisfaction, or better retainment. I'll step out on a limb and speculate that many of these folks were probably genuinely concerned about their job security following the departure of Mr. Burns. The best position for short-term security and long-term opportunity may have been to make the move. FC should do a Bio-Blog on the lifecycle of a career ad exec from AE to VP. I bet you'll find anywhere from four to eight firms cited on that resume, some with short tenures. I'm sure both sides will move on to bigger and better business as a result.

Re: Burns and the "17" One has to question how thought out their strategy was? Did they really think Saatchi & Saatchi wouldn't come out with all guns blazing to defend against a very significant business threat? It makes me wonder what can derail otherwise intelligent, rational thinking? Maybe it's... Thinking you're masters of the universe.