Stephanie Douglas-Neal, CEO, UM Australia
In today’s disrupted market, clients and agencies are operating under extraordinary pressure.
The volatility is real and multi-layered, with out-of-stocks cascading through supply chains, packaging, and core products simultaneously under strain, and the cost of goods evolving faster than forecasts can capture. Fuel is impacting fertiliser, which impacts cropping, which impacts feedlots, which ripples into everything else.
The uncertainty is not just hard to navigate; it is the only certainty. Things will change and will no doubt evolve quickly, but the unknown is that no one has a playbook for what comes next.
Why possibility-led thinking matters
Yet this is precisely where agencies have the greatest opportunity to create genuine value.
Not by claiming we have all the answers, because we don’t, but by recognising that disruption demands a different kind of thinking, that’s far more valuable and what I refer to as a deliberate focus on possibility-led thinking.
The traditional response to uncertainty is to tighten control, narrow focus, and retreat to what feels safe. But the businesses we serve don’t need their agency partners to be safe; they need us to help them see what’s possible.
We can build agility into their strategies and prepare for the moments that will inevitably catch everyone off guard. And when those wild-card moments arrive, clients need agency partners who show up with fresh business solutions that fundamentally enhance the relationship, rather than simply reverting to the previous plan.
Having the tool kit means having the data, the experience, the networks, the capability, and the media platforms to bring ideas to life.
So, what agencies need now is the intention to systemise how they re-evaluate what will genuinely drive growth and strong business outcomes, which means being willing to throw out what’s not working, to question strategies previously prepared for a different market reality, and to adapt quickly to the new reality.
Progress over perfection
This new mindset is a way of thinking that focuses on what could work, not just what might fail.
It is a way of thinking that looks for opportunity, options, and upsides, even within constraints, and it chooses progress over perfection, recognising that waiting for certainty is no longer an option.
I argue that there’s always a way forward, and that constraints fuel creativity rather than limit it. Everything can be figured out, and “not yet” is always a more powerful answer than “no.”
Instead of shutting ideas down, “what if?” and “why not?” should be asked, and problems should be reframed as challenges to solve.
An agency partner who is willing to take calculated risks rather than waiting for conditions that may never arrive will bring momentum to life, make progress visible, and celebrate wins in ways that energise teams and stakeholders alike.
The balance between optimism and realism
In a team or business context, energy and optimism replace paralysis and unlock something tangible.
People lean in rather than protect themselves by leaning out. Creative thinking flourishes because it is actively encouraged rather than policed. Teams move faster because they are no longer trapped in over-analysis, and ownership and accountability increase because people believe their thinking matters.
However, we need to be realistic, as a mindset of possibility can drift into naivety if it is not grounded in commercial reality. It must be paired with rigour and execution, not float free from them.
Great communication of a weak idea is still a weak idea, and let’s be honest, not every idea is good.
The point is to explore broadly, generate options, choose sharply, and be disciplined about which ideas merit investment. In other words, we need to be realists about the “watch-outs.”
What agencies should ask next
The reframe is simple, and it works.
So when you encounter a problem, ask “what’s possible here?” When you hit a blocker, ask, “What would it take?” When you hear “no,” respond with “not yet, what’s another way?”
In a disrupted market, agencies that can balance possibility and pragmatism will move their clients ahead of competitors.
The opportunity is not to become more transactional in response to pressure, it is to become more intentional, more connected to what genuinely matters and more committed to building solutions that elevate rather than simply execute.
Where the competitive advantage lives
For agencies, this shows up as a team’s MO, which is built around possibility-led thinking in action.
It means shifting from traditional channel plans to adaptive growth frameworks, from static forecasting to case-by-case, led decision-making, and from isolated media plans to connected, cross-channel problem-solving that adapts to market changes.
It is a commitment to constantly retest a client’s brief against what is actually happening in the market, not what was assumed months earlier, and to use a combination of data, creativity, and media craft to find better solutions.
In a disrupted market, that is where the real competitive advantage lives.