Empowering Creators at Fox, A Tale of Transformation

By Alan Lepofsky

To succeed in the media and entertainment industry today, companies need to constantly find new and innovative ways to challenge the status quo. One company going through a time of significant change is Fox, as the organization seeks to define its next chapter on the heels of the recent Disney transaction.

Several weeks back, I had the pleasure of sitting down with John Herbert, Fox Corporation CIO & EVP, Enterprise and Media Technology, at the HMG Global Innovation Summit in New York, for a session entitled How to Effectively Transform the Employee Experience.

As part of our discussion, John described the realization that Fox needed to change the way employees worked during the company’s time of transition. He highlighted the need for a collaborative solution that would connect Fox employees across multiple locations and departments, allowing them the opportunity to work together more efficiently and effectively. He also explained how choosing a more modern technology stack (including Quip) was key to the organization’s future plans, but it was also a catalyst for a cultural transformation throughout Fox.

Here are a few of the most important takeaways from our conversation.

  1. Tech for tech’s sake does not lead to success. Focus on your purpose. Define what problems you’re trying to solve and be transparent about what you’re trying to accomplish.
  2. Focus on your employees first and always. Meet the needs of your employees and empower them to do amazing things.
  3. Strategic plans need to have buy-in from all levels. A top down approach will not work.
  4. Define Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) for the entire team. From the most senior to the most junior team members, and make the reporting available to everyone. When employees can see everyone’s role in where the organization is headed, it helps to drive engagement and productivity.
  5. What does the future hold? Artificial Intelligence has huge potential to help content management. For example, automated meta-tagging of content to help alleviate overload and help people find the right things.

Employees feel rewarded when they know their efforts have contributed to the bigger picture, knowing they’re aligned with goals of where the organization is headed,” says John.

See the full conversation on our YouTube channel, and learn how John and his team have transformed the way their employees — who they call Creators — work together, collaborate, experiment, and co-create each and every day.