The 2010s were a heady time for the Philippine design scene. Dozens of independent designers and shops were popping up, many boasting of all-star talent. One of those designers was JP, fresh-faced and eager to make his mark on the local scene.

JP initially encountered individuals who told him he was naive and unrealistic for wanting to focus on producing quality web design. Some of these harsh comments came from JP’s business partner and client. The partner wanted JP to focus on projects which would have JP and his team focus on quantity, rather than the quality.

Quality is a non-negotiable for JP.

JP, however, realized that his commitment to craftsmanship wasn’t enough to push the entire team to produce quality work. He needed to step up as a leader and guide the team to meet his standards.

“I was the kind of person in my early days who wanted to please everyone. My leadership style then was accepting whatever people told me because I wanted them to accept me,” JP reminisces.

However, this leadership style made it difficult for JP to remain objective when making decisions. “I became overly sensitive to people’s peculiarities, weaknesses, and motivations. I wasn’t as firm as I needed to be,” he explains. This leadership phase also made it difficult for JP to provide feedback to his team. “It took me a long time to learn how to give proper feedback,” he adds.

JP then began to invest time and effort in one-on-ones with his talents. “I wanted to get to know them as individuals, not just numbers on a spreadsheet,” he recounts. This helped him manage his team more effectively.

These experiences JP had in the early stages of his career were pivotal, as they forced JP to examine how he could better manage his team. This led to him implementing an apprenticeship framework to help him distill his design experience and skills into digestible chunks for his team.

“I will mentor or guide them while they learn a new skill. So, the process begins with me doing the work so I can model to them my process. Next, I teach them parts of the process as I do the work. I cannot immediately ask them to do the entire process as it can frustrate them. Next, I let them do the work and observe them. I may still need to guide them and come in and hone and refine the work. Finally, I ask them to teach others to do the work. If they can successfully teach others, then this tells me they understand the process,” JP explains.

This framework helps him guide and mentor talents to new career heights. It trains the talent and drives them to improve to meet standards set by Practice Heads continuously.

Frost is fueled by talent and discipline, allowing us to produce quality work consistently at scale. Relying on willpower alone can lead to delays because willpower is limited and fickle. “You can only get so far with talent, but with discipline in your practice, you can summon that willpower continuously as you are not dependent on the whims of your talent,” JP explains.

This is a sharp contrast with the early days of his career.

Early in his career, JP believed that producing excellent work was enough to win and retain clients. “I would arrive 30 minutes late to meetings and deliver work past the deadline. I would deliver when I felt like delivering because I knew I produced excellent work,” he laughs.

As a result, a client dropped Frost and told JP that although he produced excellent work, he needed to be more reliable. “We were replaced,” he recalls. JP realized that he needed to do good work and deliver quality service. The apprenticeship framework is key in enforcing discipline and providing a structure for the team, stabilizing the production process.

This framework has set the foundation for Frost’s ability to deliver quality work at a consistent pace.