Human Error
Let’s Chat

Creative ops for in-house and agency teams ☻

Creativewithout thechaos

Get your studio running without you in every thread.

Let’s ChatLatest Notes

08:00 – 09:00

Where’s the latest file?

The brief’s in Slack, the feedback’s in email, the file’s on someone’s desktop.

09:00 – 10:00

New starter, day 3

Still no logins. Still no idea where the brand files live.

10:00 – 11:00

Round 4 of amends

Same feedback as last week. Nobody wrote it down.

11:00 – 12:00

Resizing 40 ads

Senior designer stuck doing jobs that could be automated.

12:00 – 13:00

Monthly P&L

The studio's bleeding cash. Full timesheets, thin margins.

13:00 – 14:00

Status chase

“Where are we with this?” 12 times today.

14:00 – 15:00

Client call: not happy

“Not on brand. Again.” Second time this month.

15:00 – 16:00

Retainer review

Client wants more for the same fee.

16:00 – 17:00

Team 121

Feedback you’ve given twice. Is it them, or the setup?

17:00 – 18:30

“Got a sec for a quick chat?”

Your best creative’s leaving. The playbook’s going with them.

Then Monday comes round again.

Why “Human Error”?

Human Error was born to stop great teams stalling because of bad systems. I help leaders find where work gets stuck, fix the setup around their people, and get stuff moving without them.

The name

When work goes wrong it gets filed as Human Error, so you blame the team, or you blame yourself and end up back in the detail fixing it. Usually it’s not the human, it’s the system they’re stuck in. That’s the bit I fix.

Who I help

In-house and agency creative teams whose setup hasn’t kept up. Usually I’m talking to the most senior person in the room, or the one still signing things off at 10pm.

Where I’ve been

15+ years inside performance agencies, where media buyers talk in spreadsheets and creatives talk in vibes. I’ve run both sides, so I speak both.

Brands my teams shipped for

Creative operations

What I fix.

Briefing & Feedback

Endless Amends

Fewer rounds, faster sign-off,
and better margins.

Before

The 4th round of amends, again.

After

Clear briefs, logged feedback, fewer rounds.

Standards & Templates

Quality Slipping

Same standard, whoever
picks up the brief.

Before

Every designer’s got their own way of doing it.

After

One standard. Work that hits first time.

AI Workflows

Busy Work

More work out the door
without adding headcount.

Before

Your seniors spend a week resizing ads.

After

The boring bits automated. Talent back on the work.

Project Management

Chasing Updates

Work moves on its own,
not when you nudge it.

Before

“Where are we with this?” 12 times a day.

After

Everyone knows what’s next. Nobody chases.

Dashboards & Reporting

Flying Blind

Decisions made on numbers,
not whoever shouts loudest.

Before

You find out it’s late when the client does.

After

Status, capacity and margin in one view.

Onboarding & Tooling

Slow Starts

New people pull their weight
in week one, not month three.

Before

New starters take a month to get useful.

After

Useful in week one. Clients know where to go.

How I work.

Start anywhere. Most start with the audit.

01 · Diagnose

Chaos Audit.

Find where your team’s time and margin quietly leak out.

Includes

  • Team, tools and workflow reviewed
  • Chaos report on where time is wasted
  • 90-day roadmap, biggest wins first

~2 weeks

Talk audits

Best if it’s messy and you can’t see why.

02 · Fix

System Build.

Work stops living in your head and starts running without you.

Includes

  • Built around how your team works
  • Workflows, templates and automations
  • SOPs, training and ongoing support

~4-8 weeks

Start a build

Best if you know what’s broken and want it fixed.

03 · Run

Fractional Ops.

Senior ops leadership, without the full-time salary.

Includes

  • Systems built and improved every month
  • Capacity, delivery and scope reports
  • Weekly ops review with senior team

Monthly · 3-month minimum

Talk retainers

Best if you need an ops lead, not a hire.

Not ready for a call?

The one email you’ll
actually open.

Practical stuff for people running creative teams. Written by a human, errors included.

Client

Formal notice: 30 days

Jack Foster

Can you teach taste?

Read

Project tool

14 tasks are overdue

Client

Re: Re: Re: amends (v7)

Use cases

What I get
asked most.

Not sure which one you are? That’s what the audit’s for.

I cost it up properly, team, tools and process, against what you spend now. If it stacks up, I help you build it. If it doesn’t, you’ve saved a fortune.

I set up one way to brief, review and sign off everyone. Same standard whoever’s doing it, and you stop being the switchboard.

Most of the cost hides in rework and admin. I strip it out, so the output stays and the waste goes.

Usually the process. Sometimes the people. Occasionally the person asking. The audit tells you which, with evidence, not opinions.

Usually tweak. Most studios are a few fixes away from running properly. I find which ones, so you don’t rebuild what already works.

Margin leaks in the gaps: extra rounds, free resizes, scope nobody priced. I find them and close them.

I cover the gap through my network while you work out the hire. Then I build the role, so the next person lands fast.

Let’s Chat

What people say behind my back

“Some of the most
Talented humaNs we’ve
ever worked with”
Mike EllisMike EllisFounder, 43CN

Got 30 minutes?

What’s on fire?

Prefer face-to-face? Book a slot.

What happens next?

  1. 01

    30-minute call. No pitch deck.

    Tell me what’s on fire. I’ll tell you what I’d look at first, and if it’s not me you need, I’ll say so.

  2. 02

    The audit, if it’s a fit.

    I dig into your workflow, tools and team to find where the chaos actually lives.

  3. 03

    You get the plan.

    Biggest wins first, all written down. Keep it, use it, or bring me in to build it.

  4. 04

    You choose the shape of it.

    Wanna go ahead? Build, fractional, or just the plan. Your call.