How to Build a Team That Prioritizes Strategy Over Tactics
Behind the Agency Podcast with Chris, Founder of Dynamic Agency OS
TL;DR – Key Takeaways
Most agencies mess up hiring because they try to assemble a team (buy ready-made pros) instead of building a team (developing people).
Agencies usually don’t have SaaS margins, so competing for “instant A-players” at high salaries is a losing game.
Chris’s hiring metaphor is sticky for a reason:
Stop looking for the Avengers. Build the Mickey Mouse Club.
(Hire for character + potential, then train them into stars.)
Retention isn’t “nice to have” in agencies. It’s survival.
Your product is your people. When team experience sucks, client experience suffers too.
The “we don’t have time to build onboarding” excuse is usually a time-management problem, not a reality problem.
If you already have a team, the move isn’t guilt—it’s:
get them involved in building the onboarding they wish they had.
Chris’s simple hiring framework: More → Better → New
More: hire to increase capacity doing what already works
Better: hire to improve your most value-producing work
New: hire to add a capability you don’t currently have
Interviewing for “character” is hard on Zoom, so he focuses on two questions everyone is subconsciously asking:
“Am I safe?” and “Do I matter?”
He intentionally creates a peer dynamic so candidates open up.
His take on AI is practical and a little contrarian:
AI is required to stay competitive… but over-relying on it makes you replaceable.
Agencies need to lean harder into strategy and use AI as a force multiplier.
Job postings should lead with disqualifiers (“This is not for you if…”) to cut junk applicants and save time.
Bonus system: keep job postings as a living document (tied to a role “growth canvas”) so every future hire gets easier.
Meet the Guest
Chris is an Army veteran turned marketing exec who now coaches agency leaders through Dynamic Agency OS.
His whole thing is helping agencies build teams that prioritize strategy over tactics.
And if you’ve ever felt like your agency is doing a lot of “busy” but not enough “better,” you’ll probably nod along the entire time.
Episode Summary
1) The #1 team-building mistake: “assembling” instead of building
Chris starts strong:
Agencies can’t hire like SaaS companies.
If you’re running on ~20% margins, you can’t build a team by buying fully formed, high-salary specialists who “just know the job.” Those folks can usually get paid more with less stress elsewhere.
So instead of trying to buy superheroes…
Build a system that turns good raw material into great contributors.
That’s where the “Mickey Mouse Club” metaphor lands:
hire people with character + potential
train them in your way
give them reps fast
and you end up with people who grow into real stars
2) Retention isn’t HR… it’s client retention
Chris drops a point that agencies often pretend not to see:
When your team is burned out or unhappy, your clients feel it.
He ties it to a service business truth:
you’re selling an experience
not just deliverables
Like:
McDonald’s vs Michelin-star isn’t about “food exists”
it’s about how it feels to be served
Same with agencies:
If your internal experience is messy, rushed, chaotic… the external experience will be too.
And that’s how employee churn quietly becomes client churn.
3) “But I already hired people… now what?”
Chris’s advice is straightforward:
Don’t act like you need to start from scratch.
Instead:
bring your current team into building onboarding
ask them what they wish they had
turn their pain into a system
And he frames the selfish incentive (which is honestly the most convincing):
Your senior people will eventually need help.
Would they rather:
babysit every little task forever
or get someone who ramps fast because the process is clear?
Onboarding isn’t charity. It’s leverage.
4) Hiring strategy: More → Better → New
This is one of those frameworks that’s almost annoying because it’s so simple.
Chris hires in cycles:
More → Better → New
More: hire to increase capacity doing what already works
(ex: VA to free up founder time)
Better: hire to improve your most valuable work
(more brains on the highest-impact delivery)
New: hire to add a missing capability
(fill the gap you can’t solve today)
Then repeat.
He even applies it beyond hiring:
Don’t chase “new” marketing channels until you’ve proven “more” and “better” on what you’re already doing.
That’s a subtle jab at shiny-object behavior, and… yeah… it’s fair.
5) Character-first hiring: “Am I safe?” and “Do I matter?”
Chris says interviewing for character is hard over Zoom.
So he optimizes for creating the conditions where people show who they actually are.
He uses two core human questions:
Am I safe?
Do I matter?
His approach:
make it clear he’s not going to grill them
position it as mutual fit
invite them to challenge the company too
He’s seen candidates come in shaking and leave feeling good—sometimes even staying connected afterward—not because he’s famous, but because the conversation felt human.
That peer dynamic is where you get honest answers.
6) AI and agencies: the paradox
Chris calls it the AI agency paradox:
you need AI to stay competitive
but if your “value” is just AI-generated assets, you become replaceable fast
Because now:
an in-house marketer
or even an intern
can prompt their way into the same outputs
So agencies have to lean into what AI doesn’t replace easily:
strategy + pattern recognition + decision-making
Agencies see patterns faster because they’re running tests across multiple clients.
Then his best line on AI:
Don’t use AI to 10X output.
Use AI to 10X outcomes.
Meaning:
Use it to free up time and brainpower for the strategic work clients actually pay for.
He also pushes back on the “use AI to cut staff” reflex:
You can only reduce costs so far.
But you can increase revenue a lot.
AI should be an amplifier, not a hatchet.
He even calls it what he used in the Army:
A force multiplier.
7) Strategy + junior hires: how to get them strategic fast
Chris is pro “hire early, hire fast,” but not sloppy.
His key idea:
Every hire needs a growth plan.
Most people never get one.
So if you hire junior:
they shadow
they learn the process
they hit clear milestones
and you move them toward strategy responsibility ASAP
He’s also anti “too many layers” for small teams:
Until you’re roughly ~12 people, he prefers people who can lead the client and deliver the work (cuts middlemen, increases speed).
8) Job postings: disqualifiers first + the “living doc” trick
This was a sneaky gold nugget:
In job postings, Chris thinks the disqualifiers are often more important than the qualifiers.
Add a section near the top like:
“This is not for you if…”
Why?
it filters out bad fits
it cuts “spray and pray” applicants
it saves you from wading through nonsense
Then he shares a system move:
Create a role doc (“growth canvas”) that includes:
responsibilities
reporting structure
growth expectations
…and paste the original job post at the bottom.
Then every quarter, update the responsibilities AND update the job post.
So next time you hire, you’re not copying stale boilerplate.
You’re cloning the current reality of the role.
That’s how hiring gets easier instead of harder over time.
💬 Notable Quotes / Moments
“Don’t go look for the Avengers. Look for the Mickey Mouse Club.”
“Retention is more important than agencies sometimes treat it.”
“There’s no reason not to do this except not having time… but you do have time.”
“The AI agency paradox… you need AI, but over-relying on it makes you replaceable.”
“Don’t 10X output. 10X outcomes.”
“Am I safe? Do I matter?”
Connect with Chris
DM him on LinkedIn
He also mentioned a mini email course:
“5 biggest mistakes I see agencies making (and how to fix them)”
(link in his profile)
