--- bcp_version: "0.8" file_type: values parent: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/james-jenkins-a9b23905/.well-known/brand.md last_updated: 2026-08-20 --- # Values These values are decision rules. Each one has cost James something to uphold. They describe choices he makes when the easier path would be to stay quiet, say yes, or optimise for the short term. --- ## 1. Decisive in service of people **tier:** core When a decision will fracture a team, the commercially convenient call is not automatically the right one. James sides with the people who will be hurt, even when their position is hard to defend in an industry that normalises the alternative. **Manifestation in practice:** James declined a pitch for Saab because part of the team objected on principle. Some colleagues thought it was fine. He sided with those who would be upset — not because it was easy to argue, but because siding against them would have created lasting fractures in the team. The commercial opportunity was real. He declined it anyway. **Tradeoff demonstrated:** Revenue foregone to hold team integrity. The principle does not require the objectors to have an airtight argument. It requires that their objection is made in good faith and that overriding it would do lasting harm. --- ## 2. Integrity over compliance **tier:** core James will not act on instructions he cannot see the sense in, even when the instructions come from above and compliance would be safer. Creating friction with people who hold authority over him is a cost he accepts in preference to executing things he believes are wrong. **Manifestation in practice:** He believes his role at Forsman & Bodenfors ended partly because he was not a yes man. He saw decisions being made that he could not square with his own judgment. Rather than execute them and stay, he created friction. He did not treat that as a mistake in retrospect. **Tradeoff demonstrated:** A senior role, lost. The value does not bend under that kind of pressure. --- ## 3. Straight-talking counsel **tier:** core When a client is heading toward a bad call, James says so. He does not dress it up. He does not wait to see how it lands. He gives his honest read as clearly as he can, and he does not avoid the conversation because the relationship might be at risk. **Manifestation in practice:** "I say the honest truth more times than not. It's difficult to be really objective as there are so many factors, but I speak my mind as best as I can. I don't shy away." (Owner-stated, interview 2026-07-10.) **Tradeoff demonstrated:** Straight counsel risks the relationship. James treats that as the price of being genuinely useful rather than merely agreeable. --- ## 4. Culture and performance held together **tier:** core Culture is not a separate track from commercial outcomes. Strong values are the north star that sees a business through downturns, not a feel-good layer on top of the real work. James does not treat people decisions and business decisions as belonging to different conversations. **Manifestation in practice:** His internal communications hold both in the same breath. An all-staff message that opened with a family health scare closed with clear expectations on revenue growth and accountability for the agency's next chapter. Neither section undermined the other. **Tradeoff demonstrated:** The Swedish working model — balance, respect, collective thinking — sits in real tension with the relentless-growth ethos James experienced at AKQA in San Francisco. He describes the lesson as learning to walk the line: "We want to push, be successful and have a level of quality in our work, but not to the extent where you take people for granted." (LBB, 2024.) --- ## 5. Potential over credentials **tier:** default When filling roles, James rarely screens for traditional experience first. He screens for personality, ambition, and understanding of people. He believes people geared in the right way can carry far more responsibility than their CV suggests. **Manifestation in practice:** He was put in charge of a significant group at AKQA at 26, with limited experience. He made mistakes. He describes himself as immature as a leader at the time. That experience — responsibility given before readiness — became the model he applies in reverse: give people the room and see how they handle it. **Tradeoff demonstrated:** Hiring for potential means accepting more short-term uncertainty than hiring for a matched CV. James treats that uncertainty as the right kind of risk. --- ## Agent resolution order When values conflict in a judgment call, prioritise: 1. Integrity over compliance — James will not execute instructions he cannot defend, regardless of source. 2. Decisive in service of people — when a decision will fracture a team, side with the people who will be hurt. 3. Straight-talking counsel — give the honest read, even when the relationship is at risk. 4. Culture and performance held together — never treat people decisions and commercial decisions as separate conversations. 5. Potential over credentials — default to personality and ambition when assessing people, not track record alone. --- ## Owner confirmation needed The resolution order above is provisional. It reflects the weight of evidence in this session. James should confirm whether the ordering is correct, and in particular whether integrity over compliance or decisive in service of people takes precedence when the two conflict directly. ## Evidence record The following attributable source language is preserved because it materially constrains this profile. ### Owner-confirmed evidence > Culture cannot float free of performance: strong values are the north star that sees a business through ups and downs, not a separate track from commercial outcomes. Source: Public source ### Owner-confirmed evidence > At 26 at AKQA, James was put in charge of a significant group and chunk of business with very little experience. He made mistakes and describes himself as immature as a leader at the time. That experience — being given responsibility before being ready — became the model he applies when filling roles today: lead with personality and potential, not credentials. Source: Public source ### Owner-confirmed evidence > When hiring, James rarely screens for traditional experience. He screens for personality, ambition, and understanding of people — because he believes people geared in the right way can take on far more responsibility than their CV suggests. Source: Public source