I’m a big Coen brothers fan, so I was pleased to see an interview with the filmmakers in a recent New York Times article. I love that these very un-Hollywoody guys from Minnesota have figured out how to make successful Hollywood films about unique characters that are so well-scripted and filmed. I also love that they work with several actors again and again, like Francis McDormand and John Turturro, and that those actors play completely different but memorable parts in each film.

The Times article was written in Q and A style, which gave a good feel for how the brothers riff off each other’s responses and finish each other’s sentences without seeming to interrupt each other. In explaining how they write, Ethan noted he usually types “since he types faster,” and they agreed that neither of them was afraid to throw out the other’s bad ideas. They also thought that their way of working together hasn’t really changed in 30 years, though the technology, in shifting from analog to digital, has changed loads.

The partners focus on their core strengths (Ethan’s typing) and are honest and empathetic with each other (either partner can chuck out ideas that don’t work, presumably without hurt feelings). And their work methodology is independent of the technology (analog or digital) they use to make their films.

The way the Coen brothers work together provides a perfect example of one of the core beliefs here at Digital Clarity Group: that it’s mostly not about the technology. It’s the team behind the technology, and that team’s ability to execute the three I’s – implement, integrate, and incorporate – that determines the success or failure of a project. Our recently released Guide to Service Providers for Web Content and Customer Experience Management – 2013 North American edition is one tool we provide to help players in the CEM space build the right teams, and we have begun to research and adapt this guide for Europe.

Because Europe is exponentially more complex than North America due to its larger number of countries, cultures, and languages, we’re having some interesting discussions internally, with vendors, and service provider contacts in Europe on what our Europe guide should look like, as well as which countries it should include. We’re still chewing over this, but the goal for the Europe guide remains the same as that of the North America version, which is to provide detail on different types of service providers that isn’t available anywhere else: their project methodologies, staffing structure, office locations, client references from previous projects, and much more.

We’re launching the online survey and interviews later this autumn, so if you are a service provider headquartered in a European country, please look for an email from us inviting you to participate, or send an email to our Research Analyst, Tiffany Elliot saying you would like to be involved.

Have an opinion on the geographic coverage for this report, or other ideas, please let us know by leaving a comment below.