TAXI NYC director of innovation Doug Jaeger.

Doug Jaeger recently traded the responsibility of running an agency for one of those jobs that sound way too good to be true: director of innovation at TAXI New York. While it would seem such a gig would require considerable bombast, Jaeger says the guiding principle when it comes to innovation is doubt: "It is the starting point for investigating new ways of solving problems."

Here, six questions for Doug Jaeger on managing engagement, the importance of innovation, and how to remodel a subway station. Catch Jaeger at the Boards Creative Workshop in Chicago on May 19.

You've recently joined TAXI as director of innovation. What precipitated your move and what does it mean to be Director of Innovation?

For more than five years, a partner and me have been running a creative company in one of the most competitive markets in the world. Earlier this year, I sat down and reviewed our achievements and looked ahead at what I hoped to do. I concluded that running a business was holding me back from doing my best work.

While I was running thehappycorp, I also served as a board member of the Art Directors Club and last fall was named its president. Through the ADC, I met Paul Lavoie (co-founder, chairman of TAXI). We became friends as a result of that and also through collaborating as members of the Marketing Advisory Committee of the MoMA. Paul and I share many of the same creative philosophies, particularly the importance of doubt. Both Paul and I believe that my being in the New York office will be a benefit for both the agency and for me as a canvas for expanding on much of what I started at thehappycorp, and also integrating this type of thinking into the TAXI culture.

Your last major project was for MoMA, where you took over an entire subway station to turn it into an art gallery. What was the most significant creative challenge in doing that project?

This work - of all that I've done in my career - was some of the easiest, most natural to create. Once we put the idea on paper, the idea almost wrote itself.

The project was particularly exciting because we worked closely with the MoMA's internal design and exhibitions team to find opportunities to transform the Brooklyn, New York Atlantic/Pacific subway station into a MoMA. We met with the Metropolitan Transit Authority as well as CBS Outdoor multiple times in order to maximize the number of opportunities to complete the transformation.

We stretched the budget as far as it would go: we created downloadable audio guides as well as a 1-800 number with an IVR system that transformed the public phones into free audio guides. We also created and launched a website to tell the story.

How do you think clients should approach the idea of controversy in their work?

Ideally, clients should embrace it. Controversy, real or fabricated, often drives additional media impressions. Some brands enjoy controversy while others shy away from it. I believe that to be successful, brands should engage consumers and devise plans and strategies to manage engagement. Most organizations don't have the internal know-how to manage and respond to today's media. The speed at which blogs, Twitter and other social media platforms allow messages to be shaped and passed along is daunting for many.

It will be exciting to see how major brands, and the agencies that serve them, mature as they deepen their understanding of how social media can be used to improve the relationships between brands and consumers.

Does the current climate have an impact on clients' willingness to do controversial or daring work?

Some clients become more cautious while others become braver. For the most part, it makes sense to do controversial work only if controversy is part of the brand's personality or DNA. The recession makes it easier for brands to be heard because of the lower spends in most categories. Clients are looking for a magic bullet and some are more willing to try new things in the hopes of achieving extraordinary results. Controversial work is not new and won't disappear. I hope that we do see more of it.

What advice would you give to companies working within advertising that are looking for ways to innovate?

I recently joined TAXI because I really love its guiding principles. One of them is doubt. The mantra here for 17 years has been "doubt the conventional, create the exceptional". It is the starting point for investigating new ways of solving problems. As for how to innovate, there are no easy ways. Changing habits, routines or ingrained approaches, particularly within an organization, is difficult. So you need to create a culture of curiosity and reward it. Reward those who find new paths to success and continue to try to find new answers.

What can audiences expect from your presentation at the Boards Creative Workshop in Chicago?

I will stand on stage for 40 minutes; I will be wearing dark jeans and a black T-shirt. Most likely I will share the process and thinking on a number of projects that I completed with thehappycorp team, as well as some of the work that convinced me to come to TAXI.

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