“These go to 11” — Celebrating our 11th Birthday
This year marks Story+Structure’s eleventh year of being in business and rocking design.
Spinal Tap fans may remember the scene where Nigel Tufnel is showing off his guitar amplifier and points out how their amps all go to “11” versus the traditional “10” for maximum volume — “one louder” as he so adeptly points out. Nigel goes on to say: “Most blokes are going to be playing at 10 — all the way up on your amp. And you’re on 10 on your guitar. Where can you go from there? No where! But what we do is that if we need that extra push to go over the cliff, we go up to 11.”
The point is: How do you push yourself even further? What is your “one louder”?
I asked myself that same question going into the eleventh year of being Story+Structure’s Founder and President. Here is how I think we go to “11.”
People buy Why you do it — not What you do
We utilize Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle in our work with clients as a framework that inspires and differentiates an organization’s brand experience. Most organizations can easily communicate “what they do” some have clarity on “how they do it” most organizations begin to struggle when it comes to talking about “why they do it.”
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it,” says Simon Sinek.
“Why” statements are not inteded to be published. They are more like an internal well that statements can drawn from. Organizations that lead with “why” create resonance with constituents. Why does your organization exist? Why do you work there? When I ask myself that question about Story+Structure this is my answer:
Story+Structure Exists to Make the Earth a Better Place.
This has been the “ Why” from the day we opened our first office in Winter Hill in Somerville, Massachusetts. Real market opportunities and demands are important but we also emphasize that “our work together will result in increasing the happiness and betterment of every very person you are trying to connect with and their community.”
How?
At Story+Structure we practice human-centered design. To be human-centered means: (1) always lead with people’s wants, needs, and behavior; (2) be holistic in your thinking; (3) act intentionally about every decision; and (4) empower clients to create their own human-centered culture.
Our “How” can be further defined as:
- We believe that education is one key to creating a more benevolent earth.
- We desire clients who believe in the power of design to make human impact.
- We are sherpas for our clients by providing guidance on a shared journey.
- We work together as a team with our clients to climb the proverbial mountain.
What
Everything we do is about creating better experiences.
As a design consultancy, we help clients begin to understand themselves as an experience provider. It’s not just the killer roller coster that makes the theme park but rather the entire experience from the mundane (buying tickets, parking, etc) to basic services (food, facilities) to the mind-bending, gravity defying rides and otherworldly fantasies.
These go to 11…
Many things can happen along an eleven year journey in business but the one constant has been our “Why.” For S+S, this is: To Make The Earth A Better Place.
To do this, we’re turning our dials up to 11.
Chokdee is Founder and President of Story+Structure — a human centered design firm with offices in Boston, Chicago, and Houston and clients that span the globe.
