The Voice of Culture
Photo: Jerry Milton
We’ve never worried about competition at Stoked. We’ve always had a pretty good attitude towards the notion of competition, and I’d say encouraging it in many ways as we partner with other shops like ours and even go so far as to introduce potential clients to other consultancies if we don’t have the capacity to take on work. And it’s not because we’re so cocky that we think we can crush everyone else — or that we’d even want to crush anyone else — but because we feel like it makes the work better. For everyone and everyone’s clients.
When we first started teaching design thinking outside the context of the d.school, I wasn’t aware of anyone else doing what we were doing. Especially not the WAY we were doing it…by creating high touch experiences that were intentionally designed for our clients based on empathy work we’d done with them. But over time, other shops started popping up, likely with the same enthusiasm for spreading human-centered design that we had when we were first exposed to it. It was kind of exciting. It felt like we could all have a massive impact on both individuals as well as companies of all sizes.
These days, there are hundreds of shops, both big and small that do what we do: teach design thinking to organizations and teams, design and run “innovation” projects for companies that don’t have the internal capacity to do so by themselves, and help shift cultures to behave more innovatively. We have lots of competition. Some of them much larger and more well-funded than we are. Some with Ph.D.’s, scientists, and researchers, and all manner of highly trained, highly experienced people. We are definitely not the only ones anymore.
It could be easy to get worried about this — to start thinking about stupid shit like market share, saying yes to every request that comes our way, etc. But that’s not WHO we are.
I came across this sentence recently while browsing NOBL’s site: “But your unique culture can’t be copied and pasted.” It occurred to me that Stoked’s real super-power isn’t years of experience teaching design thinking or our ability to bring lessons from one company or industry to bear on another: It’s our culture. It’s HOW we are with our clients. It’s the bias we choose to have, the persistent optimism and positivity we bring to every relationship and challenge our clients bring to us.
Yes, organizations come to us with a specific ask in mind. “Help us be more innovative,” or “show us how to tackle this problem.” But they return because of HOW we approach this work. The magic of design thinking is that anyone can do it. ANYONE! But, the more subtle thing that not everyone does is behave the way we behave.
Our fuel is kindness, smarts, a strong work ethic, and a refusal to operate in traditional ways that do not serve our clients or us.
“Even amid intense external change, your culture can be your greatest strength and lasting source of resilience.” -NOBL
Through the tough times we’ve had at Stoked (and we’ve had some tough ones), our culture was often the only thread holding us all together. When money was tight, and some of our staff was looking for more promising futures, the culture and sense of team were the elements that kept us afloat. The folks at NOBL are right; our culture was our source of resilience!
For the past few months, I’ve been buying deodorant from an online company called Native. They’re a personal care product company that uses safe ingredients, don’t test on animals, and their products work with my body, so I’m a fan. But I became a super-fan when I ordered their sampler kit and got an email confirming my order. Check it out:
Parker, You Rock!
It was just another day at the office when Kelsey jumped out of her chair, so fast that I thought fire had engulfed her hair.“We did it!” she yelled. “We got an order from Parker Gates!”
Brian ran over to her computer because he’s ordinarily the trouble-shooter.
“Don’t get scared,” said Kelsey, “You’re not moving with your auntie and uncle to Bel Air”.
The office erupted in applause and we popped a bottle of champagne given to me by my in-laws. “I Like It Like That” blared from Kelsey’s computer, and half-eaten sourdough lay next to our recruiter.
Parker, the entire Native team is thrilled to have you as a customer. Your friends will probably start calling you “Healthy Parker” soon. You’ll love it.
After we’re done exchanging high-fives, you’ll receive tracking information so you can get as excited about your delivery as we are. If you have any questions, shoot me a note at support@nativecos.com.
High fives and cool vibes!
It was clever, funny, and explicitly positive. So I can’t help but believe that most of the folks at Native are clever, funny, and positive people and that makes me want to buy every product they produce. I could give a fuck about their balance sheet, their years of experience, or their ability to tweet well. Their message TO ME was all about their culture — HOW they are with their clients. I’m drawn to them more now than I was before I bought the product. That’s impressive.
The other day, one of our team members was listening to a recent episode of our podcast (Reframe), when he mentioned that he felt like we’d finally found our voice. He said it felt like the intersection of punk culture and business, which makes sense since Jacob and me — two guys who came up in the punk rock scene — primarily host the show. It made me wonder if the rest of my team resonates with a “punk culture-meets-business” vibe and voice? What does that even mean exactly?
So I broke it down a little further. What does punk culture embody? It’s an anti-establishment ideology, rebellious ethics, and a DIY sensibility. Not just screamy music. And while not all my teammates resonate with the word punk, they resonate with the elements that punk embodies.
Stoked also creates products, services, and experiences for people and organizations who both need them and want them. We have autonomy and freedom in our work. We get to earn a living doing work that changes cultures and allows us to lead intentional lives.
Punk Culture Meets Business.
It’s part (not all) of the voice of our culture. Maybe it’s the volume, and our tone is positivity, smarts, and work ethic. It’s hard to pin down the exact ingredients that make up the voice of our culture or your culture, but we somehow are able to recognize it when we hear it. That’s why someone picks Apple over Samsung, Adidas over Nike, Stoked over the competition. We want people to see something we’ve created and know definitively it’s ours. That’s the voice of culture.
