Daring Greatly: “Make Everyone A Creator”
Today I want to pen down some of my feelings regarding TeamSpirit’s new core values as the foundation for the next stage of the company’s evolution.
I feel very excited about the new core values because they encourage all of us to dare greatly.
These new core values are visionary. They embody courage. They make life for everyone around us a little better, and the world a little braver.
I feel that they are in line with my personal core values too.
What’s the Big Deal About Core Values?
A brand’s creed of core values is akin to the DNA of the company. It codes culture and guides every overarching strategy, tactic and direction of the company.
This is especially true in situations when we are forced to make difficult decisions:
- Should we take more risks or should we continue to play safe?
- At any single major decision cross-road— should we stop or should we continue? (In Japanese I think: この交差点で、諦める？それとも、頑張らちゃう？）
- Should we do things in a different way, even if they might be expensive, not productive and have limited results in the short run?
In other words, a brand’s core values is not an airy-fairy concept that only the top management deals with. They are in reality powerful driving forces behind the every day activities by all staff at TeamSpirit.
“Daring Greatly”: My Personal Interpretation
If I were to use one phrase to describe what deeply resonates with me when I read the new core values, the phrase would be “daring greatly”.
What most people don’t know, however, is that a synonym for “daring greatly” is “vulnerability”.
Now, the word “vulnerable” is often misunderstood as a necessary weakness. Here’s how the dictionary defines it:
vulnerable /ˈvʌln(ə)rəb(ə)l/
exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.
“we were in a vulnerable position”
As you can see, vulnerability involves uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure.
Yet, it is a myth to restrict the interpretation of “vulnerability” to just one definition — weakness, with a negative connotation. Let’s take a closer look at how the influential researcher and TED talk speaker Dr Brené Brown defines vulnerability:
I LOVE the above paragraph! Here, she defines “vulnerability” as “daring greatly” — to “dare to show up and let ourselves be seen”.
In addition, she also shares with us a tip to stay courageous even in the face of uncertainty and fear. It is simply to ask ourselves: “Even if we fail, is this still worth doing?”
My answer is still a definite yes to the question. I hate paperwork with a vengeance and will want to outsource/ automate it whenever I can. It is my personal wish that WSP can be popular and sold internationally one day to as many enterprises as possible, so that the stress levels of all employees can be reduced.
And that is why I completely resonate with the “innovation” core value: “Create your ideal vision, experiment at the speed of light, and learn from your mistakes”.
It’s beautiful. We are free to experiment as a team, so that we can empower more people globally to embark on creative work, instead of mundane admin stuff.
How The New Core Values Resonate
I completed one year of service in TeamSpirit earlier this month! Go-san asked how I felt about the one year anniversary over a TeamSpirit Singapore zoom lunch. I said I felt “thankful”.
And immediately after I said that, I realised how many times I said and deeply felt “thankful” in the company over the past year.
There are many reasons why I feel thankful so often. For one, I felt that the work environment in TeamSpirit is one which promotes vulnerability and the spirit of daring greatly. I love how members dare to experiment with things to collect data, and then pivot after we get the data. I love the growth mindset that permeates across the company!
And it feels like I will naturally probably continue to be thankful over the next one year. Because… it feels like with the new core values, we will have more opportunities to “dare greatly”.
And we will discover more and more people who perhaps will show vulnerability — who will do things with courage and the willingness to engage, even in the face of uncertainty, risk and possibly even emotional exposure.
This is beautiful and I believe (with all my being actually) that it is a journey worth taking.
On a Parting Note: “The Man in the Arena”
Before I end this reflection, I would like to quote from Theodore Roosevelt’s speech “Citizenship in a Republic”:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Isn’t the second paragraph describing TeamSpirit members too?
…And that really makes me smile. :)
I am thankful.
