Steal with Glee!

Lou Burrows | 17 Jun 2008 | 10:53

Sharing ideas makes us very happy indeed at ?What If! (we call it “steal with glee!”). You might think that’s a bit unusual for an innovation company. We take the attitude that we can innovate faster than people can imitate – so why not get out there and share new ideas?

Last month I was on our “magic bus” tour with a bunch of new joiners as part of The Academy, our three week induction programme. Our Founders Matt and Dave always lead the bus tour, taking new joiners to every office they worked from over the years and shows the progression from the tiny, dingy offices to the larger, more professional ones. The tour covers the high, the lows, the greasy spoon café where they cooked up most of the big ideas in the “old days”! And it ends with a tour of our new state of the art building that we are moving into at the end of the year. It is huge fun and the stories really help new people to get the context of the business – where we came from, what is important to them as people and business owners and where we are headed to and what their role in it will be.

The next week one of the new joiners to our in-house catering team (called Food is Love), told me how much she got out of the tour. She rang her dad in Poland that night to tell him all about the tour and that he should start one at his radiator factory. He has always complained that his factory workers have no idea how much he has struggled to create this big business. So, she said “Dad - show them! Involve them! Start Magiczny Autobus at your factory!. In just one bus trip you will be able to tell them more about the company history, vision and philosophy than any number of powerpoint presentations!”

As Confucius says, “Tell me, I will forget; show me, I will remember; and involve me, I will learn."

As Matt and Dave say “Steal with Glee!"

Redundancy Policy – anyone seen it?

Lou Burrows | 17 Jun 2008 | 06:00

Our new financial director is fantastic. Big blue chip experience, wonderful way with people and we are learning loads. The business has grown so massively over the last 3 years that we’ve just not focussed on our internal systems. So she is in her element putting in new systems to make stuff run more smoothly. I am used to questions like “don’t you have x? Or “how have you coped all these years without Y?”

Then last week she asked to see the policy on redundancy. “We don’t have one. We have not made anyone redundant in 15 years and I’m not planning on starting.” She thought it would be good to have one – just in case. I thought about it – for a nanosecond. “To have one shows it’s a possibility that it is on our minds. And it’s not on our minds at all. And anyway people would trust totally that if we ever were in that situation we’d turn to the values – and treat people fairly. So what would we need one for now?

Dealing with egos and leaders – what makes a good leader?

Lou Burrows | 16 Jun 2008 | 15:57

Last week we talked to all our team leaders about the new structure. It was just a catch up to find out how they were feeling now that the plans had gone into action. Quite a big deal to have four leaders move out of general management roles where they directed the work of 15-20 people and move into the newly formed big innovation projects team of 70 people. I was slightly dreading the meetings. It’s one thing talking rationally about change but quite another to find yourself bang in the middle of it. And then if the change means you’re effectively losing a big title and responsibility for a heap of people – that’s a big ask for the greater good of the business.

Such refreshing meetings – and each so different. We had talked about it being the time to “eat our own dog food” and to innovate ourselves. Now was the time to find out about the taste in their mouths! The one which will always stay in my mind was the leader who talked so openly about his ego. “It’s taken a little bit of a knock, the old chap. But he’ll bounce back once he’s stuck into some new projects. You know what egos are like – that’s their job to be a little bit disturbed by changes.”

Respect.

Doesn't anyone do any work around here?

Lou Burrows | 15 May 2008 | 15:58

I’m hoping at some point to get on a plane to Seoul, as we’re doing a fair number of innovation projects with a big technology firm there.

A few of the clients came to our London office and were taken on the tour of our environment. They seemed very interested and a lot of nodding went on. At the end of the tour they asked: “May we ask a question? Where does the work happen?” We asked what they meant and were told: “Everyone is sitting together and talking. Why is nobody working?”

We explained this is how we work – we talk, we share ideas, we sketch our thoughts and ideas come from this process.

“Ah ha,” he said.

Keeping the small company culture as we grow and diversify

Lou Burrows | 4 Apr 2008 | 17:32

I was showing a couple of people around our various buildings recently because they had been asked to look into whether hot-desking could work in their massive company. I showed them the lockers, the desk areas, the hanging out spaces and the mess – ooh yes, that lovely mess. It’s a constant battle to keep it to the minimum and negotiate with people about what needs to go off site and what can stay.

They loved looking around and I loved listening to their concerns. What do you do with photos of your family? What about people’s plants? What if someone won’t hot desk? The best thing about showing people around is their interesting questions. They always notice things you have just taken for granted. These visitors asked me “How do you get everyone to clear up their cups and plates? Is that policy?”

We tell new joiners this is what we do – we treat the place as if it is our own home. We remind people who forget. And there was one time when someone in my team left their lunch stuff on the kitchen drainer and came back to find it all balanced on their laptop.

People just do it – it’s our culture and it’s totally ingrained. You go to New York or Shanghai and you’ll see the same thing. Nobody in the UK ever asked them to do that – they just exported the behaviour!

About ?What If!
?What If! is the world’s largest independent innovation company. It was set up in 1992 and made up of 300 people worldwide, with offices in London, Manchester, New York and Shanghai.

www.whatifinnovation.com