Business
IBM Canada’s Centre for Advanced Studies is weaving the perfect storm of innovation
IBM’s Marcellus Mindel on how the company’s Enterprise Design Thinking and WeaveSphere technology conference are paving the way for new possibilities.
The city council meeting starts with uneventful, routine opening remarks. Then all hell breaks loose, and the shouting begins.
“Our kids cross that street, and these crazy drivers fly up and down it like maniacs,” a mother of two young boys yells from the back, pointing around frantically at familiar faces.
“That isn’t possible with the unnecessary number of stop signs and lights already on that street,” a motorist fires back. “We don’t need a new crosswalk. It will clog things up even more.”
“You know full well you roll through those signs,” a concerned father chirps in response.
This situation is a hypothetical example that Marcellus Mindel calls a thought experiment. He’s out to prove a point about the effectiveness of traditional problem-solving techniques. Mindel, who is head of Advanced Studies at IBM Canada, says a design thinking approach can produce different, and often better outcomes.
“With a design approach, you first ask why the kids are going across the street,” he says. “Turns out, they’re going to after-school activities. And it turns out, there are already after-school activities on the same city block that would be better suited for the kids than crossing a busy street, they just don’t know about it.”
Mindel continues to iterate on possibilities and ideas in a rapid-fire manner as he runs through scenarios that might resolve the conflict in this fictional scenario. Through all of the ideation, however, he does not suggest a crosswalk is the answer.
If the after-school program is the reason the kids are crossing the road, that’s the users’ need. If they’re crossing because there isn’t a closer program, then the solution might be to instead design that.
“If a program doesn’t exist close to home, would the same money that was going to be spent on building a crosswalk be better spent creating a new afterschool program on the same block?”
There are multiple solutions to the same problem, but considering the end-user is key to an ideal problem-solving approach.
“I believe this kind of approach can get us to find other ways to solve problems rather than using hierarchy and politics to drive solutions,” he concludes.
How Enterprise Design Thinking unlocks innovation
The approach Mindel is referencing is called Enterprise Design Thinking.
Design thinking seeks to address problems by framing the issues in a human-centric way by putting the end-user at the center of all decision-making.
Enterprise Design Thinking puts the process into context in a business environment.
Originally developed by IBM in the early 2010s, Enterprise Design Thinking is a framework that seeks to take the agility and innovation found in smaller startups, and make it possible to achieve within large enterprises where multiple departments and teams of people participate in design exercises. It aims to solve users’ problems by catering to the often ambiguous nature of enterprise-level projects where dispersed teams collaborate on big projects with the focus on user outcomes.
And the results of the approach are impressive. Forrester research says that teams who take an Enterprise Design Thinking approach are 75% more efficient, and can turn out products twice as fast.
How design thinking works in practice
To provide an example of how design thinking works in the practical world, Mindel shared a story of a student at Carleton University who wanted to reduce the amount of disposable hot beverage cups that were being used at a campus coffee shop.
With a design thinking process, the first step was to empathize with the students to understand what they were doing, saying, thinking, and feeling, rather than just demand they stop using the cups.
Through the process, they learned that the students sleep in, rush to class, or they’re over-tired from studying. As a result, their to-go coffee mug is often dirty, sitting on their car floor, or at the bottom of a morning commute bag.
These students do indeed care about the environment, but user needs were simply getting in the way of the goal of reducing waste.
By looking at user needs and asking questions, Mindel says the group stumbled upon a “wow” moment and solution: What if the coffee shop put a washing station in the line so to-go mugs could be reused and cleaned on the spot, removing the barrier to why reusable mugs were not being used in the first place?
“In hindsight, it is absolutely, totally mind-blowingly obvious. And where I got excited about all this stuff, is that it helped me to rethink what innovation actually means.”
Advancing enterprise innovation
Mindel started his career as a software engineer in Ottawa, and later took on a number of roles managing relationships with academic institutions and research and development labs, before becoming head of the Canadian IBM Centre for Advanced Studies in 2015.
After joining, Mindel began learning more about Enterprise Design Thinking, and the problem-solving and innovation framework lit a fire in him as he looked to lead teams to innovate in new ways.
“What good are improved means, to unimproved ends?” Mindel asks, referencing a famous Henry David Thoreau concept. “A lot of technology research today is about improving the means without asking the question about the ends.”
Asking questions, and looking at “the ends” is what he spends every day doing as the leader of IBM’s Canadian Advanced Studies team, one of several in a global network that specialize in collaborative research. Today, Mindel leads partnerships between students, educators, and researchers who apply IBM technology to business and societal challenges.
How WeaveSphere became a design thinking epicenter
Creating innovation that matters within a large enterprise is no small task. If you find yourself scratching your head, unsure where to start, your first stop should be the Weavesphere technology conference.
Taking place November 15-17, 2022 in Toronto, WeaveSphere brings together world-class leaders and researchers from a range of disciplines who share insight, ideas, and co-create technology for the future.
The event is hosted by IBM’s Centre for Advanced Studies, and Evoke, and it invites everyone — even non-technical people — to attend. Attendees include undergraduate and graduate students, industry leaders, academics, IBMers, and anyone who wants to learn to leverage an enterprise design thinking approach.
The event is under a new name this year (it was previously called CASCON) but 2022 marks the 32nd year IBM’s Centre for Advanced Studies has hosted an industry-leading, award-winning technology conference.
Unlike other technology conferences where audiences sit passively and listen to keynotes and panel discussions, WeaveSphere attendees roll up their sleeves and jump head-first into the innovation pool. Researchers present ideas, industry leaders ask questions, students suggest new ways of approaching a challenge — whatever the scenario, it’s practical, and attendees walk away with ideas and real connections to build their future.
What makes the event so successful is how it brings to life the work that Mindel and his team do every day within Advanced Studies, while also inviting a bigger group to the innovation roundtable.
“What we are doing through Enterprise Design Thinking is creating ways to improve the ends, and the means,” Mindel says. “We seek to help people enter into a problem space when they don’t know what to do, or even what the problem really is, or how to solve it.”
He likens the approach to the story of Frodo, a character in Lord of The Rings. Frodo is a Hobbit who volunteers to lead the dangerous, long journey in order to deliver a valuable and important asset (the ring) to Mordor. Frodo doesn’t know the way there, and he is not the most obvious first choice to lead the journey, as there are many others who are braver, stronger, and more experienced than he.
In Advanced Studies, and at the WeaveSphere conference, there is an opportunity for anyone to lead and present their ideas to problems. In fact, Mindel says that when many Frodo-like people from a variety of backgrounds write their ideas on sticky notes and put them together on a wall, magic (and true innovation) happens.
That is the essence of WeaveSphere.
It’s an opportunity for everyone to get involved in the collaborative process of design thinking, and embark on their own journey into the unknown, to get to a faraway place, without a map.
DX Journal is an official media partner for WeaveSphere. We will share updates leading up to the event, and we’ll be live on location from November 15-17,2022. Join us and get your tickets at weavesphere.co
DX Journal covers the impact of digital transformation (DX) initiatives worldwide across multiple industries.
Pinpointing which jobs are the country’s least popular can tell you something about the direction an economy is going.
That’s because industries that once thrived might have lost ground to technological or other advances and have few job openings. Others with many opportunities for employment might be growing.
Of course, jobs can be unpopular or uncommon for many reasons. On the TV show “Dirty Jobs,” host Mike Rowe is seen farming deer for urine and relocating beavers—clearly, employment that’s not for everyone.
Other jobs might require years of education or training or be limited to certain geographical areas.
Stacker ranked the 100 least popular jobs in America, based on their total employment and using May 2022 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Only detailed job categories were included in the analysis. Every position’s number of total workers in the United States is listed alongside its average annual wage and average hourly wage.
Read on to see if you hold one of the least popular jobs in the country.
Stokkete // Shutterstock
#100. Archivists
– Total nationwide employment: 7,230
– Median hourly wage: $28.19
– Median annual wage: $58,640
Kzenon // Shutterstock
#99. Helpers–extraction workers
– Total nationwide employment: 6,910
– Median hourly wage: $20.73
– Median annual wage: $43,110
Glen Jones // Shutterstock
#98. Layout workers, metal and plastic
– Total nationwide employment: 6,890
– Median hourly wage: $28.01
– Median annual wage: $58,260
APChanel // Shutterstock
#97. Signal and track switch repairers
– Total nationwide employment: 6,880
– Median hourly wage: $39.09
– Median annual wage: $81,300
Golubovy // Shutterstock
#96. Statistical assistants
– Total nationwide employment: 6,710
– Median hourly wage: $23.50
– Median annual wage: $48,880
Brian Goodman // Shutterstock
#95. Textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators and tenders
– Total nationwide employment: 6,640
– Median hourly wage: $15.71
– Median annual wage: $32,680
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
#94. Exercise physiologists
– Total nationwide employment: 6,580
– Median hourly wage: $24.69
– Median annual wage: $51,350
GOLFX // Shutterstock
#93. Desktop publishers
– Total nationwide employment: 6,560
– Median hourly wage: $23.04
– Median annual wage: $47,910
ZikG // Shutterstock
#92. Fish and game wardens
– Total nationwide employment: 6,530
– Median hourly wage: $28.61
– Median annual wage: $59,500
Pixel B // Shutterstock
#91. Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic
– Total nationwide employment: 6,470
– Median hourly wage: $20.41
– Median annual wage: $42,450
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
#89. Architecture teachers, postsecondary
– Total nationwide employment: 6,420
– Median hourly wage: Not available
– Median annual wage: $93,220
Canva
#89. Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tenders
– Total nationwide employment: 6,420
– Median hourly wage: $20.62
– Median annual wage: $42,890
Canva
#88. Musical instrument repairers and tuners
– Total nationwide employment: 6,330
– Median hourly wage: $18.34
– Median annual wage: $38,150
Canva
#87. Orthodontists
– Total nationwide employment: 6,310
– Median hourly wage: $83.83
– Median annual wage: $174,360
LaKirr // Shutterstock
#86. Extraction workers, all other
– Total nationwide employment: 6,290
– Median hourly wage: $24.81
– Median annual wage: $51,600
Patrizio Martorana // Shutterstock
#85. Hydrologists
– Total nationwide employment: 6,270
– Median hourly wage: $41.34
– Median annual wage: $85,990
Syda Productions // Shutterstock
#84. Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers
– Total nationwide employment: 6,250
– Median hourly wage: $36.42
– Median annual wage: $75,760
I. Noyan Yilmaz // // Shutterstock
#83. Environmental science teachers, postsecondary
– Total nationwide employment: 6,240
– Median hourly wage: Not available
– Median annual wage: $83,040
Canva
#82. Agricultural workers, all other
– Total nationwide employment: 6,100
– Median hourly wage: $17.17
– Median annual wage: $35,720
Canva
#81. Forest and conservation workers
– Total nationwide employment: 6,080
– Median hourly wage: $15.51
– Median annual wage: $32,270
Max Mark Agnor // Shutterstock
#80. Pourers and casters, metal
– Total nationwide employment: 6,070
– Median hourly wage: $21.67
– Median annual wage: $45,070
Krysja // Shutterstock
#79. Nuclear technicians
– Total nationwide employment: 5,880
– Median hourly wage: $48.28
– Median annual wage: $100,420
Canva
#78. Helpers–roofers
– Total nationwide employment: 5,790
– Median hourly wage: $17.80
– Median annual wage: $37,020
Linda Zupanc // Shutterstock
#77. Costume attendants
– Total nationwide employment: 5,730
– Median hourly wage: $23.30
– Median annual wage: $48,470
Desizned // Shutterstock
#76. Political scientists
– Total nationwide employment: 5,660
– Median hourly wage: $61.55
– Median annual wage: $128,020
viktoriia varvashchenko // Shutterstock
#75. Disc jockeys, except radio
– Total nationwide employment: 5,640
– Median hourly wage: $21.34
– Median annual wage: Not available
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
#74. Nuclear power reactor operators
– Total nationwide employment: 5,450
– Median hourly wage: $55.71
– Median annual wage: $115,870
Canva
#73. Choreographers
– Total nationwide employment: 5,400
– Median hourly wage: $24.52
– Median annual wage: $50,990
Canva
#72. Photographic process workers and processing machine operators
– Total nationwide employment: 5,380
– Median hourly wage: $17.44
– Median annual wage: $36,280
Canva
#71. Tool grinders, filers, and sharpeners
– Total nationwide employment: 5,320
– Median hourly wage: $20.16
– Median annual wage: $41,940
Canva
#70. Dentists, all other specialists
– Total nationwide employment: 5,250
– Median hourly wage: $102.28
– Median annual wage: $212,740
Canva
#69. Loading and moving machine operators, underground mining
– Total nationwide employment: 5,210
– Median hourly wage: $30.73
– Median annual wage: $63,920
Canva
#68. Proofreaders and copy markers
– Total nationwide employment: 5,120
– Median hourly wage: $21.83
– Median annual wage: $45,410
Canva
#67. Correspondence clerks
– Total nationwide employment: 4,970
– Median hourly wage: $18.61
– Median annual wage: $38,700
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
#65. Anthropology and archeology teachers, postsecondary
– Total nationwide employment: 4,930
– Median hourly wage: Not available
– Median annual wage: $85,000
ALPA PROD // Shutterstock
#65. Entertainment attendants and related workers, all other
– Total nationwide employment: 4,930
– Median hourly wage: $13.11
– Median annual wage: $27,260
HannaTor // Shutterstock
#64. Gambling managers
– Total nationwide employment: 4,800
– Median hourly wage: $38.80
– Median annual wage: $80,710
Robilad Co // Shutterstock
#63. Craft artists
– Total nationwide employment: 4,760
– Median hourly wage: $18.34
– Median annual wage: $38,150
Fortish // Shutterstock
#62. Explosives workers, ordnance handling experts, and blasters
– Total nationwide employment: 4,710
– Median hourly wage: $27.24
– Median annual wage: $56,670
Yulyazolotko // Shutterstock
#61. Fallers
– Total nationwide employment: 4,530
– Median hourly wage: $23.64
– Median annual wage: $49,160
Canva
#60. Library science teachers, postsecondary
– Total nationwide employment: 4,330
– Median hourly wage: Not available
– Median annual wage: $76,370
Canva
#59. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons
– Total nationwide employment: 4,290
– Median hourly wage: #
– Median annual wage: #
Canva
#58. Floor sanders and finishers
– Total nationwide employment: 4,270
– Median hourly wage: $22.14
– Median annual wage: $46,060
Canva
#57. Telephone operators
– Total nationwide employment: 4,030
– Median hourly wage: $18.43
– Median annual wage: $38,330
NKM999 // Shutterstock
#55. Embalmers
– Total nationwide employment: 3,950
– Median hourly wage: $23.99
– Median annual wage: $49,910
TFoxFoto // Shutterstock
#55. Log graders and scalers
– Total nationwide employment: 3,950
– Median hourly wage: $20.37
– Median annual wage: $42,370
Canva
#54. Rock splitters, quarry
– Total nationwide employment: 3,910
– Median hourly wage: $22.12
– Median annual wage: $46,010
Aniwat phromrungsee // Shutterstock
#53. Commercial divers
– Total nationwide employment: 3,860
– Median hourly wage: $32.84
– Median annual wage: $68,300
Erickson Stock // Shutterstock
#52. Mathematical science occupations, all other
– Total nationwide employment: 3,840
– Median hourly wage: $34.47
– Median annual wage: $71,700
Canva
#51. Gas compressor and gas pumping station operators
– Total nationwide employment: 3,740
– Median hourly wage: $28.84
– Median annual wage: $59,990
Canva
#50. Occupational therapy aides
– Total nationwide employment: 3,710
– Median hourly wage: $17.82
– Median annual wage: $37,060
Denys Yelmanov // Shutterstock
#49. Bridge and lock tenders
– Total nationwide employment: 3,690
– Median hourly wage: $22.73
– Median annual wage: $47,280
indykb // Shutterstock
#48. Manufactured building and mobile home installers
– Total nationwide employment: 3,630
– Median hourly wage: $17.70
– Median annual wage: $36,820
Canva
#47. Logging workers, all other
– Total nationwide employment: 3,490
– Median hourly wage: $22.65
– Median annual wage: $47,110
Canva
#46. Sewers, hand
– Total nationwide employment: 3,440
– Median hourly wage: $15.16
– Median annual wage: $31,530
JL IMAGES // Shutterstock
#45. Transit and railroad police
– Total nationwide employment: 3,370
– Median hourly wage: $33.25
– Median annual wage: $69,150
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
#44. Model makers, metal and plastic
– Total nationwide employment: 3,350
– Median hourly wage: $27.70
– Median annual wage: $57,620
GagliardiPhotography // Shutterstock
#43. Geography teachers, postsecondary
– Total nationwide employment: 3,340
– Median hourly wage: Not available
– Median annual wage: $81,920
Canva
#42. Pile driver operators
– Total nationwide employment: 3,290
– Median hourly wage: $30.92
– Median annual wage: $64,310
Canva
#41. Genetic counselors
– Total nationwide employment: 3,220
– Median hourly wage: $43.26
– Median annual wage: $89,990
Mark_Kostich // Shutterstock
#40. Medical dosimetrists
– Total nationwide employment: 3,190
– Median hourly wage: $62.01
– Median annual wage: $128,970
Agenturfotografin // Shutterstock
#39. Historians
– Total nationwide employment: 3,120
– Median hourly wage: $31.03
– Median annual wage: $64,540
Dmitry Dven // Shutterstock
#38. Motorboat operators
– Total nationwide employment: 3,110
– Median hourly wage: $19.92
– Median annual wage: $41,430
Sergii Kovalov // Shutterstock
#37. Fabric and apparel patternmakers
– Total nationwide employment: 3,070
– Median hourly wage: $29.00
– Median annual wage: $60,320
Canva
#36. Sociologists
– Total nationwide employment: 2,980
– Median hourly wage: $47.40
– Median annual wage: $98,590
Kokulina // Shutterstock
#35. Makeup artists, theatrical and performance
– Total nationwide employment: 2,970
– Median hourly wage: $46.33
– Median annual wage: $96,370
Olaf Speier // Shutterstock
#34. Shoe machine operators and tenders
– Total nationwide employment: 2,960
– Median hourly wage: $15.89
– Median annual wage: $33,060
SimonTheSorcerer // Shutterstock
#33. Crematory operators
– Total nationwide employment: 2,930
– Median hourly wage: $19.40
– Median annual wage: $40,360
Photodiem // Shutterstock
#32. Hydrologic technicians
– Total nationwide employment: 2,920
– Median hourly wage: $28.06
– Median annual wage: $58,360
APChanel // Shutterstock
#31. Rail yard engineers, dinkey operators, and hostlers
– Total nationwide employment: 2,680
– Median hourly wage: $27.09
– Median annual wage: $56,340
Pressmaster // Shutterstock
#30. Animal scientists
– Total nationwide employment: 2,520
– Median hourly wage: $33.36
– Median annual wage: $69,390
Canva
#29. Hoist and winch operators
– Total nationwide employment: 2,440
– Median hourly wage: $28.34
– Median annual wage: $58,950
Canva
#28. Family and consumer sciences teachers, postsecondary
– Total nationwide employment: 2,420
– Median hourly wage: Not available
– Median annual wage: $76,440
NancyS // Shutterstock
#27. Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists
– Total nationwide employment: 2,290
– Median hourly wage: $23.13
– Median annual wage: $48,110
Peruphotart // Shutterstock
#26. Underground mining machine operators, all other
– Total nationwide employment: 2,270
– Median hourly wage: $30.86
– Median annual wage: $64,180
Canva
#25. Rail transportation workers, all other
– Total nationwide employment: 2,240
– Median hourly wage: $20.33
– Median annual wage: $42,280
Funtay // Shutterstock
#24. Patternmakers, metal and plastic
– Total nationwide employment: 2,230
– Median hourly wage: $26.43
– Median annual wage: $54,970
Canva
#23. Paperhangers
– Total nationwide employment: 2,220
– Median hourly wage: $21.60
– Median annual wage: $44,930
abriendomundo // Shutterstock
#22. Astronomers
– Total nationwide employment: 2,160
– Median hourly wage: $61.70
– Median annual wage: $128,330
Sergey Ryzhov // Shutterstock
#21. Camera and photographic equipment repairers
– Total nationwide employment: 2,120
– Median hourly wage: $21.18
– Median annual wage: $44,060
Kenishirotie //Shutterstock
#19. Mathematicians
– Total nationwide employment: 2,070
– Median hourly wage: $53.90
– Median annual wage: $112,110
Canva
#19. Models
– Total nationwide employment: 2,070
– Median hourly wage: $20.73
– Median annual wage: $43,130
Canva
#18. Motion picture projectionists
– Total nationwide employment: 1,900
– Median hourly wage: $16.04
– Median annual wage: $33,360
Canva
#17. Watch and clock repairers
– Total nationwide employment: 1,880
– Median hourly wage: $23.25
– Median annual wage: $48,370
Causeway // Shutterstock
#16. Roof bolters, mining
– Total nationwide employment: 1,700
– Median hourly wage: $28.95
– Median annual wage: $60,210
Budimir Jevtic // Shutterstock
#15. Agricultural engineers
– Total nationwide employment: 1,500
– Median hourly wage: $40.03
– Median annual wage: $83,260
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
#14. Terrazzo workers and finishers
– Total nationwide employment: 1,460
– Median hourly wage: $25.16
– Median annual wage: $52,330
Adwo // Shutterstock
#13. Geographers
– Total nationwide employment: 1,360
– Median hourly wage: $42.74
– Median annual wage: $88,900
fizkes // Shutterstock
#12. Industrial-organizational psychologists
– Total nationwide employment: 1,280
– Median hourly wage: $66.96
– Median annual wage: $139,280
Robert Kneschke // Shutterstock
#10. Forestry and conservation science teachers, postsecondary
– Total nationwide employment: 1,270
– Median hourly wage: Not available
– Median annual wage: $96,500
goodluz // Shutterstock
#10. Animal breeders
– Total nationwide employment: 1,270
– Median hourly wage: $21.79
– Median annual wage: $45,320
Canva
#9. Communications equipment operators, all other
– Total nationwide employment: 1,240
– Median hourly wage: $22.20
– Median annual wage: $46,180
motodan // Shutterstock
#8. Dredge operators
– Total nationwide employment: 940
– Median hourly wage: $22.64
– Median annual wage: $47,090
beerkoff // Shutterstock
#7. Pediatric surgeons
– Total nationwide employment: 780
– Median hourly wage: #
– Median annual wage: #
Canva
#6. Model makers, wood
– Total nationwide employment: 720
– Median hourly wage: $22.57
– Median annual wage: $46,940
carlesmiro // Shutterstock
#5. Cooks, private household
– Total nationwide employment: 610
– Median hourly wage: $18.54
– Median annual wage: $38,570
Canva
#4. Refractory materials repairers, except brick masons
– Total nationwide employment: 580
– Median hourly wage: $24.30
– Median annual wage: $50,550
Canva
#3. Farm labor contractors
– Total nationwide employment: 550
– Median hourly wage: $23.72
– Median annual wage: $49,330
PRESSLAB // Shutterstock
#2. Timing device assemblers and adjusters
– Total nationwide employment: 370
– Median hourly wage: $20.33
– Median annual wage: $42,290
Dusan Petkovic // Shutterstock
#1. Patternmakers, wood
– Total nationwide employment: 330
– Median hourly wage: $21.29
– Median annual wage: $44,290
Data reporting by Paxtyn Merten. Story editing by Jeff Inglis. Copy editing by Robert Wickwire.
Business
How to build company culture in a scale-up
Culture is no small thing, and according to Virtual Gurus founder and CEO Bobbie Racette, communication — and even getting uncomfortable — is key.
Anyone can type out a vision, mission statement, and outline some core values. But Bobbie Racette, the founder and CEO of Virtual Gurus, took things one step further: she made sure it was posted at the entrance to the company’s office with messages of inclusion and acceptance.
She says those messages are a central part of the company culture, which she sees as a shared belief in acceptance that unites the approximately 50 people working in the company’s headquarters.
But even with such a visible statement, she struggled to maintain a company-wide focus as the start-up grew and expanded.
“Even though the pandemic was still 300 percent, year over growth, we broke internally,” said Racette. “Because our culture was just a mess.”
For Racette, it required her to realize she couldn’t just instill that culture and stress its importance to her leadership team, hoping it would trickle down. She couldn’t just put it on a wall. She had to model those beliefs and bring them directly to all of her employees.
And she had to listen.
So, what really is culture?
The struggle of building and maintaining culture through rapid growth isn’t rare. The start-up world is littered with companies that lost their way.
Culture is no small thing. It’s the foundation of a business and helps guide decisions — from the big to the mundane. If the focus is sharp and the will is there, it will help guide who is hired and how they fit into the larger team.
It’s not about what the office looks like, or free lunches and abundant snacks — the sort of perk-heavy, laid-back office that has come to be associated with tech startups. The atmosphere of a place is not the core of what it means to work there.
Finding and nurturing that core is particularly important for Racette and Virtual Gurus, which provides companies with remote workers on everything from social media to accounting, and focuses on providing employment for underrepresented communities.
“I realized I had to pull back some of the perks and then push the values and I had to essentially retrain everybody to think, ‘wait, if I’m gonna get the perks, I gotta live with the mission, vision, and values, not the other way around,’” said Racette.
The culture she wanted at the company prioritizes inclusiveness, but also innovation, agility, and positivity. Racette realized it was critical to screen out those who didn’t buy in or could be toxic to the kind of workplace she needed for her company.
“I truly believe that in order to get comfortable, you have to get uncomfortable first. So our entire company had to go through an uncomfortable moment,” she said.
And those values she’s so determined to nurture are personal and hard-earned.
“I have lived through the barriers of being an Indigenous woman, a queer Indigenous woman, who has tattoos and… can’t get a job,” she said at the recent mesh conference in Calgary.
How do you maintain culture through growth or scale-up?
When Racette started the company in 2016, maintaining that culture was easy.
She was the only employee.
Then came funding rounds and growth. More employees in the office, but also more and more virtual assistants — over 1,000 at last count — spread across North America.
“You can run a company all day long, but when you’re scaling, you have to pivot left, right, and center all the time,” Racette told mesh conference attendees.
“And so when you pivot, you have to take your whole company and pivot with you, and when you’re doing that you have to keep the culture during that.”
Screening out those elements toxic to the culture at Virtual Gurus was an important step. Research has shown that toxic culture is a big driver of what’s been dubbed “the Great Resignation.”
Racette also followed the advice from organizations and other businesses when it comes to managing growth and culture — from hiring to setting targets and ensuring she is accountable for both change and cultural stability.
Communication, she said in a recent interview, was key.
“I send out weekly CEO updates by email, and then we’ll have all-hands meetings twice a month, and I host those,” said Racette. “So I’m very communicative about why and how the culture is changing.”
Central to that communication is allowing staff to offer feedback, listening closely to what they’re saying — and not being afraid of criticism. She now does what she calls a daily “lion hunt,” going through the office and checking in with employees.
She also says there has been an increased focus on all of the virtual assistants who form the backbone of the company, but who can’t be there in person for her walks around the office. The company has created a virtual hub to maintain those connections, providing incentives and perks, while also emphasizing the importance of the company values and mission.
“We don’t just treat them like a number,” Racette said.
But like those words written at the entrance to the company office, it takes more than spelling it out and carrying on.
“You can talk about it all day long, it’s actioning it,” said Racette. “And that’s one thing I’ve noticed with us is we were talking about the culture, but we weren’t actually actioning it.”
And, of course, incentives work too. Racette says employee bonuses worth four to eight percent of their salary now hinge on whether they follow the company values.
How has work culture changed over time?
Contemporary workplaces, and certainly startups, are a different beast than the offices of old. They are nimble and often more flexible. And unlike many formal offices, there’s no dress code at Virtual Gurus.
But it’s also about how company’s measure and value work — something that can have a profound impact on culture.
“I think it’s changed from being activity and action-driven to being more outcomes-focused,” said Racette.
At her office, employees aren’t judged for showing up late, or engaging in more activities that don’t necessarily lead to the right kind of results. If it takes five hours for someone to do all their work, then so be it.
Racette wants her staff to be accepting of those around them, and to be adaptable in the face of constant change. In order to get there, it only makes sense to put that same faith in her employees, leading down to nurture that all-important culture.
“You can’t fix your culture or have a good culture unless people have a psychologically safe space to work,” she said.
Stepping off an elevator and seeing a wall plastered with good intentions is one thing, but walking into an office where employees are all committed to goals based on those shared values is another, more successful thing altogether.
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Veronica Ott is a freelance writer and digital marketer with a specialization in finance and business. As a CPA with experience in the industry, she’s able to provide unique insight into various monetary, financial and economic topics. When Veronica isn’t writing, you can find her watching the latest films!
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