the insitum way

© Copyright Insitum 2016

THE INSITUM WAYTHE WAY WE THINK, DO, USE, FEEL* AT INSITUM

#culturecode@insitum

* Based on the famous Think-Do-Use framework coined by Rick Robinson and John Cain, two of our mentors


WE HELP ORGANIZATIONS SOLVE COMPLEX, STRATEGIC, AMBIGUOUS PROBLEMS THROUGH PEOPLE-CENTERED APPROACHES

MOST OF THESE PROBLEMS CAN BE SOLVED BY INNOVATING PRODUCTS, SERVICES, BRANDS, PROCESSES, EXPERIENCES.

SUCH AS: DESIGN THINKING, LEAN PROCESSES, ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH, USER EXPERIENCE DEFINITION, BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE, INNOVATION CONSULTING, ETC.


WE WANT TO BUILD THE GREATEST COMPANY TO WORK FORWhere work is not “work”, but passion.

• Not repetitive, but new everyday• Not boring, adventurous• Not jackass bosses, fun to work

with• Transparent, honest• Where I can get equity if I put my

share• Working for different clients all the

time• Constantly learning new things

• Challenging, not easy and helping me grow

• With friends, people I get along with

• A game where we can win or lose based on our skills

• Meritocratic, I grow based on the value I add

• Social purpose, increasing the quality of life of people

• Strong, permanent culture


This is what we want our collaborators to feel everyday

Reference: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCcQFjAA&url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_Csikszentmihalyi&ei=fm8XU_yxHcGI2wXfgoCIAQ&usg=AFQjCNF5oMoJKGRsEWdeIU9cQNrzPM1EdA&sig2=G2fAmM1shGZJH0LlXxLGjA&bvm=bv.62286460,d.b2I




DESIGN THINKERS

We strive to create original solutions and making the complex simple through design thinking.

RESILIENCE

We believe in our capacity to adapt to adverse conditions and that’s why we take risks and accept unpredictable challenges.

INTEGRITY All our actions are based on solid ethical principles such as honesty, fairness and transparency.

COLLABORATIVE

We are sensible to the needs and empathic towards our teams, our clients and society as a whole.

PASSIONATE

The process is as important as the result. We are fearless and enjoy every step of the way with effort and enthusiasm.

EXCELLENCE

We bend over backwards to exceed expectations in everything we do. We constantly surprise our clients by over-delivering.

OUR PEOPLE SHARE THE SAME CHARACTERISTICS:


The INSITUM way

The following “Principles” describe our philosophy for doing things at INSITUM.


HAPPINESS BEGETS PROSPERITY

En todo proyecto buscamos ser rentables, pero mas importante que esto buscamos sentirnos felices y realizados en lo que hacemos. Sabemos que a largo plazo la rentabilidad es mayor si se consigue con gente feliz, plena, llena, que irradia energía positiva y que disfruta lo que hace en INSITUM. En muchos casos hemos sacrificado la rentabilidad de un proyecto por la felicidad de un cliente y/o de nuestro equipo–esta regla siempre nos va a beneficiar a largo plazo. Si alguno de nosotros no es feliz haciendo lo que hacemos, es muy probable que INSITUM esté haciendo algo mal y habrá que corregirlo.This is in spanish,

portuguese or english

because we are

trilingual


WE ARE HIGH-DELAYERS (we know how to wait for that second marshmallow)

If you don't know what we refer by this, check out the marshmallow experiment. The point here is that we know how to avoid the temptation of immediate rewards. We practice the art of patience and thoughtful decision making, waiting for better rewards over the long run. We know that time is our ally in achieving what we want to achieve: We may have lost a project, but we will win many more with that client in the coming years; we may not have the highest salaries right now, but we will gain great economic rewards when we need them; we may not be able to participate in that cool project now, but we’ll have far more interesting projects in the future. So, don’t eat the marshmallow… yet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment


WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR CLIENTS’ BUSINESS

Every day we strive to help clients achieve their objectives using the best insights and developing the most innovative solutions. In us they trust their business, their jobs, their products, their brands and their future so it is our responsibility to take our job as seriously as we can and achieve the best possible outcome for them. Every project deals with serious matters and we know it depends on us to make a difference inside our clients business but most important, in society at large. Our projects are the way we help build a better world.


WE ARE CLIENT-CENTRIC

Uma de nossas principais forças é o grandioso serviço que oferecemos aos nossos clientes. Quase tudo o que fazemos tem como meta exceder as expectativa de nossos clientes: desde responder a um email em menos de 2 horas, até surpreendê-los com um excelente material de comunicação dos resultados do projeto / output.Grande parte de nosso sucesso se deve ao fato de sempre termos sido “client-centric”, ou seja, entendemos muito bem o que eles precisam e os ajudamos a atingir esses objetivos. Mesmo que muitas vezes eles mudem de opinião, ampliem os objetivos do projeto, troquem suas prioridades, demandem uma apresentação extra, ou precisem adiantar a entrega dos resultados, sempre temos sabido nos adaptar às suas necessidades e expectativas — até onde é possível.São estes mesmos clientes aqueles que nos confiam cada vez mais projetos e que recomendam-nos para outros clientes.

Nós somos “client-centric” centrados no cliente


WE ARE A NETWORK (OF FRIENDS)

Social relationships at INSITUM are not limited to professional ties (those which are formally imposed by the organization) but we also nurture informal social ties within everyone working at INSITUM. This makes INSITUM a network, and not a hierarchical work dependent structure. This means we are all authentically interested in the success of each other and we are solidary to others, helping each other out constantly–regardless of where we are based at. We encourage strong ties among all of us because we are aware that these types of relationships help increase our adaptability, flexibility, innovation potential, speed and information exchange. Moreover, when we work intensely long days (and some nights!) it makes a difference to do it among friends–and not just colleagues.


TRUSTING EACH OTHER ALLOWS US TO GO FAST

Toda la gente es de toda nuestra confianza–hasta que demuestre lo contrario.Abrimos las puertas a quien quiera conocer sobre nosotros, compartimos nuestro know-how y conocimiento con todo el que esté interesado en éste, compartimos información interna con toda nuestra gente, damos la oportunidad a todos de crecer tan rápido como puedan, participamos en propuestas asumiendo que el cliente decidirá de manera justa, negociamos imparcialmente. Esto nos ha permitido crecer rápidamente, de manera sólida y construyendo nuestra reputación. La confianza es el aceite que permite que nuestras piezas funcionen rápidamente y con calidad.


WE DON’T STOP ASKING WHY

We love to ask questions. We are constantly asking questions to our clients, to project stakeholders, to users, and even to ourselves. People working at insitum were born curious and inquisitive because we know that “it is better to innovate from knowledge than from ignorance” (quoting someone at XeroxPARC). This obsession for learning–and questioning the status quo–is what makes our work so challenging, fun and engaging. We love to ask questions, but we love more answering them in the most creative and insightful way possible. So if you can’t stop asking questions, you are in the right place. How does this make you feel?

http://www.parc.com/


PRECISE IN PLANNING

Planeamos nuestras tareas alrededor de todos los riesgos que puedan existir. A veces somos redundantes para asegurarnos que suceden las cosas como queremos; o a veces trabajamos en el plan A, plan B y plan C al mismo tiempo–por si acaso alguno no funciona. Todos los días somos conscientes que la tarea va a llevar mas tiempo, será mas caro, será mas difícil y requiere mas personas de lo esperado (una variación de la “ley de Hofstadler” (que dice: “Siempre lleva más tiempo que el esperado, incluso cuando tomas en cuenta La Ley de Hofstadter”). Todo esto permite que nuestros planes se ejecuten perfectamente.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstadter's_law


WE ARE TRANSPARENT (BETWEEN US AND WITH OUR CLIENTS)

Nós não temos agendas escondidas, nós não ocultamos de nossos clientes os problemas, nós mantemos uma comunicação aberta entre a gente, nos somos totalmente acessíveis. Nós sabemos que essa abertura é a chave para bons relacionamentos, então, se nós não gostamos de alguma coisa, nós falaremos; se nós queremos saber mais sobre alguma coisa, nós perguntaremos; se alguma coisa lhes incomodar, vocês nos questionarão; se alguma coisa causar dificuldades a vocês, vocês nos pedirão ajuda. Nós não temos protocolos, nós não levamos as coisas para o lado pessoal, nós estamos sempre abertos.


WE LOVE TO THINK, BUT WE MOSTLY DO

Clients hire us because we know how to think (and we have fun doing so!), but we are aware that thinking alone doesn’t get us very far. People who only focus on thinking are DREAMERS, but people who do innovation are also DOERS. Execution is what makes our projects, clients and ourselves go forward. It is very easy to come up with a new product idea, but we make prototypes of it; it is easy to say “we should write an email”, but instead we sit down and type it; it is easy to criticize, but instead we solve.Our company culture is one of execution, of doing, of achieving–because we know that if we don’t do it, no one else will do it for us.


WE ARE PARANOID TO RISK

No nos gustan las sorpresas, y no dejamos que nada estropee nuestros planes, por eso somos muy precavidos respecto a los factores que no podemos controlar (e.g. la situación financiera mundial). Muchas veces preferimos tomar decisiones conservadoras y tomando en cuenta el peor escenario–para estar bien preparados en caso que se requiera. Sabemos que el miedo paraliza, por eso no tenemos miedo de la aventura y de tomar decisiones–una vez tomada una decisión, somos firmes, rápidos y agresivos en su ejecución. No hay otra forma de crecer de la forma en que lo hemos hecho.


WE ARE A MERITOCRACY

Comprendemos que la persona que quiera crecer en la empresa, debe de demostrarlo con acciones. En esta red no crecemos acumulando tiempo, o siendo buen amigo, o simplemente haciendo las cosas que se espera de nosotros. En una meritocracia la gente crece por los resultados, por su profesionalismo, su conocimiento, por el valor que aportas a la red. Aquí la gente con más poder es la que más aporta, la que va más allá, la que se hace sentir, la que tiene iniciativa, y la que se vuelve indispensable para la empresa. Si esperas a que la empresa te reconozca por hacer tu trabajo solamente, esperarás ahí mucho tiempo.


FRUGALITY OVER LUXURY

Somos obsesivos con la salud financiera de la empresa—la mayor parte de las ganancias anuales las reinvertimos para financiar el crecimiento y solidez de la misma empresa. Priorizamos los gastos mesuradamente e invertimos en aquellas cosas que directamente nos ayudan a ser más productivos, a mejorar la calidad de nuestro trabajo o a mejorar la calidad de vida de nuestra gente. Si podemos hacerlo nosotros mismos, no lo subcontratamos; si existe un mejor precio nosotros lo encontramos; si podemos ingeniar una solución con mejor relación valor/precio, la implementamos. Invertimos siempre como si fuera nuestro dinero personal y no aceptamos lujos banales y sin retorno.


SINK OR SWIM

La mayor parte de ustedes lo ha experimentado: o nadas o te ahogas. Aunque nunca hemos dejado a nadie ahogarse, sabemos que la mejor forma de aprender es mediante la práctica. Por eso fomentamos situaciones donde la gente puede experimentar; decidir por sí solos; cometer errores (¡controlados!); y tomar riesgos dentro de ciertos límites. Todos sentimos una enorme satisfacción cuando resolvemos un problema en el que nos hemos metido; cuando nos demostramos a nosotros mismos que podemos hacer algo nunca antes hecho; cuando nos sorprendemos de nuestras propias capacidades; cuando aprendemos mediante la práctica (“learning by doing”). Si crees que te puedes equivocar al hacer algo en insitum, inténtalo—porque si no lo intentas, seguro te equivocas.


WE ARE EXCESSIVELY OPTIMISTIC

We believe in the power of “self fulfilling prophecies“, mostly when it comes to good things happening to us. Our positive attitude keeps problems away and helps mitigate their negative effects–if they ever reach us. Focusing on the positive keeps the negative (and useless) away. This attitude is not limited to us as individuals or as a network, but also to your family and friends, to our clients, to the projects we do, to our partners and most important, to society at large. Some people may think we are unrealistic, but so far it has worked quite well for us.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-fulfilling_prophecy


WE TEACH BY EXAMPLE

One of the most effective ways to demand something from others is by showing them how to do it (I have a 4 yr old at home, so believe me I know). At INSITUM everybody is a role model for someone else. We know that people will mimic our actions; that clients will treat us the same way we treat them; that teams will work as hard as their director; that quality standards should be as high as those you can do yourself; that companies won’t innovate if we don’t innovate ourselves. Most people at INSITUM are well aware that we can’t demand ____ from others if we don’t do ____ ourselves. This behavior applies equally to inside our company as it applies to our relationships to the outside. Treat others as you want to be treated–or attain to the consequences.


WE ALWAYS KNOW WHY WE EXISTWith such a wide variety of projects and client engagements we can lose track of why we do what we do. But no matter how difficult this is, we constantly remind ourselves our main responsibility, which is: to have a positive impact in the world.And we do this by taking an obsessive care of three things:1) The sustainability of the COMPANY. For example by creating a

healthy community that provides a fun and challenging environment; by doing projects you can be passionate about; or providing long-term economic benefits for all of us.

2) The relationships with our CLIENTS. For example by giving them the most value for their money; doing things they could not do on their own; or helping them grow as people and as a business

3) The wellbeing of SOCIETY. For example by providing jobs (like yours!), improving the quality of life of users, helping them make smarter decisions, or making them live more happy with the products, services and brands they use.

This is why we exist—please never forget it.


THANK YOU FOR READINGIf you are interested in joining us, send an email to: [email protected] and let us know which office you want to work at.

Barcelona

Chicago

México City

Bogotá

Lima

São Paulo

Buenos Aires

mailto:[email protected]

the insitum way

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