It is not uncommon in the graphic design and tech industries to find yourself immersed in a culture that rewards “crazy 36 hour coding sessions” or “building an e-commerce site in 2 weeks before Black Friday”. Both experiences our team has worked through, and at the time, it was fun and energizing to pull off these heroic feats. It got our adrenaline pumping. We saved the day for our clients and got that dopamine high from all the accolades we received.
The thing is, once you save the day, more and more of these “all hands on deck” type situations keep coming your way. We started operating in this state by default. We would react quickly, prioritizing efficiency at all cost. Eventually, though, that style of engagement began to take a toll on our team. The chemicals that are released (adrenaline and dopamine) when our bodies are in these heightened states quickly adapt our physical bodies to this continued cycle.
To be honest, Floodlight operated this way for a a good portion of its existence. We accomplished a lot of great work and regularly “saved the day” for our clients. Heck, we even designed a promo with a superhero character on it….thats how committed we were to this persona!
As you know, 2020 brought a lot of change to our world and gave our team a chance to reflect, to adjust to full remote work, and to redefine our unique value to our clients.
We’ve realized that instead of being caught up in constant emergencies, we can spend time preemptively thinking about our client’s needs and championing those initiatives before they become emergencies. We’ve learned to have multiple speeds — not just stopped or full steam ahead.
This learning has shifted our firm to being a better partner for our clients, ourselves, and for our families.
Yes, we still help out in emergency situations from time-to-time, but we no longer follow that as our daily operating system. Our focus is to continually grow in being forward thinking in our client partnerships.
In service of this more thoughtful approach, our team enjoys an annual reboot this time of year and is excited to share more digital goodness in the new year. Until then, have some fun and visit our team’s spin on a MadLib — a Floodlib.
Merry Christmas🎄and Happy New Year 🎆 to All!