This piece was originally emailed to Wildbitâs mailing list on February 22, 2022.
Hello, friends.
Building a people-first business requires us to be intentional about the choices we make, and that includes the language we use.
For example: companies often promote work-life balance, but Iâve been thinking of how the term creates really strict walls around both âwork timeâ and âlife timeâ. It may mean that if youâre working 9-to-5 but itâs 4pm and youâre really drained, youâre still going to sit there for an hour and stare at your computer just because thatâs your âwork timeâ.
What people-first companies tend to do is create an environment for work-life integration instead. We recognize that each team member has hours that suit them best and we honor their individual needs: someone might want to work at 9pm if theyâre excited about what theyâre doing, while someone else might choose to put work away at 2pm and go for a bike ride with their kids. All of that is okay.
I shared this idea during a conversation with Rand Fishkin two weeks ago. We also talked about how, as company founders and leaders, we both achieved better decision making, better prioritization, and better results by focusing on deep work and not adhering to hustle culture. If youâd like to revisit some of the highlights and re-watch parts of the discussion, itâs all available on our blog.
PS: âspreading joyâ as a team KPI
The team has done it again! We published another webcomic (the first one, Postmark Express, is from 2021) with a surprising and delightful narrator.
Please check it out, and enjoy another way we measure the success of our work by bringing joy to others. 👏🎬
See you next month,
Natalie & the team at Wildbit