Did someone say December?
3 weeks in, I've got a lot to report from my grand creative experiment.
What a whirlwind these last three weeks have been. I feel like the new girl in school, trying to learn everyone’s names and make a good impression.
To that end, I took a page from Ted Lasso’s playbook and employed some culinary cunning. I baked the Ted Lasso shortbread and brought it into the Eleven offices on day one.
I also created a channel on Eleven’s Slack called #bakedgoods where folks can ask for their favorite desserts so I can plan a rotation for my upcoming Wednesdays in the office. Knowing how to bake is a vastly underrated skill and endears you to people almost immediately. I highly recommend it.
Lastly, I wrote a letter of introduction to the entire company and explained my vision for the consulting engagement and my desire to talk with every employee about their experience in a confidential forum.
I’m acutely aware that this role is so new – and so open-ended – that people might regard me with skepticism. Everything I’ve been doing has been to convey a simple message: “I come in peace.”
New day, new business
On my very first day in the office I was invited to be part of a video being shot as part of a new business pitch. The client specifically asked in their RFP for Eleven to explain its approach to diversity and inclusion.
Can we just pause a moment and honor how wonderful it is that clients are finally connecting diversity in their agency partners to more authentic connections with their consumers? And demanding that agencies have a good plan for this business driver?
(Side note: as great as it is that clients are requesting diverse teams on their account, I’m dismayed at how few clients turn the mirror on themselves. They rarely consider how they unwittingly create working conditions – last-minute meetings, lightning fast turnaround times, booze-fueled evening events, threadbare budgets – that all but ensure one kind of person will service their business. But I’ll save that for a future rant article.)
Pleasantly surprised
I’ve been inside many an agency that talks a good game about culture. But there are particular tells that invariably give them away… or back them up. Multiple things have happened at Eleven thus far that show a healthy culture.
The most impressive of all happened the day before Thanksgiving when a letter went out to all employees from the newly formed DEI Steering Committee. With their permission I’m reprinting it here:
Hello Eleveneers,
Before we all break for Thanksgiving, we’d like to acknowledge that though this is a time of celebration and gratitude, it is also a sensitive moment for many of us.
As you know, Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who fatally shot two men and wounded another in Kenosha, Wisconsin (during the protests that followed the shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by a white police officer) was acquitted in court days ago. On a related note, today marks the end of the killers of Ahmaud Arbery—a 25-year-old Black man who was hunted down, shot, and killed by three white men after going out for a jog near Brunswick, Georgia. The men involved have been found guilty of murder.
Gun violence touches every community and every person—directly or indirectly—in the United States. This year alone, we have had 40,122 gun-related deaths in America. Every day, eight children are unintentionally shot by family fire. Every 16 hours, a woman is shot dead by her current or former partner. Yet 53% of Americans want expanded gun control.
These facts speak to a need for action.
As a workplace that champions and celebrates self-expression, we encourage each of you to take time to process these moments and what they represent for you. Take time to express yourself, help stop gun violence, engage in community dialogue and work to prevent further deaths of innocent people.
+ Love to write and/or draw? Use the power of words and images to fight back and inspire change. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, we welcome you to use the Studio plotter to print protest posters or other items.
+ Use your Cauze money ($111) and donate to an organization you believe in. Here are some for consideration:
https://www.everytown.org
https://www.csgv.org
https://changetheref.org/
At a company level, Eleven will be donating $1,100 to Everytown for Gun Safety.
+ Stay educated. Follow gun control advocacy organizations on social media. Read relevant books/articles. Participate in online community forums.
+ If you have any personal stories related to gun violence and want to share them, let us know. We will find a space for them to be heard.
+ If you choose to participate in protests, keep yourself safe. And if you get arrested for raising your voice for justice, Eleven will pay your bail.
+ Vote, sign petitions and get involved.
+ Support your loved ones. Support each other.
And if none of these sounds like you, find something that is right for you. We are all in this together.
Peace, love, and change,
The Eleven DEI Steering Committee
Wow, there are so many things I love about this letter. So often companies trip over themselves in times like this, unsure how to get the words right. I guarantee employees will forgive awkward phrasing far more than silence. Yet these words feel anything but awkward. I especially like how Eleven is backing up their commitment with a donation, sharing ideas for how creatively minded people might mobilize in this moment, and just plain acknowledging the feelings that come up with headlines relentlessly reporting more violence (including this week’s shooting that left four high-schoolers dead in Michigan).
Acknowledging world events is absolutely part of creating psychological safety at work. We cannot inoculate people from many of the world’s ills, but we can make people feel less alone as they confront them. This short video that The 3% team made for The 3% Conference, bringing a Twitter thread from Nicole Sanchez to life, is a great encapsulation of how to show up for people in times of crisis.
Creative therapy
Eleven’s CEO, Courtney Buechert, jokingly referred to my work as “creative therapy” and as each day ticks by, I realize how right he is. More than anything people want to be seen. How ironic at a time when all we can do is see one another – without sharing airspace – that we feel so alone. The conversations I’ve had with Eleveneers in various cities have underscored this for me. People are starving for connection and a chance to honestly share how it’s going working from home (especially those with small children).
I’m especially concerned about junior creatives at this time (and not just at Eleven). Think about how much of your early career was shaped by absorbing wisdom and knowledge from the office chatter. The idea collision around you. A kind word or joke shared in the elevator.
One of my biggest priorities right out of the gate will be to find some way to make mentorship and general conviviality a regular occurrence for Eleven’s creatives. Stay tuned for more on this front (and please, please leave comments about things you’re seeing working at your companies).
An offhand comment that stopped me
The beauty of creative therapy are the gems people share just in telling their stories. One young creative I spoke with, in recalling why she felt drawn to come work at Eleven, said something that rocked my world. She specifically referenced how seeing so many older creatives still in the game was deeply motivating to her, suggesting a career horizon that would span decades.
Are you listening ad industry? All your fascination with youth is NOT EVEN SERVING OUR YOUTH!
Advertising has long been an industry that eats its old and this one young voice illuminated for me that this is not only demoralizing for old people, but possibly for people of all ages.
Capturing the holiday spirit
Creative companies are going to have to use their creativity this year when it comes to holiday celebrations. Eleven got in front of this in an interesting way: giving each department a way to vote on four different shared activities (wine/cheese tasting, wreath making, holiday cookie decorating, gingerbread house decorating.) The winning activity will be held remotely with a “supplies” box mailed to each participant. Smart.
Also think about how your agency can give back at this time of year, even if budgets are tight. Eleven worked with the Golden Gate Symphony and created a vaccination awareness campaign called COVID Carolers. Also smart.
More to come
I’ve had early conversations around mental health/wellness initiatives, corporate social responsibility, and hiring practices, all of which are part of the ambitious job description I wrote for myself. Stay tuned for updates to follow.
Gotta go. The oven timer is beeping with my latest enticement: brownies.
Until next time, remember that culture is the new creativity.
I was just telling someone at an Agency about what you were doing with this role. I was thinking "When is Kat going to update us?" ha ha. I think you read my mind. Love the update and the Ted Lasso reference. Keep changing the world for the better.