Do­ing Good and Do­ing It Well?

I started working for a multinational company besides university. I spent about two years there, and even I got many opportunities there, I started to feel that I wasn't happy. Finally I quit my job and joined an international NGO. It was there I understood that I had to find the work I was doing useful, that I could could use my skills well and for good. Now, after more than ten years, I have to admit that this need is not easy to fulfil, at least for me. I switched jobs a lot, there was always something missing. Before Integral Vision, I have had exactly seven different jobs in seven years.

I am now starting my sixth year with Integral Vision. I feel that there have been and are plenty of challenges here. For years I thought we would leave them behind us, that with hard work we would reach some idyllic state where better and better jobs would be lined up at our doorstep and we would effortlessly achieve our goals in harmony. Performance, flow and mood are scored ten, ten, ten points for everyone. I no longer think that will ever be the case, but that doesn't disappoint me.  I was wondering the other day what is so different here. Why, despite all the difficulties and failures, I can still experience that we are doing good and well.

Democracy in our way of working

I recently read an article highlighting how freedom of expression and opinion in the workplace is generally restricted. Fortunately, I have never experienced this or felt affected by such restrictions, but at Iintegral Vision I think I am given even more freedom

• I can actively represent the values that are important to me, not only within the team, but also in our collaboration with all our clients and partners
• I can cooperate with others to shape my environment, which also means creating a rooftop garden to grow spices, tomatoes and peppers, as well as improving our processes  making them more efficient, more comfortable and more transparent.
• I can be flexible with my work, of course, taking into account commitments and interdependencies. I am allowed to have my good days and the bad ones.

Due to the challenges of collaborative decision making and our different dynamics, I sometimes feel like we're trundling upstream at the speed of a well-loaded barge while the speedboats pass us by, but I think at this point it's worth zooming in and seeing how much there is on this boat. I'm grateful for this diversity and for the opportunity to get to know my colleagues' perspectives, to work with them as a team, helping and respecting each other, not hiding our conflicts. I am happy that I can keep learning in a company context what it really means to operate in a democratic way.

Meaningful work

When I joined, I was mainly given projects from cultural institutions, start-ups and NGOs. It felt good - it still does to this day - to work on projects that - I beleive - create value in the world. Also, I have learnt here that the process is just as important as the solution. This sentence has several different meanings for me.

• On one hand, it means that we take care of how we work together, including our cooperation with our clients. This is an important factor when qualifying new projects and we evaluate, when we have the opportunity, whether we can work in partnership and what is the value we can deliver together. thanks to this approach, we can work with teams that are equally committed to their work. 
• It also means we focus not just on the outcome, but on the journey of getting there. For example, in the case of a brand refresh, it's important to understand the client's values, challenges, objectives and modus operandi so that we can develop truly relevant solutions, sometimes quite different from what we had in mind at the beginning. This requires a lot more effort and investment from both parties, but it will lead to more profound and sustainable changes. 
• Finally, it also means that not just the work and the company level matters, but it is equally important how we are as an individuals. We strive to ensure that everyone in a project plays a role in accordance with their potential and abilities, and it also matters how they experience their participation.

Space for initiatives

There's one more thing I'm particularly grateful for that I can constantly experiment in new and challenging situations. If I have an idea or suggestion regarding a process, a solution or a project, I am not only free to share it, but I am also given the space to implement it in the face of constructive criticism and feedback. This degree of freedom is not easy, but can be quite inspiring. I have as many failures as successes - if not more - but without these failures I would not have achieved what I am proud of today. 

On the top of all this, there are the lunchtime laughs, the conversations over a glass of wine on the terrace, the game nights, all the planting and cooking together. I thank the team for the supportive environment, for everything that was easy and everything that was difficult.