work values

I'm going to kick this off by stating that this is not a post about my feelings; it's a post about what helps me make good work. The following things will set the conditions properly for making good work, which is something I ... well, feel very strongly about. Dammitt, I guess it is about my feelings.

WHAT MAKES GOOD STUFF:

COLLABORATION
My idea might be great, but maybe you can help find a better medium for it. Or vice versa. Or maybe it's not that readily broken down -- we both just make our ideas better. The point is, you'll see stuff I won't, I'll see stuff you won't, and the end result is better work. And that's what we're trying to do. Right?

HAPPY PEOPLE
If individuals (or the whole office, god forbid) is caustic, or apathetic, or inflexible, or defensive, bad work will come out of it. The work will reflect the ethos of the place where it's made. Smile, motherfuckers. And mean it.

OPEN SPACE
The free exchange of ideas is reinforced by wide open spaces where you can let unexpected influences leak in, make a suggestion to a colleague, or bounce an idea off someone without having to walk down a corridor or clutter their in-box. It's a messier and less precious way of working, and it's kind of amazing.

ACCOUNTABILITY
This isn't school, and this isn't a place for me to work on my fantasy portfolio & get paid at the same time. If the work is beautiful but no one understands the message, then it's a failure. If the work gets negative attention, that's also a failure. Does it follow the WK12 test of interesting/relevant/true? Yes? Good.

THE RIGHT SIZE
Medium-sized. Like, 50-150 people.

MONEY
Only I can bring what I bring. Hire me for the whole package, with writing, and design, and biking, and ballet, and comic books, and bartending experience in it. Go ahead and use all of it (yes, I'll mix you drinks). And then make it clear that you value all of it (ka¢hing). That'd be stellar.

GOOD MEETINGS
Meetings get bad press because most meetings are bad. So, like, they earned the bad press. But there's such a thing as a good meeting. A good meeting has minutes, and agendas, and open dialogue, and yelling, and laughing, and doughnuts. Yelling + pastries ... now that's a good meeting.

DOUGHNUTS
Did I mention doughnuts? Seriously. Give me some doughnuts.

TRUST
If I have an idea that changes the brief, and I can support it, trust that I'm not doing so idly or for my own wily purposes. Allow me to present two versions -- the version that sticks to the brief like a barnacle, and my version. Am I asking you for permission to do more work? Yes, I am.

Those are the mains. Pretty much everything else is negotiable. "Doughnuts aren't negotiable?" you ask. How can I put this more clearly? I am going to need some doughnuts. That is all.

Love,
Katie