I just listened to a presentation by the super cute and wicked smart Liza Kindred from Lullabot. Presenting at DrupalCon San Francisco last April, Liza gives us a peek into Lullabot’s company’s structure, core beliefs and business strategies. You can listen to the full presentation, but here are some highlights:
1) Make mistakes.
Lullabot prides themselves as an awesome place to make mistakes. When an employee made a terrible data error, co-founder Matt Westgate told her, “You made a giant mistake, and you really screwed up here. That is why you are now Lullabot’s data import expert.” The company also bought her a massage.
Environments where people can’t admit mistakes become very hostile and dishonest work environments.
Fess up to your mistakes. Make them a highlight of your weekly team calls.
2) Room for stupid.
Smart people can ask stupid questions. “Take your stupidness and help other people become less stupid.”
3) Give it away/Have faith
Find out the awesome things you do and give it away. (But not all of it.) Have faith that by giving it away, you are making the pie even bigger.
Out-teach. Out-share. Out-contribute.
(Props here to 37Signals)
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But one of my favorite parts was how they select clients.
When a potential client comes to Lulllabot, they need to meet 2 out of the 3 criteria:
1) They are a nice person.
2) They have a healthy budget.
3) They have a fun project.
“And one of them has to be that they are nice.”
How’s that for a rule to live by?

–Britta