The upside about being an early blogging adopter is that we have a thorough record of the last 10 years at Table XI. The downside is that we have a thorough record of all of our opinions from the last 10 years. But for every baby-faced photo and review of a long-dead app, we also have a record of why we’ve grown the way we have over the past decade. 

As different as we may have looked 10 years ago, we still try to act pretty much the same — with compassion and curiosity and constant desire to learn new things and get better.

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We work closely with our peers, so we know what an honor it is to make any list of best Chicago tech companies. It’s stiff competition — there’s a lot of talent here. That’s why we’re so proud to see several of our practice groups, and our podcast, rank at the top of industry.

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Each year, we try to take a look back at what we did the year before. It helps us remember all the things we did accomplish — which can too easily get lost when you’re trying to keep up with the day-to-day. More importantly, it helps us set the bar. By looking back on what we did in 2018, we can decide what we want more of in 2019, and make a plan to get it.

Here are our highlights, month-by-month …

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No one puts a system for diversity recruiting in place when they start their business. We all just try to do our best to hire talented people we’ll get along with, and hire them fast. It’s only later that so many companies realize with a shock that all their colleagues look alike.

We always made an effort to include many voices at Table XI so we never had a totally homogenous team. But as we grew, we realized we needed an actual strategy for recruiting diverse candidates, not just good intentions.

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Everyone deserves an inclusive workplace. To be seen for who you are and made to feel a part of something is a fundamental courtesy every business should extend to each team member. And most want to — even a business entirely motivated by profit can recognize the statistics that show employees perform better when they buy into a shared sense of mission.

So, why are so many companies terrible at creating an inclusive culture?

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When you’re in the middle of running a growing business, it’s easy to blow past big milestones in a rush to get everything done. When you actually do take stock, well, it’s humbling.

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