In an ideal world the best ideas would always rise to the top. Anyone who’s done group decision-making knows this is isn’t always the case. Often an idea that comes from a high-level executive will carry much more weight than an idea from someone with less power. Take the status of the idea owner out of the equation, however, and hopefully the ideas can speak for themselves. That is the goal of dot voting.
Agile thinking is baked into our brains at Table XI. We come up with an idea, we test it, and we pursue it or discard it based on the results. Just like with our products, we avoid going too far down one path before we validate that it’s the right one.
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 …
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.
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?
I wasn’t thinking about the advantages of podcasting when I started Tech Done Right — or if I was, only vaguely. I wanted a way to have conversations about things that mattered in technology, with people I like and respect. If there were fringe podcasting benefits, great. But business wasn’t the primary motivator.
Since founding Table XI, I’ve only become more skeptical about professional services companies launching products. We built and sold Pegmo, a customer engagement platform and a modest success. But for the most part we’ve stayed away, wary of ending up stuck with an unpaid drag on resources that doesn’t do anything for us or our clients.
If you’re looking for an executive retreat about how to do the work better, there are plenty — I run one. But less than a year into taking over as Table XI’s CEO, that’s not what I needed help with (or at least not the only thing I needed help with). I wanted to learn how to be a better CEO from peers I admired. I wanted to understand how the stress was affecting them as leaders and as people. I needed answers. What does work-life balance really look like for the CEO of a growing company? And when, if ever, did people think about life after retirement?
So I led a group of nine executives into the depths of the Scottish Highlands.
In March, we celebrated 15 years in business at Table XI. I am incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved and learned since we started in 2002. When we sold our first project to Dickson, it felt like proof of what we hoped — that doing good work for clients on our own terms was the right way to do business. 15 years later, Dickson is still a client, and Table XI has become a well-known UX design and custom software development company.
It’s been quite a journey, and I’m beyond excited for what comes next. As we plan for the next 15 years, we’re making changes that will help us form deeper and more strategic partnerships with our clients and our people. To start, we’ve launched Table XI Ventures and Table XI Labs — the former to partner with early-stage startups looking to explore problems and build game-changing solutions, and the latter to empower Table XI employees who want to pursue entrepreneurial ideas of their own.
We started a podcast — and called it "Tech Done Right" — because we wanted to talk about what matters in technology.
We’ve always been eager to teach people about technology. We teach developer bootcamps, we teach each other, we even teach our clients with a Chicago tech events series. It’s important to us to build a better community by building better software. That’s why I’ve published books throughout my career and continue to blog about Ruby on Rails. So when we found a partner in Mandy Moore who could help us produce a podcast, it seemed like a natural next step.
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