The Unremarkable Entrepreneur

In this episode of Culture Crush, host Dan Dowman sits down with Mhairi Ramsay, founder of Tomrom, to discuss the challenges and nuances of cultivating a positive workplace culture. Mhairi shares her journey from being a trainee manager at Sainsbury's to leading her own team coaching company. The conversation delves into the importance of embedding values in small businesses, and her transformative experience at Zappos' Culture Camp. The episode also tackles the critical issue of trust in leadership, and Mhairi offers practical advice on developing trust through open communication and genuine engagement with employees.Culture Crushes🧡 Zappos: For their transformative approach to customer service and giving their employees room for self-expression.Takeaways✅ Building and maintaining a strong company culture is crucial as businesses grow.✅ Zappos is a culture crush for Mari Ramsey due to their focus on customer service and core values.✅ The challenge is the growing sense of distrust in the world, and leaders can address this by fostering trust and open communication.✅ The key takeaway is to have open conversations with employees about the purpose of the business and what they want from their workplace.Sound Bites📢 "Building a culture is crucial as soon as you add one person to the team."📢 "Zappos is a culture-led business that allows people to embrace who they are."📢 "The challenge is the growing sense of distrust in the world."Chapters:00:00 Introduction to Culture Crush00:15 Meet Mhairi Ramsay01:13 Mhairi’s Journey and Connection with Hannah Brady03:40 Building and Maintaining Company Culture05:14 Mhairi’s Career Path and Launching Tomrom11:01 The Philosophy Behind Tomrom13:39 Culture Crush: Zappos22:45 Addressing the Growing Sense of Distrust35:06 The Importance of Open Conversations37:41 Conclusion and Farewell Get full access to The Unremarkable Entrepreneur at www.unremarkable.co/subscribe

In this episode of Culture Crush, host Dan Dowman interviews culture-shaper and entrepreneur, Christopher Nguyen.Chris unpacks his non-traditional journey into UX design, his ventures including UX Playbook and Backlog, and the importance of experimentation in starting and running successful projects. They talk about how to tackle leadership challenges like team cohesion in remote work and how to embrace failure.Chris highlights the significance of both celebrating wins and extracting learnings from failures to foster a supportive and adaptive culture.Culture Crushes🧡 Jason Fried and 37signals: For your contrarian outlook, building lean, and not bending to traditional start-up paradigms.Takeaways✅ Take action and start something rather than getting caught up in planning and learning.✅ Balance creativity with sticking to a path and finishing projects.✅ Celebrate wins and learn from failures to build a positive and learning-oriented culture.✅ Experiment and try new approaches to leadership challenges, involving the team in the process.✅ Don’t focus on the business outcomes, bring your team’s personal wins and worries into the conversation.Sound Bites📢 "I'm okay starting things if I know… I can outlast it, right?"📢 “Psychological safety-wise, it’s fine to admit that you [messed] up.”📢 "Set goals that are attainable and focus on the process rather than the outcome."Chapters:00:00 Introduction to Culture Crush00:22 Meet Christopher Nguyen: Serial Entrepreneur00:53 Christopher’s Journey: From Tech to UX Playbook02:24 Balancing Creativity and Focus06:17 The Importance of Starting and Iterating10:20 Challenges of Scaling and Leadership15:58 Democratizing Design: Chris's Mission23:25 Discussing Culture and Leadership24:01 Culture Crush: Jason Fried and 37signals28:04 Leadership Challenges in Remote Work30:02 Wins and Failures: A Weekly Ritual39:59 The Importance of Experimentation in Leadership42:50 Wrapping Up: Final Thoughts and TakeawaysLinks🔗 UX Playbook: http://uxplaybook.org/🔗 Community: http://backlog.design/ Get full access to The Unremarkable Entrepreneur at www.unremarkable.co/subscribe

In this episode of Culture Crush, host Dan Dowman interviews Zoë Regent about her journey in the field of innovation and leadership, from her early career at Sky TV to her current role at &Us. They discuss the challenges and strategies for fostering innovation and strong organisational culture in a hybrid work environment.Zoë shares insights on building trust, maintaining team cohesion, and the importance of social connections in promoting a learning culture. The episode also delves into practical tips for leaders on asking questions and avoiding assumptions to enhance team dynamics and drive innovation.Culture Crushes🧡 &Us: For its shared sense of community, freedom, and possibility.Takeaways✅ Building trust and strong relationships is essential in a remote or hybrid working environment.✅ Experiment with different ways of working together and be clear about the results.✅ Encourage random conversations at work to foster innovation and learning.✅ Consider the impact of social connections on the overall culture and success of the organization.✅ Move from making assumptions to asking questions to gain new insights and perspectives.Sound Bites📢 “I think that's a good proxy for culture because if you can see some really incredible original work, then you know that there's challenge going on in that organisation.”📢 “People have to be in their learning zone and that's when you get that beautiful sweet spot between challenge and safety.”📢 “There's something to be said about encouraging more random conversations at work."Chapters:00:00 Introduction to Culture Crush00:16 Meet Zoë Regent04:05 The &Us Mission08:01 Challenges of Growing a Team11:30 Zoë’s Culture Crush: &Us15:44 Hybrid Working Challenges18:52 Practical Solutions for Hybrid Work24:26 Final Thoughts and Takeaways29:08 Conclusion and Wrap-Up Get full access to The Unremarkable Entrepreneur at www.unremarkable.co/subscribe

In this episode of Culture Crush, host Dan Dowman interviews Ashley Faus, the Head of Lifestyle Marketing at Atlassian. Ashley unpacks her career journey and delves into the power of values, revealing how critical they have been in helping Atlassian maintain its outstanding culture as the organisation has rapidly expanded. Ashley shares some practical tips for addressing culture and leadership challenges, such as using the Atlassian Team Playbook and implementing the Health Monitor with a brilliant way to describe team misalignment. Culture Crushes🧡 Atlassian: For its practical and balanced values that unite the team in service of the customer. Takeaways✅ Values are not just fluffy concepts; they have a real impact on business outcomes.✅ Organizational practices, such as the Atlassian Team Playbook and the Health Monitor, can help improve team collaboration and address culture and leadership challenges.✅ Implementing values from the start and aligning hiring practices with those values can contribute to a strong company culture.✅ Continuous feedback and open dialogue are essential for employee growth and development.✅ As companies grow, it becomes more important to have visibility, shared goals, and effective collaboration across teams.Sound Bites📢 “We have had to be very intentional about talking about how do we keep those values at the forefront."📢 "We are all trying to solve the problem. We all ultimately want an excellent outcome for the customer."📢 “They don't understand that it [values] has an actual business output."Chapters:00:00 Introduction and Ashley Foss's Career Journey04:47 The Power of Values in Company Culture09:29 Founders Sleeping on Values13:50 Product and Service Alignment with Internal Organisation16:43 Culture Crush: Atlassian24:55 Implementing Organisational Practices31:37 Practical Tips for Addressing Culture and Leadership ChallengesLinks:🔗 Atlassian Team Playbook Get full access to The Unremarkable Entrepreneur at www.unremarkable.co/subscribe

In this episode of Culture Crush, host Dan Dowman interviews David Manser, Market Manager at IKEA. David unpacks his leadership journey and reflects on his experience of starting as a trainee manager and gradually moving up the ranks within the organisation. He also discusses the importance of putting culture first and how he has learned to lead through empathy and authenticity. David also addresses the challenge of high staff turnover and shares his approach to tackling the issue, including focusing on resource allocation and empowering leaders.Culture Crushes🧡 Samaritans: For their unwavering commitment to being non-judgemental. Takeaways✅ Leadership is about leading through empathy and authenticity..✅ Leaders should focus on helping their people understand the why behind their decisions and actions.✅ Leading with empathy and authenticity builds trust and allows for honest dialogue.✅ Leaders should strive for both equity and clarity in their decision-making, treating people fairly and consistently.✅ Addressing high staff turnover requires a multi-faceted approach, including resource allocation, empowering leaders, and creating a culture of understanding and equitySound Bites📢 "Never underestimate anyone's intelligence, never overestimate their knowledge."📢 "Lead with empathy and authenticity to build trust and have an honest dialogue with people."📢 "People want to be involved. Help them understand what we're doing and why we're doing it."Chapters:00:00 Introduction to Culture Crush00:23 David Manser's Journey with IKEA07:01 Leadership at Scale10:58 Culture Crush: Samaritans20:03 Leading with Equity and Authenticity40:06 Practical Takeaways for Leaders42:20 Conclusion and Wrap-UpLinks:Follow David on LinkedInFollow Dan on LinkedIn Get full access to The Unremarkable Entrepreneur at www.unremarkable.co/subscribe

Lottie Unwin, founder of Up World, shares her journey of building a community for startup marketers and the importance of creating an authentic and supportive work culture. The episode focuses on the need for a strong feedback culture and the power of vulnerability in building genuine human connections.Lottie also discusses the challenges of remote work and the importance of transparency and open communication in organisations.Culture Crushes🧡 Netflix for its employment transparency policies. 🧡 Pip Murray from Pip & Nut for her authentic and open leadership approach.Takeaways✅ Building an authentic and supportive work culture is crucial for employee well-being and productivity.✅ Creating a strong feedback culture allows for continuous improvement and development.✅ Transparency and open communication are essential in remote work environments.✅ Practising vulnerability can lead to genuine human connections and empathy.✅ Being open to feedback and actively seeking it can drive cultural change and improve organisational performance.Sound Bites📢 “Practice a bit of vulnerability."📢 “When it works well, it is a live stream of insight as to how you can make your business operate better"📢 “Culturally we've got it a bit wrong and that is reflected in business culture that creates a whole load of problems”Chapters:00:00 Introduction and Background05:40 Building a Community for Startup Marketers32:19 Culture Crush: Netflix and Pippin Nut Butter37:38 The Challenge of Feedback Culture44:42 Practicing Vulnerability and Taking Action47:09 Conclusion and Call to ActionLinksFollow Lottie on LinkedInFollow Dan on LinkedIn Get full access to The Unremarkable Entrepreneur at www.unremarkable.co/subscribe

Join host Dan Dowman on Culture Crush as he sits down with Shelia Matthews, a seasoned culture expert turned entrepreneur with a rich career at UPS, MetLife, and Acquisition.com. Shelia shares her journey and insights on cultural leadership, emphasising the importance of strategic hiring and onboarding processes.Don't miss this deep dive into leadership challenges and practical solutions for burgeoning businesses. Learn how to create an effective company onboarding program and a 30-60-90 day plan to ensure new employees are engaged and aligned with your company's values, and discover how to build a sustainable culture that fosters growth and innovation.Takeaways▪︎ Invest in company-level onboarding to shape culture and ensure new employees feel seen and supported.▪︎ Create a company onboarding program that includes information about the business, its mission, values, and benefits.▪︎ Develop a 30-60-90 day plan for new hires, focusing on learning, improvement, and measurement.▪︎ Use the onboarding process as an opportunity to demonstrate care and establish a strong sense of identity and camaraderie among employees.Sound Bites📢 "In order to scale, you have to have a couple of things lined up. Number one, you have to use a process. You have to use a process for hiring."📢 "Make the investment in your company-specific or company-level onboarding. It has the highest reach and impact."📢 "If you have that already and they're like, 'Oh, well that was great. I've got that already,' then make sure that you're consistently doing your 30, 60, 90 day plans for your people."Chapters:00:00 Introduction to Culture Crush00:17 Meet Shelia Matthews00:31 Shelia's Career Journey03:24 The Leap to Entrepreneurship06:16 Discussing Culture Crushes: Adam Grant & UPS12:19 Challenges in Leadership and Culture23:01 The Importance of Onboarding28:25 Practical Tips for Onboarding38:08 Final Thoughts and Takeaways40:09 Conclusion and Wrap-Up Get full access to The Unremarkable Entrepreneur at www.unremarkable.co/subscribe

In this episode, Dan Dowman reflects on the past episodes of Strategy Shorts and expresses gratitude to his guests. He announces a shift in focus towards organisational culture, leadership, and team building.The episode features top takeaways from previous guests, covering topics such as consumer problem-solving, content creation, storytelling, strategy development, and personal growth. The guests provide practical advice and insights for listeners to implement in their own lives and businesses.Chapters:00:00 Introduction and What’s Next02:23 Conquer Imposter Syndrome with Julian Cole03:29 Stop writing personal journals, with Daniel Murray04:07 Unlock the power of hero content with Callum Mcdonnell04:54 Empathy Inspired Marketing with Kat Kennan05:45 Finding Your Digital Frontier with Dan Hafner07:14 Brutally Simple Strategy with Mark Pollard07:57 Facilitator Conversation Tactics with Laure Roy-Duchamp & David Rovira10:02 Think Like A Thought Leader with Adam Faulkner11:13 The Easy Way To Get Referrals with Brandon Barnum12:14 Breakthrough Social Media Basics with Christian Brown13:56 How To Doodle Your Dream with Theresa Rose15:12 Power Up Your Company Offsite with Chloe Temple16:07 Unlock The Power Of Customer Stories with Joel Klettke16:56 Master The Blogging Basics with Alison Ver Halen17:25 Critical SEO Foundations Mase Easy with Phillip Stemann18:21 Personal Brand: Three Keys That Unlock ROI with Sam Winsbury19:12 How To Make Friends With AI And Kill Copy-phobia with Hannah Brady20:56 How To Get 1,000,000 Impressions with Mark P. Jung22:11 Create Ads That Work Like Magic with Robert Brill23:11 Why Creators Need To Think Like Scientists with Travis Terrell25:40 Always Be Communicating with Sunny Singh27:16 Discover Your Brand In 90 Days with Dain Walker28:59 Write Stupid To Get To Smart with Maxton Gilchrist31:19 How To Launch A Personal Brand with Nicole Marguerite Gray31:47 Craft A Data-led Growth Mindset with Susan Coelius Keplinger33:42 The Authentic Way To Build Your Brand with Purna Virji34:32 How To Find Your Audience with Pete Newsome35:21 Why Going Niche Is Bad Advice with William Choi36:21 Strategy Simplified with Chris Bradshaw38:00 Release The Power Of Conscious Leadership with Justin Foster 40:18 From Burnout To Recovery with Tyler Wittkofsky41:09 How To Generate Business with Chris Marin42:55 Discover The Power Of Showing Your Work with Marcus de Vale43:53 How To Deeply Connect With Customers with Shannon Howard 44:49 Founders Fighting Burnout with Manuel Saez45:44 Networking Is Power For Freelancers with Hollie Fraser46:33 What Is Driving Your Identity? With Matthew Wood47:46 How To Lead Better Gatherings with Douglas Ferguson48:48 See You SoonHere's to progress 🚀👋 Follow ⁠Dan on LinkedIn Get full access to The Unremarkable Entrepreneur at www.unremarkable.co/subscribe

In this episode of Strategy Shorts, Douglas Ferguson, Founder of Voltage Control, discusses the importance of intentional facilitation in driving collaboration and achieving desired outcomes. He shares his unconventional journey into facilitation and the inspiration behind Voltage Control. Douglas also introduces the Workshop Design Canvas, a tool for designing effective workshops by starting with the desired outcomes and working backwards. He explains the key elements of the canvas, including learner before and after, assessment points, and activities. The canvas helps facilitators create intentional and purposeful workshop experiences that drive progress and engagement.Takeaways▪︎ Facilitation is essential for driving collaboration and achieving desired outcomes.▪︎ The Workshop Design Canvas is a tool for designing effective workshops by starting with the desired outcomes and working backwards.▪︎ The canvas includes elements such as learner before and after, assessment points, and activities.▪︎ Designing workshops with intention and purpose leads to better engagement and progress.▪︎ The canvas can be applied in various contexts beyond workshops, including gatherings of all kinds and sales conversations.Sound Bites:📢 ” You can't get there from here, but you can get here from there."📢 ”If this is the outcome that we want to achieve, then you start thinking, what is the best activity that helps us move towards that goal?"📢 "Focusing your creativity, the system allows you to shine a flashlight on where the important decisions are."Chapters:00:00 Introduction 01:22 Douglas’ Background and Unconventional Journey into Facilitation12:30 Introducing the Workshop Design Canvas23:49 Applying the Canvas in Other Ways25:20 Where to Start: Focusing Creativity and Applying the ApproachLinks:🔗 Workshop Design Canvas🔗 Follow Douglas on LinkedIn🔗 Follow Dan on LinkedIn Get full access to The Unremarkable Entrepreneur at www.unremarkable.co/subscribe

In this conversation, Dan Dowman interviews Matthew Wood, a former teacher turned creative writer and founder of Wood Writes Words. They discuss the importance of identity and how it shapes our perspective on relationships and our own abilities. Matthew shares a practical framework for self-reflection and writing down the thoughts and beliefs we have about ourselves and what we think others think of us. The goal is to gain insight into our identity and challenge any negative or limiting beliefs. Also emphasised is the importance of having a support system of 'running mates' who know and value us beyond our achievements.Keywords: identity, perspective, relationships, self-reflection, support systemTakeaways✅ Our identity shapes our perspective on relationships and our own abilities.✅ Self-reflection is important for gaining insight into our identity and challenging negative beliefs.✅ Having a support system of 'running mates' who know and value us beyond our achievements is crucial.✅ Embrace and take all the skills and challenges from previous experiences into the next phase of life.Sound Bites📢 "It starts shaping what I now think I need to do to please others."📢 "Get alongside running mates who truly know you and build you up regardless of your achievements."📢 "Embrace and take all of the skills, all of the challenges that you've learned through and grown through and know that actually that is defining the success of the next part."Chapters00:00 The Link Between Identity and Perspective14:54 A Framework for Self-Reflection25:06 Embracing Skills and Challenges in the Next Phase of Life Get full access to The Unremarkable Entrepreneur at www.unremarkable.co/subscribe