In its earlier days, as ClearCorrect began to grow from a couple of dozen employees to over one hundred, we determined that it was necessary to codify our Core Values. This way, as the company grew, we could help ensure that more teammates understood what we valued—the things that made ClearCorrect unique and could help it stay that way for as long as we cared to hold these values close.
T-shirts were common attire at ClearCorrect, and we found that people just love a free t-shirt. Seriously, they get worn. With each shirt, we signaled that each Core Value was important, worthy of attention. At the same time, we also created a series of posters that referenced these core values, and the combination of posters and team members frequently wearing these shirts really seemed to immediately steep the entire office and warehouse in the new ClearCorrect brand.
As with many small companies, incredible customer service is paramount in differentiating from competitors. The scrappy attitude that would go above and beyond for each and every customer was highly valued at ClearCorrect—so much so that our very first core value was Service-Driven. We often told our customer care team that they were our heroes; our shirts and posters helped show that we meant it. Moreover, it invited the rest of the employees to go and do likewise: be service-driven in all your work, and go the extra mile for your teammates.
Again, crucial to any small startup is the idea of Passion. The work is difficult and resources are scarce; the only way you'll make progress is if you can find that little bit of extra fight in yourself. You'll only find that fight in yourself if you're really passionate about what you do. The visuals we chose for this core value were sort of a no-brainer; they don't all have to be thinkers.
By nature, I'm wired to want to know why I'm doing what I'm doing, and as a designer, I think information is indispensable—so naturally Open and Transparent was one of my favorites. In those early days, our CEO demonstrated this core value with a weekly discussion of the business: the challenges, the strategy, etc, and it was always so frank and authentic. This core value was about sharing information openly (though appropriately), communicating early and often, avoiding silos and info hoarding.
Flexibility is simply a fact of life—not just for small businesses, but for even the biggest ones. Being flexible invites us to challenge ourselves and broaden our minds and abilities as the need arises. It's not just good for the business—it's good for the individual.
Creative and Unconventional. It's no surprise that a small startup would be interested in finding "creative" ways to punch above its weight and stay in the game. It's also immensely satisfying for employees on an individual basis: exercising creativity in all forms keeps the job feeling fresh and keeps motivation high.
Our sixth core value went hand in hand with flexibility and creativity. Economical would seem a no-brainer, but it's important to remember that this is not to be confused with "cheap." This is why we chose the bison nickel as our imagery. This coin isn't merely a small denomination of currency: it's a reference to the way the indigenous peoples of the American plains were known to use every part of the buffalo, letting nothing go to waste. The shirt listed every known use of the buffalo to remind teammates to think economically about opportunities.
I believe in this one a great deal. I take my work very seriously, but that doesn't mean work shouldn't be fun in general. We spend roughly half of our waking lives working or thinking about work. That's simply too much time to have a poor attitude or be around those who do. Playful & Fun invites a spirit of play, which we believed was crucial to engagement and teamwork.
Of course it may seem to be a bit of a no-brainer to say "it's important to be good at your job," but Competence is about more than that; it's about striving to do the best you can do, holding yourself to the standard of your best work. It also invites growth and fights stagnation. Hence the astronaut and Apollo imagery: these are trailblazers in many ways, paragons of competence who are the very best our society has to offer.
I once asked our CEO what he thought the most important core value was. He told me that they don't really work that way—they're a system, and things get worse if you eliminate any one of them. When pressed, though, he replied, "Self-awareness. Because in a lot of ways, it comes first: you have to know what you're good at and what you're not so that you can learn and improve. If we're not service-driven, if we're not flexible, we have to know that so that we can get better."
The poster for "Self-Aware"? A mirror, of course. And for the shirt, what else but a nametag?