Keeping It TIGHT in 2024
Our team kicks off every new year by choosing our North Star. This is a single word that will drive us forward for the next twelve months, inspiring us to do our very best work possible, and to be the very best group of inspired, passionate, creative and thoughtful people possible. Our North Star must be small enough to stick in our minds. Profound enough to spark reflection. Powerful enough to keep us moving in the right direction no matter what comes our way this year.
Choosing our North Star is a fun (and sometimes fiery) process. First, every Thinker comes up with a word of their own, then we have to persuade the other Thinkers to rally around it. This year, after much spirited discussion, some heated debate and a few Google searches of early Millennial slang, one word was left standing:
Tight.
We know what you’re thinking. First, did the early 2000s drop by to donate some used words? More importantly, “Tight” doesn’t feel like something we would typically stand for. After all, coming off a year of Freedom, “Tight” feels like the exact opposite. As our Social Media Manager put it: “It’s not giving creative to me.”
So why would we settle on a word we find so challenging?
Well, because it challenges us in all the right ways.
Changing and Growing is Challenging
The year 2023 was an inflection point for our team.
Three years prior, we’d merged two twenty-year-old companies – Think Creative and Web Solutions of America – to form the fully integrated, fully awesome agency we are today. Joining forces did more than double our capacity. It expanded the way we strategize, execute and deliver for clients exponentially. By 2023, we were reaping the rewards–and feeling the growing pains. Imagine a flight crew that’s never flown together taking off for uncharted territory on a plane they have to build as they fly it. That was us. We always got where we were going (and had fun along the way), but the ride got bumpy some days. That’s why we spent the better part of 2023 breaking down our processes and building them up again. Dissecting the way we’ve done things for the past twenty years helped us redefine how we need to do them for the years ahead. This work is by no means done, but it’s close enough for us to feel like we’re on the right course.
Tight Means Getting Things Right
After investing so much time and energy into revamping our processes, the next big thing on everyone’s minds, lips and Slack channels was: okay, now we actually have to work this way. Like, all the time. That’s where “tight” comes in.
“Think Tight” isn’t about limiting our vision or constricting our creativity. It’s about honing in and delivering on the very elements that allow us to be the bold, creative, innovative and inspiring agency we want to be. That includes:
Working as a tight unit.
Genuine connection, productive collaboration and clear, honest communication. This is the glue that binds Thinkers together and unleashes our collective greatness.
Running a tight ship.
Process paves the way for performance. That’s why we stick to our processes, avoiding shortcuts, workarounds and exceptions. We accept responsibility for our parts, and hold others accountable for theirs.
Doing tight work.
Our work hits the mark strategically and pushes the boundaries creatively. We execute flawlessly, putting as much love into the little details as the big ideas. We treat timelines, due dates and budgets as non-negotiables, and commit to absolutely crushing it within these clear parameters.
“Think Tight” is our battle cry for the year. It’s a commitment to nail the fundamentals in every aspect of our work–not because it holds us back but because it frees us up for bigger, bolder, more exciting and more challenging opportunities. And, when those opportunities come our way, we’ll be ready.