Creatures of HABIT: A Black Sheep Experiment (Part I)
“We’re not perfect—but we’re constantly perfecting.” This is something you’ll hear us say around the Black Sheep office time and again, week after week. It’s a mantra of sorts—and at times it can even feel like a bit of a commitment we’re renewing. It’s a nod to the fact that we can always be better…that we can acknowledge the space for improvement, push ourselves harder and find ways to work smarter for ourselves, for each other and for our clients.
I think it’s rare to find people like this—people who genuinely believe that “good enough” just isn’t. People that want to take extra time in an already often overwhelmingly rapid-paced week to put our hard work under a microscope and talk improvement (which often requires—gasp!—more work). But somehow, the 12 of us found each other and, even when it feels like there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done, we stop to look for ways to disrupt our current ways of thinking and doing.
It’s one of my favorite qualities about Black Sheep—a common thread that runs through every member of the team, binding us in a way that fosters immense trust, deep creative bonds and a complete sense of dependability across the agency. It also drives a strong habit among our team members—one that forces us to examine our habits. Oh, how meta.
So, it is for that reason that I picked up a new book this weekend: “Better Than Before” by Gretchen Rubinand decided to run a little experiment. For our Monday morning inspiration (my turn!), I read an excerpt from the book, The Habits Manifesto, included in the introduction, and challenged each member of our crew to send me ONE THING they’d like to work on—a better habit they’d like to form. Below, you’ll find the Manifesto, along with each of our commitments.
As we say on the #BetterMakeRoom campaign, “Saying things out loud makes them happen.” So why not try that now? For the next six weeks, I’ll be offering my team a lesson from the book—something I hope will keep them on track with meeting this one goal. I’ll also update this blog with that same lesson. Care to join us? Post your commitment in the comments below and Gretchen and I will do our best to keep you on track.*
The Habits Manifesto
What we do every day matters more than what we do once in a while.
Make it easy to do right and hard to go wrong.
Focus on actions, not outcomes.
By giving something up, we may gain.
Things often get harder before they get easier.
When we give more to ourselves, we can ask more from ourselves.
We’re not very different from other people, but those differences are very important.
It’s easier to change our surroundings that ourselves.
We can’t make people change, but when we change, others may change.
We should make sure the things we do to feel better don’t make us feel worse.
We manage what we monitor.
Once we’re ready to begin, begin now.
Shall we begin, friends?
Here’s what some of my team plans to work on:
Aimee: A while back, I had a commitment to not scheduling meetings on Mondays or Thursdays so that I could spend mentorship time with my team. It quickly went away and I’d like to get it back. Maybe I’ll link to this blog post when someone asks to meet on Mondays or Thursdays. Short cut?
Adam: A proper diet! I know, I know. I exercise and eat well but I also cut corners because guess what, I’m tired or don’t feel like it! I’ve taken the cheat meal over the river and through the woods! It’s time to take the time, plan and focus on eating healthfully and consistently. A proper night’s sleep, exercise and a balanced diet can keep people moving and feeling strong! So helpful in our Black Sheep world!
Kara: I choose to work in our industry because it is ever changing. Every day presents a new challenge and pushes you to think differently about how you problem solved yesterday. I’ll never be an expert, but I can always strive to learn more. It is what I love most about my job, but also what keeps me up at night. I like to be prepared and reading quality business books arms me a toolkit of frameworks that help me get to the right answers, faster—I just have to make time to read them! One new business book per quarter is my goal!
Britt: Flashback to FFA days of high school, I won a jacket that was literally embroidered with the words “Go-Getter”. Fast forward, and I realize I am nearly to a fault a go-getter, but have very little to show for a lot of it. How does a go-getter become a terrible documenter? My goal over the next quarter-ish is to start a blog about life during the week in the city and the bat-out-of-hell transition to traipsing about in the woods every weekend: from collars and makeup to camo and face paint.
Brandi: I love what I do, which means studying, tinkering, reading and working are always prioritized rather high. Combine that with me being a pretty big homebody with lightening internet speeds and I don’t do a good job of getting out much. I want to change that. I want to start going outdoors to experience it beyond a walk to get to my car. I want to actually know about the parks near me and to explore downtown by foot. Now that the Houston summer heat is dying down, I have no excuse. Just don’t expect me to go camping.
Roslynn: Focus on focusing. I’m a multi-tasker but I’ve recently taken multi-tasking to a whole new level. I need to create the habit of fully focusing on one (or possibly two because who’s that perfect—just definitely not more than ten) things at a time. Gone are the days of jumping from email to that other email to that Google doc to that Keynote, all while responding to my text, drinking my coffee and petting my dog, in under two minutes.
Kelsey: As a former self-proclaimed book worm, I have sadly allowed one of my favorite past times to fall by the wayside. With ALL of the things happening in life, it’s sometimes too easy to turn on the TV or work on that one project I told myself I’d have done by the end of the summer. And well, it’s now officially fall folks, so enough is enough. I’m firing back up my Kindle and buying a book of fiction, or an industry publication, or a self-help book on procrastination and I’m going to pick back up where I left off. You heard it here: Kelsey is committing to more reading.
Alex: SO MANY people in my life are far from me. My sister lives in another country, some of my oldest friends are traversing states as they jump from job to marriage to kids and my grandparents are probably just a little nostalgic thinking about the time we used to spend together, now that they don’t see me as often. Life gets in the way sometimes—or does it? Not a huge fan of that phrase, since it seems to give me an excuse for not being thoughtful enough to pick up the phone or go on a mini-roadtrip. Time to flex these fingers and start dialing.
Nimra: There is a constant emphasis on becoming a leader, and guiding others. Taking this goal and running with it, I’ve started a marathon that seems to have no end. As I enter a phase of life where I have to prove my abilities to employers and colleagues, I want to remember to ask for help. I often mistake asking for help as a sign of weakness, as a sign of an inability to accomplish something or just not being damn good enough. It reminds me that I’m human and to take a break. You gain much more respect when you can identify your strengths and outsource to others when your brain and body need it.
Jess: Well, Jess is having a baby today, y’all. So we are going to let her take a pass this time while she works on ALL OF THE NEW HABITS