Week 971

Matt Kirkland

It's week 971!

Writing this week's weeknote from the airport; I'm returning from a team visit for project codename Kerabatsos. We've described this broadly before, but this week was a great chance to get some face time with this client team.

It also coincided with an annual company holiday they have: Dude Day.

Dude Day is the anniversary of the release of The Big Lewbowski, the Coen brothers movie from 1998. Why is that a company holiday, you ask? Because EVERYTHING at this company is themed around the Big Lewbowski. This is both: a. delightful (obviously) and b. so smart.

Delightful first: it's fun! People that work here are all called Dude. Everyone can quote lines from the movie. Everyone has The Sweater that the Dude wears in the movie. Everyone has mousepads that match the design of The Rug That Pulled The Room Together. The very chill, laid-back ethos of Dudism IS the company culture. On Dude Day, they rent out movie theaters, watch the movie, drink white russians, and go bowling. (This year actually: ice bowling, aka curling). Is this over the top? Yes, of course. Is it fun? We got to join in this year - absolutely it's fun.

I think this is actually so smart though: it's great FILTER. If you're interviewing there, and this all weirds you out: you're probably not a good fit to work with them. If you can lean back in your chair, pop on your shades, and tell the boss: 'That's just like, your opinion, man' - then you probably have a future with them. If that weirds you out as one of their clients, you're probably not the right fit as their client!

It's inspiring really - having a big opinionated filter on your work helps people know whether they align with you. I've always wondered if BNB should have a stronger filter like this: ultimately we work with so many different kinds of clients that we're hesitant to take a stance that would alienate one group we work with. Sometimes I think the only filter we really communicate is: "we're really good at our jobs and we don't countenance bullshit", but wouldn't everybody? Or is that just like, my opinion, man?