I wrote this a few years ago for a company that no longer exists. But I still use it to motivate myself. This is the culture I thrive in. One day, it’s the culture I’d like to build into my own agency.

Wear good shoes. If you’re going to be comfortable going the extra mile, make sure you have what you need to support you. Be vociferous about what you need to deliver your best.

Listen carefully. Do not listen so that you know when to answer, but so that you understand. Give your full attention to the problem. Do not strive to find the answers, but to ask the right questions.

Lead as you want to be led. You are not accountable — you are responsible. We are a cultural constellation, and we each choose ownership of our output, attitudes, products and ideas.

Call people out. We will never do great work if we are afraid of speaking the truth. Attack the problem and not the person, and never let a misunderstanding take root for fear of a difficult conversation.

Keep your promises. Every broken promise is a crack in the lens through which our clients see us.

Know your value. Understanding why our clients chose us is key to solving the challenges they bring us. We do not sacrifice quality for speed. We do not sacrifice integrity for quick wins. And we do not devalue our product.

You are the bridge. Whatever your role, you connect our clients to the ideas and products we deliver for them. By working together, we create a human chain that anchors our clients to our business.

Embrace the topography. The tapestry of our skills makes us able to offer unique insight and an unrepeatable product. Exploit the individual peaks and troughs of experience that team members bring to the table. Turn over every stone.

Solve the equations. We are not artists for art’s sake. Our work is connected to reality, and we are responsible for providing things that work, not things that look good. We create solutions, and we enter discussions with our clients and suppliers as equals working together. Everything we put in front of a client needs to answer a need, solve a problem or further their cause.

Get your hands dirty. Actively seek to know more about the world you’re working in. Poke the box, push the buttons, and investigate the dark corners of the problem. Our work is practical, and by being enthusiastic about the world the problem lives in, we become explorers with our clients.

Fess up. Be honest about the things that go wrong. It’s the easiest way to stop them from going wrong again.

Ship the product. Endless iteration is a treadmill that exhausts without actual progress. Recognise when the polishing is cosmetic, and declare that it’s done. A living product does more good than an unborn concept.

Accolades don’t replace pride. Screw awards and competitions. The value of our work is measured in how quickly clients trust us with the next big problem.

Make better mistakes. Make them faster and louder. Failure is the first step to building something you know will stand up, and we should make our solutions fail as often as possible before we ask someone else to pay for them.

Prove it. Our solutions are not proverbs or psalms, transmuted to fact by acceptance or time. Prove everything you can with articulation, metrics, observations and demonstrable knowledge. ‘We do this for a living’ means nothing anymore — so does our competition.

Back your solution. Own your expertise and stand up for it. You were hired to be an expert, not a yes-person.