200 billion galaxies of collaboration

Alex Anderson
2018-05-18
New Things

NUU has gotten bigger. As we’ve grown from three dudes taking up (all of the) available space in a living room to more than 30 people—in two offices across two countries—with droopy plants and espresso machines and a sound system, we’ve taken a step back to think about how we can keep being ourselves, even as our team doubles and triples and quintuples.

It’s really easy for our team to come to work every day and just do the job that they’re paid to do. That’s not enough for us.

Values align our work with deeper meaning. They inform our thoughts, words and actions. They help us to grow and develop and be better than we used to be. When our team uses our values to make decisions, we make a deliberate choice to focus on what is important to us. And when values are shared as a family, as a team — as NUU — they build internal cohesion in a group. And we think that’s a beautiful thing.

Read through. What’s important to us might be important to you.

Value #1

Explore everything

We’ll never be done learning. Realizing that, we’ll always be attempting to learn the next thing. We value exploration because we know that it (typically) leads to something new—or prompts a response in us to create a missing piece.

An exploring mind is hungry for the things unsearched, and isn’t content with the regular day-to-day experience that others are fine with. We’re Lewis and Clark, Einstein in the kitchen and even a little bit of Childish Gambino with he decided to falsetto-it-up on his latest album.

We embrace what we don’t know, and search until we do know.

Value #2

Collaboration makes us better

We work together to capitalize on particular strengths to build a project. From the very beginning of a job, we value the simple action of slowing down long enough to hear a vision communicated to us — so we can elevate it and bring it to life. We develop a deep understanding of our partners’ aspirations.

And then, we collaborate to deliver outcomes that add value to our clients’ projects and their communities.

Value #3

Diversity of anything is good

We value the diversity of ideas and people.

We know that our viewpoint in this world is often siloed within our communities, and impedes our ability to make connections and love those who’ve been exposed to other ideas and opinions.

We want to empower others to share their thoughts while simultaneously growing more empathetic and understanding of the various cultures, ideas and mindsets around us.

Value #4

Family is key to success

NUU is a family. At the end of the day, we want our office to feel like a sanctuary, not a prison. A place where we champion each other and make the people around us a big deal. A workplace where we choose for the highest good of our coworkers because we care about them and are thrilled when they succeed.

We’re not interested in your thought-pieces about Netflix’s team vs. family discussion. Why can’t you love the people around you unconditionally and work as a team?

We are constructive, not critical. We are purposeful, never negligent. We are warm, not professional.

Value #5

Move fast and stay fluid

There’s nothing more restraining than structure that holds creativity rigid, rather than setting it free. We value the concept of fluidity at NUU because we know that sometimes we won’t have the answers locked in.

We roll with the punches, learn on the fly, pick up skills that we never thought we’d need and fill the holes we find under intense scrutiny. Simultaneously that is our challenge and our opportunity: to be fluid enough for success in unexplored places.

We embrace it fully.

Value #6

Be a good person

Why do we do the things we do every day? We know; we do them because we want people to touch NUU and realize that it was a fully unique experience. It’s not something that is common.

Rather, it’s rare and special. It’s an occasion that you’ll remember. We never interact off the cuff. We are intentional and purposeful and we look for ways to encourage and delight at all touch points.

Finding fellow explorers

As we launched a new brand, a new website, a new process—and maybe some new ambition—we were thrilled to bring in partners, collaborators, friends and heroes to help us along the way.

One such example is 200 Billion Galaxies. Moni and Oliver are clever, insightful, and crazy talented at what they do, and partnered with us to bring to life a website for NUU that accurately portrayed who we are to the world.

We wanted to collaborate with talented people who understood us. As fellow explorers, curious minds and passionate souls, NUU Group couldn’t have found a better team to help take us to the finish line and present our agency to the world. It wouldn’t make sense for us to do it any other way.

Here’s to you, y’all.