Try A Little Kindness

The secret to rebooting a business is neither blasting through corporate structures nor funding alternatives. For Yong – the founder and creative director of brand consultancy Somewhere Else – it is the simple act of being thoughtful.

- Yong

Lately, I have been in a rut. Actually, I have been in a rut for quite some time.

The reality is I am in the business of helping companies succeed. Usually, this means journeying with companies to transform who they are from the inside out. Although we do our job well, I cannot seem to shake off the looming imposter syndrome. Why?

When I first started the business, we set out to bring good graphic design to the world, and we achieved the goal really well – elevating deliverables to award-winning standards. I would constantly push the team to iterate our work to no end in order to achieve an even higher quality of design. Tempers flared, and tears were often shed. I saw the tension in the studio as a catalyst and a low price to pay for reaching high standards, but nobody was happy. Obviously, I was not able to retain the team.