I want to share an important lesson that I learned during a field exercise at Basic Training and how it relates to something I try to bring to Caliber every day. Towards the end of Basic Training, everyone goes to the field to use all the skills they learned in the previous weeks. We were exhausted from training all day, digging our foxholes, setting up defensive positions and putting up our tents for the night. Drill sergeant came by after evening chow and asked for an update. I reported that all was good and nothing more needed to be done. Wrong answer. In the midst of my pushups, he happily (sarcasm) explained that there’s always room for improvement – never settle. This is something that has always stuck with me, and it only cost me a few pushups!

As Caliber Creative looked forward to their 10-year anniversary, they saw the need to improve processes, workflows and organization. Things had been good and Caliber was doing outstanding work for their clients, but they recognized that they needed to make a commitment to improve a few intangibles if they wanted to continue to grow and prosper – Process. Workflow. Organization. Right up my alley, right?! Although these are things I am tasked with improving, at Caliber, I’m not content with setting a process and walking away. We always need to be looking for ways to create efficiencies and improve the way that we do things. And, depending on who you ask here, we’ve found a lot of benefit with developing processes and becoming more organized…

• It has created efficiencies in time and money for both, us and our clients. Sometimes we can now do a project in half the time just because we have an established process and plan ahead properly.
• We spend less time going back and fixing things, there’s more open communication up front and less confusion as to who is doing what and when.
• We are better prepared to ask the right questions at the right time.
• Our designers aren’t as rushed to hit deadlines and have more time to brainstorm, try new things and explore alternative options. 
• We have more time to strategize with our clients, figure out the best solutions to their problems and help them anticipate and plan for the unknown.

What works for us might not work for everyone else. The important thing is to recognize where you can improve and commit to taking steps to improve. Never settle.