Clove & Twine Culture Code

Culture Code

Culture Code "Culture is the collective behavior of your organization.

Culture is what people do when left to their own devices.

Culture is the organization’s way of doing things."

-Ben Horowitz

This is the vibe for our tribe. It lays out what we believe, why we believe it, how we live it in our lives, and how we measure it. Every member of Clove & Twine is expected to know this inside and out and will be held accountable to the standards outlined here.

CLOVE & TWINE

TABLE

OF

CONTENTS

04

Our Mission

Our mission is to help companies build lasting relationships through remarkable corporate gifts

05

Our Purpose

We believe that thoughtful and bespoke corporate gifts help create and nurture relationships between the giver and recipient.

06

Our Values

We value people, we value service, we value accountability, we value learning, we value optimism, we value sustainability.

14

Our Principles

How our values become our actions

PAGE 3

OUR

MISSION

Is to help companies build lasting relationships through remarkable corporate gifts

OUR

PURPOSE

We believe that thoughtful and bespoke corporate gifts help create and nature relationships between the giver and recipient

When values are clear, decisions are easy."

-Roy Disney

01 WE

VALUE

PEOPLE

We care the most about what

Because of this, we believe work life

matters most: People.

and personal life should not have artificial walls between them. At its

We care about each other.

core, a relationship with a human is the same at work as it is anywhere else. We share our goals and

We care about our clients who trust us with their projects.

achievements, failures and celebrations with each other. Plainly

We care about the supplies and decorators that help us turn the

put, we bring our whole selves to our work, and we support and cherish

ideas, brands, and campaigns of our clients into thoughtful gifts.

that in each other.

We care--possibly the most--about the recipients of the gifts we help create, and how those gifts impact them.

We believe that business is about meeting the needs of people.

So we show up with empathy, caring and understanding for people.

Without these relationships, without people, nothing else matters.

02 WE

VALUE

We care most about people, thus the second value is clear: We want to make people’s lives better…in essence, to serve them.

This question defines everything we do: “Does this serve the people we care about? ”If yes, then we are in. If no, then why do it?

We tell everyone that our success isn’t about money or possessions or sales.

SERVICE

Those things are nice, and we want them sure, but they aren’t the point.

Success is about serving the people who matter to us.

In the end, we won’t be measured by our bank accounts, sales numbers, wins and losses, or the size of the company we built, but by the difference we made in people’s lives —and we make a difference through our relationships and service to those relationships.

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Culture eats strategy -Peter Drucker

03

WE VALUE ACCOUNTABILITY

This is a tribe of mature adults measured by one basic standard: Are you fully accountable for your responsibilities--both to the tribe, and to yourself?

At its core, accountability is acknowledging and accepting your responsibilities, and getting them done to the set standard. It means producing the necessary results for your role. It means living by the values and principles of the tribe.

Accountability means you do what you say you will do.

CLOVE & TINE

We value holding each other accountable, and we value people who hold themselves accountable.

This can create problems for people without high levels of intrinsic motivation and the ability to selfregulate. If you need to be “driven� to achievement by outside sources, this is not the place for you. You are either accountable for your responsibilities and results or not.

We place the highest priority on everyone in the tribe doing what they commit to do, and doing it at the highest level possible.

In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future, while the learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.

-Eric Hoffer

04 WE

VALUE

Our success will not be determined by what we know right now. The world is changing too quickly. Our future success will come from our ability to learn, and implement what we learn.

Knowing things is great, but most "facts" are either an illusion, domainspecific, or have a short half-life.

Our tribe deeply values learning over knowing. In order to learn, we must be humble, curious, willing to ask questions, and able to change our minds when new facts demand a new perspective.

Learning means that we don't see ideas as part of our identity who we are, but just something we hold for a time, always subject to change as we search for the best truth we can find.

It means we realize that all "truth" is temporary, and are always looking for the best "truth."

LEARNING

We understand that "knowing" is a temporary state, and we should never assume anything we "know" is permanent and unchangeable. It means we listen to other people, we get feedback, we test, we adapt, and then we repeat that process over and over--because learning never ends.

Most importantly, a learner knows that uncertainty is the rule, not the exception. We are willing and able to hold many different, and sometimes contradictory, beliefs in our heads at once.

This value, and how it relates to the tribe, can be summed up by this quote: "Don't be a know-it-all. Be a learn-itall." -Satya Nadella

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

-Churchill

05 WE

VALUE

Optimism is both a skill and a super power, and when applied correctly, an optimist tribe can do anything.

Our optimism is not blind.

Our optimism is not about ignoring reality, nor pretending that trade-offs don't exist. And our optimism is never about plastering a fake smile on our faces in the face of real pain and suffering.

OPTIMISM

Our optimism is that we can--and will--find a way to do the things that matter. We will work through, and learn from, whatever problems or obstacles arise. We will create the lives and reality we want...as long as we believe we can, and put in the work.

“The defeated person sees life as a series of difficulties, disappointments, and dilemmas. The victorious person sees life as an adventure consisting of puzzles to be solved, battles to be fought, and problems to be overcome.�

-Roy H Williams PAGE 11

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06

WE VALUE SUSTAINABILITY

While we don’t have a lot of control over the supply chains of companies that supply us products, we do have control over the companies that we choose to work with. We take action where we can, prioritizing working with companies that are doing good for the planet: 1% For The Planet members, B Corps, and others that value sustainability.

Likewise, we try to do what we can in our own processes. A few examples are paying to offset the carbon emissions from every shipment that we produce, reducing our own plastic usage as a company, reusing packaging materials where we can, joining 1% For The Planet, and taking part in local initiatives to clean up our home.

CLOVE & TWINE

While our efforts make a difference, the biggest impact that we can make is by supporting companies that are leading the way in sustainability. In application, this is educating our clients on sustainable brands that we work with, products that are making impacts, and selling them products that are not only produced in an environmentally sound manner, but will endure the test of time, being used again and again.

This planet is our only home, so we will always do what we can to use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.

Everything we personally own that’s made, sold, shipped, stored, cleaned, and ultimately thrown away does some environmental harm every step of the way, harm that we’re either directly responsible for or is done on our behalf. ― Yvon Chouinard

PRINCIPLES How our values become our actions

"The moment you give up your principles, and your values, you are dead, your culture is dead, your civilization is dead. Period."

-Oriana Fallaci

principles

OUR

The principles listed below are how we apply our values to real-life situations and make decisions.

Since we’re constantly adapting our principles, we created a three-part test for a principle to be valid:

PT.

1

PRINCIPLES

MUST

STATE

ACTION

Principles must be clear, specific statements of action for tribe members to take (or not take). If they are not statements of action, the principle has no meaning.

PT.

2

PRINCIPLES A

VALID

MUST

HAVE

ANTITHESIS

Principles must have a clear antithesis that could be valid in another company (either explicitly, or implicitly). This tells you clearly who we are not, what we do not believe, and what actions to never take. Contrasting opposing statements is a way of creating clarity. The principle and the antithesis cannot be reconciled or compromised--they force a clear choice.

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PT.

3

PRINCIPLES CREATE

THE

OVERRULE

MUST ABILITY

TO

POWER

A principle is only real if any member of the tribe can invoke it to overrule a decision that violates the principle, by any other member of the tribe.

This ensures that our values and principles are actually used to guide all decisions and actions, and not just cheap talk signaling mechanisms.

For example, if Devin decides that he doesn’t want to pay out the remaining balance we owe a vendor, because they did not deliver a project as promised, and he feels they cost us much more money than what we have left to pay (he’d never do this, it’s just an extreme example). What if a brand new team member points out that this violates the "Do right by people" principle? If in light of this, Devin changes his decision, then he is upholding the principle that he agreed to, and this document is working as intended. If Devin just overrules the new team member because he's the Director of Operations and has that power, then this whole thing is bullshit, and we should throw it out.

Used correctly, this set of principles ensures that everyone in the tribe not only knows the right things to do, but each member can be held accountable to the entire tribe for their actions.

We before me

e before m

Principal #1

(Inverse: You're out for yourself, no one else) What is a Tribe?

In this context, we define a tribe as "a group of people who share a mission and work as a cohesive unit to achieve something they find meaningful."

Third, the best and most effective groups always put the success of the group above the success of the individuals. That is the essence of "We before me".

Always make the right decision for the tribe as a whole, before you

Why do we identify as a tribe?

make the right decision for yourself.

First, this is how humans are

NOTE: this principle does NOT mean individuals don't matter. That is why this principle is "We BEFORE me,"

biologically designed to operate. We naturally seek out and identify as a member of a tribe (or multiple tribes), and we derive meaning and fulfillment from the shared identity and purpose of the tribe.

Second, acting as a tribe makes us more effective. A cohesive group working together and sacrificing to achieve a shared goal is more powerful than an individual working alone. Coordinated group action ALWAYS beats individual action.

instead of "We, NOT me."

We fully recognize and support that everyone should come first in their

own lives, but in the context of this tribe, they must put the whole tribe, "we," first.

“When watching after yourself, you watch after others. When watching after others, you watch after yourself.�

-Buddha

do right by

Principal #2

Do right by people

(Inverse: Always follow the rules) One of the core things we believe is that we should always do right by people--ALL PEOPLE we interact with.

Each of us at Clove & Twine make a million tiny individual decisions as part of the work of this tribe. And each decision is an opportunity to do right by a person.

The people in this tribe, the people we serve, the people we work with-everything we do is about people, so if we aren't doing right by all of those people, what are we doing?

We will always choose to do right by people.

NOTE: This doesn't mean the customer is always right and always gets their way.

Hell no, we don't believe that shit at all.

Sometimes clients are wrong, and abusive clients get fired. We do right by ourselves just as much as we do right by others.

Doing right by people includes ourselves and absolutely means healthy and appropriate boundaries and self-respect.

PAGE 19

Ask questions

(Inverse: Remain silent) To be a tribe that continually truly learns, we must constantly ask questions.

Obviously, you should always ask questions if you don’t know something. That should be a given (though many people do not do this).

But it doesn’t stop at informationgathering questions. Fundamental, deep questions have to be asked, by everyone, about everything: Why are we doing this?

What's the ultimate purpose?

“If I just keep saying, ‘I don’t get it, can you tell me why once more?’ it forces people to synthesize and simplify—to strip away the irrelevancies and get to the core idea.”

Possibly the greatest information

architect of all time (the man who started the TED conference, Richard Saul Wurman) said: "Most people don't understand

anything--just like me. The difference is, I admit it. Hell, I wallow in it. Every bit of work I do starts from not knowing.

What result do we expect this to create?

Why do we want this result?

Simple questions force people to explain things simply, which can help bring clarity to complex issues. Paul Bennett, the Chief Creative Officer at IDEO explains why:

questions

Principal #3

My expertise has always been my ignorance--my admission and my acceptance of not knowing. My work comes from questions, not from answers."

Believe it or not, a lot of people are afraid to ask questions. Why?

One possible reason is they believe everyone knows the answer but them, so they don't want to potentially look foolish.

Ask Questions doesn’t just mean asking the obvious questions. It

because questions can be threatening and annoying, especially to those in power. Simply put, asking

means ask for help as well. Not just for acute, small things, but big questions like “How do you maximize

questions has gotten them in trouble in the past.

the work you do in a day?“, “How do you run multiple projects at the same time?“, and “What did you wish you had known when you started this kind of work?”

Your parents, teachers, and bosses may have gotten pissed at you for asking questions, but questions are expected at Clove & Twine. Forcing us to explain something to you--not just the decision, but the entire chain of thinking that led to it, put into the context of our goals--will not only make things clearer for you, but your questions will force us to make sure we actually know what we're talking about. We're both better off when you ask good questions, and we answer them.

Asking questions, even basic questions like a beginner would ask, does not mean throwing your experiences away and being naive, but rather looking at them as tools you can use when it’s to your advantage. Paul Bennett says it well: “I position myself relentlessly as an idiot at IDEO. And that’s not a negative, it’s a positive. Because being comfortable with not knowing —that’s the first part of being able to question.”

questions

Furthermore, many people have learned to stop asking questions

NOTE: HOW we ask questions is key to this principle. Also, don't ask someone if you can ask them a question--just ask the question.

Otherwise, the person now has to spend double the amount of time responding to you. If they can't help, they'll let you know. Trust your Tribe to be honest with you and not judge you for asking for what you need.

“"In a 'fitting in' culture — at home, at work, or in our larger community — curiosity is seen as weakness, and asking questions equates to antagonism rather than being valued as learning. On the other hand, curiosity is foundational and seen as brave in true belonging cultures."

-Brene Brown

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Principal #4

truth

you true

Tell your tribe the

(Inverse: Be quiet and keep opinions to small groups) True professionals try to always improve, which can only come from honest and direct feedback.

This does not come from mindless praise (“Everything you do is

As a tribe, we are smarter and more perceptive than any one individual, so we must speak up and share our wisdom and ideas to utilize all perspectives. The only way to create an environment of learning, sharp

perfect!”). This is a painful fact of life:

decision making, and perpetual improvement is to have honest,

Amateurs want comforting lies.

Professionals want to hear uncomfortable truths.

candid, and timely feedback between all members of the team.

To be even more specific, this means:

This tribe only has room for professionals.

We absolutely require candid

If you see someone making a mistake, then you must tell them, so they can fix it.

If someone has done something

discussion at all levels, in all things.

Ed Catmull, the President of Pixar,

that triggered an issue for you, then you must discuss it with

sums it up well:

them.

If you see any problem anywhere in the company, you need to point it out.

If you have any idea on how to

“You don’t want to be where there is more candor in the hallways than in the rooms where ideas or policy are being hashed out.”

CLOVE & TWINE

improve things, you must speak up.

For the tribe in general, this means we must demand and reward candor.

principle. Naval Ravikant sums this

NOTE ON POSITIVE FEEDBACK: This

up:

does NOT only mean negative truths.

“Individuals search for truth, groups search for consensus.”

In fact, the MAJORITY of the truths you tell the tribe should be positive reinforcement of what they do right.

That is a truth, and that’s why it’s so important for each of us to speak up and tell each other the truth.

Consensus will cause decay. Truth cleans it out, and allows us to grow.

NOTE ABOUT TRUST: This principle can only work if everyone feels comfortable giving and receiving candid feedback. In essence, we must feel safe and trust each other.

you true

If you find yourself complaining to yourself, but not saying anything to the tribe, you are violating this

This is why we created a channel on Slack called "Shout Outs." It allows each of us to complement and reinforce the type of behavior and results we all want to see in each other.

If you are posting 10x more on the

Shout Outs channel than you are giving people hard truths and uncomfortable feedback, you are carrying out this principle correctly.

Specifically, we must trust that everyone in this tribe is giving candid feedback from a position of

NOTE ON DELIVERY: This principle does NOT EVER justify being mean or

caring and support and that we are all in this together, helping each other

rude to someone. That is NEVER OK. Jerks, narcissists, and takers engage

succeed.

in aggressive behaviors to satisfy their own ego, NOT benefit the group.

For the individual, this means listening when people give candid feedback. It's not easy for someone to give you a hard but necessary truth, but if you are defensive, or get angry, that makes it much harder.

Thank them for helping you get better.

People who hide behind "I'm just sayin!!" are really just putting people down and have no place here.

PAGE 23

The sort of candor that this principle embodies is humble, it’s helpful, it’s

just say anything they want, anytime.

That is another flimsy rationalization for being a childish and narcissistic

immediate, it’s in person and it cares-it never attacks.

prick. This principle can never be used to justify a disregard for the feelings and emotions of others, especially to satisfy your own ego.

And we must give honest and actionable feedback in a way that makes the recipient feel cared for, not attacked. We must ALL lead every hard truth with kindness, because sugar always makes the medicine easier to take.

If you bring something up just to make someone else look bad, you're wrong.

you true

This is NOT the concept called "radical honesty," where anyone can

"Those who address you directly for your faults are your friends, not those who appear nice even when you're wrong."

-Dezhung Rinpoche

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Principal #5 Take ownership

(Inverse: It's not my job) A way to think about ownership is through the frame of "Extreme Ownership." Extreme Ownership may sound like what would happen if Mountain Dew created a flavor for a real estate company, but it's actually a real concept (that works).

We expect everyone to take ownership of their role, their job, and their projects that they are working on.

Taking ownership looks like this:

own it

Not just doing your job; but It was pioneered by SEAL Captain Jocko Willink, the man who led the Navy SEALs in the Battle of Ramadi.

The basic idea is that to be an

taking full accountability for the ultimate result.

Caring about attention to detail.

effective leader--on any level--you must own everything in your world:

Going the extra mile.

"The best-performing SEAL units had leaders who accepted responsibility

Looking for problems, and when

for everything. Every mistake, every failure or shortfall—those leaders would own it...The best leaders checked their egos, accepted blame, sought out constructive criticism, and took detailed notes for improvement.

They exhibited Extreme Ownership, and as a result, their SEAL platoons and task units dominated."

you find them, you solve them.

Never saying, "It's not my job."

You know that everything is your job.

Never saying, "This is good

enough," because you know that good enough is not the same as done right.

When done right, leading up the chain forces executives to empower the whole organization, and push decisions to the person closest to the problem, with the most information.

This means as close to the client or project as possible, by the person who deals with them.

It is his job to teach, coach, and mentor you, to set clear expectations, to give you what you need to excel, and then he expects you to make good decisions that make the tribe better--that's why you are here.

Reid Hoffman thinks this type of exchange becomes a litmus test of talent: "How do you know if you have Aplayers? You know it if they don’t just accept the strategy you hand them.

They should suggest modifications to the plan based on their closeness to the details. And as they execute, they should continue to tweak the strategy, and you (the owner) should not feel a need to micromanage or second guess—if you do, you’ve got the wrong person."

“If you get there and the order I gave you doesn’t make sense, execute the order I should have given you.”

-Stanley McChrystal

own it

It makes sense. After all, if the CEO isn't comfortable giving someone autonomy in their role, he hired the wrong person.

PAGE 27

Principal #6 What's Best, Not Who's

hat's best

right

(Inverse: Judge people based on their ideas) When new people come into the tribe, they are often shocked at how we discuss ideas with each other.

David & Devin are aggressive about analyzing ideas--their own, each other’s, or anyone else's.

This can be especially alarming to people used to a conventional corporate culture, which is averse to

People must feel like their identity is safe--even if their ideas are not. This is very difficult to achieve (it is in some ways against core parts of human nature), but if we can do it, we create an environment that has people intensely debating and rigorously scrutinizing ideas--that is simultaneously respectful of people.

any confrontation and sees criticism

People in this culture feel free to

as the end of a conversation, not the beginning.

openly say the things they want without feeling like they will be persecuted, jumped on, criticized, or shamed. This creates the best

It takes people some time to understand that they are discussing only the idea ("Idea X is bad, because of reason Y"), and never each other through the idea ("You are stupid for having Idea X").

outcome for everyone because it

means the best ideas will almost always win--which means the tribe will win.

In traditional corporate cultures, even

As succinctly as possible:

You are not your ideas.

the slightest disagreement will be prefaced with something like, "I'm going to push back on that a little," because, in corporate culture, any confrontation is seen by people as a personal attack.

We are the opposite. We see confrontation as good, as long as it is the idea being confronted and not the person.

We call this "discuss what’s best, not who’s right," and the point is that all discussion is always about an idea, and never about a person. No one gets points for "being right," and no one loses points for "being wrong," because there are NO individual points; the only thing that matters is

And even more shocking to people used to corporate culture, you'll see people shift their positions constantly in this tribe. They will take a position they believe in deeply, and argue it intensely, but when presented with facts that directly contradict their position, they'll immediately change their mind, and then advocate the other side.

hat's best

This is because most people tie their identity to their ideas.

All of us together are

much smarter than any of us apart, but the best way

the TRIBE getting it right as a unit.

we can work together

Furthermore, this idea creates an obligation in tribe members to at

effectively is to share and

least consider the strongest possible arguments for all sides of any argument. If none of us are trying to be right, what we are all trying to do is find the best answer for all of us.

Like the African proverb, "I take no

combine all of our best ideas, wisdom, and

knowledge, and the way to ensure that is to create a discussion space where

joy that the hole is in your end of the boat," all failure and success is shared in a tribe, so we must see

ideas are discussed

idea competition from the tribe perspective, not the individual level

where they come from.

honestly, regardless of

PAGE 29

Principal #7 Impeccable Attention

(Inverse: Move fast & break things)

check it

to detail

The easiest way to explain why impeccable attention to detail is important is a story about the band, Van Halen.

If they showed up and there were brown M&M’s in the bowl in their dressing room, the band knew they had to double-check the set-up of everything in their show, because the

Everyone knows the story about how Van Halen had a super specific rider they gave to concert promoters: they requested a lot of things, and were

concert promoter did not actually read their contract or pay attention to important details.

famous for demanding a bowl of M&M’s in their dressing room, but

The band had learned the hard way that a problem in one area indicated

with no brown M&Ms in the bowl.

a problem in other areas.

People assumed they were divas, just making things hard on the

We deeply believe this at Clove & Twine. In fact, we almost called this

concert promoter because they were

principle “How you do one thing is

the biggest band in the world at the time, and could do it. But that’s not the case at all: that rider was there for their safety.

how you do everything.” We have learned the hard way that impeccable attention to details, all details, is necessary for us to do a great job.

Their show required the careful setup of the nearly 1000 lights and safety rigs, and they relied on the promoters to do much of the work before they got to the venue.

Take our process for example; we’ve deeply considered and built our

This also ties into the idea we have at Clove & Twine that there are no

process on the back of creating and shipping tens of thousands of gift boxes, and we know what we are

such things as “low level tasks.”

Everything that has to be done is important. Think sweeping or taking

doing. Every step is there for a reason and needs to be done right because every step is about creating a great gift box for the client, as well as a great experience. When steps are missed, mistakes happen and we fail our clients.

out the trash doesn’t matter? Well, then leave it alone for a month and see how that works.

Twine, the bulk of their role requires them to pay attention to details and get them right. Gift boxes and gifting programs are nothing but details. Account Managers handle the quotes and specs of orders and the client relationship. Account Coordinators handle many projects at once and have to coordinate multiple vendors and timelines. The Fulfillment Manager handles inventory, ensuring we have enough space, time, and human resources to get the projects completed.

check it

For all of the people in Clove &

One thing is very important to note: attention to detail supersedes almost anything. We want to go as fast as possible, but one thing is ALWAYS true in this tribe: You cannot go faster than your attention to detail allows.

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