Pros
Work finally became meaningful when I joined Undercurrent. I have found purpose here as an individual, as a team member and as my clients’ partner. I think this is because the people here create an environment that fosters trust, experimentation, curiosity and freedom to define your path. If you don’t like how something works for you, you truly have the power to change it, that is the basic tenet of our governance system, holacracy. ‘Ask for forgiveness, not permission.’ I felt instant relief when I heard that here. You are allowed to fail as long as you translate that failure into a learning for future work. With this in mind, I have become better at a great deal of things since joining: how to manage daunting complexity with less trepidation, how to be excellent at client relationship management, how to communicate with brevity and impact, how substance is more valuable than style, how to be humble about what I know, how to bravely ask questions and how to approach my co-workers with respect and inquisitiveness. You get what you give to this place, it’s as simple as that. I have found myself surrounded by brilliant people who are trusting, generous and accepting. Undercurrent is a place where I feel safe to be myself and admit that I don’t have all the answers. We each have an advocate who supports us in defining and achieving our goals and coaching us through problems (work or personal). As of January 2015 we reached a 50:50 gender split (but we are far from becoming complacent about other types of diversity). Other highlights include: flexible working hours, a personal education, physical fitness and technology stipend, excellent tech tools, good health care plans, a legendary trimesterly retreat and an extremely well run office space in the center of one of the world’s coolest cities.
Cons
To bear in mind: There are some downsides to working at Undercurrent, BUT we also have a system in place for processing negative tensions into positive outcomes. If you have an issue with how something is working, you have the power to change it, and your voice will be heard. Joining Undercurrent can be a rollercoaster ride, the pace is fast and it won’t slow down (much) for you. You will find working here difficult if you are not comfortable with self-organizing and prioritizing, balancing a few projects at a time and being a good team player. If you need a job title then this place will also be difficult to adjust to as we fill many roles and have an aversion to labels, hierarchy isn’t something that is done here. Whilst diversity is something that is improving at Undercurrent, it is slower than other business pursuits. Travel is a privilege, but it can also disrupt your plans, be prepared to be flexible.