Since I started here at 10 Missions Media in 2011, the editorial team has grown from myself and one other staff writer to a team of seven. The company as a whole has grown from 13 on staff to 25.
We have added a second national publication (Ratchet+Wrench serves the auto care industry; if you do mechanical work you need to read it). We have launched and overhauled websites, introduced e-newsletters and multimedia content, and organized live events.
I don’t mention all of this in an attempt to boast. Plainly, what I want to get across is that we’ve been busy, and when you’re busy at a growing company, sometimes you don’t have the time to put that growth in perspective and really appreciate the people and processes that make it possible. Often the opposite takes place—you focus on the day-to-day, on the problems and imperfections, and rectifying those things.
I am as guilty of this as anyone, but we have started an exercise during editorial meetings that I think has helped everyone see the bigger picture.
10 Missions Media isn’t just a name. We actually do have 10 missions; our company’s guiding principles. For example, haste makes waste, but timeliness is vital, or co-workers make the best comrades. At the end of each editorial review meeting (we have two per month), an employee recites a mission (it rotates to a new employee each meeting). The employee talks about why the mission is relevant at that moment, citing examples of how the team exemplifies it.
The observations brought up in these meetings are enlightening and sometimes even moving. It gives everyone a chance to catch their breath and remember why we do what we do. You don’t need 10 missions to do something similar. Growth is great, but don’t lose sight of what makes it possible and sustainable.
Jake Weyer, editorial director
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