In 2013, when we were ideating on choosing a name for the company, we were trying hard to think of names that were quirky & timeless.

After hours of thinking, the list of names we came up with still didn’t seem convincing enough. Some went straight to the gut, but didn’t hit us subliminally.

We wondered why.
Maybe we were “trying hard” to find something timeless.

Instead — all we had to do was remember two things we loved & would never regret.

Instantly popped the answer:

1) Coding & 2)Beach

The words code & wave emerged from the things we loved & would never regret. On the journey, the name “codewave” did more to us than what it did when we first coined it.

Everytime we read the name, it seemed to unfold an intriguing, profound meaning. We couldn’t resist feeling stretched & would end up wondering what’s that ultimate, elegant code that governs all of reality, universe and life itself!

And the name seemed to scream back at us:

“The code to reality is in the wave.”

“The code to life is in the wave.”

Codewave may not be the fanciest name in history. But it stimulates us to stay curious to keep hacking the code to reality. Keep hacking the ultimate code to life, that makes us one.

And for all we know, the code isn’t hidden.

It is in the wave function of all matter all around us, right now.

Warmly,
Vidhya & Abhijith
Founders, https://codewave.com/

Story of how we came up with a name for our company. was originally published in codewave technologies on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

At Codewave, we love reimagining new digital environments for thoughtful action, enabling brands connect with people at a more human level. We asked our creative team, on a few design philosophies they appreciate.

Here’re 7 of them, that shapes our approach to design.

1. Keep it Simple

“Make it feel obvious”, says Shilpa Kowshik

Simplicity in design is the hardest to achieve. Often simple is confused with boring, dull or unattractive. Simplicity lies in making sophistication seem obvious to engage with. Keep it real.

2. Keep it Clear

“Signal action, don’t leave it for interpretation”, says Raghunandan

A designer doesn’t necessarily have to be an artist. Art is about interpretation, what one person perceives about a piece of art may differ from another. Design is about clearly communicating one particular usage of an element and not leaving it open for interpretation. Keep it focused.

3. Keep it Conversational

“Avoid good bad polarization, keep it open & engaging”, says Mayank

There is no such thing as good or bad design. Anyone can design an interaction, keeping it open, interactive and engaging for people using it & convincing for people making it. Keep it dynamic.

4. Keep it Reflective

“Design reflects the user’s current & desired state of mind”, says Nikhil

Design is not the designer, designers are not users and need not rely on the assumptions of what the user actually needs. If the user’s agenda isn’t fulfilled, no matter how neat & pixel-perfect the interface is — it wouldn’t work. Keep it empathetic.

5. Keep it Human

“Reflect common-sense, wit & emotional honesty”, says Vidhya

In all the information hyperness around, common-sense is a breath of fresh air, shows openness for connection, evokes an interaction & eliminates needless drama/frills. Keep it raw.

6. Keep it Subliminal

“Drive subconscious action, lower cognitive load”, says Vignesh

Can we design in a way user stops using their brain’s processing power in realtime? Usage can be at ease which takes less cognitive load or can be done sub-consciously. Keep it easy.

7. Keep it Timeless

“Create form & function that can remain accessible”, says Shibin

Make sure the design remains relevant, accessible & usable over long periods of time, considering future updates, fast changing needs affecting sustained engagement. Keep it classic.

Codewave was founded in 2013, to create an environment of radical transparency, empathy and peer comfort — helping individuals to go on a fearless adventure of knowing what to do, when no-one’s there telling what to do. We continue to be a living, social experiment open to individuals / families / societies / organizations finding self sustainable alternatives to work. We’re thankful to everyone on our journey so far, to have shaped us to be who we are, stay true to our experiment and to who we aspire to become.

7 design philosophies from our creative team was originally published in codewave technologies on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Agility starts with the self and can get better with peer harmony. To thrive in a culture of inspired agility, what attitudes do we need to hire for?

To thrive in an “agile ethos” — what signs do you need to look for in people while hiring?

We are living in times, that demand self discipline of individuals to operate in an agile environment, committing to:

1. Continuously gain self awareness by solving problems at work,
2. Continuously self improve (reskill / upgrade / broaden / specialize) in alignment with one’s curiosity/quest for knowledge,
3. Continuously reinvent — oneself, one’s relationship with work & one’s interdependency on others.

Here are 6 signs to observe during an interview, indicating readiness for agility — specifically self management and peer harmony.

CURIOSITY & CREATIVITY

Sample questions:
How do you imagine your role here?
What do you feel passionate about doing, in general?
What makes this role irresistible for you?
How do you see this role expanding to unlock your leadership?
What cross-functional responsibilities you’d like to take up?
If you were to define a leadership role here, how would you do it?

The individual frequently accesses their inherent curiosity, by asking questions to know more about what the business does and articulate what skills they seek to develop at work. Also throughout the conversation, the individual accesses their inherent creativity, to vividly imagine their role — what they can see themselves doing here, what they’d like to do outside their (perceived) role, where they may need support & confirms understanding, passionately.

This is also a sign, the individual is comfortable being authentic. #Authenticity

HOLISTIC THINKING

Sample questions:
How do you apply your ___________ experience to _________ situation?
How do you connect your specialization in ________ to this problem?
What makes you conclude ________?
What makes __________ conclusion relevant for the future?
What values did ___________ adversity point to?
What experience you think didn’t serve any use so far?

When given a role specific challenge to respond to, the individual accesses and applies lessons learnt from academic education & experiences, at various stages of life — tries connecting the dots, to find a holistic answer. The individual tries to rationalize their inferences, based on facts and data from the past — and at the same time makes an attempt to predict its relevance in the future. This reveals the level of conviction one has in their ideas.

This is a sign that the individual is comfortable designing sound counters & consistent in connecting the dots. #Confidence

VALUES & INTEGRITY

Sample questions:
How do you reveal hidden motives in negotiations?
What would make working here a continuous success for you?
How do you feel when a peer doesn’t deliver on a promise?
How do you speak for self & larger interests in ________ situation?
What are your metrics for personal growth?
How does honesty save everyone’s time?

When given situational questions, to respond to — the individual taps into this opportunity to express their personal values / beliefs that reveal how they define growth & success. This also reveals the standards they set for themselves and their expectations from others at work. In agile environments, where one is required to be transparent — it’s important that the individual expresses appreciation for transparency / honesty, empathy / humanity and shared peer trust.

This is an important observation that can help decide if the individual is aligned to the company’s values and is a culture fit. #Integrity

CLARITY & SIMPLICITY

Sample questions:
How would you go about sensing the need in ________ context ?
What solutions can you imagine for _________ need ?
Can you go ahead and breakdown __________ to make it implementable?
What is the first thing you’d do to gain clarity?
What signs indicate useless complication?
How do you eliminate the unnecessary steps in ___________?
Can you explain ________ in layman terms?

The individual strives to seek clarity the moment when something doesn’t appear convincing or evokes a doubt & frames questions / clarifications using simple / colloquial words. Throughout the conversation, the individual seeks simplicity in communication style, uses visual language / styles to express ideas and demonstrates in action, how he/she would go about deconstructing a need and conceiving a solution.

This is a sign, the individual is comfortable breaking down a challenge to a level it appears actionable. #Simplicity

GRATITUDE & HUMILITY

Sample questions:
Who are you grateful for to have taught you ________ value ?
What risks you’re proud of taking?
Can you tell a story of __________ that you’d pass on?
When you feel defenseless, do you prefer wearing confidence or faith?
What behaviors makes a peer worthy of thanks?
How do you apologize, admitting a behavior change?
When would you say “I maybe wrong” to diffuse tension?

When asked about moments the individual is most grateful for, proud of — they show ease in talking about their most vulnerable moments (without hesitation) and who supported them to help them make different choices. They tend to narrate the story with themselves as the main character delving in conflict until help arrives (climax). The individual also reveals events, people and behaviors they feel grateful for, which is an indication to how they may express gratitude to self and peers at work.

This is a sign that the individual is comfortable expressing gratitude, pride and compassion to co-workers. #Humility

DECISIVENESS & FEARLESSNESS

Sample questions:
How many career paths can you imagine now?
What decisions are hard, but consequences worth it?
Can you explain a choice that may cause regret?
List decisions at work you would to take on your own?
How would you draw boundaries to be repel mean behaviors?
Write an algorithm to deal with __________ conflict.
What fears are worth overriding with courage?

The individual accesses their inherent decisiveness to gather as much information as possible during the conversation & tries to rationalize their choices, clearly communicating what decisions they’re likely to make given their current perspective / context of need. Throughout the conversation, the individual demonstrates ‘fearless’ expression of thoughts/emotions and at the same time shows vulnerability of not knowing what could happen.

This is a sign, the individual is comfortable assuming responsibility for their decisions & consequences. #Responsibility

Does this cover all key attitudes for agility?

These are merely the top 6 that can help screen potential candidates for agility readiness. Each organization needs to develop its own unique hiring practice and procedures, to hire for agility. The objective of this article is merely to list broad indicators of a potential match for self improving work environments.

Codewave was founded in 2013, to create an environment of radical transparency, empathy and peer comfort — helping individuals to go on a fearless adventure of knowing what to do, when no-one’s there telling what to do. We continue to be a living, social experiment open to individuals / families / societies / organizations finding self sustainable alternatives to work. We’re thankful to everyone on our journey so far, to have shaped us to be who we are, stay true to our experiment and to who we aspire to become.

6 aspects of agility to look for in people while hiring was originally published in codewave technologies on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Self & Peer Satisfaction [eNPS] demands a new definition, with transparency, empathy & agility central to shared trust, safety & satisfaction.

Employee satisfaction over a journey (of value exchange), can be observed as a continuous stream of signals observed over time, which at any given point in time — represents a fusion of multiple aspects of self and peer leadership culminating into “Agility” in the moment.

Relationship with oneself and peers, at work at any given point, can be broadly assessed by observing the level of shared trust, safety, transparency, value exchange, empathy & agility.

An agile team employs self management (to lead oneself) & peer harmony (to lead others) that is often revealed in how it sustains an orchestrated symphony of team work to deliver value, demanding agility in the moment.

Here are 5 (timeless) peer satisfaction signals, that may help an agile team sense unspoken needs & maximize value, at every moment of opportunity:

1. PRESENCE

Did the peer demonstrate commitment to manage one’s presence well — to consistently deliver value as predicted / planned & plan one’s absences well with the consensus of team members? Did the peer demonstrate high situational awareness & attention to detail, to embrace the new & serve the need in the now? #Dependability

2. DECISIVENESS

Did the peer demonstrate immediacy to gather necessary information & stakeholder(s) input to make an informed decision — promptly in moments that demand clarity of possibilities & preferred outcome? Did the peer demonstrate sharpness & critical thinking, to eliminate the unnecessary? #Competence

3. ADAPTIVENESS

Did the peer demonstrate agility to change thought process when faced with new information? Did the peer demonstrate high willingness & flexibility, in (unlearning and) learning a new method to solve the problem in the now? #Ownership

4. TRANSPARENCY

Did the peer demonstrate openness to share information on work progress, new opportunities / risks? Did the peer demonstrate high authenticity & comfort, in handling moments of truth, acknowledging unknown unknowns and reassuring safety in the now?
#Teamplay

5. EMPATHY

Did the peer demonstrate equal consideration and listened to everyone’s fears / aspirations alike? Did the peer demonstrate high openness to diverse perspectives, see an opportunity to find the most optimal answer, in the now?
#Impact

Is this applicable for any team?

All of the above 5 aspects of an agile mind, are universal and applicable to both at work or play, with individuals collaborating as one unit sharing a common goal & a set of values to live by. The collective agility of the team impacts the overall disruption quotient of the co-created outcome.

Codewave was founded in 2013, to create an environment of radical transparency, empathy and peer comfort — helping individuals to go on a fearless adventure of knowing what to do, when no-one’s there telling what to do. We continue to be a living, social experiment open to individuals / families / societies / organizations finding self sustainable alternatives to work. We’re thankful to everyone on our journey so far, to have shaped us to be who we are, stay true to our experiment and to who we aspire to become.

5 timeless signals of agility that drive employee satisfaction [eNPS] was originally published in codewave technologies on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In an Agile world, that demands delivering the new in the now — can businesses be agile to the speed of thought?

Customer Satisfaction [NPS] demands a new definition, with transparency, empathy & agility central to shared trust, safety & satisfaction.

Buyer satisfaction over a journey (of value exchange), can be observed as a continuous stream of signals observed over time, which at any given point in time — represents a fusion of multiple aspects of leadership culminating into “Agility” in the moment.

Demand — Supply relationship among two interdependent beings (symbiotic individuals/teams/organizations) at any given point, can be broadly assessed by observing the level of shared trust, safety, transparency, value exchange, empathy & agility.

A business devises a survival strategy (of continuous value creation) & disruption strategy (of continuous reinvention) that is often revealed in how it sustains a relationship / journey of value exchange, demanding agility in the moment.

Here are 5 (timeless) buyer satisfaction signals, that may help a business sense unspoken needs & maximize value, at every moment of opportunity:

1. FOCUSED EFFORT

Did the (supply) team demonstrate commitment to consistently deliver value as predicted / planned? Did individuals demonstrate high situational awareness & attention to detail, to embrace the new & serve the need in the now? #Dependability

2. RESPONSIVENESS

Did the (supply) team demonstrate immediacy to respond to open questions / unresolved dependencies? Did individuals demonstrate high proactiveness & capability, to gain greater clarity of the new & simplicity in the now? #Competence

3. ADAPTIVENESS

Did the (supply) team demonstrate agility to change thought process when faced with new information? Did individuals demonstrate high willingness & flexibility, in (unlearning and) learning a new method to solve the problem in the now? #Ownership

4. TRANSPARENCY

Did the (supply) team demonstrate openness to share information on work progress, new opportunities / risks? Did individuals demonstrate high authenticity & comfort, in handling moments of truth, acknowledging unknown unknowns and reassuring safety in the now?
#Teamplay

5. EMPATHY

Did the (supply) team demonstrate equal consideration and listened to everyone’s fears / aspirations alike? Did individuals demonstrate high openness to diverse perspectives, see an opportunity to find the most optimal answer, in the now?
#Impact

Is this only applicable for the supply — side?

All of the above 5 aspects of an agile mind, are universal and applicable to both demand and supply teams, serving each other through continuous value exchange. The collective agility of both the buyer & supplier impacts the overall disruption quotient of the co-created outcome.

Codewave was founded in 2013, to create an environment of radical transparency, empathy and peer comfort — helping individuals to go on a fearless adventure of knowing what to do, when no-one’s there telling what to do. We continue to be a living, social experiment open to individuals / families / societies / organizations finding self sustainable alternatives to work. We’re thankful to everyone on our journey so far, to have shaped us to be who we are, stay true to our experiment and to who we aspire to become.

5 Agility aspects that drive buyer satisfaction was originally published in codewave technologies on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Feedback is a signal reflected from our social connections (mirroring us) in our environment, often containing information essential for change.

Is there a merit in decoding the signal (minus the noise), regardless of who is transmitting it?

A feedback signal is merely an “observation” made by the observer, relayed back to the observed (minus positive / negative emotional charges)

360 feedback is merely a bunch of signals with encoded information, reflected by one or more observers in the environment — describing a context (event) in which the observed (subject) beamed a specific behavior.

This is ideally a packet of information — containing
1) the context (environmental stimuli),
2) the observed (subject’s properties / behaviors),
3) the response (observed behavior).

In high trust feedback cultures, where exchanges happen transparently — it’s likely that the feedback signals transmitted merely contain information on “what is observed” rather than “who”, directing the awareness of the subject to “what needs change” rather than “who”.

Constructive feedback merely directs awareness of the subject to the “observed behavior”, making the “fairness” in the observation an irrelevance.

The environment in which constructive feedback is regularly given and received, could include your organization’s team members, customers’ team members, partners’ team members and even the billing department.

Feedback is at the core of self transformation. It’s important to sustain a feedback culture — for individuals to continuously exchange constructive feedback & aid collective transformation.

Peerly, Codewave’s framework for continuous growth — guides individuals and teams to tune into feedback signals from the environment and aid self transformation.

What makes feedback often hard to decode?

In a realtime business environment, multiple teams of individuals, of diverse backgrounds & cultures come together, go on a shared mission — to solve a business problem. The relationship among teams, can get complicated dynamically (unpredictably)— as each team has it’s own belief systems, principles / values, driving behaviors at work.

Feedback exchanges are likely to become complicated to interpret, as role expectations and cognitive biases come into play.

Nevertheless, one can build the muscle to pick the signal, minus the noise — to consistently grow at every moment of opportunity.

Codewave was founded in 2013, to create an environment of radical transparency, empathy and peer comfort — helping individuals to go on a fearless adventure of knowing what to do, when no-one’s there telling what to do. We continue to be a living, social experiment open to individuals / families / societies / organizations finding self sustainable alternatives to work. We’re thankful to everyone on our journey so far, to have shaped us to be who we are, stay true to our experiment and to who we aspire to become.

How social connections at work can mirror ideas essential for self transformation was originally published in codewave technologies on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In times we’re living in now — it takes brave leadership, authentic expression & hyper connectedness— to lead oneself, groups & orgs.

1. Authenticity

Authenticity is irresistible, and inherently viral. We’re living in times of information hyperness — the world can instantly tune into a leader’s digital presence, recent activities, history / timeline / influences, current state of being, futuristic thinking, social interactions, cultural circles, keywords / attitudes, response patterns etc.

Are you fearlessly authentic and expressive both on digital and physical mediums?

Internet and social media seems to have inspired — higher levels of authentic connectivity, communication & inspiration, identity transparency / traceability, realtime social interactions, near realtime sentiment analysis, cross cultural collaboration and more.

Can you design your message — to cut through the noise? Can you be brave & honest about your emotions — so engaging with you appears real and relatable?

2. Equanimity

Equanimity is eliminating emotional highs and lows, and staying still.

Can you share ideas, minus the drama?

Ideas sensationalized with positive / negative emotional charges, when shared — can make readers return a ‘reaction’, however a reaction is rarely sustained or taken seriously. Provocative ideas / suggestions may excite, yet rarely get passed on.

When an idea leaves an open ended question in the reader’s mind, it’s likely to — invoke one’s inherent curiosity and thoughtfulness.

Equanimity — also means being at ease with your choices & being ready for any outcome.

Can you do the right thing—without the fear of consequences?

3. Decisiveness

Every moment challenges you to think expansively, think critically and act decisively. Especially businesses are challenged to deal with unknowns / new information every hour— with unpredictable variations & novel situations.

Can you be flexible to changing your mind @ the speed of thought?

There’s always a dilemma — Go Versus No-go & everything in between. In these moments, often the most productive thing to do — is calling out known assumptions, making an “altruistic” decision and moving forward to the next moment. Indecision, rarely protects the larger good.

Can you make irrational yet altruistic choices when the moment demands it?

Do you trust your intuition when you’re making a decision that can impact others?

4. Vulnerability

Vulnerability is simply reminding ourselves & others, that none of us are perfect. We’re all always learning & evolving.

Can you connect with people on what we do not know & create a safe place for collaboration?

While leaders are expected to inspire people to believe in a cause greater than oneself and take action — it’s also important that leaders regularly demonstrate how interdependent we are & express the vulnerability of being challenged by the unknown.

Can you take a chance with yourself & ask others to take a chance with you?

Expressing vulnerability enables visionary leaders, to take everyone along on an “explorative” journey, merely treating the business as an ongoing experiment to validate ideas and to continuously learn from outcomes.

5. Endurance

Do you have high pain tolerance for staying committed to your cause — when your team seems to be falling apart & the business is running out of fuel?

Tolerance / endurance / resilience is an inherent ability— to respond to pain. Leadership is about assuming a larger responsibility and a making a resolve to oneself & others — of being willing to do what it takes, accept new levels of pain, with an unwavering commitment towards the cause, in the interest of the larger good.

Can you look at “building resilience” as an act of building mental health & adaptability?

Leaders tend to employ altruism / selflessness to be resilient — as that can inspire one to go an extra mile, in moments that demand arduous efforts, merely to survive the journey.

6. Empathy

More often than not, people don’t say how they feel, don’t do what they say they would do and don’t do what they feel they would do. One may not articulate needs like “trust and safety” and these mostly are unspoken / unarticulated. Leaders are expected to sense the “unsaid” and bring a sense of comfort to every conversation.

Can you sense a hidden fear in a conversation and acknowledge that to offer help?

Empathy is at the core of all human communication — one has an inherent ability to sense context, mirror another’s state of being and to frame a situation.

7. Integrity

Integrity is about aligning one’s thoughts, feelings and actions — to the higher purpose and being honest, coherent when communicating it to others.

Can you preach only what you practice? Can you consistently live your vision, beliefs and (non-negotiable) values through everyday decisions & actions?

Consistently demonstrating alignment of your decisions and actions, to your higher purpose and non-negotiable values; also is vital.

Can you say “no”, when there is a breach in one of your non-negotiable values?

Leaders are expected to articulate vision, beliefs and values — clearly listing down assumptions / beliefs, for everyone to be aware of general behaviors that predominantly drive decisions within the company / community.

Codewave was founded in 2013, to create an environment of radical transparency, empathy and peer comfort — helping individuals to go on a fearless adventure of knowing what to do, when no-one’s there telling what to do. We continue to be a living, social experiment open to individuals / families / societies / organizations finding self sustainable alternatives to work. We’re thankful to everyone on our journey so far, to have shaped us to be who we are, stay true to our experiment and to who we aspire to become.

7 leadership traits of an agile mind embracing the new in the now was originally published in codewave technologies on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In a real world moment, where we’re all just taking a chance with our selves and each other — it’s time to allow our “collective agility” to tell us what to do.

Welcome to Role X.0: The Schrödinger’s Hat

In an agile world, our roles are expected to be dynamic — we’re reinventing ourselves in the moment & nimbly aligning with others, serving the need in the now. Roles in this world, are designed for “adaptation”.

Agility in oneself, families, societies or organizations takes committed progressive effort (both at an individual level and collective level) sustained over a period of time on a perpetually transformative journey, that at any given moment, offers broadly two choices—

1. Change from current state to a new state of agility.
   [or]
2. Maintain status quo.

Businesses are constantly challenged to give up status quo (the groundhog day), to be open to reinventing themselves, to approach needs differently, design value differently to meet changing demand.

Businesses need to run like an “experiment”, and encourage a culture of rapid prototyping & learning.

Here are 3 reasons why cross-functional roles, is a sustainable alternative to work & workplaces.

1. Cross-functional roles inspire agility through ‘playfulness’ as boundaries aren’t taken too seriously

Cross-functional roles do not have static titles or descriptions of responsibility.

Dynamic assumption of responsibilities (and necessary expansion / contraction) is expected to happen in realtime.

Individuals get to engage in a ‘teamsport’, where work happens from a state of playfulness, and one is merely ‘experimenting’ ideas and getting help / cheering others to implement them.

In today’s information age where collective intelligence is pretty much open sourced (let’s call it the Humanity X.O collectives), there’s hardly a need for one to limit themselves to a set of skills. Assistive Intelligence / Automation / Analysis is readily accessible on demand, within a few clicks.

Eliminating conventional “role-specific boundaries” & broadening the conversation, invites new participants for design thinking, problem solving & diverse perspectives — leading to disruptive new outcomes.

To a large extent, cross-functional design thinking is fueled by one’s inherent curiosity / passion to find answers to business problems at hand “starting with why” and life’s most existential questions, on their own.

“People understand under what circumstances they’re working on, in a given project. During a meeting if a designer, with exceptional negotiation skills aspires to drive business conversations with the client, they’re free to do so.”

— Project manager, Codewave

2. Cross-functional roles inspire one to employ common sense & storytelling for briefings

Cross-functional individuals are likely to sense context in the now and interpret / articulate it through a “storytelling” approach.

Individuals are invited to frame the situation, through their own stories — which is highly effective as the sensed context / need is propagated across the team as nano-stories, free-flowing through peer connections and relationships of trust. Individuals listening to the stories, mirror the feeling (fire-up same patterns of neurons) and decode the message. Collectively, the team comes up with a “screenplay” for action.

As the team gets access to more than one way of framing a situation / reframing problem statements, individuals gain a near-360 perspective on what needs done, with limited / documented briefing on the context.

This also creates a path of least resistance / high receptivity — for new information / pivots to be passed onto the team through stories, as it taps into our inherent ability to emote and feel the need ourselves.

Making “context setting” an act of storytelling, gets the context setter to deliver artistic expressions — so the context receivers can mirror the idea, energy efficiently.

Rational thinking may fall short, employ emotional mirroring — to drive simplicity & clarity.

“When I’m trying to articulate a human need, difficult to convey in words — I try to enact an emotion, recreate a scene from my story — using techniques from Bharatnattyam (an ancient Indian dance form). This makes briefings entertaining & I get to sense the impact on the listener. This has worked well for vision articulation, with my creative partners.”

— Co-Founder, Codewave

3. Cross-functional roles embrace unpredictability in the now, thereby opening quantum possibilities

Traditional roles in business are designed to create a predictable outcome. While this can lower the risk of return on investment, this also limits / restricts the multifarious possibilities the business can access.

Cross-functional teams in an “Agile” organization, make work an “experiment” that defines a project as shifting from a state A to a state B. Individuals and teams are free to imagine a path, evaluate possibilities at each moment, make choices dynamically and eventually get to state B. A retrospective is conducted at state B to observe the path traversed & summarize learning, so individual & collective roles (at different moments of context) can be varied in the future for more open journeys & optimal results.

“I’m mind blown at how a self-assembled team starts with a plan & explores freaking new possibilities”

— Co-Founder, Timely

Codewave’s product Timely, has been our bravest social experiment (so far) in productizing our culture — to make the world of work & workplaces more open, for generations to come.

Codewave was founded in 2013, to create an environment of radical transparency, empathy and peer comfort — helping individuals to go on a fearless adventure of knowing what to do, when no-one’s there telling what to do. We continue to be a living, social experiment open to individuals / families / societies / organizations finding self sustainable alternatives to work. We’re thankful to everyone on our journey so far, to have shaped us to be who we are, stay true to our experiment and to who we aspire to become.

For all we know, maybe this’s worth taking a chance to reimagine a new world.

3 reasons why cross-functional roles are the future was originally published in codewave technologies on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In a real world moment, where we’re all just taking a chance with our selves and each other — it’s time to do what it takes to sustain a level playing field.

Welcome to Work X.0: The virus & the vaccine.

Self assignment of work: Being highly ‘context aware’ in the moment & being open to taking chances with your self

Market needs today demand deep “context sensing”, “context awareness”, sustaining high alignment and agility. Businesses are challenged (now more than ever) to do the fine balancing act — between

1. Critical thinking leading to prompt decision making & action
   [and]
2. Acknowledging shared vulnerability of the unknown

as they go about fulfilling needs.

Businesses are challenged to remain curious & open at all times, to new ideas & perspectives that can radically change how a market need is perceived and how it can be fulfilled better.

In short, businesses are expected to be in a constant state of flux — sensing, learning & delivering the new in the now.

What does it take to do that?

A team of individuals with a resolve to approach problem solving (both at an individual level and a collective level), as an opportunity to become more self-aware and self-improving. An environment of safety for this team to take chances with their selves and each other, with an intent to serve the market need in the most optimal, energy efficient way, maximizing value delivered in the process.

Once you have above, all you need to do then is let the team sense the need, conceive the answer, breakdown what needs done and decide on how to do it. Basically, be nice.

Here are 3 reasons why self-assignment of work, is a sustainable alternative to work & workplaces.

1. Self assignment inspires taking the path of least resistance / conflict of interests

More often than not, when individuals are “instructed” what to do, there’s hardly an opportunity for individuals to “observe & perceive the context of need” from their perspective, “express ideas or suggestions” to jointly deliver value.

Basically, an individual is given a piece of work, invited to take a chance with their potential, often without much freedom to express how they see the challenge or suggest alternatives.

This often leads to a “precipitation of mental resistance” over time that can hinder the “best collective outcome”, from being delivered.

Self-assignment of work, on the other hand — invites every individual on the team to individually “observe the context of need” from their perspective, jointly breakdown what needs done and take a chance with their potential, in connection with their perceived peer power.

The individual also gets to independently assess the scope / responsibility they propose to take up — jointly evaluating business viability / project profitability with the team.

This allows an individual to first accept a risk / opportunity in coming forward to fulfil a need in their own way, with the team reassuring peer comfort — thereby minimizing stress / resistance in the process.

When every individual on the team feels self empowered to impact the collective outcome, the team gains greater agility [or] collective potential to respond to change (with least resistance).

In short, self assignment of work leads to self empowerment & team empowerment, which makes the journey of solving problems, more “entrepreneurial” — creating collective outcomes.

2. Self assignment inspires accessing one’s curiosity & resilience more often

Work is somewhat like a vaccine in appropriate measure, that can hurt and may initially feel like a part of the virus that can kill — and at the same time be that catalyst to develop the immunity to fight a virus that kills when you’re confronted with one.

Work can be a great opportunity to access one’s (inherent yet concealed) human abilities — like connection, responsibility, compassion, resilience, sustainability, fearlessness, creativity, curiosity, impact on others etc given a sense of safety to endure this journey within oneself.

Given an environment of (sustained) trust & psychological safety, an individual is likely to accept work as an opportunity to explore their potential and give back to the society in their own ways.

Basically, choose evolution.

Given an individual is highly vulnerable, as they’re accessing their creativity, resilience and navigating through fears in the face of challenge — it’s extremely important to sustain an atmosphere where the individual is not criticized / penalized to have taken a brave move with an intent to create the best outcome.

When the culture / ethos is reassuring for an individual to safely approach work, as an opportunity to access one’s inherent resilience and mental health — self assignment of work can lead to sustained wellness and leadership development.

3. Self assignment fuels gratitude for self & others

Humans are symbiotic beings, evolving through our ability to be interdependent and deliver (mutually beneficial) exchange of value. In our virtuous commitment to deliver value to each other, we may not always dedicate moments to delve in gratitude / thankfulness, pride / appreciation, compassion / empathy for ourselves and for others, for setting the stage in the first place.

In an environment, where an individual self-assigns work, being aware that it is a teamsport — there’s an “underlying belief” that one is taking a chance with oneself, in awareness of the vulnerability of the self and the inevitability of their interdependence on others.

This very awareness, can fuel an individual to feel thankful to self for taking a chance to explore themselves and feel thankful to everyone for their presence in co-creating the journey (irrespective of the outcome).

When the environment is designed for accomplishment & gratitude, at every moment of opportunity —individuals feel invited to share credit to others, as much as they recognize themselves. As a result, the team becomes a mirror reflection of an individual’s greatness one observes in oneself.

Codewave’s product Timely, has been our bravest social experiment (so far) in productizing our culture — to make the world of work & workplaces more open, for generations to come.

Codewave was founded in 2013, to create an environment of radical transparency, empathy and peer comfort — helping individuals to go on a fearless adventure of knowing what to do, when no-one’s there telling what to do. We continue to be a living, social experiment open to individuals / families / societies / organizations finding self sustainable alternatives to work. We’re thankful to everyone on our journey so far, to have shaped us to be who we are, stay true to our experiment and to who we aspire to become.

For all we know, maybe this’s worth taking a chance to reimagine a new world.

3 reasons why self assignment of work is the future was originally published in codewave technologies on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We asked our people, what does it take for Codewave to be a 100% remote organization?

These are the key points / highlights that emerged.

Challenge #1: For “context-setting” that happens everyday at various levels in various groups — when the context is always driven by a strong purpose / vision / intention / empathy, communicating ideas over video seems to be often limiting, given that a lot of this is conveyed through silences, pauses & through body language. Additionally the core message needs to percolate to everyone, without compromising on the intensity of the central idea / motive. Ensuring content is delivered in the most effective way, evoking maximum participation & response — seems to be a challenge virtually.

Challenge #2: For projects requiring physical / hardware device / firmware level integrations (applicable for IoT projects), the mobile engineering team predicted a few challenges with development & testing. This may not be applicable for software-only projects. Eventually, we may find cloud alternatives for virtual simulations and testing.

We then went round the table and listened to everyone narrating how their routines changed & what they loved most about being home.

These are the key points / highlights that emerged.

People who travel to their native on long weekends or twice a year on planned long leaves — are now looking at their connections with their roots very differently. They’re now appreciating the leisure time they get to spend with their mother & father, which otherwise was missing in their urban, metro life. They also appreciated how they could simply offer companionship to their mothers, during the evenings.

Presence at their birth home, seems to be certainly strengthening, deepening the relationship with parents & children. Home cooked meal is becoming permanent fashion.

To summarize, with common work timings, robust internet infra at our homes & tools to enable self-managed work sprints — organizations can be geared to go 100% remote.

Codewave is a design led technology development services company. Codewave has no managers. It adopts radical transparency, sharing the firms contract terms, margins and revenue with all its members. Performance review discussions happen among peers. All management practices are grounded on trust and common-sense. No silly office timings or vacation rules. It’s no surprise then that our culture is loved, attrition rates negligible and customer satisfaction high. Our practices are evoking a lot of interest and curiosity among modern day organizations.

Can we be a 100% remote org? We asked our people & here’s what they said. was originally published in codewave technologies on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.