Common Knowledge | Wondering something?
CTC Commendations, Mission, Values
Commendations
Going forward, we’ll be running commendations based on CTC’s core values, and nominating folks for each of those values every week. You’ll receive an invite to participate in the nomination process each Tuesday, and winners for the week will be announced in each Friday meeting.
By way of reminder, here are our Mission and Values:
Our Mission
We exist to help entrepreneurs achieve their dreams.
(V x CR x LTV) – VC = Profit
V = Number of visitors to a brand’s online store. CTC can help maximize this through Facebook/Instagram Ads, Google Ads, Search Engine Optimization, Email Campaigns, and PR.
Conversion Rate = Fraction of visitors who purchase. CTC can help maximize this through Ux Design, Merchandising, Improving Site Speed, and A/B Testing and Optimization.
Cash Multiplier = 60 day lifetime customer value (LTV). CTC can help maximize this through Retargeting on Social Media, Email, Search Engine Marketing, and SMS Campaigns.
Variable Costs = Every dollar a business pays to get product to purchasers, including cost of goods sold (COGS), supply chain, warehousing, merchant fees, and more. This is generally a core business function of the client, but CTC can offer a wealth of experience and advice on reducing this number thanks to our extensive experience operating successful direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands ourselves.
Profit = What our clients use to make their dreams come true.
Our Values
CTC has five core values that flow through everything we do (including the names of our conference rooms). They are:
- Best in Class
- Respect the Rest
- Embrace IDEA
- Clear is Kind
- Start Palms Down
- Plant New Flags
These imperatives are nice because they’re short, clear, and easy to remember. Nonetheless we’re going to expound a bit on what they mean and where the came from.
Best in Class
Good:
- Maximizing your time by being #planful & prioritizing
- Your ad copy is outperforming others’ in AB testing because you’ve honed the craft of copywriting through CTC L&D opportunities
- Your work on an account contributes to consistent 4 & 5s on the client pulse
- Your precise use of Asana sets you up for success in long-term projects & recurring tasks
- You schedule your day, not the other way around
- You launched a new company wide initiative anticipating questions, created a resource on Common Knowledge, offered loom trainings, and teased out propaganda leading up the big reveal.
Bad:
- Your decks have inconsistencies with branding, wrong or out-dated information
- Your client’s pulse scores are inconsistent or below a 4
- You do not have a consistent method for project planning and task accountability
- Your schedule is unbalanced and priorities are unclear
- You launched a new initaitve company-wide with no communication, no resources, no insights to the change
Definition: Best in Class means you set the bar. Your effort resulted in excellence across delivery, service, and process. What you did, how you did it, and the outcome you created lead the way for others to model after.
Respect the Rest
Good:
- Maximizing your time by being #planful & prioritizing appropriately.
- Use your weeknights, weekends, and PTO as intentional space to rest & disconnect.
- Respond appropriately to change requests by processing the impact on existing commitments.
- Leverage your permission to say “no” or “not yet.”
- Plan ahead to take time off by working with your director supervisor to fill the gaps.
- Have the courage to tell your direct supervisor when you need help.
Bad:
- Procrastinating and using work hours inefficiently, setting yourself up to “pull an all nighter.”
- Always being “on call” — immediately replying to every Slack and expecting the same of others.
- Blindly committing to project changes without considering the impact at large.
- Using the excuse “I’ll have too much work to come back to” as a reason not to take PTO.
- Failing to delegate responsibilities, requiring you to “stay on” while you’re OOO.
- Keeping it to yourself when you’re overwhelmed and failing to ask for help.
Definition | Respect the Rest means planning ahead and giving yourself the chance to live from a place of balance. Work isn’t meant to get in the way of life. It’s meant to be part of your life.
Embrace I.D.E.A.
Good
- Showing appreciation for diverse thought to keep groupthink at bay.
- Seeking first to understand another’s perspective, then to be understood.
- Being aware of your assumptions, bias, judgements and actively working to confront them.
- Going out of your way to find time to connect with members of CTC that are different from you.
- Functioning from a place of sincere curiosity and empathy.
Bad
- Rushing to a decision based on the loudest voice in the room.
- Forcing your point for the sake of building up your own ego.
- Using judgement, bias, and stereotypes as sources in decision making.
- Treating people who don’t look, sound, or think like you, as if they are less than you or wrong.
- Opting out of participation.
- Assuming your experience is everyone’s experience.
Definition | Embrace I.D.E.A. means being an equitable workplace that honors the validity of all voices — across race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age, and ability. A safe space to bring your whole self.
Clear Is Kind
Good
- Providing context and setting clear expectations.
- Asking for what you need.
- Approaching feedback compassionately.
- Considering your audience when speaking.
- Holding others accountable to their commitments.
- Using Forward Progress to celebrate wins and address opportunities.
- Letting clients know what is and isn’t reasonable.
- Engaging in Commendations.
- Speaking up when you feel emotionally triggered.
Bad
- Keeping expectations to yourself and then being upset they aren’t met.
- Avoiding direct and difficult conversations out of discomfort.
- Being obnoxious or aggressive in your delivery of feedback.
- Speaking poorly of someone behind their backs.
- Failing to document feedback or clear directive.
- Allowing clients to dictate the relationship and then becoming bitter about it.
- Undermining another’s success out of jealousy.
- Keeping to yourself when you’re going through a hard time.
Definition | Clear is Kind means rejecting assumptions, seeking understanding, and then offering direct feedback. Expectations aren’t the enemy; they are the standard for success.
Start Palms Down
Good
- Utilizing the platinum rule: treating others the way they want to be treated.
- Asking what you can do to help, then following through.
- Anticipating and meeting the needs of others without being asked.
- Seizing opportunities to engage in exceptional customer service.
- Celebrating others genuinely with Surprise & Delights through time and intention.
- Engaging in Dream Day.
- Participating in #ctc_keep_ctc_human, ERGs, and Slack interest groups.
Bad
- Asking for support more than you give it.
- Delivering the bare minimum.
- Consistently miss deadlines.
- Treating clients differently based on billables.
- Being “too cool to care” and opting out of vulnerability.
- Having your camera off and not engaging on company Zoom calls.
- Being “radio silent” on Slack.
Definition | Start Palms Down means leading with compassion and service — giving without expecting to receive. Make consistency a superpower. Go above and beyond in delivery.
Plant New Flags
Good
- Using each win as a launch pad to your next challenge.
- Actively seeking ways to expand your capacity and abilities.
- Making thoughtful decisions and confidently following through.
- Looking outside of yourself for inspiration that will elevate you.
- Taking chances and practicing courage.
- Sharing your learnings at Friday Meetings so others may benefit.
Bad
- Being complacent.
- Only setting goals that you 100% know you can achieve.
- Only taking on projects that are squarely within your area of expertise.
- Believing that your talents are unchangeable or incapable of growing.
- Thinking you have all the answers to everything.
- Hiding failed attempts out of shame, not allowing yourself or anyone else to benefit from them.
Definition | Plant New Flags means approaching life with an unstoppable growth mindset, never allowing achievements to plateau. Set goals that grow bolder each day. Stop hesitating and fail forward.