Introducing The ZADDYs: ThreeSixtyEight’s Internal Initiative to Challenge Complacency

Perhaps our earliest and most instinctive core value, the idea of “better,” serves as a cultural gut check at ThreeSixtyEight. On the surface, it may seem like a rallying cry to outperform the competition, but that’s not how we see it. For us, being better means practicing objectivity and checking our ego at the door, knowing that we can always improve.

As we enter awards season, it’s easy to get caught up in the competition. But while fun, awards shows shouldn’t be our driving motivator or sole definition of success. Sure, earning and celebrating wins feels excellent, but true betterment comes from our ability to self-criticize.

Enter the ZADDYs.

We created the ZADDYs Awards Show to internally recognize the most Uncommon Work produced from the previous year.

This ceremony serves as our internal gut check, challenging our own biases and examining our work to determine if it was, in fact, more innovative than the year before. Through this event, we hope to uncover patterns that consistently lead to Uncommon Work (plus – we get another chance to celebrate together!).

We based the award categories on our Uncommon Gut Check — our shortlist of characteristics necessary to create genuinely uncommon work.

Here’s how the 2021 ZADDYs went down:

• ThreeSixtyEight team members submitted their votes for the most Uncommon Work, making a case for why it deserves recognition.
• Various department leads, our leadership team, and external clients voted on the nominations. We incorporated this multi-departmental and external stakeholder representation to prevent an echo-chamber effect of internal bias.
• We hosted our own internal awards show in true 2021 fashion, virtually conferencing-in remote team members from across the country. Following the presentation, our local team members celebrated afterward at a safe get-together.

Cheers to our 2021 winners for challenging common thinking:

• Pushing Boundaries: Louisiana Department of Health – Hazards
• Purpose-Driven Empathy: Louisiana Department of Health – Hazards
• Surprise and Delight: Louisiana Department of Health – Hazards
• Beauty: Louisiana Department of Health – Hazards
• Beyond the Brief: ThreeSixtyEight – Project TurnTable
• Best of Show: Louisiana Department of Health – Hazards

Above: Videos promoting the LDH Childcare Centers and Natural Disasters training site. 

Above: Landing page for the LDH Hazards (Childcare Centers and Natural Disasters) training website.

Above: Artwork and illustration created for Project Turntable promotional video.

Above: Image of the Project Turntable fully interactive landing page. 

So yes, we realize there were only two real winners this year. While it’s tempting to feature other pieces to prevent a sweep, that would defeat the purpose of satisfying our inner critic. It would also stop us from recognizing the patterns that lead to uncommon work.

The consequence of not facing our inner critic is too great a cost for our team and our clients.

We can’t wait to see the uncommon work produced next year.

Two is the number to beat, and we believe that the best is yet to come.

PS: You may be wondering about the name. That’s a story for another day.