New gig at Learnosity

Testing out the Learnosity Pool Table

I'm excited to have started a new project in the Information Experience team at Learnosity, for so many reasons.

Good Karma Industry

Learnosity are building the assessment widgets which enable online learning, the scaling of training, and by extension, the democratisation of education. For me, enabling the next generation ranks highly in the "good karma" stakes. It makes you feel like you are doing something valuable for the world every time you head to work.

Treated Like Family

On my first day at work, I was handed my Macbook Pro with the advice: "Do what you like with this. Just don't do anything that your mother wouldn't be proud of."
No lists of "do’s" and "don'ts", no documents to sign, just the assumption that people treated like adults behave like adults. This was my first taste of a culture of mutual respect which appears to have been wired into Learnosity's DNA.

Everyone is Responsible for Innovation

Everyone is encouraged to share their ideas, recommendations, and provide constructive criticisms. If an idea holds merit, it is implemented, no matter who suggested it.
And in an industry of rapid change, a key criteria for sustained success is a company's ability to empower each and every employee to be creative and innovative. Learnosity has embraced this ethos. Within the first few weeks of onboarding, my opinion was being asked across a wide range of topics. And that wasn't because I was someone special. It is just what is being done in an office full of smart people solving hard technical problems.

Smart Business Model

In the digital economy there are two dominant business models which work well. Either you solve a generic problem by supplying an awesome "category killer" application which you sell to the world; or you provide personalised services for local organisations or specialised use cases. Learnosity fits into the first category, and over the last ten years have established itself as the "category killer" of assessment software widgets. The bonus from an employee's point of view is that you will make a difference to the millions of people who will end up using your contributions.
Further, the supportive culture and mutual respect within the office extends to Learnosity's customer base too, as evidenced by the high customer retention rate. And that is good for employee morale.

Buzzword Compliant

And then there are all the other buzzword compliant employee perks. There are bean bags, standing desks, free fruit bowl, a pool table, a retro Space Invaders machine, a beer keg (we have Irish founders), a "happiness" allowance, free yoga (admittedly provided by our building providers) and more. People work hard, play hard, and support each other. It is a nice and welcoming place to be.

Will I Make a Difference?

I sure hope so. Two of us have been brought in to help the Information Experience team take Learnosity communications from good to awesome. I'm looking forward to the challenge.

A variant of this post was published on Learnosity's blog.