REBORRN's Operating System: Publicly available to everyone
Written by @Kelly Panagiotidou
Every team has an operating system(OS), whether they have deliberately designed it or not. Over the past six years, we've meticulously crafted and refined ours. Today we are unveiling REBORRN OS 1.0. We called it like that because it is the first we make public. In reality, it's more like REBORRN OS 77.5.
We're not sharing our operating system because we think it’s perfect, or because we believe you should copy it exactly. It works for us (for now), but every company should develop their own version that makes sense for them—just like we help our clients do.
To be honest—and candor is one of our core values—our motivation for going public is somewhat selfish. In our retrospectives, we've noticed a pattern: while we excel at delivering for clients, meeting deadlines, and staying focused, we're not as great at prioritising our internal projects. For instance, our reel was amazing but sat in our backlog for over a year. Our career paths? They lingered for multiple quarters. So, we asked ourselves, “How can we bring the same sense of urgency to our internal projects as we do for our clients?” The answer: we need to commit to a more demanding audience.
So here we are, committing publicly to releasing a new version of our OS every quarter. We’re treating our OS like a product, continuously adding new features based on feedback from our clients and team.
We have tried to be very transparent with the information, sharing details like our interview questions database, how we pay, and even how we fire. We describe how we defined our purpose and values and ensure they remain at the core of everything we do. How we connect and align, and even how we sell or how we choose our client gifts.
How We Built Our Operating System
Our team is incredibly diverse, but we share some core beliefs that shaped our OS:
None of us had consulting experience before joining REBORRN. We were all in-house executives or entrepreneurs, giving us practical insights into what works and, most importantly, what doesn’t.
We’ve experienced slow, heavy, and overly prescriptive processes, so we avoid them. We prefer principles over-rules and introduce them slowly and thoughtfully. For instance, we don’t have an expense policy and we have an unlimited, self-managed vacation policy.
Our purpose and values are central to everything we do, not just in theory but in tangible ways.
We’re curious and open, borrowing with pride from frameworks and tools that make sense to us. For example, design thinking is core to our approach, but we adapt it to our needs for every project.
We constantly iterate. Everything, except our purpose and values, is subject to change based on feedback from our clients and team.
Iterating our OS is a team effort. Everyone contributes ideas and feedback. For example, a consultant created a template for project kick-offs, and another launched our sip-and-share sessions.
How to (Re) Design Your Own Operating System
When we help clients redesign their OS, we usually follow 5 steps (and of course, customise as needed). We share them here for inspiration, in case you would like to do the same:
Reflect: Identify what works well in your OS and where there are tensions. Gather feedback through surveys, interviews, focus groups, or by shadowing team meetings. This step is crucial but should be quick—2-3 weeks max.
Inspiration: Apart from our OS, look at what other companies are doing, including competitors. Remember, one size doesn’t fit all, so it’s best to customise ideas to fit your needs.
Design Solutions: Address tensions and build on your strengths. Start with the “brilliant basics” before moving to “nice-to-have” features. Prioritise areas like team collaboration over things like recognition programs.
Experiment: Test solutions in one team or function for 3-6 months, gather feedback, and refine before scaling.
Iterate: Constantly improve your solutions and the rest of your OS. Build the muscle to continuously enhance how you operate.
How to Benefit from Our Operating System
As we've mentioned, our OS works for us, but it might not work for you. One size doesn’t fit all, so copying it outright won’t work. Instead, we hope you'll find elements that inspire you. Take these, adapt them, improve them, and make them your own.
Our ultimate goal is to invite more organisations to publish their OS. By generously sharing what works, we can all advance together and benefit everyone along the way.
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Amaziiing! Thank you for sharing!