Better Every Day | A Culture of Learning for Better Outcomes

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“Better Every Day™” has been Adlucent’s mantra since our inception. It’s the most succinct way to sum up our culture, and it’s our secret sauce to proving outperformance has no limit as a media, data, and analytics agency. It’s a mindset we look for when hiring talent and promoting our brand, and a muscle we exercise when developing digital marketing services, data and analytics solutions, and reimagining client outcomes. It’s woven into our mission, vision, and core values, and we even have it written on the wall just in case someone forgets.  

WHAT DOES BETTER EVERY DAY ACTUALLY MEAN?

“Better Every Day™” is a culture of learning. A culture of learning is characterized by an environment that encourages continuous learning, growth, and development among its employees. This type of culture recognizes that the world is constantly changing, and individuals and organizations need to adapt to stay relevant and competitive.

And this is why our people-centric mission is to inspire the problem-solvers of tomorrow to reimagine client outcomes. We intentionally chose that wording because it not only feels authentic to our 20+ year history of growing digital marketing experts and achieving stellar client outcomes but also demonstrates the mindset of continuous learning and improvement necessary to continue to thrive for another 20+ years. Let’s break it down further. 

CULTURE OF LEARNING

The two key aspects of a culture of learning are psychological safety and accountability. More importantly, it’s the delicate balance of these two aspects that lead to success. When individuals feel safe to take risks and contribute without fear of negative consequences, and when there’s accountability for applying and sharing knowledge, organizations can thrive in a dynamic and evolving world.

PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY

Psychological safety refers to the belief that one will not face negative consequences for taking interpersonal risks, such as speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes.

This is crucial in a learning culture as employees need to feel comfortable expressing their opinions, sharing their experiences, and admitting when they don’t know something without fear of reprisal. When individuals feel psychologically safe, they are more likely to take risks, experiment with new ideas, and engage in open and honest communication. This, in turn, helps all of us be better every day.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Accountability involves taking responsibility for one’s actions and outcomes. It means setting and meeting performance expectations and being answerable for the results. This applies internally in one’s own psyche, as well as externally with clients and coworkers.

In a learning culture, accountability ensures that individuals are actively applying what they’ve learned. It creates a sense of ownership and commitment to personal and organizational growth. Accountability complements learning by translating knowledge into action. It encourages individuals to apply new skills, share insights with their teams, and contribute to achieving organizational goals.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BALANCE

We get better every day when we strike the balance between psychological safety and accountability. Keep in mind this refers to an overall balance throughout the course of time. It is normal to feel out of balance temporarily based on mood, circumstance, and other factors. But this should be short-lived; achieving a culture of continuous learning means you should have this foundation to ground you to create a sustainable mindset. 

Let’s start at the top left of the chart below and go counterclockwise:

• High psychological safety and low accountability puts us in the comfort zone. While this sounds cozy, it will likely not lead to maximizing personal potential, a motivator I believe is necessary to achieving a sense of purpose and meaning at work.
• Low psychological safety and low accountability leads to apathy — a lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern. Apathetic individuals aren’t typically attempting to learn or get better. This mindset can lead to toxic workplace culture as it decreases healthy competition, motivation, and knowledge sharing among colleagues. 
• Low psychological safety and high accountability is the anxiety zone. Communication breaks down, mistakes are made, and a healthy mental state is threatened. This mindset is the least sustainable as it focuses only on outputs, not people.
• High psychological safety and high accountability brings us to the learning zone, also known as the achievement zone. This is where continuous growth and development occur, and people feel most rewarded.

A CULTURE OF LEARNING LEADS TO BETTER OUTCOMES

At Adlucent, we look for a better every day mindset in our tried and tested 35-step hiring process, and we continue to foster it by investing in our people-first culture. We emphasize teamwork, recognize and reward accomplishments, and passionately create opportunities for Adlucites to grow personally and professionally. Our culture of learning leads to better outcomes and is where I attribute our growth over the years. Our employee and client retention rates repeatedly beat industry averages, we’re grateful that our clients consistently refer us to new business, and we continue to make breakthroughs in our clients’ digital advertising performance. 

And it helps that I work with some of the kindest, sharpest, collaborative coworkers in the business. 

In summary, a successful culture of learning in the workplace requires a delicate balance between psychological safety and accountability. When we feel safe to take risks and contribute without fear of negative consequences, and when there’s accountability for applying and sharing knowledge, we can thrive in our ever-changing environment.

Laura Russell

Laura is a creative problem solver and innovative marketer with 15 years of experience spanning business strategy, marketing, and client services. Currently serving as Adlucent’s VP of Marketing and Culture, Laura heads up both B2B marketing as well as the company's culture and employee experience function.