Announcing the Better Business Beatdown (#bbbdsm) – an open-source series of idiotic challenges between Des Moines area businesses. We’re creating the template and issuing the first challenge in hopes that other businesses will join in. Feel free to snag the layout below and issue your own challenges – including back to us!

We thought this up on Friday afternoon (there may have been beer involved) and we’re launching it today. BitMethod has received a lot virtual awards from Silicon Valley blogs like ReadWriteWeb and TechCrunch, but we’re really craving some solid, atom-filled hardware to stick on our shelves. How better to acquire said hardware than buy trophies, design contests we know we can win, and win them?

In brainstorming competitors, one name quickly rose to the top: RAYGUN. With their bold proclamation of “Greatest Store in the Universe”, we felt that they would be unwilling – nay, unable – to walk away from a challenge.

Following is our challenge to Raygun in the Better Business Beatdown.

Better Business Beatdown Challenge (#bbbdsm)

CHALLENGER: BitMethod, a mobile and web application development company

CHALLENGING: Raygun, an East Village t-shirt shop and self-proclaimed “Greatest Store in the Universe”

CONTEST: Mario Kart Wii, 4-player Team Race.

RULES: 150CC Class, 12 Races, Normal * CPU, Balanced Items, Random Courses

VICTORY CONDITIONS: Winner will be determined automatically by points within the game.

TIME AND PLACE: Wednesday, August 4th, 8:00pm at Impromptu Studio 300 SW 5th Street

AWARD: Hand-cobbled-together Des Moines Mario Kart Trophy

DESCRIPTION: Our two best Mario Kart Wii players will challenge your two best Mario Kart Wii players in a game we know (well, think) we can win to score some sweet hardware. 12 races of shell slinging, lightning blasting, Kart slamming racing action.

CONSIDERATIONS: Our Wii is open to your competitors for practice anytime during Impromptu Studio’s business hours

ACCEPTANCE: If accepted, drop us a note with your best posturing and smacktalk on the RAYGUN blog. Intimidate us…if you can. If the date/time/conditions are unacceptable, you may initiate negotioations by emailing dan@bitmethod.com.

3 comments

To some bosses, conflict is a dirty word – something to be avoided at all costs. I’ve developed a different view of conflict and its purpose, and it’s all thanks to the first boss I ever had.

When I was a young lad I worked as a stock boy at the local grocery store. Tom was the store manager. Over time, he grew to depend on me to get a vast array of things done in a timely manner. I loved the responsibility and really enjoyed having Tom as a boss. Having taken on so much responsibility, I decided one day that a raise was in order. I marched into Tom’s office and asked for one. Things got heated during our discussion and he eventually gave me a very firm no. As I went to leave, Tom could tell that I was angry and upset with him. He proceeded to tell me something I still remember to this day. He said…

“Dan, I liked you yesterday, last week, and last month. And though we may not like each other very much right now, I’m still going to like you tomorrow and I hope that you’ll do the same.”

Tom understood the importance of allowing conflict (the event) to happen in order to prevent conflict (the state-of-being) from living on. We talked, we argued, and it was done. No passive aggressiveness, no “I’ll look into it”. A healthy discussion with a healthy attitude. It increased my respect for Tom and made me feel even more comfortable working with him after that.

I take this view of conflict into a lot of things we do here at BitMethod – design reviews are a great example. We put everything on the table and let the best opinions rise to the top. When it comes time for a client to see the work, team BitMethod is on the same page. I didn’t get the raise, and I still thought I deserved it, but Tom’s handling of the situation kept me from being in constant conflict with him.

If you haven’t noticed, things have really picked up around here. New clients, new employees, and lots of new experiences to tackle. In business you are constantly trying to minimize the bad and maximize the good: productivity, responsibility, profits, etc. When days feel like they’re flying by, it seems easier to use policies overly simplistic solutions to solve very complex problems. Becoming overly dependent on policies is a very dangerous road.

One of the hallmarks we stand behind is that employee trust is paramount. As CEO of a six-person startup, my time is better spent making great things happen instead of drafting policy after policy to combat random issues that pop up. Policies are a funny thing; they crop up to deal with uncomfortable situations a business would rather not think its way through. I have more faith in our employees and in BitMethod than that. Instead we have a guiding maxim that we adhere to.

BitMethod’s Guiding Maxim: Respect yourself, your clients, your coworkers and the company.

Things like vacation and sick day policies do not formally exist at BitMethod. I intend to keep it that way. I would like to think we hire folks that won’t bail and run off to Fiji during the critical phase of a scheduled project. Instead, I’d like to think we have a team smart enough to apply our golden rule to things like vacations, sick days and uncomfortable situations. Smart people will sort themselves out. At the end of the day we want everyone to be as happy and productive as possible. That includes taking time for yourself.

Take a look at what work policies you or your company have in place right now. Are they complicating life for your superstars while being ignored by imbeciles who still collect a paycheck? Why are those folks that bring the company down still there? Is it because that even with policies in place you are still avoiding the uncomfortable situations?

Workers: What policies have frustrated you or made you less productive and happy at work?

Bosses: Ever had a moment of weakness and created policies instead of dealing with the situation head-on?

Still not convinced? Go examine what a large successful company like Netflix does.

4 comments

What does professionalism mean today? To us it means never compromising on who we are. You won’t find dorky corporate headshots on our website where we all share the same suit coat. Our snapshots may be equally cheesy, but they reflect who we truly are. What does corporate and bland say other than “corporate and bland”?

We have no dress code at the BitMethod offices – especially helpful since we office out of a coworking studio. We just wear what’s comfortable. Some wear slacks and dress shirts, some wear jeans and t-shirts, and Scott has a penchant for flannel (much to Josh’s chagrin, he has even been seen wearing shorts on a week day. The humanity!). Sure, I’ll don a suit from time to time when the situation calls for it, but I’m much more of a jacket and jeans kind of guy.

Our offices are functional, not fancy. Come by during the day and you might catch us playing Mario Kart with our coworkers (or our Coworkers). Does this make us any less professional? Why should it? Our clients are REAL human beings and they love interacting with other REAL people.

Our team is made up of trustworthy, proud, outspoken folks with lots of personality. We wouldn’t have it any other way. Schools and corporations with discipline problems are the ones that look to uniforms as a magic bullet, not great workplaces full of smart, self-disciplined people.

A note to future clients – We always love it when you bring beer to meetings. It has happened before and we are sure that it will happen again!

Bottom line: BitMethod defines professionalism in terms of job performance. Professionals get the job done. Period.

1 comments

The BitMethod team have had our noses to the grindstone the past few months and it’s really paying off! With just over a year under our belt, we’re already privileged to be able to expand our team and welcome two new members to the BitMethod family: Amanda Morrow and Scott Kubie.

Amanda ( @amandamorrow ) joins our team as an Interactive Designer. She’ll be focused on taking our words, ideas and napkin sketches and turning them into visual realities. She’s got her head down now learning all the ins and outs of the Apple design specs and we look forward to the fresh perspective she’ll bring to our projects.

Scott ( @scottrocketship ) joins the company as our new Creative Strategist. He’ll be focused on the execution of creative projects and will continue the work he began as a freelancer in finding the right voice and putting words to paper for all things BitMethod.

Combined, Amanda and Scott will also focus on getting Dan to eat more vegetables.

Keep an eye on Brick by Brick as Amanda and Scott will both be saying their own hello here on the blog in the next few days. In the meantime, feel free to give them a shout on Twitter or drop a hello in the comments!