The value of moving slowly

It takes time to find yourself. That is, it takes time to realize that you may never find yourself. And that the path is the goal, not the other way around. This also applies to a company. Who are we and what do we want to be good at? For Dekode, it has taken ten years.

Magne Ilsaas, founder, CEO and partner of Dekode, reflects on the ups and downs of starting and running a company, and gives a taste of the road ahead - where Dekode focuses on projects with socially beneficial purposes.

An experienced jubilant

A 10-year anniversary is in itself somewhat peculiar. It is a celebration of something that is still in its infancy, but at the same time it also refers to something that has already been passed. It's the first real milestone, a kind of approved entrance exam. It's only now that we've gained the clout to say something that actually has the potential to resonate. A weight that is based on experience and not just relaying someone else's already fading echo.

During these ten years, we haven't fallen flat on our face, even though we've been in trouble several times. Now the pendulum is about to swing from "it can easily go wrong" to "it can easily go right". Ten years of experience, trial and error, marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of the next for Dekode. 

We've been moving slowly

Some might think that ten years is too long for a company like Dekode to be able to say that we know what we want and why we exist. Those who know me, know that my motto is that we have to move slowly. With a foundation in technology, there has been no shortage of opportunities to jump on the latest and greatest trends. The fact that we've waited as long as we have to take a clear position is precisely why, with the naïve eagerness of an entrepreneur, I'm embarking on the next chapter with newfound faith and joy in what we're doing.

Everything up until now has been about getting to this point. We've taken our time, stuck to what we're good at, namely WordPress, and haven't been distracted by hyper and trends. We've stayed in the background and haven't needed to shout and opine much, in an already crowded technological echo chamber.

It's easy to overlook those who don't stick their necks out, but at the same time there's something nice about being the overlooked one. It gives you room to try and fail, to accumulate knowledge and experience, quietly, but now we're ready.

Influencers in society

We have found our way forward, which is a result of shared expertise and values at Dekode: to use our WordPress expertise to contribute to the benefit of society. In the short term, we will do this through the customers and projects we choose to work with, where we get to use our knowledge to influence society in a positive direction. At the same time, we're working hard to create the best platform for conducting digital organizational work, and dream of going far with it.

We are pleased that we have waited so long to express such a clear position on working with the social benefit segment. Only now do we feel confident that we have the right combination of knowledge and experience, the right people with the necessary skills, and the confidence needed to make long-term choices. 

Although this is a goal we have been working on for a while internally, we have not wanted to shout it out until we actually have something to shout about. It has been both fun and scary at the same time to bet on this. We know that it will take time to build a solid customer base that hits this positioning, and we will certainly be working with a wide range of clients . Fortunately, there are many things to take away and the social benefits are broad. There are an incredible number of fine and exciting companies and organizations out there, and it will be exciting to have an internal dialogue about both opportunities and limitations. 

The road to the goal

Working with socially beneficial projects has become a clear guideline in everything we do. On the way to the goal, it has become clear to us which ones clients we do not want to work with. Actually turning down several projects that do not match our values has been a good exercise over the past year.

We have had many for a long time clients which fits this positioning, and had an attraction towards this type of project, but it was only a year ago that we decided that this should be our way forward. Until then, we, like so many others, have done projects for everything and everyone, and experienced frustration at how difficult it can be to stand out in the crowd. Now we have a desire to supplement our technology knowledge with sharp, in-depth expertise on what it takes for an organization or company, with a focus on social benefit, to become the best digital version of itself.

Nor is it entirely selfless that we want to work with these customers. In fact, from a professional point of view, they are some of the most exciting customers we can think of. In many cases, digital platforms are their most important communication channels, and for many of them, websites are one of their most important sources of income. This means that they are often several horses' heads ahead of the average Norwegian company in terms of digital maturity and willingness to think long-term.
And that suits us well. 

With a focus on the long term

We take a long-term approach to the people we work with and know that few projects are finished at launch. That's when everyday digital life begins. Over time, we have developed a process that meets this need for a long-term approach. 

In order to achieve this, it's not enough to do the usual target group exercises about who the websites are for. We also need to understand our customers' internal processes and working day, and not least how we can streamline and create good tools that make them independent in their digital activities. For many organizations, digital strategy and organizational development are closely linked. Technology alone is rarely enough and an organization is dependent on having people with the right skills, or the will and desire to acquire the right skills.

As an agency built on open source, we've experienced its value first-hand, but it's only now that we've truly understood what open source means beyond "free code". It's about openness, relationships, trust, patience, communication, collaboration and the ability to move slowly. And these are values that are a prerequisite for digital success. It's about people, not machines and technology.

So there you have it! 

We are looking forward to the road ahead and where this will take us in the next 10 years. We'll be sharing knowledge and experiences, and talking about both the ups and downs. 

As the year draws to a close, we can already see that working purposefully towards something yields results. We're incredibly proud of all the great customers we work with. In fact, we're so proud that, in good Christmas calendar tradition, we want to present a little of what we're working on every day in the run-up to Christmas.

Want to know more about how we work with organizations?
Read more here.