“The reason that you’re here is because we’re designing Wood Wharf with scaling entrepreneurial businesses and individuals in mind” – Tarun Mathur, Canary Wharf Group
The #WeAreWoodWharf event series is bringing members of London’s scale-up community together for intimate gatherings to encourage important discussions and establish meaningful connections.
Our first event was hosted by Bruce Daisley, Twitter’s former VP EMEA and the Sunday Times’ bestselling author of The Joy of Work. The event focused on exploring the changes that can be made to create a happier and more engaged workforce.
Following breakfast, provided by FarmerJ and 640East, (Wood Wharf neighbourhood favourites), guests were invited to join Bruce Daisley to talk about workplace culture, and how they could achieve The Joy of Work. Bruce was at Twitter in its scale-up stage and has seen first-hand the significance of workplace culture, and just how defining it can be to a businesses’ success.
“SOMETIMES HAVING A GOOD WORKING CULTURE CAN FEEL LIKE A SUPERPOWER. IT CAN FEEL LIKE IT’S AN ENERGISING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE” – BRUCE DAISLEY
A businesses success depends on its employees, with Bruce voicing that one of the most significant factors in creating the best teams is psychological safety. Creating an environment in which feedback can be given candidly, and securely, whilst also allowing for mistakes to be admitted to without fear of the consequences.
It isn’t just the type of environment, but how long we spend in it which plays a significant role. Given the success of Elon Musk, people might find it surprising that Bruce advises against Musk’s hustle culture, encouraging attendees to be inspired more by the prolific writer, Charles Dickens. Dickens would write for 5 hours in the morning before spending his afternoon walking 10 miles; make sure you allow time for yourself within your day, to stimulate your creativity.
“IT’S SO FASCINATING TO SEE NEW DEVELOPMENTS OF AREAS FOSTERING SCALE-UPS, LIKE WOOD WHARF, THAT ARE BRINGING THEM TOGETHER”– BRUCE DAISLEY
With the observation that small teams make better decisions, there was also hugely encouraging messages for the Wood Wharf community that is being built for scale-ups, and to support their growth. Size does matter, but perhaps not in the way that we traditionally think.
Bruce spoke of changes that can be made, which “lead to better ideas and more creativity” – most of these changes were small in nature, but big in impact. These ideas sparked discussion around the ideas brought to the room, and the broader issues around workplace culture, both with Bruce and among our scale-up guests.
“WHEN YOU’VE GOT A GROUP OF PEOPLE TOGETHER AND THEY ARE CONNECTING WITH EACH OTHER, IT TENDS TO FORM A BOND AND IT TENDS TO FORM A COMMUNITY BETWEEN THEM” – BRUCE DAISLEY
The first of our #WeAreWoodWharf events achieved what is at the heart of the Wood Wharf community; innovators within the scale-up community coming together, to discuss the hot topics that matter. Creating an environment that allows people to learn and grow alongside each other, with Bruce Daisley providing insight from having been there, and done it.
We look forward to continuing to act as a connector for this community and driving the conversation, with our upcoming event in October centering around Wellbeing, hosted by Michael Wong. If the #WeAreWoodWharf event series is something you are interested in being involved in then contact us via Twitter or Instagram.
Events for the shakers, the makers and the innovators of London.