A few weeks later, I was at South by Southwest, tucked into the back of a taxi and heading to yet another bar (it's the Texan way). I was feeling especially social that evening and as I wandered into the warm glow radiating from Lustre Pearl, I felt the urge to introduce myself to the bearded hipster standing on the porch. I heard a British accent coming through my new friend's voice, and I mentioned that I'd recently discovered – and loved – a London agency called Made by Many. He then told me that he worked there as a designer, and we talked for the rest of the evening about photos, design.

Fast-forward six months... touchdown in London

As I entered the doors of Made by Many I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. I remember feeling overwhelmingly excited. These people really cared about the work they did. Not to freak myself out, but I remember thinking that this moment was the culmination of everything that I had learned at Boulder Digital Works... and I had better make the most of it. 

The experimental learning environment I had grown accustomed to wasn't just about leaning anymore, it was about doing. There were a few moments in my first week or two that stuck out and, looking back, really defined my time here.

 It's about learning, not failing

On my first day, as Stuart was introducing me to MxM, he stressed how they placed a great importance on making things early and iterating on them often. He talked about how he hated when people say fail early and often because he thought the importance should be on the learning and not the failing. 

After six months at MxM I believe that their greatest successes come from their ability to build the thing quickly, get extremely valuable feedback from users and iterate upon it often. Feedback is used to inform future iterations. It's not about failing early, but rather about integrating learning as part of the process.

Purposefully think about the details of what you're doing

The second moment occurred during the vision phase of a project. We had broken up into groups and I was working with Isaac. After rejoining the larger group, we pitched our ideas to the collective. Our team's contributions had been elegantly conveyed in Isaac's beautiful hand, and by far they were the most anesthetically appealing of the lot. Subsequently, they were very well received. 

There were a couple of things Isaac said to me that day, about the importance of naming, visualizing and articulating an idea. And although I have heard this many times before, what truly makes this process valuable is the focus, purpose and thoughtfulness that goes into every aspect of getting to, thinking about and crafting an idea. I found this to be true throughout my time here. Everything Isaac does in his creative process is about being clear and deliberate, and I aspire to incorporate that in my creative process.

Embrace the change bomb

The third moment is more of a series of moments, but I think it is relevant as this individual has had a huge (and positive) impact on me. Some people call him 'Change Bomb' Malbon... here's how he works: It's Thursday afternoon and we've been working on an idea for the entire week. All of the sudden Tim Malbon comes in with a borderline crazy – but mostly genius – idea. You can feel the room get quiet for a moment as the idea begins to sink in. At first a sort of "huh" look appears on everyone's face, until about a thirty seconds later when people then totally get it. The idea feels like the answer that we had been searching for all along. And although we may have been pursuing another idea, everyone changes direction because the new one is much better. Change is usually a good thing; the challenge is learning to embrace it.

It's all about the people

More than anything else, Made by Many is about the people. They are an eclectic mix, but what makes them ace to work with is that each one is very passionate about what they do. Building things is important to everyone here. It's not just a nine to five posture: people come to work with ideas and they share them and hack away at them and take them home at night. My colleagues here take pride in making things that improve people's lives.

Working with MxM has been a lot like hitting the fast-forward button on my life. I feel like the past six months have flown by, but also that I have learned so much – like it's been a condensed experience. My time here has been filled with moments of excitement, frustration, understanding, but most of all it has been filled with experiences that have allowed me to embrace a new perspective and be brave enough to take chances. 

So thanks, guys. And please come visit!