Chillibreeze tells: The Secrets of Our Success

Chillibreeze discovers the future of work and becomes the best company to work for in India — learn our secrets.

Chillibreeze, an Indian company based in Bangalore and Shillong, has discovered something big, something that would excite even business gurus Tom Peters, Gary Hamel or Thomas Malone. We don’t mind sharing our company secrets because if you can follow this model, you deserve success.

So what are the secrets and how did we discover them? To uncover this we need to go back in time and look at our early failures and successes. The evolutionary process helped us discover the best formula for our different situations. We start this journey in present day North East India and flashback to Bangalore, India, in 2004.

Shillong is a small, remote city in a beautiful, cool, hilly area of North East India. It is not far from Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan. Chillibreeze is the first company to hire locals to work for international customers (outsourcing). After 3 months, 12 people have been hired to do graphic design and DTP. Since unemployment is rampant and most people presently work for the government, the work ethic and attitude is at rock bottom. Try getting a phone in Shillong and you will see what I mean. Our biggest challenge is to create a high performance work culture that will allow us to be sustainable in a competitive world. We are even starting a “boot camp” for all new employees so that they can learn the importance of deadlines and the responsibility we have towards our customers. But what is extremely interesting is that Chillibreeze has another team that is the exact opposite. Let’s spend the rest of our time looking at this team.

We started as a traditional software company, Stylus Systems Pvt. Ltd., in 1999 and then, in 2004, we launched another traditional content division called Chillibreeze. Our first step was to hire someone to come to our new freshly painted office. After one month we suggested to our first employee that she could do some of her work from home to save her from wasting time in the Bangalore traffic. What started off as a good idea quickly deteriorated. She came to the office less and less and did less and less work and eventually never came to the office. She could not handle the freedom and got fired.

In the meantime, we were having some success with freelancers and one just stood out above the crowd. So I asked Dr. Roopa Nishi Viswanathan if she was interested in working full time from home. This young, enthusiastic, hard-working medical doctor said yes, to our surprise. Since she had already done some writing for us on a freelance basis we knew she was very disciplined and reliable. She was about to have a baby and was not the least bit interested in working for a boss in an office. She wanted independence and to write from home. This was a gigantic success – Nishi wrote more content for the Chillibreeze website than three people working in an office from 9 to 5. Furthermore, when she went to Mumbai to have her baby, she was writing travel articles while having contractions.

But even this great experience was not enough to break our old paradigm of working from an office. I had just negotiated a deal with an American customer and I needed a writer, so after two interviews I called her in to our Bangalore office to hire her. I went to our office on Saturday morning. I waited and waited and finally got a phone call, “I’m stuck in traffic,” she said, “and will not be at your office for at least another 45 minutes.” I told her not to bother. I still needed to get the project done so my wife started calling freelancers and in a short time she had the work underway, with an experienced professional freelancer working from home.

By the way, the strategy for attracting freelancers was through our Chillibreeze website where writers could register in our database. This usually ends up attracting more and more people who have the time and inclination to write and work from home. Chillibreeze has now formed a network of more than two hundred talented and experienced writers who are open to learning new skills. The fact that we not only have clients, but also writers who live in various parts of the world proves that the Chillibreeze website is fast becoming a popular destination for both those who write and those wanting to commission quality writing. But I digress.

We hired Moa, from North East India, who held down the fort from our office while everyone else worked from home. Moa filled in a lot of the gaps and the office provided us a base to meet. But soon we needed someone to coordinate customers and track our freelance writers, so we recruited Vilasini Kumar. She too was not interested in commuting to an office and wanted to work from home. She travels a lot and has a house in Delhi and Bangalore and visits her son and daughter in the US. But even if she did not travel, she is not a 9 to 5 person and gets her work done — no matter if it is at 3 a.m.

Vilasini needs daytime flexibility to oversee a school for under privileged kids and to travel. Chillibreeze proved to be the perfect match. As a small company, we were able to provide a better fit than a multinational company could; thus we could hire a brilliant, capable lady. At this time we discovered that we can get better talent than Oracle!

So now the pattern is being reproduced with our latest content coordinator being Radhika Chitnis, who works from the USA. As we give jobs to freelancers the team hunts for the cream of the crop. They discover our best freelancers. Those with a track record of action and results. They look for people with a passion for writing, achieving and doing everything with enthusiasm; people who can inspire and lead others to achieve. These women are confident enough to search and hire other excellent people without being intimidated.

This recruiting process is creating a dream team and a high - performance work culture. The team is working at the highest level – one that encourages outstanding individual and team contributions. Everyone becomes responsible for success and those that don’t fit realize it and they are phased out. Those who get results get rewarded as part of the core team.

We have not discovered how to implement a good reward system other than to allow the people with major responsibilities for results to share the income. The process and idea of measurement somehow is too constraining after all, our core team doesn’t operate under any rules or policies.

The team determines roles and gives each other the freedom and flexibility to work when and where they want. As they earn the trust of the team they are released to have more responsibility including decisions on their role in the company.

The core ethos is to help people work in areas they are passionate about. The goal is for people to be able to reach their full potential. So the plan is to move people up into roles that fit them even if this means creating a role or assignment. Fortunately, many people love to write so we are helping facilitate dreams.

It may also mean that one team member may see the potential of another person and challenge them to be the best they can be and move up into their highest and best position for their good. And we expect that this too will be for the good of everyone including the customer and company.

The company stumbled onto this model by accident and now it is becoming our core business model. Contrary to most management books we do not have a fixed long term plan or business strategy. The strategy the business takes will evolve as our team experiments with ideas and opportunities. The focus for now is execution.

Since we are non traditional, and because things are changing so quickly, our goals are outside the range of planning. We can’t see the results and therefore, we don’t want to limit our potential merely because we forced ourselves into setting a strategy.

We do know that we want to be a global player on par with the best companies in the world. We will achieve this one step at a time, by challenging ourselves to achieve big milestones with each interim goal. And soon we will have more clarity on what to accomplish next to achieve our ultimate goal.

The first short term (one year) step will become defined and more focused within the next few months but we will always maintain within this focused strategy some small prototype business tests to allowing us to discover bigger opportunities.

We have just started a new DTP unit in a remote part of India where there is no global outsourcing and where the prevailing work culture is that of the government – slow. In this environment we need an office and lots of modeling of work ethics. So here, we are creating a totally different environment and work culture.

The best people working in the best environment will evolve the best strategy and goals. The ideas and goals do not need to come from someone at the top yet some people have insights and vision that must be considered. Corporate democracy can lead to following an intuitive path compared to the unseen territory that can be discovered by a visionary leader. If the company has enough diversity of people and people move into their highest and best use then leaders will appear automatically. Leaders will lead and managers will manage. How leaders are chosen may be different but leadership is vital to Chillibreeze.

Leaders in Chillibreeze will lead not from a position of power but as servant leaders helping other to achieve. They will become leaders not from their desires to be leaders but because they have followers who trust them and see that they have what it takes to lead to a positive future.

So we are building an organization made up of the cream of the crop who enjoy working with other talented people in a dynamic, exciting, challenging working environment. We will, like a magnet, draw other talented people.

The whole business is about empowering and rewarding people. It is not about strategy first and people second: it is the other way around. The free, flexible, trusting work culture creates the atmosphere for creative ideas and high performance. New, carefully selected team members jump on the fast moving ride and add to the momentum or move on. This momentum is hard to stop. We also know it is hard to start, and this is why we don’t mind telling our secrets.

What are the secrets that can be gleaned from the history of Chillibreeze?

Secret # 1) Attracting Talent

Chillibreeze has discovered a way of finding the best people. We have tapped a goldmine of people who might not fit the typical 9—5 job but love to work. Because of our reputation, we attract the best talent. Then, to make sure they are a good a match for Chillibreeze, we test them on a freelance basis on a variety of projects. If they fit our ethos, we grab them. If we make a mistake and hire someone who is not able keep pace, then they just know it is not a good fit. Just like the imposter who joins a marathon becomes obvious over time.

Chillibreeze looks for people with a passion for achieving and doing everything with enthusiasm and fun people who can inspire and lead others to achieve. These kinds of people typically love action and thrive on getting things done. They have a track record of implementing ideas. We find disciplined professionals who are focused in thought and action and at the same time are able to dream and innovate. These people are mature enough to handle a flexible and free style of working.

Secret #2) Life Balance

We have discovered how to keep the best people. People are not required to wait in traffic or spend time at the office. They can live a balanced life with their family and work at something they enjoy. This is not new but our secret is that we have taken it to the extreme. We have had only one full company meeting in one year! We don’t have any policies and people are free to do as they wish. Our team members often never meet each other face to face.

Secret #3) Passion

The love of writing makes each day enjoyable to someone who is being paid to write. This little secret is powerful but if it is combined with a noble purpose, it is explosive. Most people would call it crazy but Chillibreeze may just encourage people to do whatever they want as long as it helps the common good of Chillibreeze. We want to empower people to be the best they can be.

Secret # 4) The Challenge

The personal reward that comes with success: we want our team to enjoy work but this does not always mean fun. Some of the most rewarding times come after having achieved stretch targets. We want to feel significant in our work and that comes from being excellent and giving work your best effort. The result of this is security. Not so much from Chillibreeze but the personal job security that comes with being the best at something.

Secret # 5) Purpose

People have the desire to be part of something bigger than themselves. At Chillibreeze, there is hope that their time and commitment will have significance.

Secret # 6) Contextualization

There is no formula to success. We try to understand the culture, context and individuals. We try and follow basic principles about what is best for people. The two different teams of people at Chillibreeze are just that – different. They are like people with different needs, hopes and expectations and need to be able to achieve. It reminds me of a book called “Situational Leadership”. Good leaders provide different styles of leadership to people with their best interest in mind.

Secret # 7 Make hay while the sun shines

Because life in India or anywhere (except Singapore) often does not fit exactly into a 9—5 pattern, Chillibreeze has discovered a way to live a more balanced life. Our associates are better able to deal with sick children or even disruptions in electricity in a fluid way to make the best of precious time.

Secret #8) Speed

Some companies work on a more traditional 9—5 model and I notice that if I send them an email on Friday I usually do not get a response until Monday afternoon or even Tuesday. You will never find that happening at Chillibreeze. We are global and 24/7. Our team may not be working all the time but they check mail and respond when needed. Our customers love our fast response time and quick follow-up. They trust that we are there when they need us.

Secret #9) Find talented people who will find other talented people,
and trust them

Our team has the desire to recruit other talent people. They also like to see their associates at Chillibreeze living up to their potential so they try to find the best replacements for them to allow everyone to keep moving up and using their time to the highest and best use. This ignites passion and draws the best from their associates in all areas of their life.

The following Q & A are presented to help you gain more insight into how this exciting Indian company is delivering high quality content services to global customers as well as creating a rich and rewarding experience for Chillibreeze associates. We are striving to be the best company to work for in India.

Q: What is the basis for this work culture?
That is not easy to answer but it has a lot to do with freedom, trust, flexibility and productivity. And it is not for everyone. Let me put it this way — we make hay while the sun shines and that requires a certain kind of disciplined person who is not an employee. A farmer knows how to utilize his time to take advantage of opportunities. He does not work the field from 9 to 5. But he does the right thing at the right time or learns a bitter lesson.

When I first started Stylus Systems in 1999, the internet would slow down at 9:30 a.m just when everyone was arriving to work. I tried to convince everyone that starting at 8 would not only help them avoid the morning rush hour but allow us to get a lot done when the Internet was fast. Often the electricity was scheduled to go out for 5 hours during the day. I said why don’t we do our errands and come back to work when the electricity is back. I said let’s make hay while the sun shines. Let’s do our work when we have a fast internet connection and electricity. This was too radical in India in 1999. At that time most companies in India did everything by the book. Now in 2005 I feel embarrassed that I even said those things because our Chillibreeze team just works that way. They know how to use their time. I never say anything. If someone goes to a house warming in the afternoon they may work until midnight to finish their work. People take vacations as they wish. We don’t even have a policy. We are the most free and flexible company in India.

Q: How did you discover this new way of working?
A: There is a lot to be said for working as teams in an office. I usually get my best ideas when I am meeting and talking with people, so I don't want to say that Chillibreeze has discovered THE answer to work but for our business, content development, and with certain people, it is working great. The story is explained above but let me add to it.

I think a lot just happened because of the first few people hired by Chillibreeze. It just started working. So we said this is working let’s continue. Overall it has been an evolving idea. It is not that we started with this idea but as we see the enthusiasm for this model we get inspired to continue. We did want to try something different because we recognized that in our software company many people are like freelancers so why not go with the flow. And as I mentioned earlier I hate to see people waste their time in traffic. And I am a fanatic about using the potential of the Internet. And I love to work from home and have both a more productive and balanced life. I do go into the office almost 6 days a week for meetings or as required. I enjoy this and need this synergy and socialization. And I need to provide leadership and be a role model: this requires physical presence. But I get a lot done from home, so I have the best of both worlds. This experiment is just following what I do and believe so it is slowly falling into place. In the middle of this I read “The Future of Work” by Thomas Malone and have subsequently read an article in Time magazine about Best Buy using a similar model. I guess it was 50% by accident and 50% intentional. And of course it fits my core beliefs about people.

Q: Did you ever want to go back to the old system of work?
Yes. I longed for the control of having an in-house staff and a nice office building where people say “good morning”. But that went away shortly after setting up a new office in Shillong. Before, I didn’t worry about security from viruses or extortion, but now I have these things to keep me alert.

Q: Has the Chillibreeze Core Team benefited?
Radhika: You had asked in an earlier e-mail about my husband, Amit, and his reaction to my joining CB. He's a software programmer who doubles as my best critic and editor. He is so happy that I am doing what I love— writing and earning at the same time! Amit already knows everyone in the team and is quite taken by the way we all connect online and work and enjoy ourselves. Last night, he came home from work and sat down in front of the comp, to check some game scores...two minutes later, he comes rushing into the kitchen: "There's like a ga-zillion e-mails for you! Forget dinner, something's happening! Go look!" Hee hee, of course, it was the best excuse I'd ever get to avoid cooking.

Q: I would think this new work style would work in the USA but most companies keep tight supervision right?
I am not sure if our style would work for software development or other types of work. There is a lot to be said for working as teams in an office. I usually get my best ideas when I am meeting and talking with people. Our parent company, Stylus Systems Pvt Ltd, has matured and unified from these relationships. And our outsourcing division, called Outsource2india.com, has one of the most exciting and dynamic office work cultures in India so I don't want to say that Chillibreeze has discovered THE answer to work. It takes the right kind of people.

There is a place in India for tight supervision. Lots of young people need this kind of work environment. For example, young single guys need this kind of discipline. They have extra time and need to quickly gain skills from others. In fact, we are starting a Chillibreeze “boot camp” in Shillong. It will be a good training ground to help young people to build character, habits and skills. We hope this will be a great benefit to the people of NE India. They will be guided and equipped to find and keep a job. I always remember my wife’s brother went into the US Navy as a lazy, late sleeping guy and came out a much-disciplined, responsible person.

Q: You mentioned work-life balance. How do you consider
this at Chillibreeze?
I have this idea that working on a farm is a healthy mix for a family. The kids learn from their parents about life in the context of work and living. Since I work mostly from home, my daughter hears me deal with difficult situations and often I stop and explain it to her. Chillibreeze associates can take advantage of times when their family is having a reunion but then work extra hard at other times just like farmers work extra hard at harvest time. For example, I may stop work at 2 p.m when my daughter comes home from school and fly a kite or walk her to her friends but then, when she is asleep, I may work till 3 a.m. I find I can give more to more people if I am able to flex. I find myself totally disciplined and orderly and at the same time spontaneous. So Chillibreeze is a bunch of farmers and they are loving it and that makes me happy.

Q: How does Chillibreeze work?
Well, we don’t waste time and money in traffic getting to the office. And for the first year we only have about 200 sq ft rented on the top floor of a software company in Bangalore, India. Only one person went into the office every day. We just shut this down in the fall of 2005. As we mentioned we just opened a new design office in Shillong but everyone else works from home all over India. Dr Nishi just had a baby so she is able to take care of her 3-month-old daughter. Vilasini works from her homes in Delhi and Bangalore. And so, as it goes we can quickly expand. No office, no face to face meetings only lots of emails and a few phone calls. I do not consume much gasoline. I am proud of the fact that I am not adding much to global warming or the high cost of oil. When I do go into the office I use public transportation. Would you believe I use only about 2 gallons of gas per month compared to the average American commuter who must use 75 gallons per month.

Q: What are some of the things that are really different about your company?
We are growing an all-star team built on trust.

Q: How does Chillibreeze create accountability and rewards for results?
We are just now working this out. Ideally these issues will be decided collectively. We will together decide goals and review each other at the end of the year. For now we have all decided that the core team will share a percentage of sales equally. Accountability has not been defined but as of now it is just felt. The non performers become obvious to the team and they just fade out.

Q: Do you think your free style of work culture will work in India?
A: It is working! I think people are more motivated working for Chillibreeze than any other company in India. We have selected some fantastic disciplined people who are self-motivated and probably work better with this freedom (and responsibility).

We are able to deliver high quality work and charge our foreign customers rates that enable us to pay our writers fairly. But it is definitely not the money that is inspiring and exciting our writers. I think it is the freedom and passion to write and create.

I think this “future of work" model we are experimenting with will work better in India than in most cultures. I find Indians fluid and able to deal with distractions around them. And I think they can integrate work and family whereas other cultures may have to have clear divisions. At this point it is too early to say if this is true.

This model does give a lot of flexibility, and, in this way strength, and stability to Chillibreeze. If someone has to take care of family responsibilities it does not mean our customers suffer. We are fluid and can fill gaps quickly and can cover each other's responsibilities. Also, just because someone is traveling does not mean that they can't get their work done. This model makes us resilient to change and allows people to go about their lives. We are going back to the farm where work was more integrated. I think Indians will be good at this.

Q: What problems do you anticipate?
A: We are not facing problems yet but they will appear. For example, I wonder how our people will identify and connect with other people. Right now we are connecting but it concerns me because people are social and like to make friends and joke and be connected to something. I personally like to identify with a company and group of people. It is happening but not face to face. Ideally we should meet once per month but that can’t happen. Please check back with me in one year.

Right now, we have a core of 5 people and about 30 people who are freelancing. We are moving towards having some people managing projects from home and this has not been proven. In other words, we need people who may not be writers but freelancer project managers. We are so spread out over India it is really amazing. Communication is key, so we email often. Because most communication is in writing we are able to easily transfer information and provide training for our writers. For example, we are doing some travel writing for an American customer and the suggestions and travel writing advice from our customer have become the core of our travel writing training. If this had been done orally it would have been more difficult to transfer.

Q: What are your plans?
A: We might start Chilli-U. This will be a place where we can help teach writing online. And we would like to have a mentoring program where new writers can be helped by others. We will also develop some content products in 2006. Lots of ideas but ideas are too easy to just blurt out. I hope to read Future of Work soon to get some ideas about how this new way of working might grow so that it can really become all that we can be.

Q: What trends should be considered?
A: The cost of transportation is going up and the cost of communication is going down. Bangalore is congested with traffic. There is a large pool of very talented people who want to be productive but may not want to go into a typical office to work. The relative cost of home computers is coming down. All of this and more lead us to believe that this model of working is going to grow over the years.