If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
KITCHEN RULES
The Hub is inspired by one of the best-known places on earth: the kitchen. When we started Erste Hub we had the idea to mix different ingredients, experiment with new formulas and recipes and inviting the best cooks we can identify. In the making of Erste Hub we soon understood that creativity needs freedom. But freedom needs rules. Therefore do not under-estimate the “kitchen-rules” we wrote down in this little booklet. We really mean this serious. On the other side allow a good portion of fuzziness. The best is not always according to a fixed formulas. Genius chefs know that. And please do remember the saying: “If you can‘t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.”
Rule #1
We love tables.
Like in a kitchen we love people sitting around a table. Like in a kitchen we use tables to work: preparing a menu, serving a dish, enjoying a meal. Therefore we consider each table as a working table, and we enjoy the best when we can share our tables. At these tables we do not have manager-chairs, employeechairs or visitor-chairs, we want to sit at the same eye-level with each other. All our chairs are created equal. We do not limit our rules to the working tables in our offices. When you leave your table also leave behind the recipes. Do not take our formulas to the outside world. Do not show them around. Everything we think and do in Erste Hub is confidential. When finished with cooking we serve fantastic dishes (but keep the recipe).
Rule #2
Always share what’s on the table.
When we talk about our projects avoid to speak like a technocrat. Do not speak marketing slang or retail slang or IT slang. Tell stories instead. Always start with a problem. Share it in a way that people can fully understand it and if you can, please also tell how you think we could solve that problem. If there are different possible solutions, show these different ways, and show the differences. Tell why we should go this way and not the other. What the world will look like when the problem is solved. Share your thoughts in a way everybody can participate. Share your opinion without second thoughts. We need productive criticism like a soup needs salt.
Rule #3
Respect!
Everything we do has to be done with attitude. With respect towards others. With respect for our customers and users, with respect for our employees, with respect for society and the environment. It is not enough to be brilliant in your field. You always have to remain respectful when cooperating with others. Therefore: No bad habits at the tables. We all appreciate good manners and behaviors here. This is a place for people we also would enjoy at a dinner in our private homes. So please: always use the napkins and not your sleeves.
Rule #4
Ideas come from everywhere.
Nobody here has a privilege on ideas. They can come from everybody. A brilliant idea from an assistant is of much more valuable than a bad idea from a chief. Therefore: listen carefully! Do not check your emails while others are sharing their ideas. Do not stare into your mobile while others are doing their presentation. Do not assume that others are less creative or less inventive than you. A lot of brilliant ideas started as „not so good idea“. Ideas also come from everywhere. A new spice, a new ingredient from asia could make the most loved dish in Europe. A vegetable which was regarded as not so nutritious could become the favorite veggie of the season.
Rule #5
Fight for your ideas. (and don‘t be submissive)
Critics and skeptics are not enemies but friends. They force us to become more aware about the weaknesses of our ideas. But also about their strength. Take criticism serious. Consider the arguments. Find better arguments. Or even better solutions. Fight for your beliefs. Don‘t give in because somebody is higher in the hierarchy. Ideas and solutions have priorities in Erste Hub. But if someone has better arguments, you have to acknowledge the facts. It‘s no shame to accept failures. They help us to avoid them next time. On the other hand criticism has to be productive. Based on facts not on person or mood. Like every competent food critic knows: our aim is to improve the dishes.
Rule #6
Surprise us! (Innovation is also about taking risk.)
People like the food they are accustomed to. But the more they get the usual the more they starve for surprise. To surprise people is a direct way into their hearts. It can change minds and habits almost immediately. But we do not want to surprise people with mere circus tricks. Not by useless gimmicks. To surprise others you have to surprise your colleagues first. Use the chance you have in the internal dĂŠgustations. If your menu taste like the ordinary food there are 2 possibilities: it is ordinary food or you have to add some spices to the recipe.
Rule #7
They way we serve dishes is important.
If served without enthusiasm even the best menu taste boring. Remember this when you do presentations. The way we serve should be properly designed. Design appeals directly to the human senses. You can see it, touch it, feel it, sometimes you can even smell or taste it. Banking products and services are used to be without a special design. This is changing. An application on mobile devices is the best example. How it looks, how it reacts to your fingers, how it gives orientation by colors and sounds is absolutely important. You need the same attention to design like you need for content and functionality. In reality there is no difference between content and design when it comes to enjoy a perfect dish. If you cook you know that. True innovation is always surprising, therefore do not start with a compromise. Start with the bold thing. What seems risky at the first glance is not risky at all later.
Rule #8
Nothing is impossible.
Sheer endless possibilities are waiting in the details of everything. Nearly every spice in the world is known today. But new flavors emerge from the endless possible combinations of the known ingredients. When a product or a service is already invented you can change it by adding a surprisingly new function. Do not be confused if an idea failed the old-fashioned way. It could succeed if you slightly change some details. Do not always try to bee original. Just try to be very good. Always look out for new combinations.
Rule #9
To have a good recepy you must try lots of recipy.
Not every idea is a good one. In fact most of the ideas are not so good or even bad. This is completely normal and you should not care about it. Even artist and geniuses have really bad ideas. But they are able to judge the difference between the bad, the good and the best. Therefore do not hesitate to produce as many ideas as possible when starting. Do not throw away these ideas. Even if they seem to be totally bad or crazy. Pin them down on a board. Keep them in your notes. Very often the source of a brilliant ideas was a bad one. A legendary Italian cook once said: To cook a divine risotto you have to cook hundreds of risottos first.
Rule #9
You can ruin a meal. But you can’t ruin the kitchen. In Erste Hub we provide time, space and money to make mistakes. You are invited and even obliged to experiment. The mistakes you make are marginal if you do it on a small scale. Mistakes in this phase of work are welcome. Every mistake we encounter early helps us to make a better product. Mistakes are also good for an important reason: you can stop to repeat them. You can always learn from them. Do never repear your mistake on the large scale. So speak up if you spot one. If a tomato is rotten separate it from the fresh ones.
Rule #10
Value and price are different things.
Saffron is the most expensive spice in our kitchen. And its value is highest if you need it for a saffron recipe. But if you want to prepare a breakfast Viennese style saffron has no value at all. Value is connected to usability and need. If a customer is in need of a fast transaction he will value an app for this. Apps like these use to be free. On the other hand people are willing to pay a premium fee if a service or a certain product has certain benefits. Some intangible elements like reputation and trust come sometimes at a minimal price but are of incredible value. Therefore differentiate!
Rule #11
Some things need to be seen to be believed. But sometimes it’s the other way round. A proverb says: seeing is believing. This is one reason why we work on fast prototypes. What you cannot see, feel or understand by looking at a Powerpoint slide you can see, feel and understand by using a prototype immediately. But sometimes we enter a different phenomenon. When people start to see what they believe. A fancy bottle of wine from France seems to taste different from the bottle of the same wine without any label. This only shows that design, atmosphere, style, reputation and other intangibles aspects do have a strong impact on our experiences. So polish your apples.
Rule #12
New rules rule.
Only a small part of reality can be explained by rules. A larger part not. Old rules are replaced by new rules from time to time. If you want to come up with a new rule, speak out. We will discuss it, criticize it, prototype it, refuse or accept it. Bon appĂŠtit!
Erste Hub / BeeOne / Group Brands