“Nothing would make me happier if my kid grew up and worked at a company like Classmate."
— a teacher
Compared to other teams and organizations, the way we work together can be considered a little unusual. Instead of having managers, we each practice self-management. Instead of masking aspects of our personalities and interests, we show up as our whole selves and look for ways to utilize our unique interests at work. And instead of trying to predict the future and control the outcome, we sense the present and respond with purpose.
As odd and unfamiliar our way of working may sound, anyone who comes in contact with us can tell it's special. We're always receiving compliments from people about how great our team is, how they wish they could work at Classmate, or how they'd like to transform their organization to be like us. We attribute a lot of that to the fact that our way of working is more natural, more soulful, and more fun.
This is the future of work, and we think it's the future of education too.
It was 6 years of experimenting before we stumbled upon Reinventing Organizations in 2021. This fascinating book gave us a common language and helped us realize we’re not the only crazy people trying this. Since then, we’ve felt more comfortable sharing our experiences in the hopes others might give it a try (and some of them have!).
Legally speaking, Classmate is a for-profit corporation but it’s a stark contrast to the for-profit companies seen in the public. We view Classmate as a lifestyle company, whose purpose is to provide a foundation from which everyone can enjoy their desired lifestyle, and they feel like a unified team with a shared purpose. With this definition, we don’t try to squeeze money from our clients, we aren’t looking to sell or go public, and we aren’t pursuing short-term growth. Instead, we form symbiotic relationships with everyone we meet, we celebrate staying small and independant, and we thoughtfully welcome growth as it comes. We aim to be generous, transparent, collaborative and trustworthy. Our team's shared purpose is, in its most basic form, to reinvent education.
If you find this interesting and would like to learn more, we’re always happy to chat. You’ll also find some of our favourite resources and inspirations down below (in no particular order).