We’ll Figure It Out

We’ve all heard about a company’s culture or principles:

• “Fast is better than slow,” at Google.
• “Have backbone; disagree and commit,” at Amazon.
• “Accountability: If it is to be, it's up to me,” at Coca-Cola.
• “We believe in saying no to thousands of projects so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us,” at Apple.

These catchy phrases sound inspirational and often the company claims to live by them. Philosophies like these should drive the company culture. But do they really?

When I joined Rocket Companies® in April 2021 as a UX Researcher, I assumed that the ISMs, or the , were just like every other company. I thought the ISMs would be something that would be pranced out during onboarding, only to be forgotten and fade away as I entered the day-to-day work.

But no, the ISMs are truly embedded into the Rocket Companies culture.

• ISMs are pointed to in all hands and large meetings.
• ISMs are referenced in strategy and product planning.
• ISMs are shared from leaders in one-on-one conversations.

And it’s these ISMs, pulsing through the veins of Rocket Companies culture, that inspired me to join the company. I want to share how a few of these ISMs inspired me to join Rocket Companies and kept me here.

“Everything starts with awareness. Being alert. Being awake. Tuning in to the frequency.”

As a User Experience Researcher (UXR), this ISM really rings true to me. When I am doing research, I am always learning. I channel my curiosity through the research methods I execute to understand things like our users’ pain points, motivations and even the ecosystem in which they use our products and services.

When interacting with my team, we are learning from each other and inspiring each other to be “Obsessed with finding a better way” – another ISM! We are scanning the market for innovative opportunities. We are bringing our expertise and diversity into the company to help us have a more holistic view of how Rocket Companies can create exceptional experiences for our clients and team members. Keeping an eye out is definitely the way to go.

“We lead with our hearts and minds. We know the truth: If we truly believe in something, we can – and will – affect the outcome. If we believe in ourselves first, we dramatically increase our odds of success.”

What a great topsy-turvy perspective of the common idiom, “We’ll believe it when we see it.” What I love about this ISM is that it breaks the stifling handcuffs off. It gives our team members the freedom and inspiration to explore the unknown and let unforeseen ideas to come to light. It provides an aura of hope, optimism, positivity and encouragement that is often lacking in other companies’ cultures. Instead of a prescribed and “micromanaged” approach to solving a problem, Rocket Companies encourages its team members to have open minds to succeed through exploration. We don’t have to know all the facts and parameters going into something. In fact, that leads me to my next favorite ISM, “We’ll figure it out.”

“We don’t need to have all the answers before we take on a project or launch a new and innovative idea. We have faith that when it comes to some of the details, we’ll figure it out along the way.”

Have you ever worked at a place where they expected you to know all the answers, all potential roadblocks and all the challenges before going into a project? I sure have! How can you always see everything before getting your hands in there and trying a few things first? You can’t! Sometimes you just don’t know “all the things” going in, and that’s why it’s important to adopt the ISM, “We’ll figure it out.”

Some important aspects of UX research are to gain a better understanding, to inform decisions and use this knowledge to mitigate risk. As we learn more information, that knowledge helps point our efforts in the right direction so we can move forward and make sure that “The packaging is just as important as the contents.” Yet another ISM!

Having the safe space to “figure things out” is not an approach that I’ve experienced at some of the other companies I’ve worked for. So I certainly don’t take having this liberty for granted. We can move beyond solving problems based on assumptions or executive demands. We have the freedom to explore alternatives so that we make sure we “Do the right thing.” Yep, I did it again, dropped another ISM!

These are only a few of Rocket Companies fantastic ISM philosophies and culture drivers. I could easily tie what I do as a UX Researcher to each and every ISM that we have.

If you want to understand a bit more about what drives employees to do their best work, I encourage you to read about all of our company’s ISMs and see what truly gives Rocket Companies a uniquely unified and positive company culture.