This is the first drawing that founder Charlotte made. With Finger&Paint instead of Board&Marker, but still.
Early on, Charlotte experimented with telling people what she thought they should do. That didn’t work so well, it turned out, and the first seed for horizontal organizing was planted.
During her studies in Physics and Astronomy, Charlotte discovered the importance of depicting complex matters as simply and elegantly as possible and how visual thinking can help with that.
During a project of the National Think Thank, the first ever Bord&Stift video was made, about the phosphorus problem. The problem was that nobody knows anything about that problem, so a simple and clear explanation was necessary. And what better way to do that than in a video with board and marker?
In the beginning, Bord&Stift is such a small company that Charlotte’s bedroom suffices as a film studio. Very cosy, but because Bord&Stift is growing, this is no longer possible at a certain point.
The Bord&Stift team of copywriters, illustrators, filmmakers and editors continues to expand with a lot talented creatives. Who can also have a lot of fun together.
We often work for large organizations where we do internal communication to clearly explain the strategy or vision, for example. But occasionally there are also public assignments, such as for Klokhuis (an educative Dutch tv-program for children), in which we could explain ‘democracy’ in a whiteboard video in an episode about politics.
We move to the Coppelstockstraat in Amsterdam. Not knowing then that we would soon grow out of it…
The first Bord&Stift woliday is a fact! We all went to the Ardennes together for a week to work on the larger issues of Bord & Stift. And to play a lot of games of course.
Because we continue to grow we move to our current office at the Haarlemmerstraat in Amsterdam. We have space here for three film sets and our own voice-over booth so that we can handle all requests. The neighbors take a photo while we test the fire escape.
We are starting to receive more and more requests as to whether we can support our clients in more ways than just making videos. We are expanding our portfolio with live illustration, drawing workshops en infographics.
Due to growth we have to think about how we organize ourselves. Thanks to the help of the consultancy firm De Hele Olifant, we decide to opt for a horizontal organizational form. No managers, everyone in charge…
Together we define our mission, vision, identity and our core values. Because yes, if you have no managers and no boss, it is important to know clearly who you are and where you want to go.
BNR In Bedrijf visits our office and we can share our story about horizontal organizing our story about horizontal organizing. More and more organizations are also approaching us with the question whether we can help them in the transition to an organization without a hierarchical structure.
Because of the corona virus the Bord&Stift life shifts to Zoom. As with any organization, it takes some getting used to, but we notice that the horizontal business structure that is based on trust and responsibility helps us a lot. Fortunately, we notice that we can also help our clients from a distance and that there is a great need for clear communication, especially now.
A horizontal company structure also includes… doing business together! We organize an internal accelerator where four ideas from Bord&Stift’ers get the opportunity to develop into a product or service in six weeks. The ideas? A database for videos in healthcare, knowledge videos for education, lifehacks (videos for young people concerning self development) and a development day about learning to organize in a human way.
Who knows what the future will bring us… Do you want to shape that future with us? We are always open to new encounters and ideas. Do not hesitate to contact us if you feel like it 🙂
