Purpose In Practice: How A Swedish IT Company Is Transforming Ukraine

Lisa Gill
Written by Lisa Gill June 21, 2018

This is the story of two Swedes, Gustav Henman and Andreas Flodström, who, fascinated with Eastern Europe and having learnt Russian, went to Ukraine in 2012 to build an IT startup. They knew they wanted to create a social enterprise, but all they had was a Lada car, a few contacts and a rented basement office, where they ended up sleeping on the floor for five months while travelling around the country and recruiting developers.

Fast forward to today and Beetroot is now one of the fastest growing IT companies in Ukraine with more than 250 employees.

564 1140x0

Do good

Part of their vision was always to do good, so they started Beetroot Academy, which initially began as an initiative to train Internally Displaced People from the conflict zone in Eastern Ukraine, and has since grown into a well-established educational institution with ten locations across Ukraine. They’ve also created various partnerships, for instance with Estonian Ministry for International Affairs, to provide scholarships for women, IDPs and ATO veterans.

IT is one of the most promising sectors in a somewhat unstable Ukrainian economy, so Andreas and Gustav see the academy as a real opportunity to contribute to forging a “new Ukrainian middle class,” where people have financial security, and share a sense of civic responsibility and engagement.

Feels like home

One of the most palpable aspects of Beetroot, and no doubt key to their success, is the culture they’ve created. Here are some of the features:

Home — when you arrive at their offices, there’s a huge shelf filled with shoes like in a bowling alley where you’re invited to swap your shoes for a pair of comfy, custom Beetroot slippers. Their new office in Kiev is effectively a giant, four-story house. “A warm, sociable, home, not a drab factory,” says the Beetroot brand handbook.

Friendly — when we visited the office, Andreas and Gustav were constantly greeting their colleagues with huge, warm hugs like they hadn’t seen them for years. Turns out, this is just the standard greeting at Beetroot. From day one, the founders have shunned formalities — many new employees take time to drop the formal use of “you” in Russian, which is usually used when addressing managers in Ukraine.

Fun — we heard stories of many Beetroot parties and the Beetroot brand is playfully embraced by all. Employees call themselves Beetroots or Beets, and use light-hearted hashtags like #beetrootoyourself, #maytheborschbewithyou and #beetiful, creating a strong sense of belonging.

We’re building spaces where people love being together. And we strive to be the most human employer possible. Because that’s when we think people become the best versions of themselves.
Click to tweet

Flat hierarchy

Since reading “Reinventing Organisations” by Frederic Laloux in 2014, Gustav and Andreas have been keen to evolve their company structure (already fairly flat to begin with) towards self-management. On their careers website they state: “We see ourselves as a living organism rather than a stale, grey corporation. We don’t believe in bureaucracy, and we don’t have a pyramid-like hierarchy to control or micro-manage each other.”

Developers are empowered to communicate and build relationships directly with the clients, with each client having a dedicated team. When we ask Gustav and Andreas what is the root of their success they say “high levels of trust.”

Sometimes we compare Beetroot to what we call “the corporate onion,” Andreas explains. “When you cut into an onion, what you see is lots of layers…and it makes you cry!
Click to tweet
Beetroot2

Next stage evolution

Here are some of the current challenges and areas Beetroot is developing as it continues to grow rapidly:

Scaling up

Andreas was reading “Reinventing Scale-ups when we visited, co-authored by my good friend Susan Basterfield. How can Beetroot scale up without losing its special culture? The founders believe that self-management, if done right, can really help them here by empowering individuals. Part of this means their own development as founders in letting go and constantly deflecting responsibility back to their colleagues.

Feedback culture

Key to individuals developing and taking responsibility is having a strong feedback culture. My colleague Karin Tenelius and I from Tuff Leadership Training were invited to lead a training on how to give empowering feedback that makes a difference. As is often the case with companies that reject hierarchy and traditional ways of organising, they’ve ended up in something of a “buddy culture” where there’s high psychological safety, but a fear of giving and receiving feedback.

People shared that they didn’t want to risk being disliked; that they were worried about what the response would be; that they were scared to “lift the lid.” Yet the reasons for creating a feedback culture were clear to them: next-level trust, people developing personally and professionally, more effective decisions, authenticity, responsibility, caring.

As we began to train in giving what we call at Tuff a “KLONK conversation” (where the feedback really lands and the penny drops), people realised this didn’t have to equal “rude” or “harsh”, but in fact demonstrated a commitment to contributing to another’s development and relating to their potential.

Decision-making

We joined a meeting where team members were in the process of designing their decision-making process. A frequent scenario for them is scouting new offices and sometimes the decision-making can be painful. What guidelines could they agree to streamline decision-making and give people authority to make informed decisions?

Karin and I shared some examples with them, such as tools like handbook.

You sweep me off my beet

We left Kiev in somewhat of a haze. In what was an unintentional homage to the founders’ origin story, Karin and I had slept in the Beetroot office on sofa beds in the top-floor lounge for three nights (and clients often do the same). Our visit was a bit like a whirlwind romance — we were so impressed with the founders and had been enveloped in the warmth and energy of the team.

The Beetroot bond is strong. I can see how clients, employees, and job seekers all around the world are falling in love with Beetroot too.

------------------------------------------------

This guest blog is written by Lisa Gill. Lisa is a consultant with Tuff Leadership Training, which trains managers in a style of leadership that produces responsible employees and self-reliant teams, and the founder of Reimaginaire. She also hosts a podcast about self-management and leadership called Leadermorphosis.

Written by Lisa Gill
Lisa Gill
Self-managing organisations coach and trainer, writer, and Leadermorphosis podcast host
Read more
Read more
Apr 28, 2024
The Purpose Experiment: From Dream to Crushing Reality
Tine Bieber Written by Tine Bieber
In late 2016, while searching for a thesis topic for my master's degree at Business School, I aimed to challenge the status quo and bring…
Read more about The Purpose Experiment: From Dream to Crushing Reality
Sep 03, 2023
The Purpose Dance: Shared and Individual Beats at the Heart of Organizational Impact
Marc-Peter Pijper Written by Marc-Peter Pijper
My wife and I, accompanied by our friends, often enjoy attending music festivals. What unites us is our mutual love for live music and the…
Read more about The Purpose Dance: Shared and Individual Beats at the Heart of Organizational Impact
Aug 20, 2023
Scaling the Right Way: Clarasys' Path Forward with Progressive Principles
Klara Nenadlova Written by Klara Nenadlova
At Clarasys, our core purpose is to make a lasting difference to the way how people work, live, and grow. As an independent consultancy…
Read more about Scaling the Right Way: Clarasys' Path Forward with Progressive Principles
Jun 14, 2023
Steward-ownership: Choosing Purpose Over Profit
Gijsbert Koren Written by Gijsbert Koren
This post is part of an ongoing series with inspiring stories about steward-owned companies that are changing the game. Steward-ownership…
Read more about Steward-ownership: Choosing Purpose Over Profit
May 11, 2023
Map of Meaning: Change The Meaning of Work Instead Of Organizational Structure
Pim de Morree Written by Pim de Morree
'Why am I here'? Ever wondered that, at work? How much you value the answer to that question, can be outlined with the map of meaning. Read…
Read more about Map of Meaning: Change The Meaning of Work Instead Of Organizational Structure
Mar 08, 2023
Steward-ownership: For Entrepreneurs Who Want to Make a Positive Impact
Gijsbert Koren Written by Gijsbert Koren
Have you heard about steward-ownership? If not, you probably heard that Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard, is giving away his company to…
Read more about Steward-ownership: For Entrepreneurs Who Want to Make a Positive Impact
Read all articles

Download: Free Guide

Unlock our in-depth guide on trends, tools, and best practices from over 150 pioneering organizations.

Subscribe below and receive it directly in your inbox.

    We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe at any time.