You want to know what idea and what team is actually behind blink.it? The answers are now provided by blink.it founder Konstantin in the form of short videos. Perhaps you share our vision of simple learning with high transfer. Whether as a trainer, in a company, or as a new blink.it member – we are looking for people who share our enthusiasm!
The Vision – A reason to get up in the morning
In the concept of vision swing various meanings. In its Latin origin, visio simply means sight, appearance. We understand it as a kind of goal for which we get up every day. So to speak, the deeper meaning by which we align our actions.
The vision of a company should always be independent of economic goals: For example, a furniture manufacturer may aim to sell as many chairs as possible – but its vision could rather be to ensure healthier backs.
The vision of blink.it is described by founder and CEO Konstantin Ristl as follows:
We aim to develop skills – and as simply as possible.
Being able to develop skills goes far beyond learning theoretical knowledge: We at blink.it have the vision that every person has the opportunity to achieve their personal learning goals. And to develop further and change their behavior. Konstantin explains this as follows:
Implementing the Vision in Everyday Life
Perhaps you find blink.it's vision very abstract. And that's true, because a vision is a kind of goal that may never be reached. The often preached conditions for goals (realistic, timed…) cannot be applied to a vision.
We design the implementation of the blink.it vision as a platform that allows participants of training, courses, or coaching to implement their learning goals as simply as possible. The blink.it platform is virtually the technical realization of the vision. You could also call this implementation a mission.
Vision: The abstract goal for which you get up every day
Mission: The concrete implementation to reach the vision
With every new step of development, we ask ourselves: Does this or that change to our product align with the vision? Is the change a step towards the vision? This way, the focus on the essentials is maintained, and we never lose sight of our vision.
The mission may change over the next few years – the vision remains.
Vision and mission are a constant interplay. How does a company arrive at such a vision? And: What came first – the vision or the mission? Konstantin's answer to this question:
The vision was initially still unconscious in our heads. Michael and I both had in mind to make learning easier for adults. Only over time did the concrete mission take shape, allowing us to name the vision.
Vision and mission are thus in a constant interplay and develop in conjunction with one another. Before Konstantin and Michael started blink.it in 2015, they worked with animation videos for further education. That was when they realized: There is especially a lack of a good channel for distribution. Thus, the rough vision of "making learning better" became more concrete over the years.
That’s why the mission “blink.it platform” contributes significantly to our vision:
We value simple usability of the platform.
The learning transfer with blended learning is particularly high.
The focus is on the learner and how they can work flexibly towards their learning goal.
The trainer can support the learner particularly sustainably.
A Vision, a Team: That’s why “Core Values” are so important
So that we at blink.it never lose sight of the vision, we need above all a team that shares common values. Like Brian Chesky, co-founder of Airbnb, we are also convinced: A team can and should even be heterogeneous in many aspects, such as gender, nationality, educational background, and so forth. But on important values, all employees should pull together to form a good team.
What does “Core Value” mean?
Core Values are not moral values, but rather what we place the greatest value on in our work every day. This is particularly relevant in recruiting new employees: The core values must match those of the entire team!
The Core Values of blink.it: We see ourselves as doers with focus
When asked about blink.it's core values, Konstantin names three essential traits:
We are doers.
We value focus.
We show enthusiasm.
In the video, Konstantin explains not only what these three core values of blink.it mean but also how we live them. Through close customer contact and a strong focus on the added value for trainers and companies, we see well who is truly successful.
Do you share the vision of blink.it? Then perhaps you are also a “doer with focus”!
Core Value No. 1: Be a doer
Just go for it – this doesn't mean acting thoughtlessly! Rather, we see true “doers” as individuals who plan and research but not down to the smallest detail. A doer transitions from theory to practice as early as possible.
This means, for example, testing new marketing strategies for a few weeks. Or calling a customer directly back instead of first writing out the perfect conversation scenario.
We need doers to work together towards our goal! While doers may make more mistakes than strategists, they also learn faster where and how they can improve their actions.
Core Value No. 2: Have focus
Particularly in combination with the “doer,” focus is an important core value for blink.it. Therefore, we also see ourselves as a “One Product Company”: The focus of our current mission is the learning platform. And at the focus of the learning platform is again the vision – the pursuit of a simple implementation of learning goals for everyone. Those who value focus will have to neglect some things. But we are all in agreement at blink.it: It’s better to do one thing really well than to do five things mediocrely. This means maximum effectiveness.
Core Value No. 3: Be enthusiastic
We believe that enthusiasm is a key driving force and therefore a prerequisite for working towards the vision. Only those who enjoy their work and can be enthusiastic can be happy in the long term and thus professionally successful.
The ability to be enthusiastic is a core value that benefits the entire team: Genuine enthusiasm is contagious and motivates colleagues to work together towards the vision.
Conclusion: Every vision is only as good as the team behind it
We want to carry our vision outward: One day everyone should have the opportunity to simply develop the skills they have set as their goal. We work every day on the concrete implementation at blink.it – as doers with focus and enthusiasm for the vision.
Do you see yourself in our vision and core values? Then apply to us! Recruiting is especially important to us, as Konstantin explains here in closing:
By the way: Recruiting is one of our focus topics. We want to find the perfect employees who share our core values and are enthusiastic about our vision. We invest a lot of time in searching for new employees. It can happen that both managing directors spend weeks taking 4 hours each day exclusively for this purpose. In terms of "focus," this means: During these hours, all communication channels are turned off. Disturbances are only allowed if the building is burning!
