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About Us

Finding work less ordinary

How do you motivate the smartest people to join your organisation and create experiences everyone wants to talk about?

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Our Methodology

You find a CAUSE worth working for

Cause-driven organisations share five things in common...

C
Complaint

They start because of a significant problem negatively effecting either people or the planet. This may be the belief that customers are getting a poor deal, that humanity is edging closer to environmental catastrophe, or a transformative new technology hasn’t yet made its way to the majority of customers.

A
Ambition

They are highly ambitious from the outset even when their chances of success seem slim. Smart people, are drawn to your potential not your current state. They will work harder, stay longer, be less focused on remuneration, if they sense that they can play a role in building something important.

U
Unifier

They are led by people who care deeply about both the complaint and ambition and who want to do something about it. This is critical in this new connected age where we are more likely to trust someone who appears sincere and passionate than any amount organisational PR or advertising.

S
Solidarity

There is a great sense of solidarity. Everyone, irrespective of role, knows how to contribute. There is a sense that every action no matter how small is helping to support the ambition. This sense of solidarity minimises politics, breaks down silos, and gives leaders the confidence to delegate.

E
Experience

These four things combine to help these organisations build amazing experiences in record periods of time. Experiences that we want to buy, talk about and share with others.

How we work

We are built a little differently

Many agencies look like this.

Teams of smart, enthusiastic people led by one or two very senior leaders. 

We know because we have worked for, founded, 
scaled and sold them …

This time we thought we would try something a little different. Actually, it wasn't really premeditated; we just started, it evolved, and now it feels like second nature. It looks a little bit like this …

It looks a bit like this

We're organised around long-term clients

It looks a bit like this

These relationships are led by highly experienced creatives, people with many years of experience who have built brands for major multinationals and understand the politics and processes required to create impact at scale.

They are then supported by operational experts who help run accounts and keep track of our growing pool of international talent.

We then draw on talent from all over the world depending on the nature of the problem that we are trying to solve and the audience the solution is aimed at.

We love this model because …

  • We can be long-term creative partners to brand owners, understanding their business inside and out and providing perspective to the many challenges they face
  • We get to do the work, rather than manage others, which is why we started in the creative industry in the first place
  • We don't feel pressured to sell work or to take on work, which isn't right because we have to cover a massive cost base
  • We get to work with the very best creative specialists and agency partners in the business

We are built a little differently

‍Many agencies look like this.

Teams of smart, enthusiastic people led by 
one or two very senior leaders. 

We know because we have worked for, founded, 
scaled and sold them.

This time we thought we would try something a little different. Actually, it wasn't really premeditated; we just started, it evolved, and now it feels like second nature. It looks a little bit like this …

It looks a bit like this

We are organised around long-term clients. These relationships are led by highly experienced creatives, people with many years of experience who have built brands for major multinationals and understand the politics and processes required to create impact at scale.

They are then supported by operational experts who help run accounts and keep track of our growing pool of international talent.

We then draw on talent from all over the world depending on the nature of the problem that we are trying to solve and the audience the solution is aimed at.

We love this model because

  • We can be long-term creative partners to brand owners, understanding their business inside and out and providing perspective to the many challenges they face
  • We get to do the work, rather than manage others, which is why we started in the creative industry in the first place
  • We don't feel pressured to sell work or to take on work, which isn't right because we have to cover a massive cost base
  • We get to work with the very best creative specialists and agency partners in the business
Culture

Work with us

We are a team of curious, enthusiastic and creative thinkers. We're united by a passion for our work and a high regard for craft.  And we are nosey folk... which is why you'll find us embedded into our client teams, where we become their true collaborators.

desks
marketing and content
workshop
johnny at work
wall type
Moneybox workshop
website working
drwaing
workshop shelves
The Core Team

Small team, big network

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John Holton

Founder of Work Less Ordinary

Connect on LinkedIn

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Christina Miles

Head of Operations

Connect on LinkedIn

Our Work

See All Work
Manulife

Removing complexity from financial services

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Blink

Transforming life for frontline workers

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Swift

Rebranding the world’s most important financial cooperative

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MoneyBox

Helping a generation invest in their future

View more
Work With Us

Two ways to work with us

Get in touch

Whether you're a business looking to discuss a challenge, or a creative looking for your next opportunity, we'd love to hear from you.

Try our course

The fastest-growing organisations are clear about the problem they are solving and have a highly ambitious MISSION to overcome it.