Sometimes Putting People First is Realizing You're Best Played at 1.7
This past summer brought a whirlwind of changes, both personally and for Wayfinder as a whole. After physically moving and adjusting to a fully remote work setup, I (Amy) found myself clinging to the old ways of doing things. I was trying—with futility—to keep everything the same, despite knowing that so much had shifted. The tools and rituals that once worked for us in person didn’t seem to fit as smoothly in this new, distributed world.
One of the biggest challenges was maintaining connection.
Zoom meetings were frequent and familiar, but they started to feel like productivity bottlenecks. I wanted to put people first, but I realized that the way we were operating wasn't actually serving everyone. That’s when I had an epiphany—just because we’re a "people-first" company doesn’t mean every interaction has to happen in real time.
We were stuck trying to force old habits into new circumstances, and that’s when it clicked for me: sometimes change means using a completely new toolbox, not just retooling the old ones.
We were stuck trying to force old habits into new circumstances, and that’s when it clicked for me: sometimes change means using a completely new toolbox, not just retooling the old ones.
I started to shift my thinking. Instead of trying to make every meeting happen in real time, I began exploring ways we could communicate and collaborate asynchronously, across time zones, while still maintaining the personal touch.
At first, it felt awkward. Recording a Loom video instead of hopping on Zoom was strange for me, and I worried the team might feel disconnected. But I soon realized that this shift wasn’t about taking people out of the equation—it was about giving them more flexibility to engage on their own terms. I started creating tools, trainings, and check-ins that could be executed asynchronously, allowing people to access the material when it worked best for them.
And you know what? The feedback was overwhelming. The team loved it.
They appreciated communication that was sent in a way they could engage with at their own pace. They could pause, rewind, speed it up to 1.7 (or even 2.0!) if they wanted to. This flexibility made space for different learning styles and different working styles. And in that shift, I realized something powerful: by allowing people to engage in a way that suited them best, we were actually putting people first in a whole new way.
At Wayfinder, we’ve always been about growing people, and part of that growth is recognizing that everyone is different. Everyone works differently, learns differently, and yes—we all sound better at different speeds.
As we continue to grow and evolve as a company, I’m grateful for the ways we've learned to embrace change and adapt. Sometimes, putting people first means breaking old patterns and stepping into the discomfort of something new. And sometimes, it means realizing that the best way to collaborate isn’t always in real time—but at the speed that works best for each individual.
