Interview with Mike Owen from The Naked Office

AG: Hi Mike and welcome to the CMI.

MO: Great to be here.

AG: What made you think people being naked would help the business?

MO: The naked element is a bit of a red herring really. For me this was about setting a goal that’s interesting, unchartered and memorable. So it was not the ‘being naked’ that was potentially going to help the business, it was going on a journey – together – that scared us and tested us both individually and as a team.

AG: If people didn't want to participate in this, how did you ensure they weren't left out?  If it is voluntary, do those who choose not to go naked feel uncomfortable with the fact that others have and vice versa?

MO: No one said they wouldn’t participate in the journey. Everyone said yes. And – apologies that this is a simple answer – why would anyone feel uncomfortable not going naked? Genuinely, we encouraged people to do exactly what they wanted – no more, no less. Our business would never make people feel uncomfortable for not doing anything did not want to do under any circumstances.

AG: What is the dress code in the office usually and what are your views on clothes being a status indicator? Normal dress code is clean, tidy, casual. Clothes as a status indicator?

MO: I have no strong views. Respect is a big thing at work, wearing things that all will be comfortable with. For example, I think that football shirts are too casual so people don’t wear them.

AG: Was establishing trust between the team members to this depth really required to help them function?

MO: The answer is no based upon the fact that we have traded without this experience and won awards all over the world for almost 10 years. But as with all businesses and people – one is never as good as one is ever going to be so improvement is always possible. We are a better business because of this experience, even though we functioned pretty well before. We’re just better.

AG: Is it something that you will continue with?

MO: It would not be appropriate for us to do this exact thing again. And as the days and weeks have passed, my view of who should do something exactly like this has changed too. I think that with us the opportunity became available at just the right time to just the right people.

What I mean is that we get on and we are good people that look after each other. We feel pretty safe in each other’s company and we are not unfairly judgemental of one another. We are also adventurous and ‘up for it’. We want to be better tomorrow than we are today and we like to try new things.

So it’s not for everyone. There are a lot of uptight people and ‘talkers’ as opposed to ‘do-ers’ out there I think.

AG: What measurements did you have to gauge the success of this initiative?

MO: None really. Apart from the fundamental question of who gets naked and who doesn’t. But we wanted positive outcomes for the business to materialise and they did.

The main two outcomes are that we communicate better – we are faster and less guarded in what we say and what we do. And the second is that we are even braver than we used to be in our approach to design and marketing. onebestway has won over 30 design awards all over the world in about 10 years. We now expect to win many more.

AG: Legally how did you approach such an initiative?

MO: Carefully! But clearly and with sincerity. It was made clear to all involved that this was a collective journey – but one that was to be taken by individuals. No one was told to undress. No one was coerced. No one was made to feel bad about doing or not doing whatever they wanted as an individual. In fact, the contracts we signed were not signed until any suggestion that we should be naked was removed. The nakedness was in there as an option, not a compulsory thing to do. Anything other than this would have been fundamentally wrong.

AG: Did you contemplate alternative plans to achieve the same aims?

MO: Not really. I think that if there’s a choice between slow organic ‘morphing’ and exciting, fast change based on a simple idea I’ll do the latter every single time. We are ‘do-ers’, not talkers.

AG: How has the response been to naked Friday from the public?

It’s a love/hate thing. The positive 80% of feedback is sincere and heartfelt. The negative is unsurprising and formulaic.

That said – and I do mean this – it’s important to have negative views. Not only to show that we have done something that divides people and catches the attention of diverse groups but because it’s nice to make a mark.

There’s only one thing worse than being talked about isn’t there?

David Taylor, the excellent business coach that supported us is of the opinion that those that can’t or don’t really do special things have to put down or abuse those that do. This helps them to self-justify their inertia. I agree.