Is PD Right For You?

Dear seeker of new challenges and unique opportunities, if you’re thinking of applying to Pixel Dreams, we appreciate you and invite you to read this article thoroughly.

We wrote this article to help potential candidates evaluate if PD may be the right fit. Consider this list both a sneak peek at our uncommon culture and a beware sign for its oddity.

For some, PD is weird and wacky.
For others, PD is weird, wacky, and wonderful.

Warm and welcoming to everyone, PD culture can be too hot to handle for some. As a cliché goes, if you don’t love the heat, don’t work in the kitchen. The PD “kitchen” can bring out personal hell for some and personal bests in others.

Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

You may love or loathe working here.

Below are the ten social contracts our team embraces, to be our best selves, do our best work, and have our best fun, together.

Insistence on health   🫁

Our #1 core value is improving health — physical, mental, and emotional. We’re motivated by health science, which recognizes how physical health influences mental and emotional wellness, how body health impacts brain function, and how overall fitness affects performance. Health matters to us because at the core of our work is strategic creativity, which is a serious pro-sport of the brain. Like competitive sports, it demands high stamina, endurance, and focus to sustain the clarity and vigour required for insights, ideas, and decisions. A frequently asked question here is:
 
What are you doing to improve your health?
 

Demand for wisdom   🧠

Our second core value is seeking wisdom; wisdom in being, thinking, and doing. In the age of Artificial Intelligence, wisdom is ever essential. We encourage our team to seek and pursue wisdom through questions and experiences, mentors and coaches, books and audiobooks, guides and lessons from history’s GOATs. Everyone on the team has a minimum learning target of twelve books and audiobooks a year, with at least six to hone one’s professional acumen and wisdom. The annual Academy Awards at PD celebrate our most glamorous voracious students of life.
 

Sacrifice for teamwork   🫀

Cultivating teamwork, our third core value, is the ultimate competitive advantage. Teamwork at PD is demanding. It requires curiosity, honesty, humility, vulnerability, and accountability. We expect our team players to cultivate trust, embrace healthy conflict and engage in difficult conversations with compassion, fight hard and play fair in and out of collaboration, plus, put the team before the self. We take personal ownership of failure while giving credit to the team for success. This mindset isn’t for everyone, and not everyone appreciates it.
 

Accountability for goals   🎯

We hold everyone accountable for the personal and professional goals they set. The emphasis on personal accountability in a professional setting might seem unusual. It’s because we believe doing our best work calls for being our best selves, which often takes work outside of work. From rotating accountability groups to dedicated accountability partners, one can expect frequent feedback from unofficial drill sergeants and cheerleaders alike, sometimes from the same person in the same sitting.
 

Call for leadership   🫵

The call for leadership at PD is open to all, regardless of title, role, or experience. Leadership at PD is not about power, but empowering others. It’s about making decisions, taking ownership, and making sacrifices to help the team win. Effective leadership flows in all directions―up, down, and all around with teammates, clients, and partners. We expect leaders to show up prepared with a meticulous plan while staying flexible to adapt to changing contexts, speak up with confidence while remaining humble to learn from mistakes, and step up with courage to do what’s right even when it’s the hardest thing to do.
 

Drive for excellence   🏆

Mediocrity is a common mindset, but it’s not an option at PD. We view ourselves as a world-class team committed to excelling in our respective fields. We relentlessly pursue excellence and continuously push each other to raise the bar. When someone joins PD, we expect that person to share our drive to achieve mastery in everything we do. Every task, however small, must be done with excellence, and this expectation may be too much for some people. Excellence is not a motivational phrase for us; it’s a burning desire that fuels our drive. We’re here to do exceptional work, and we’re willing to go to great lengths for it.
 

Ego-free zone   👀

Everyone’s ego wants to feel special and superior in one way or another. That’s why an unexamined ego can be one’s worst enemy, keeping the person out of touch with reality and coachability. It can make the person blind to obvious weaknesses and deaf to constructive criticism. We remind each other that the ego ain’t our amigo. It’s more like a terrible-two toddler demanding attention and recognition at inopportune times. When the ego throws a tantrum, we acknowledge it but by all means, we don’t let it run (or ruin) our lives. We aren’t slow to call out egotistic beliefs and behaviours. One of the mottos here is “we, not me”, which can snap someone out of an ego trance―fast. It’s uncomfortable, to say the least, but our team ain’t here for comfort. We’re here to do great work and have great fun doing it. And flaming egos can get in the way of both.
 

Gritty AF      💪

Regardless of the diverse backgrounds of our teammates, we all shares a certain level of discipline, determination, resilience, and coachability. PD fosters a gritty environment where only those with a gritty mindset can thrive. We see obstacles as training opportunities to be stronger, sharper, and better. It’s because we’re dedicated to developing talent and helping each other reach full potential. No tapping out at the first sign of challenges, but tapping into tough feedback again and again. No swanky offices, only artsy ones. No lavish perks, only those essential to growth, health, wisdom, and teamwork.