Amanda Lannert on Designing Moments That Matter
This article was originally posted on the Momentum Mode Podcast Substack channel, featuring Impruve CEO Mike Shannon.
This week, we sat down with Amanda Lannert to discuss what it really takes to build a culture that lasts—from trust and autonomy to small moments of intentional care. She shares hard-won insights from her time leading Jellyvision, including why “being helpful” is more than a mantra—it’s a leadership strategy. Here are the highlights:
The Culture is the Collective Behavior, Not a Slide Deck
Amanda Lannert doesn’t define culture as perks or platitudes. At Jellyvision, culture is how people behave, treat one another, and make others feel. It’s an ecosystem built on shared experience and emotional intelligence—small moments of care that accumulate into trust.
“Be Helpful” Isn’t Just Cute—It’s Operational
The company’s ethos—“Be helpful”—cuts deeper than a corporate slogan. It’s a filter for decision-making, requiring care, wisdom, and action. It’s simple, sticky, and surprisingly bold. To be helpful, you must be externally focused, able to solve problems, and willing to do the work, not just talk about it.
Designing for Human Moments
From celebratory offer letters to dot-to-dot placemats in boardrooms, Jellyvision choreographs how people feel in high-stress moments. It’s not about being flashy—it’s about lowering cognitive load and making awkward, anxious situations a little more human. Good design, in their world, is empathy in motion.
Trust Is the True Operating System
Every Jellyvision policy starts with the assumption that people will use good judgment. And if they don’t, they probably don’t belong. Lannert believes in pushing decisions down, not bottlenecking them at the top. Trust breeds autonomy, which in turn frees leadership to actually lead.
The Opposite of Boring is Not Funny—It’s Interesting
You don’t have to be a comedian to work at Jellyvision, but you do have to be curious and compelling. “Don’t be boring” is a cultural imperative, not a marketing directive. Attention is earned by being interesting—and once you have it, you can teach, persuade, and inspire.
Authenticity Starts at the Top
Lannert is unapologetically messy and honest about her own shortcomings. That transparency makes space for others to show up fully and disagree productively. At Jellyvision, authenticity isn’t aesthetic—it’s functional. It makes teams braver and the work better.
Work-Life Balance Isn’t a Perk. It’s Strategic.
Burnout isn’t a badge of honor. Lannert argues that happy, well-rested employees take smarter risks and bring higher energy. Energy—not just time—is the currency of creative, sustainable work. Leadership sets the tone by trusting people to manage both.
Layoffs Shouldn’t Feel Like Punishment
In tough moments like layoffs, Jellyvision refuses to treat employees like security risks. Lannert insists on dignity and transparency, because the people leaving didn’t fail—the company did. That level of care extends to helping former employees land new roles, even years later.
Post-COVID, It’s People Over Proximity
If culture used to be built in offices, it’s now built in intention. The work still gets done, but informal bonds are fraying. Lannert’s answer isn’t mandates—it’s moments: shared lunches, organic connections, and reminders that people are loyal to people, not logos.
People Are People-ing at Work
The most forgotten fact in business? We’re all human. Innovation isn’t a system—it’s a person with an idea. Lannert knows her tinkerers by name. The systems can wait. People first, always.
