An Internet article suggesting that we retire certain words and phrases as passé, moot or meaningless sparked some discussion in the office the other day. One of the phrases cited was, “it is what it is.” Others were “wordsmithing,” “random,” and throwing people “under the bus.” Another offered around the conference room table was “to circle back around.”

My co-workers and I were a bit embarrassed to realize that we use many of the phrases that the authors eschewed. Since then, anyone at my office caught using them is subject to a barrage of friendly derision.

Giving up “it is what it is” felt good—one commenter on the website said, “It means absolutely nothing and is mostly a cop out or a way to avoid answering a question in a way that might require genuine thought or insight.” Touche.

Likewise, “under the bus.” It seems needlessly violent when assessing blame.

But “circling back around,” I’m not so willing to part with. It indicates that the speaker started at a certain point, assessed a situation, consulted others and intends to return to the beginning to revisit his or her earlier conclusions. It implies collaboration and reciprocity.

In Peru, the Quechua call this concept ayni. The theme is integral to their cosmology and, according to writer J.E. Williams, “…ayni manifests as mutual sharing, respect and understanding the needs of others. By reciprocating all the good that comes to you from others, nature and the spirit world, you become more benevolent. In doing so, the circle of life is complete.”

Seeing indigenous spiritual leaders practice ayni at 15,000 feet in the Andes feels a natural extension of the universe at work. Seeing it in corporate America is quite another thing altogether.

While driving home one night, I heard an interview on NPR with Blake Mycoskie, the founder of TOMS Shoes. Blake started TOMS a few years ago after seeing the shoes of farmers in Argentina. Inspired to perfect the humble design, he added rubber soles and colorful fabrics, looked at market potential and conducted the due diligence any entrepreneur might. He set a price, put the shoes up on the Internet and began contacting retail outlets. It was a typical start up, in many ways.

Except his business model had an important detail, one that has defined his brand and created fiercely loyal customers and employees. For every pair of TOMS shoes that Blake sells, he donates a pair to a needy kid in Argentina or Africa.

Blake personally goes on nearly every trip to hand deliver the shoes to kids who now can run and play soccer on fields of dirt. He brings along employees and—get this—customers—who want to experience this unique form of reciprocity personally.

As soon as I got home that night, I went to the website (www.tomsshoes.com) and bought myself a pair of shoes. Then I bought pairs for friends. Every time I bought a pair, a prompt on the website asked me for another friend’s email address. They sent that friend an email saying that I had donated a pair of shoes to a needy child in his or her name. A brilliant maneuver, of course, because my friends then went to the website, curious, and hopefully bought a pair of shoes as well.

Now there are people all over the country, buying pairs of TOMS shoes because someone will be helped in turn. A most beautiful example of ayni that even the most remote Quechua shaman would understand.

Blake is a great example of someone who gets the fact that the values that guide a company should be no different than the ones that guide us as human beings.

That’s a culture that we, as employees of Tribble Creative Group, aspire to. We’re working hard to arrange our company around the ideals we hold as individuals. We believe our clients want more than an impactful event, a dramatic video or an effective logo. We’re betting that they want to do business with a company that believes in leaving the world a better place in which they found it.

As such, we’ve revised and recommitted to the values that guide us everyday. Our vision, “to inspire people and affect positive change,” remains the same. But we’ve gotten real specific about the qualities you’ll experience with us whenever (and however) our paths cross.

Read about them at our new website, www.tribblecreativegroup.com – and then circle back around and tell us how we’re doing.