We live and die by how fast we move, and things that can be accomplished today should not wait until tomorrow. This means a culture of fast execution which is defined by decisions made at the lowest level possible without waiting for more senior people to “buy in.” A decision made is progress made. Action items and deliverables should have time horizons within days, not weeks.
Our customers should consistently feel we are, hands down, their best vendor because our products and training are best in the market. That means we help them make quick, consistent, and measurable progress. All decisions should start with the customer in mind, beginning with a commitment to “understand the other side.”
Each person on the team should be able to clearly answer the question “Am I doing the best work of my life?” A key component of “best work” is the quality of the work. We emphasize a hygienic, professional approach to everything from processes to our own attitudes. In communication, quality means being concise, thoughtful, and direct.
Winning matters, and we can win when we row as one. Rowing as one means we have high individual output while being in sync with our team and company. Another aspect of high output is knowing busyness doesn’t mean progress. We should be very sensitive to “work theater.”
We should be the best in our respective domains. If we are not, we should be curious and seek out ways to get there. There is a base expectation that we have a strong technical command over our areas of work.
We are a self-directed team and trust each other to get our work done. We believe some of our best work is done quietly and alone. With this, there is a much higher responsibility to self-regulate and take personal responsibility for reaching out to others when one needs help or support. When someone is not pulling their weight on a self-managed team, everyone suffers.
We are thoughtful about how we use resources. Financially, a business is revenue minus expenses; all expenses should provide high value. There is also a decision and time cost, so if the resource on the line is small, the decision should be expected to be quick. We should be very skeptical of meetings, especially large ones or ones that have nebulous goals like “catching up.”
Building a company, especially a high-growth technology company, is tough. With a light-hearted attitude it also becomes a fun and gratifying experience that we can be excited about and look back on fondly. We should actively nurture and support positive, optimistic people. Also laughter breeds authenticity while seriousness breeds superficiality. If you’re not laughing frequently, it’s a sign something is wrong.
The most competent professionals can anticipate issues and proactively tackle them. We need to take quick action on all issues before they become structural and accepted as the way we do things. The path to mediocrity is paved with apathy. If we don’t look for patterns and leave things better than we found them, the company will degrade. Don’t walk by the small fire in the hallway because you think it’s on someone else to put out.
If something is not written down and followed up, it might as well have never happened. We should have notes and action items with clear timelines. This is from casual discussions, to code reviews, to customer meetings.