Tweet
Tweet

Slide 1

Slide 1 text

Back to First Principles Tomer Gabel Don’t forget sli.do! #geecon2022

Slide 2

Slide 2 text

Warning: Philosophy ahead Photo: Friedrich Nietzsche by Gustaf-Adolf Schultze, 1882 (public domain)

Slide 3

Slide 3 text

Software Conferences circa 2021 (% culture-related talks) 27% 27% 54%

Slide 4

Slide 4 text

Clearly, culture is important. How do we build it?

Slide 5

Slide 5 text

Contradiction in Terms — Culture is what is, not what we aspire to — An effect, not a cause — But an effect of what? Reed Hastings, “Freedom & Responsibility Culture”, 2009 (SlideShare)

Slide 6

Slide 6 text

What determines culture? 1. Judgement. - Decisions - Reasoning 2. Reliability. - Consistency - Transparency Results Process

Slide 7

Slide 7 text

A healthy culture is purposeful as well as consistent.

Slide 8

Slide 8 text

How not to build culture (don’t try this at home!)

Slide 9

Slide 9 text

Counterexample: Company Values 1. Integrity 2. Mutual respect 3. Teamwork 4. Communication 5. Innovation 6. Customer satisfaction 7. Quality 8. Fairness 9. Compliance 10. Ethics

Slide 10

Slide 10 text

Counterexample 1. Integrity 2. Mutual respect 3. Teamwork 4. Communication 5. Innovation 6. Customer satisfaction 7. Quality 8. Fairness 9. Compliance 10. Ethics 1. Subjective 2. Aspirational rather than actionable “We share knowledge effectively with one another.”

Slide 11

Slide 11 text

Counterexample 1. Integrity 2. Mutual respect 3. Teamwork 4. Communication 5. Innovation 6. Customer satisfaction 7. Quality 8. Fairness 9. Compliance 10. Ethics Can easily conflict.

Slide 12

Slide 12 text

Ambiguity leaves room for inconsistency. Vague is the opposite of purposeful.

Slide 13

Slide 13 text

Counterexample 1. Integrity 2. Mutual respect 3. Teamwork 4. Communication 5. Innovation 6. Customer satisfaction 7. Quality 8. Fairness 9. Compliance 10. Ethics By the way… … credit is due. Source: Oracle core values on Oracle’s corporate site

Slide 14

Slide 14 text

The Culture-Building Arsenal 1. Mission Statements 2. Corporate Values 3. HR 4. Middle Management

Slide 15

Slide 15 text

The Culture-Building Arsenal 1. Mission Statements A statement of what (hopefully) or why (likely), not how

Slide 16

Slide 16 text

The Culture-Building Arsenal 1. Mission Statements Often ridiculous: “At , our purpose is simple: to live and deliver WOW. “

Slide 17

Slide 17 text

The Culture-Building Arsenal 2. Corporate Values Aspirational, not actionable

Slide 18

Slide 18 text

The Culture-Building Arsenal 2. Corporate Values Aspirational Wishful thinking, not actionable … and ambiguous to boot

Slide 19

Slide 19 text

The Culture-Building Arsenal 3. HR The cynical take: Not their job HR represents organizational interests, including in conflict situations

Slide 20

Slide 20 text

The Culture-Building Arsenal 3. HR The cynical take: Not their job HR represents organizational interests, including especially in conflict situations

Slide 21

Slide 21 text

The Culture-Building Arsenal 3. HR The practical take: It can’t be their job Limited or no intersection with day-to-day employee life (i.e. “culture“)

Slide 22

Slide 22 text

The Culture-Building Arsenal 4. Middle Management The cynical take: Not their job Incentivized to facilitate process, not improve culture.

Slide 23

Slide 23 text

The Culture-Building Arsenal 4. Middle Management The practical take: They wish they could Limited autonomy (”company line”), limited authority (“above my pay grade”)

Slide 24

Slide 24 text

The Culture-Building Arsenal 1. Mission Statements 2. Corporate Values 3. HR 4. Middle Management Woefully inadequate.

Slide 25

Slide 25 text

Back to First Principles

Slide 26

Slide 26 text

An employee makes a decision. We want that decision to be “for the good of the company.” How do we accomplish that?

Slide 27

Slide 27 text

What’s at Stake? 1. Effectiveness - Sound decision making 2. Efficiency - Quick turnaround 3. Security - Employee happiness - Legal/compliance

Slide 28

Slide 28 text

What’s required? 1. Effectiveness 2. Efficiency 3. Security • Understanding company’s stated (and unstated) goals

Slide 29

Slide 29 text

• Understanding company’s stated (and unstated) goals • Autonomy What’s required? 1. Effectiveness 2. Efficiency 3. Security

Slide 30

Slide 30 text

• Understanding company’s stated (and unstated) goals • Autonomy • Trust in the organization • Trust in the employee What’s required? 1. Effectiveness 2. Efficiency 3. Security

Slide 31

Slide 31 text

Making Progress Axiom I: People want to make good decisions. Axiom II: When personally disenfranchised, they are no longer content with “the company line.” Goal I: Empower employees to discern what ”good” means Goal II: Minimize the risk of conflict between the employee’s interests and the company’s

Slide 32

Slide 32 text

Asking the Hard Questions

Slide 33

Slide 33 text

Customer Satisfaction vs Fairness Meet Magda. 1. A brilliant engineer 2. Wants customers to be happy 3. Hates waking up on call 4. … has woken up 3 times tonight 5. … by an issue she’s been raising flags about for months Photo: Portret Anieli Zamoyskiej by Leon Biedroński (public domain)

Slide 34

Slide 34 text

Magda’s Dilemma 1. Magda can’t affect change - She doesn’t own the backlog - She must implicitly respect someone else’s judgment 2. But it’s her problem - She’s the one waking up! - … and her justified complaints are ignored

Slide 35

Slide 35 text

Customer Satisfaction vs Fairness 1. Why is Magda so uneasy? — Magda is personally disenfranchised — But isn’t “fairness” a company value? — Then why is the situation so unfair? 2. What can Magda do? — Accept the situation willingly — Accept the situation unwillingly — Escalate – what would the VP do? Conflict Ideal outcome Seething resentment Same problem!

Slide 36

Slide 36 text

What if… 1. … we reprioritize the backlog? - Fewer wake up calls - Magda feels vindicated - Promises to clients may slip 2. If acceptable, why didn’t we do it in the first place?

Slide 37

Slide 37 text

What if... 1. … we reprioritize the backlog? - Fewer wake up calls - Magda feels vindicated - Promises to clients may slip 2. If acceptable, why didn’t we do it in the first place? 1. … we stay on course? - Clients are (maybe) happy - On-call continues to wake up - Magda may be on her way out 2. If acceptable, why did Magda feel disenfranchised?

Slide 38

Slide 38 text

When values collide, which wins? Customer Satisfaction > Fairness or Fairness > Customer Satisfaction Ideally, both. Realistically, you must decide.

Slide 39

Slide 39 text

Quality vs Teamwork Then there’s Paweł. 1. Also a brilliant engineer 2. Passionate to a fault 3. When technical arguments ensue, Paweł is there - … argumentative - … but has a good point (i.e. right) Photo: Portret Konstantego Zamoyskiego by Leon Biedroński (public domain)

Slide 40

Slide 40 text

Quality vs Teamwork Paweł is the dilemma 1. Sincerely wants a better outcome 2. … but ends up perceived as a brilliant jerk† 3. … and quality still suffers. † See: Brilliant Jerks in Engineering, Brendan Gregg

Slide 41

Slide 41 text

What if… 1. … we let Paweł have his way? - Quality will improve - Negative impact on team - Productivity loss, churn 2. If acceptable, why was an argument needed?

Slide 42

Slide 42 text

What if… 1. … we let Paweł have his way? - Quality will improve - Negative impact on team - Productivity loss, churn 2. If acceptable, why was an argument needed? 1. … we get rid of Paweł? - Team cohesion will improve - Quality will degrade further - Dissenting opinions unheard 2. If acceptable, why did we put “quality” front and center?

Slide 43

Slide 43 text

When concluding a meeting, is it more important: … that we arrive at the best outcome or … that participants feel good about the meeting? Ideally, both. Realistically, you must decide.

Slide 44

Slide 44 text

There are no right answers, only opinions.

Slide 45

Slide 45 text

Find out what you really believe in.

Slide 46

Slide 46 text

That is your ethos.

Slide 47

Slide 47 text

Key Takeaways 1. Culture tells you what you already did. Ethos tells you what you should do next. 2. Ask hard questions, refine, iterate. 3. Ethos begets culture. Figure yours out and wield it with pride.

Slide 48

Slide 48 text

tomer@substrate.co.il @tomerg https://github.com/holograph Thank you for listening Now, what do you believe in?