Upgrade to Pro
— share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …
Speaker Deck
Features
Speaker Deck
PRO
Sign in
Sign up for free
Search
Search
Scaling Happiness
Search
Ted Nyman
January 31, 2013
Technology
19
2.3k
Scaling Happiness
Why is GitHub structured the way it is?
Ted Nyman
January 31, 2013
Tweet
Share
Other Decks in Technology
See All in Technology
GA technologiesでのAI-Readyの取り組み@DataOps Night
yuto16
0
260
組織観点からIAM Identity CenterとIAMの設計を考える
nrinetcom
PRO
1
170
バイブコーディングと継続的デプロイメント
nwiizo
2
410
Optuna DashboardにおけるPLaMo2連携機能の紹介 / PFN LLM セミナー
pfn
PRO
1
870
GC25 Recap+: Advancing Go Garbage Collection with Green Tea
logica0419
1
400
AI ReadyなData PlatformとしてのAutonomous Databaseアップデート
oracle4engineer
PRO
0
170
SOC2取得の全体像
shonansurvivors
1
370
[2025-09-30] Databricks Genie を利用した分析基盤とデータモデリングの IVRy の現在地
wxyzzz
0
470
リーダーになったら未来を語れるようになろう/Speak the Future
sanogemaru
0
280
BirdCLEF+2025 Noir 5位解法紹介
myso
0
190
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure:2025年9月度サービス・アップデート
oracle4engineer
PRO
0
390
stupid jj tricks
indirect
0
7.9k
Featured
See All Featured
10 Git Anti Patterns You Should be Aware of
lemiorhan
PRO
657
61k
Reflections from 52 weeks, 52 projects
jeffersonlam
352
21k
Principles of Awesome APIs and How to Build Them.
keavy
127
17k
Chrome DevTools: State of the Union 2024 - Debugging React & Beyond
addyosmani
7
890
Optimizing for Happiness
mojombo
379
70k
Facilitating Awesome Meetings
lara
56
6.6k
Let's Do A Bunch of Simple Stuff to Make Websites Faster
chriscoyier
507
140k
Balancing Empowerment & Direction
lara
4
680
How GitHub (no longer) Works
holman
315
140k
Context Engineering - Making Every Token Count
addyosmani
5
180
Typedesign – Prime Four
hannesfritz
42
2.8k
Designing Experiences People Love
moore
142
24k
Transcript
scaling happiness Ted Nyman Engineer at GitHub @tnm
Most working life is inauthentic
Hierarchy creates inauthentic relationships
Without authenticity we become alienated “Work is a kind of
vacuum, an emptiness, where I just switch off everything except the scant intelligence necessary to keep me going.”
Perks are weak substitutes for an authentic working life
Plato on Love
Plato was Wrong
I’ll never quit because X perk is just so good
“ ”
A better X will appear, and they are gone
You can’t truly make people happy with bread and circuses
“How little our careers express what lies in us, and yet how much time they take up”
You can’t build culture with words “How little our careers
express what lies in us, and yet how much time they take up”
Token ‘freedom gestures’ are just not enough “How little our
careers express what lies in us, and yet how much time they take up”
The real way is organizational structure
The lack of formal managers creates GitHub’s working culture
Cultural and technological adaptations grow naturally from this
Create the structure and let the culture form. The culture
then reinforces the structure.
Earthly software craft paradise
Nothing Actually Scales
None
Here’s what we actually do
Accept awkwardness
Embrace disorder
Let ‘teams’ form naturally
Propagate culture bottom-up
Technology creates order when needed
You can’t make anyone do anything
Consistency comes from libraries
You have to accept mistakes
Authenticity and autonomy are priceless
MOST IMPORTANT (META) QUESTION
Who sets these ‘policies’?
Everyone
Everyone Culture
Everyone Culture Structure