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My criticism of Amazon's values are (1) they are (generally) not values and (2) they can be used to justify essentially any action. We tried to be mindful of th

My criticism of Amazon's values are (1) they are (generally) not values and (2) they can be used to justify essentially any action. We tried to be mindful of that with Oxide's values which are very much values (and not management bromides or all-hands claptrap) and we are explicit about the fact that (as values) they can come into tension: we explicitly ask applicants to describe a time when two of our values have come into tension for them and how they've resolved it.[1] (The answers have honestly been incredible: many are deeply thoughtful, insightful and inspiring!) So you may believe that we missed the mark, but Oxide's values are in contrast to Amazon's -- aligned only in the belief that a company's values should be articulated clearly and referred to frequently. [1] https://docs.google.com/document/u/5/d/1Xtofg-fMQfZoq8Y3oSAKjEgDQCRHx-GMSmPcxdEea4A https://docs.google.com/document/u/5/d/1Xtofg-fMQfZoq8Y3oSAK...

hitekker 7y ago
Out of curiosity, what kind of research went into articulating Oxide’s culture?
- bcantrill 7y ago
  Honestly, we just sat down and figured out the values that really bonded us: values that we deeply shared, not merely aspired to. There are some values in there that are subtler than they look -- but that the three of us hold very deeply...
  - hitekker 7y ago
    Thank you. Another follow-up if you don't mind: have you and the others considering ranking Oxide's values separately, and then coming together to determine their hierarchy? It would help a candidate to know which values are more deeply shared, equally shared, or less shared by their own leaders. Gitlab describes this concept here: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/values/#hierarchy https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/values/#hierarchy
    - bcantrill 7y ago
      That's a great question, but honestly, we deeply share all of them -- so much so that it's very hard to rank them. And not because each is unequivocally good! Indeed, each of these values can be taken to excess and must be held on tension by the others. So it's hard to imagine any of them taken away -- or valued to the exclusion of the others. (With my apologies for the profoundly unhelpful answer!)

hitekker 7y ago

Out of curiosity, what kind of research went into articulating Oxide’s culture?

bcantrill 7y ago
Honestly, we just sat down and figured out the values that really bonded us: values that we deeply shared, not merely aspired to. There are some values in there that are subtler than they look -- but that the three of us hold very deeply...
- hitekker 7y ago
  Thank you. Another follow-up if you don't mind: have you and the others considering ranking Oxide's values separately, and then coming together to determine their hierarchy? It would help a candidate to know which values are more deeply shared, equally shared, or less shared by their own leaders. Gitlab describes this concept here: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/values/#hierarchy https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/values/#hierarchy
  - bcantrill 7y ago
    That's a great question, but honestly, we deeply share all of them -- so much so that it's very hard to rank them. And not because each is unequivocally good! Indeed, each of these values can be taken to excess and must be held on tension by the others. So it's hard to imagine any of them taken away -- or valued to the exclusion of the others. (With my apologies for the profoundly unhelpful answer!)