2013 corportate culture final

arago’s

Corporate Culture

Thank you to Netflix,

Lars Hinrichs, David Bizer, Klaas Kersting, Robert I

Sutton, Stephen Covey for inspiring us

We thrive on excellence, engineering and

our fuel are our people

Values

Values are not for the entry hall,

not to show off,

they are intrinsic

We show our values by who we value

We are building an asshole free company

We do not bad mouth others

We do not drain each others energy

We are about the “we” not the “I”

Person over expertise

-> personality + professionalism

Behaviors we value

Behaviours we value

Think

Think

Be curious

You yourself want to understand our

strategy, our market and our customers as

well as partners

You are about learning and

finding out new things

You are knowledgeable in technology and

our business in general

Think

Be innovative

You take the time to simplify things, because

only by reducing unnecessary complexity

we can solve more complex problems

You create new ideas that prove useful

You challenge the status quo when it

makes sense and make better suggestions

You aim to solve big problems

Think

Make a difference

You are concise and articulate

You get a large amount of stuff done

Your performance is consistently high

so your colleagues can rely on you

Act

Act

Be responsible

You can prioritize

You decide well

You cure causes, not symptoms

Keep calm

You focus on results rather than process

Act

Be selfless

You do what is best for arago,

not what is best for yourself or your team

You can admit someone else’s idea is better

than yours when searching for new

concepts

You share information openly and

proactively

You contribute outside your speciality and

you help others

Act

Be passionate

You have arago’s success in your heart and

mind

AutomationExpert

You make your actions count in the long

run

You are about getting things done,

not about adhering to process

You inspire others with your hunger for

results and you stick to your guns

You celebrate wins.

Our wins are your success

Learn

Learn

Be honest

You are straight forward, candid & direct

You say things about other employees only

if you would say the same things straight

into their face

You admit mistakes without hesitation and

without explanation why they were

unavoidable

You do not act political or tactical when

others disagree with you

Learn

Be open

You listen more than you talk so you can

understand better

You respect others, regardless of their

opinion or status

Learn

Be courageous

You say what you think,

even if you know there is opposition

You take smart risks, i.e. you rather act and

risk a mistake than do nothing and avoid

making a mistake now

You do not tolerate behavior inconsistent

with our goals, values and the no-asshole

rule

You do not beat around the bush.

Make decisions, even tough ones

Win-win is our road

Performance

A great company are great people

A company is for profit, not for welfare

Questioning our team

We want to keep the ones we would fight

for

We want to make sure the ones we would

not fight for find a place where they can

thrive

Tell them straight out that this is not a place

for them

Make sure they are on the market while

their knowledge is still valuable

The ones we would fight for, we fight for

The team we have is a team

We help each other – because unlike fixed

teams we grow with good performance and

there is room for all good team members

Keeping our values is everybody’s job

Loyalty

is great

It makes us sustainable

We cut people who have contributed

some slack if they hit a rough spot, because

we believe in people.

We expect the same from our people,

if we hit a rough spot, we want them to

cut us some slack.

Eternal loyalty

is bad

We cannot tolerate consistent under

performance, no matter how long a person

is with us

We do not tolerate asshole behavior,

no matter how long a person is with us

We do not expect our people to tolerate

continuous bad decisions or bad behavior

from us

No brilliant jerks!

We aim to have top notch people, so you are most

likely not much better than the rest. If you still think so

you probably have a personality disorder

We expect results

Putting in hours is irrelevant

Results are what matters

Our culture

is not for everyone

It is for

The ones who want to compete to

improve

The ones who tell things as they are and

can accept straight out criticism

The ones who want to perform and do

It is not for

The ones who seek stability and

more of the same

The ones who’s highest goal is job security

If it is for you, you will be part of a great

team and part of changing the world

If it is not for you, we respect your decision,

we value your contribution and we help

you to move on

Responsibility generates freedom,

freedom is our destination

Freedom and responsibility

The kind of person

an aragon is

Self motivated

Constantly learning

Self improving

Self disciplined

Self-conscious

Acting like a leader

Not afraid to get his / her hands dirty

Does not wait for someone to tell him / her

what to do

These responsible people thrive on

autonomy, mastery and purpose and they

are worth it!

We want to increase freedom

as we grow

not limit it!

Why?

Most big companies have very limited

freedom

Growth increases complexity

Growth also decreases talent density

This generates chaos

To manage chaos processes are created

Processes and procedures drive talent out

of the company

A vicious circle

In a non-changing world processes and procedures

can catch a lot of leaving talent, so the short term

outcome of process introduction is positive

But the world never stops changing

We need a different approach

How?

We want to avoid chaos by increasing

talent density with growth

Run informally as much as possible

Informal environments attract high

performance and creativity

Our processes exist to enable our

people to work on their jobs only!

Someone who focuses on working the

system loses in our environment

Someone who does his / her job wins

Our service back bone watches out for that

We attract good people to stay informal

We increase business complexity as slowly

as possible

We actively rethink and simplify our

business

We want a culture of freedom,

responsibility, self discipline and creativity

We do not want a culture of process

adherence

Freedom is not absolute

Freedom cannot create disaster

Ones freedom cannot make someone

else’s job hell on earth

Freedom cannot infringe moral, ethics and

legal issues

In our culture rapid recovery is more

important than avoiding mistakes

No one gets fired for making a mistake

You have to recover from mistakes to make

the system more robust

You do not want to make the same mistake

over and over!

Good vs bad process

Good process enables talented people to

get more done

Bad processes try to avoid recoverable

mistakes

Bad processes creep in because avoiding

errors sounds great

We encourage everyone to challenge bad

rules and processes

Relevance is our motor

Context vs Control

The best managers create great results by

setting the right context, not by controlling

everything

Context vs control

Strategy

Metrics

Objectives

Clearly defined roles

Transparency

Knowing the risks

Context vs control

Avoid

Top down decision making

Management approvals i.e. cover your ass

Committees

Process valued more than results

Good context

Links to company goals

Priority (important has higher impact than

urgent)

Level of precision required

Key stakeholders

Key metrics

Managers

If one of your guys does something dumb,

do not blame them, think where you set

the wrong context

When you are tempted to control your

guys, think of what context to set

Great ships are not built by organizing

wood gathering, etc., but by creating a

longing for the endless sea

Why context?

Because self motivated people will do

better work, if they understand and believe

in the purpose!

When control?

In an emergency

When someone is still learning

When someone is in a wrong role

Context creates an organization

Strategies and goals are communicated

clearly and openly

Teams focus their efforts on making the

strategy real

Managers invest their time into making

goals and strategy known and understood

Minimal cross functional meetings required

because everyone contributes to strategy

Trust in groups

Leaders proactively coordinate

Forensic reviews to increase goal

achievement and alignment

Thank you for your time which we hope was well invested, because dismissing good ideas can harm your future