7 Things That Will Make Your IT Company The Best Workplace, Ever

Tech companies and startups are poping up at every corner nowadays, and they all try to offer "the best workplace ever" with ping pong tables, free snacks, etc.

What it really proves is that it's becoming harder and harder to attract developers.

So instead of buying your team free beers, pizza and nerf guns, here's seven things that will make a true difference:

1.Turpentine

Picasso said, "when art critics get together they talk about Form and Structure and Meaning. When artists get together they talk about where you can buy cheap turpentine."

Turpentine is going to be your new obsession.

Turpentine is what is really going on at the one-inch altitude. It's not the generic, cliched, shape of it observed from 10.000 feet. Even the smartest, most thoughtful, best-intentioned people won't get it right without the ground-level perspective and visceral sense of what is.

Still not crystal clear on why turpentine matters? Pixar's research trips are a great example:

When making Ratatouille, the entire crew visited restaurant kitchens in Paris to get an feel for them. Ed Catmull credited these trips with the "obsessive specificity" of the kitchen scenes; the sound of clogs on the tiles, how chefs held their arms while chopping, etc.

Turpentine makes a company's product and culture better. Getting neck-deep versus ankle-deep into the minds of users and watering holes of the problem space makes the work more rewarding because you can feel the impact and hone their instincts for what to put into the world.

2. Writing

Over time, meetings, company plans, product strategies, important company announcements, and even board meetings, increasingly oriented around prose versus presentations. I've got a few hunches about why:

First, clarity of writing reflects clarity in thinking. Surely writing is not the only proxy for clarity in thinking, but I think it’s a good one. Jeff Besos famously banned presentations at Amazon in favor of "Narratives."

In his words, "the reason writing a good 4 page memo is harder than 'writing' a 20 page powerpoint is because the narrative structure of a good memo forces better thought and better understanding of what’s more important than what, and how things are related."

Second, writing democratizes ideas. Anyone with an insight or idea can write it down regardless of status or access. And, anyone can read it, regardless of status or access. Stripe's leaders explicitly open themselves up to receiving memos. We've seen people get hired this way!

Third, good writing scales. On more than one occasion, I've seen a document written in a corner of the organization generate so much enthusiasm that it directly and meaningfully influences top-level product and company decisions.

3.Meticulousness

Don't be afraid to spend the extra hours, weeks, or months to get every pixel perfect. It may sound exhausting but it's surprisingly energizing to push the limits of craft and ship something truly spectacular. Plus, users and onlookers always notice. I'm not talking about working "extended hours" of course, but taking the time to make your product perfect.

4.Principled decision-making

Building a great company requires that great decisions are made at all levels; not just the top. As a company grows, the number of decisions and the number of people making them proliferates. What shoud you do?

The principles behind a decision should be as important as the decision itself. I've observed that a sound decision is more likely when conversation and documentation is encouraged about the why and the what. (This also helps to teach and learn from each other.)

5.Ambition

Big Company leaders are often asked what companies we should focus on and the answer has always been the same; "the ambitious ones." It’s inspiring.

6.Talking up

Believe that your users and employees are smart, curious, ambitious, and excited to learn. And, as such, don't shy away from technical terms, big ideas, or challenging concepts. Talking up rises the tide for everyone.

7.The API metaphor

When spinning up new projects or processes (ex- standing up company planning, welcoming newly acquired teams, building Press), encourage yourself to think of yourself as the "API to X." Always think about this.

Good API's make things easier by providing a layer of abstraction between complex systems and I think it's a pretty good metaphor for collaboration and communication. Abstract away the crufty bits so the interfaces are clean and interactions are more elegant (and more pleasant).