Confession time: I made a mistake—one that I’ve been working to correct. I’m hoping that sharing my missteps will help save some of you from having to learn the same lessons the hard way. It had to do with company culture. More specifically, my failure to define the culture that I wanted at my last… »
The first thing you see on Rackspace’s website says everything you need to know about who the company is and what it offers. Trusted by the majority of the Fortune 100. A leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for cloud-enabled managed hosting. The largest managed cloud provider, offering you expertise across the world’s leading clouds.… »
It’s not easy being accessible. Just ask Steph Hinds. As the Head Ninja at Growthwise, she’s built a successful company by making sure an entire team of accountants, advisors and administrators is consistently approachable and available—at all times, for every client, at virtually any hour and from any location. (Growthwise employees work in a flexible… »
Once upon a time, there was a young engineer. He spent his work hours in an enclosed cubicle at an office where personal computers and scientific calculators were designed. He liked to work alone, preferring solitude over committees and team meetings. His name was Steve Wozniak. He was an introvert. And he invented the first… »
Positive feedback is a powerful thing. It can turn ill-tempered toddlers into angels. It can transform couch potatoes into recreational athletes. It can motivate an underperforming team to achieve lofty goals. But you may be wondering: What does positive feedback really look like? What specific things can you do to keep your staff motivated without… »
In our first installment of How We Jell, we talked to Jacob Krall of Fog Creek Software. Today we bring you more communication and collaboration insights from a team leader at another fast-growing company: Chargify… Adam Feber is an inspiration. O.K., so we might be a little biased. We’ve had a relationship with Chargify—first through… »
If you follow today’s fastest-growing startups, you’ve probably read about Fog Creek Software in coveted media clips like this one from Fast Company. The most impressive part? The company is being featured not only for the success of its software, but also because of the practices and policies behind its development. Fog Creek, where tools… »
In the early 1990s, psychologist John Gottman wrote a book based on years of research that definitively answered an elusive question: What is the number one behavioral predictor of a successful marriage? The answer: positive feedback. Apparently, the couples that stay together tend to deliver five positive messages for every negative one. In the years… »
True company culture—the kind that’s studied, scrutinized and shaped into clearly-communicated core values—is what separates a business that stays afloat from one that rides the waves of success. Culture is what divides the Kip Tindells and Shake Shacks of the world from the John Chambers and Wal-Marts. It has the power to attract brilliant employees… »