Why we love Mondays
The employee handbook at AND CO
The more an organization grows, the more we need to establish strong beliefs and guidelines on how we like to think and operate.
A company’s product and reputation is a direct outcome of a company’s culture. And a strong culture is created by common beliefs, not Ping Pong tables.
Martin and I have been working on our first version of AND CO’s employee handbook and will make new iterations of it every couple months. Just like our company, this book is a constant work in progress and therefore Forever Beta™. (we didn’t really trademark that)
Download the book here
The book is designed for print, so if the Slideshare is too annoying, here is the current content as a post:
Why We Love Mondays
A guide to happiness, German structure and other efficiencies.
Mondays suck for people who don’t know why they get out of bed in the morning. This book is an introduction to AND CO’s beliefs and how we like to operate.
”Things are only impossible until they’re not.” — Jean-Luc Picard
There’s always a way to make something happen.
Find that way.
Every goal has multiple ways to achieve it and every problem has multiple ways to be solved. Innovating means doing things no one has ever done before. So it’s impossible to know something is not possible until you’ve tried everything to make it happen.
Question everything
If you heard ‘this is how it’s done’ there is probably a better way to do it.
Find that way.
Simplicity trumps any feature set
More is not always better. Often it’s actually worse.
Especially as we are building a product that covers an entire workflow, feature creep is always hunting us. So when you see feature creep peaking around the corner, make sure to kill it (right after you vetted it’s pros and cons, tested your assumption and figured out it’s not great. What did you expect, you’re working with Germans after all.)
Professional fun
If we ever look, feel or sound like a financial service, we did something wrong.
Being knowledgeable and professional does not mean you gotta be dull. Humor and lightheartedness can take the pain out of the things we all hate doing. Closing out a task with a quote from Tina Turner is better than just closing out a task.
We’re building a product that takes care of you, not the other way around
We are building a proactive product.
But being proactive is not just something that comes from great product design but from everyone in the company caring about our members.
This thread ties through all people and departments. From how COs interacts, how we design our ads to how we build software.
To know how we can be proactive, we have to care in the first place.
Our brand is what people think about us
People are smart and smell fake. Our brand is built from everything we ever do, so always stay honest, authentic and nice. No matter if it’s a password reset email, a CO message, the headline in an Ad, a job interview or a conversation with someone at the bar.
German efficiency
This company was started by two Germans, so by being part of it, you are a little bit German as well. This means whenever you see inefficiencies, you have to call them out. In fact, you can’t help yourself, it will just naturally come over you. You will feel these inefficiencies and suddenly scream “Halt!” — trust us, it will happen.
Structure creates autonomy
When we all understand the goal and the structure, we are free to work autonomously within them.
Therefore turn to the next page …
Always understand your goals
Only if you understand your goals, not just know them, you can be flexible and act autonomously on the task. If you are just executing on something someone told you to do, you won’t be able to react to changes, make the right choices, and reach them in the end.
Whatever you do, always be able to answer these questions:
- Why am I doing it?
- What does success look like?
- When will I judge the success of it?
The extra mile
For us, working autonomously goes hand in hand with being self-initiating. Always ask yourself what else you can do to move us ahead. If you solely do what people expect from you, you didn’t do enough.
Failing is better than not trying
If you don’t risk mistakes, you don’t try and not trying is a mistake.
It’s easy to dismiss an idea. It’s hard work to prove otherwise.
Don’t be lazy ;)
Opinions are great, numbers are greater
We’re all acting on our experience and that can be a great tool to get things started. But before we use resources to act and build, try to find the simplest way to validate your opinion or hunch.
Honesty kills bullshit
Honesty is one of the easiest ways to be transparent and leaves no room for interpretation. Always be honest to each other, it helps to work efficiently and kills the bullshit as everyone always knows exactly what’s up and where they stand.
You are smarter together
Sounds like weird grammar? Maybe. But it’s also the truth.
Chances are you can learn something from the person next to you right now (or whoever was next to you right before you picked up this book). You might not know yet what it is, so go and find out.
Eat together work together
Here’s the truth behind free lunches:
They might seem like some generic employee perk, but they actually have a defined purpose behind them.
The better we know each other, the better we know when one can help. So use the free lunches as an excuse to get to know each other better.
You’re bigger than your job description
Never be afraid to bring up ideas and challenges in areas that are not your expertise. The best input is often coming from a different angle.
Build your own job
You were hired because of certain skills you bring to the table. But don’t ever see what you were hired for to do as a constraint to what you can do in the future. You have the power to define your future job within AND CO. Curious about another area in the business, want to create something from scratch? Go the extra mile and find out how you can contribute.
Enable, don’t direct
Great leaders don’t tell you what to do, but ask for what you need.
Mediocre talent needs directors, great talent needs enablers. If you direct great talent, it will leave.
We’re in constant beta
This company, our product and even this booklet are all up for constant questioning, feedback and iteration. Therefore take this book as a living document and you’re on the mission to shape it, as it’s defined by what we’ll all do next.
Add what’s missing here:
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Remember how we talked about authenticity?
That is where all the typos and weird grammar are coming from. This book has not been edited by an actual English native speaker.
Derbe.
You are an architect of the modern workforce.
Apply power with care.
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