The Core Values that Supercharge us at Tango

A meaningful set of values act as a lighthouse for any organization. At Tango, we weave our values into weekly meetings, recruiting debriefs, strategy decisions, performance reviews, and — of course — team swag.

We arrived at these values by asking our team three questions:

1. What do we want to stand for?
2. How do we want to build?
3. Can we live these values day-in and day-out?

We leaned on the third question to make sure our values wouldn’t just get written down and shelved for later. Manifesting values within an organization is tough. Going through this exercise pushed me to reflect on my experience at Uber and how some of our 14 values got weaponized. The unintended consequences of Uber’s values are well-documented. We didn’t want to make the same mistake.

Instead, we revisit, rewrite, and check-in on how well we’re upholding these values (defy checkbox mentality!). The first test was our January culture survey, which prompted thoughtful dialogue on what’s going well and how we can be better. In the spirit of Tango bonito (question assumptions and shake things up), we’ve committed to these values as a work-in-progress, and expect them to evolve as our team and business does.

Most recently, we added Leave it better to our values, inspired by Engineering Lead Kristie Howard’s personal mantra. This is what hiring for culture-add means to us: encouraging each employee to bring something new to the table, whether that is a company tradition, a core value, or a new perspective.

Let us know what you think! Which value resonates most with you?

🧡 Team first. Winning as a team beats winning alone. Teach constantly, learn constantly. Take responsibility, but deflect praise towards others. Be the rising tide that lifts all boats.

🌎 Diversity is our superpower. Bring our fullest selves to work each day and make space for everyone. Acknowledge blind spots and help others find theirs. Showcase what makes each of us unique. Hire for culture-add instead of culture-fit.

🐱‍👤 Be ninjas. Focus on the most important task at hand. Cut out needless distractions in order to move quickly. Act with urgency. Reuse the wheel to avoid unnecessary struggle. Routinely ask, “Why?” and defy checkbox mentality.

⚡ Leave it better. Be an owner, not a renter. Leave each project, product, and person better than you found them. Celebrate quick wins while building for the long-term. Respect the long tail of your impact.

💃 Tango bonito! Dream big and relish failure. Make progress, not compromises. Question assumptions and shake things up. Identify and remove artificial constraints. Don’t settle. Embrace the growth mindset, and strive to get 1% better every day.

💁‍♀️ Delight the customer. Build for the customer. Invest in our ability to take the end-user’s perspective. Bestow superpowers and provide true value. Embrace function and form to create a beloved product. Listen with our ears and eyes.

👐 Show your hand. Communicate with care, clarity, and candor. Seek feedback and expect to provide it. Ask the “dumb” questions. Default to transparency and inclusion, and resist reading between the lines.

🥭 Mango mentality. Believe that we are always winning. Work hard under the Mango tree, but have fun, too. Be serious about not taking ourselves seriously. Find joy in small moments and express gratitude.

If you want to join a fast-growing team that lives these values, we’re hiring! Visit our Jobs page to learn more.