We are a team, not a family. For a high performance culture, a pro sports team is a better metaphor than a family; with family members, you stick with them through the good and bad. Pro sports teams have an obligation to have the best players at every position because they are only as good as their weakest link. Being let go is like being cut from an olympic team. It sucks but admirable for the person to earn the spot on the team. Stay friends with them and no shame. To make sure we have the best people at every position, managers use the keeper test: If a person told you they're quitting tomorrow, would you fight to keep them or eagerly let them go.
Employees are also encouraged to use the keeper test: If I were leaving tomorrow, how hard would you fight to change to change my mind.
Ownership of big ticket critical decisions are spread amongst the company at all levels. No decision making approvals. When an employee is hired, they are handed a metaphorical stack of chips, and they can bet on whatever they want. Some bets will fail, some will succeed. You will be judged on how those chips will move the business forward, not individual successes and losses. You lose your job for not making big things happen with your chips, or consistently showing poor judgment overtime:
Good Judgement - solid grasps of context, feedback from people with different perspectives, awareness of all the options.
If someone uses the freedoms and doesn't demonstrate all 3 within the decision, it is poor decision making. You are like entrepreneurs, taking risks that you believe in, fixing the problems, learning from the mistakes, and taking ownership. When bets succeed, celebrate! If it fails, what learning came from the project? What worked? What didn't work? What did we learn? Failure is a critical step to success. It allows for the necessary changes to catapult the business forward. All failed bets must be explained in the open with detail. We encourage you to write memos candidly about what happened, followed by a description of lessons learned. It's best to sunshine a mistake, talking openly and publicly, rather than sweeping it under the rug. You'll be forgiven, the first few times, until you make the same mistake over and over.
