A talk from July 2017 GeekNight event on how culture affects the organization and what can be done to improve it. GeekNight is a monthly technical event at ThoughtWorks.

1. Geek Night July 2017
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2. About Me
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3. About You
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4. Dr. Culture Shock
Or How I stopped Worrying about Org Culture
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5. ThoughtWorks

6. Organizational Culture
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7. ThoughtWorks

8. ThoughtWorks

9. Why?
• To attract and retain amazing talent.
• To make the employees feel like comrades on a mission.
• To ship better and faster products/services.
• To be an awesome place!
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11. Burnout
Constant Stress
More Sick Days
Demotivation
Attrition
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12. ThoughtWorks

13. ThoughtWorks

14. Feedback
• Growth Mindset
• Opening up just enough
• Structured feedback (?)
• Keep Doing
• Stop Doing
• Start Doing
• Actionable items on feedback – With your buddy’s help
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16. Transparency
• Underrated
• Openness/Ethics
• Actions:
• Weekly/Monthly All-Hands
• Anonymous feedback mechanism
• A way for employees to stay connected
• Share financials with employees
• No non-Competes
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18. People Engagement
• Bureaucracy
• Collaboration
• Impossible Deadlines
• Ambiguity and Meaning
• Celebrate Achievement
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19. ThoughtWorks

20. Appraisals
• Stack Ranking
• Doesn’t work.
• Alternatives:
• Team’s feedback
• Example:
• Raj, Simran, Rahu, Neha, Steve
• It’s about a culture of respecting a person’s individuality
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22. QUESTIONS
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23. Thank You!
Siddharth Kulkarni
@sid_thinketh
GEEK NIGHT JULY 2017