{"id":103,"date":"2015-08-24T13:54:44","date_gmt":"2015-08-24T13:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.arielitovsky.com\/blog\/?p=103"},"modified":"2017-08-27T16:57:30","modified_gmt":"2017-08-27T16:57:30","slug":"a-culture-of-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.arielitovsky.com\/blog\/a-culture-of-trust\/","title":{"rendered":"A Culture of Trust"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

We live in a time when software developers change jobs every 12 months<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Usually, about two years into a job, I start dreaming of greener pastures with better pay and more interesting work. Working at Stack Overflow<\/a> has been the exception to that rule. In the wake of the recent Amazon expos\u00e9<\/a> and my 2 year work anniversary, I\u2019d like to share some thoughts about what it’s like working at Stack.<\/p>\n

Some background:<\/strong> I am not one of the founding developers of Stack Overflow. By the time I arrived in August 2013, the core Question & Answer (Q&A) team (our most popular product) was well established; the site had been around for four years already.<\/p>\n

On Turnover<\/h1>\n

During the two years I\u2019ve worked at Stack Overflow, only three web developers have left the company. Of the three, two of them left to work on a startup, and one of them – Matt Jibson – went to work on a technology stack he was more interested in. The day he left, Matt tweeted:<\/p>\n

\"\/\/i.imgur.com\/SuGuOVo.png\"<\/p>\n

Our lack of turnover speaks for itself.<\/p>\n

On Continued Employment & Trust<\/h1>\n

During my two years at Stack Overflow, I have gained a solid understanding of its many facets. I’ve learned about our mobile apps, our core Q&A product, our technology stack, the Stack Overflow Careers product, and even sales. However, I feel I\u2019ve barely begun to make an impact on the company.<\/p>\n

Having spent a year and a half on the mobile team, I recently decided to change teams<\/a>, eventually finding a balance of fit and interest in our Careers product.<\/p>\n

Tenure with a company is extremely valuable for both parties. You build trust and rapport<\/strong> with your co-workers. Today I feel comfortable and familiar with all of my fellow developers, product managers, and even the VPs and \u201cC-level\u201d execs (who are very accessible). On a typical day, I\u2019ll talk to sales representatives in the morning while making espresso<\/a>, chat with our office managers and assistants, and say hello to our incredible chefs. I would talk to the walls too, if only they\u2019d give me interesting insights about the company. I\u2019m working on that.<\/p>\n

Some business folks that I’ve worked with in the past don’t like to talk. Isn\u2019t it better to be secretive about your work and get ahead of your co-workers in this dog eat dog<\/strong> world?<\/p>\n

We have a good answer for that. In the book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team<\/a>, Patrick Lencioni explains that many of the basic problems of a modern team are structured in a pyramid. It’s similar to Maslow\u2019s hierarchy of needs, but from a corporate perspective. At the base of Lencioni\u2019s pyramid is the absence of trust:<\/p>\n

\"Patrick<\/p>\n

Clearly, if you don\u2019t trust each other<\/strong>, the bottom dysfunction isn\u2019t resolved, and thus the upper dysfunctions just crumble under a bad foundation. On the other hand,\u00a0when you do trust people<\/strong> you work with, you can avoid feeling any of the following:<\/p>\n