Creating a Strong Geek Culture
Diane Tate, MozillaForward 3 Web Technology Summit
The developers’ employment is a constant journey that’s going somewhere, rather than a Sisyphean situation where they’re running out the clock until retirement.
-- Erik Dietrich
Creating
● Start early: hire for shared values
● Reward the right behaviors○ Avoid the Wake
○ Consequences
● Be transparent about processes &
choices
● Remove obstacles from GSD
● Distribute the relationships
Bonus Slide: Indicators
● Meetings: effective & short or…
● Technical debt
○ “An energy vampire for engineers.” - Laura
Thomson
● Hours worked
● Do not go by:○ Churn/retention
Reminder for the Journey
“The scientific man does not aim at an immediate
result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will
be readily taken up. His work is like that of the planter
— for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation for
those who are to come, and point the way. He lives and
labors and hopes.”
– Nikola Tesla
What to do ● http://www.daedtech.com/how-to-keep-your-best-
programmers ● https://speakerdeck.com/lauraxt/engineering-
happiness ● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc ● https://www.workrules.net/
What to avoid● http://jasonevanish.com/2014/06/11/10-common-
ways-to-lose-good-employees/
http://diane.bz * [email protected] * @tbiz
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