Flatness, Collaboration, and Translucency – 3 Keys to Productivity – Episode 55

Flatness, Collaboration, and Translucency – 3 Keys to Productivity.  Episode 55 with Chris and Mike, Menlo Innovations, Part 1

Chris Hutchins and Mike Scoboria, Menlo Innovations' Developers
Chris Hutchins and Mike Scoboria, Menlo Innovations’ Developers
  1. How does your org chart affect productivity?
  2. Does your culture really allow people to fail and make mistakes?
  3. How much of your team’s time is spent on gossip, rumor, guessing on strategy, conforming to policy, etc?

I would love to see your thoughts below in the comments.

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Thank you and until next week, be intentional and inspired.

Podcast and blog post are copyright 2016 by me. And music is “LA All Night,” GG Riggs, Courtesy of Shutterstock
Notes taken during editing:

Chris had heard about Rich bringing Joy back to the workplace and that enticed him to give it a try.

Mike – Work life balance discussion and the flat organization appealed to him.

How do you explain Menlo?

Imagine a workplace where you have one work room. Open culture filled workplace. The stresses of a typical workplace aren’t found. There’s no looking for people. You can see them. The people are under the same mindset about work. You focus more on the task and not so much on the stresses of the workplace.

You’re Almost always working with someone else. Mistakes get caught quicker.

You’re allowed to make mistakes. Get the mistakes out there and in the open more quickly.

What was appealing about Menlo?  The flat and collaborative organization. Input and opinion matters. You’re allowed to be critical with positive feedback.

Chris’ answer regarding how Menlo is different. He said. translucency. No barriers, no cubicles. The ability to talk to anyone and to make information available to everyone helps in collaboration.

What everyone is paid is known.