How has your employer's org culture affected you as a person? (part 2)
I joined Thoughtworks almost 5 years ago. I didn't know a lot about the organisation back then and was pleasantly surprised to see how different it was from the other service based IT companies.
Sharing knowledge and helping others grow are a big part of the org culture. I would see learning sessions happening throughout the week(mostly on tech but also on other topics as well). There would be a constant push from the leadership to share what we learnt both within and outside the company. When we had our performance review, there wouldn't just be questions on how much we grew but also on whether we helped others grow as well.
Another big difference was the support for social justice. In fact Thoughtworks considered advocating social and economic justice as one of their three pillars. I saw this in action as there would be a constant focus on how Thoughtworkers could contribute towards a more just society.
I realised recently that this organisation wide, perpetual emphasis on sharing knowledge, caring for the society and growing together has had some amazing, unintended (but welcome) consequences on the my personal life. And the biggest effect is the one I love the most.
It has made me kinder.
Not just at work but also at home and everywhere else.
If you read my previous post, I gave an example of how my friend suffered because of his employer's org culture of promoting competition between teammates. I talked about how even though that approach increased productivity in the short term, it would have hurt them in the long term.
When I compare that with my experience in Thoughtworks, I am glad that we've found a much better and sustainable way of keeping productivity high. And like I mentioned, it has helped me become not just a better developer but also a better person. And I'm willing to bet that most of my colleagues would feel the same about themselves.
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