What we believe #4: Steve Bond
WHAT WE BELIEVEThere are certain core values that make us, us. They help to form the principles that guide everything we do: our True North. More than that, though, they are what we believe would guide any organization to be the kind of place where people would love to work. And you can’t really ask for much more than that.
We show up for each other.
Growing up, I didn’t always have the best experiences with team sports. Yes, I know - a technologist who was bad at sports is a bit of a cliché. While kids ran around and into each other uncovering lessons about teamwork and sportsmanship, I preferred solo activities.
I learnt the value of self-reliance, and, even today, I still find solo endeavours incredibly rewarding. I celebrated my 40th birthday with a 17km trail run from home in North Vancouver to the top of Grouse Mountain. I’ve not always been very fit, so for me this was a big accomplishment. The selfie I took at the top was a trophy, one which still makes me proud.
When I think back on this, though, I’m struck by the contrast between what I valued in that moment, and what I find most important in my work at REW. You see, adventures like the one we’ve embarked upon at REW take adventurers. People guided by the same values who scale mountainous obstacles and brave sometimes treacherous waters together.
People and empathy are absolutely central to what’s important here, and nowhere is that more evident than when we say “we show up for each other”.
View from the top of Grouse Mountain.
“We hire smart people, ask them to do great work and treat them like adults. No matter how you choose to approach the day, you show up and deliver for the team.”
Software development is very much a human enterprise. Sure, we build cool systems that solve real problems. But we’re not robots. Showing up for our homeseekers means showing up for each other first. So we make sure no-one faces a problem alone. Our strength comes from alloying the best that everyone has to offer and directing it towards achieving our objectives.
I saw the clearest example of this during the recent launch of the new REW brand. We’d anticipated that the bulk of the work would fall to our front-end team given the visual nature of it. But there was one, small wrinkle: because we’d been growing so quickly, many of them were new, and less familiar with code-base. Their fellow adventurers rallied around them, providing help and direction, and even taking on elements of the work to help spread the load around. This was a great introduction for our newer team members, but it also showed how committed we truly were. We walked the talk, and it showed.
In software development (as in many other things), there are often many solutions to every problem, and there are always choices to be made in how to find the best one. When we make these decisions, we put ourselves out there, knowing that we could be wrong, but showing up and making the call anyway.
This is far, far easier when you know that others will be there to show up for you.
We often speak about adventure here at REW. But this adventure is not one journey. It’s made up of a unique group of individuals who are all on their own paths to achieving great things. The whole is nothing without the parts.
I recently celebrated my 45th birthday, and while I’d still be proud to take another selfie on the top of that mountain, I’d be even prouder to have my teammates with me in the knowledge that we got there together.
Yours in adventure.
Steve Bond
VP Technology