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Operating principles
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How we work
Users first. We have a weighty obligation to the businesses using our products and the everyday people they serve. Because we’re so critical to our users’ success, we must keep their needs front and centre in everything we do.
Move with urgency and focus. A bias for action speeds our learning and delights our users. Focus on what matters most, make fast initial progress, and iterate toward the best outcome.
Be meticulous in your craft. We value craftsmanship for its own sake, and are fervently committed to producing surprisingly great work.
Seek feedback. We value intellectual honesty and look for other people with the expertise to refine our ideas, challenge us, and deepen our understanding across the business.
Deliver outstanding results. We are high achievers with a drive to succeed. We take end-to-end accountability for seeing our work through and delivering on our commitments.
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Who we are
Curious. We lead with a genuine interest in people, ideas, and the unknown. We work hard to understand other points of view, and prefer investigating to being right.
Resilient. Startups are tumultuous places and the audacity of our goals will mean occasional failure. We view setbacks as opportunities to sharpen our skills.
Humble. We are humble, not arrogant or complacent, and create an inclusive environment for all. We aren’t wedded to how we currently do things – lots about our current practices will turn out to be wrong.
Macro-optimistic. We reject cynicism, knowing that all problems can be solved with the right understanding, and that progress is only inevitable through focused effort. We are believers in the long term.
Exothermic. We generate an energy and warmth that is infectious across teams and throughout the company. We are genuinely excited about our work, and about creating an exceptionally welcoming environment for all people.
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And leaders
Obsess over talent. The quality of the people you attract and retain defines your team, so developing an unusually keen talent radar can be your biggest competitive advantage. Be the person who reads and investigates every candidate packet. Push back on managers when you sense they’re making hires who are merely “fine”. Hold an equally high bar for performance! Create a culture of quickly addressing mis-hires, developing critical talent, and finding challenging work for your strongest performers.
Elevate ambitions. Know where your team is heading next year/in 4 years/in 10 years, and develop a compelling vision for that future. Guide your team to redefine what’s possible by expanding what’s reasonable.
Set the pace and energy. Netpower is intense – we have broad ambitions and serious obligations to our users. Sign your team up for bold goals, articulate a plan to achieve them faster than expected, and focus on making this energising, rewarding, and fulfilling for your teams.
Make decisions; be accountable. It’s not always clear who should make a decision. Effective leaders embrace decision-making in cases of unclear ownership, either making the call themselves or collaborating across the necessary teams to drive an outcome. They clearly communicate decisions and hold themselves and their teams accountable for results.
Lead with clarity and context. Translate chaos into a clear, compelling plan. Be deeply informed about what’s happening across Netpower, and create your team’s plans in reference to the broader work.
Solve problems. Be a persistent force for progress. Our leaders must work with their teams and across Netpower to quickly and effectively solve problems – especially when they’re hard.
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Wrap up
Finally, while we continue to evolve, some of the guideposts we used to get here remain helpful. Although these aren’t the focus of our core operating principles, we encourage you to also consider your work in reference to some of these slogans:
- We haven’t won yet
- Efficiency is leverage
- Be meticulous about the foundations
- Disagree and commit
- Really, really, really care
- Operate from first principles
- Be politely relentless