As our thoughts turn towards non-work tasks for the holidays, I came across what I think is perhaps the best explication of a corporate values statement from Atlassian here. Ironically, it is NSFW, somewhat. I liked its playfulness but with a core of solid sensibility too.
We have written about Atlassian frequently in the past, which has various wiki and bug tracking and other development tools. But I had no idea how much I would find their core values so, well plain spoken (even with the profanity). Maybe it is just that charming Aussie accent (the company is based in Sydney, one of my favorite cities).
Here is one we can reproduce: “Build with a heart and balance. Everyday we try to build products that are useful and that people lust after.” See what I mean? No corporate lawyering-up doublespeak that sounds like it came from the bowels of HR. Just plain and simple. Another is: “We want the customer to respect us in the morning.”
There is even a seven-minute video that interviews some of the staff and gets their reactions to the core values.
Yes, there are the requisite shots of groups white-water rafting and circus workshop trips, along with pictures of coders sitting on the floor drinking Jolt and madly typing away, but it does look like a very appealing place to work. Think about using this as a model for your own corporate values statement.
