Emre Sokullu

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Last week, I've informally started an open discussion on this blog, asking "how to keep good people at your company" - The answers started to come in and I got 2 comments so far; both of them suggesting the importance of materialistic satisfaction:

• Hidayet Dogan, one of the best Turkish PHP programmers I've seen so far (based on his resume and projects) dreams of a Google like office environment, full of gadgets and big LCD displays.
• Eren Yagdiran, whose diverse array of interests can be found on his personal blog, says it's all about money.

I agree with both of them. And I'm very happy to announce you guys that our new Istanbul office that will make its debut this August is going to be just like that - satisfying your inner child with a Google-esque environment.

But I think I found the best answer in the book that I've been reading this weekend, Outliners by Malcolm Gladwell. I'll quote 2 of his sentences:

Those three things--autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward--are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying.

Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning. Once it does, it becomes the kind of thing that makes you grab your wife around the waist and dance a jig

At GROU.PS we try to foster a corporate culture that provides those 3 things, all at the same time:

• Autonomy: Our management type can be considered democracy under meritrocratic feudalism. There's a loose hierarchy which gives its nodes the freedom to show their creativity without the boundaries of bureaucracy, and the chance to have your own team if you can prove yourself to your "lord". The hierarchy is not fixed, it's dynamic based on your merits.
  
• Complexity: What we're doing here is literally social operating system. If you think it's just a content management system or something like that (and if you're qualified enough) you're welcome to our office to see what kind of things and what kind of an architecture that we're working. I don't claim it's rocket sciences, but it's pretty close.
  
• Connection between Effort and Reward: GROU.PS is a global venture with chances of being acquired or going IPO. And besides the fixed salary, we are committed to give a generous amount of sweat equity and/or stock options to our employees according to their commitment and role in the team.
  

Last week, I've informally started an open discussion on this blog, asking "how to keep good people at your company" - The answers started to come in and I got 2 comments so far; both of them suggesting the importance of materialistic satisfaction:

• Hidayet Dogan, one of the best Turkish PHP programmers I've seen so far (based on his resume and projects) dreams of a Google like office environment, full of gadgets and big LCD displays.
• Eren Yagdiran, whose diverse array of interests can be found on his personal blog, says it's all about money.

I agree with both of them. And I'm very happy to announce you guys that our new Istanbul office that will make its debut this August is going to be just like that - satisfying your inner child with a Google-esque environment.

But I think I found the best answer in the book that I've been reading this weekend, Outliners by Malcolm Gladwell. I'll quote 2 of his sentences:

Those three things--autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward--are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying.

Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning. Once it does, it becomes the kind of thing that makes you grab your wife around the waist and dance a jig

At GROU.PS we try to foster a corporate culture that provides those 3 things, all at the same time:

• Autonomy: Our management type can be considered democracy under meritrocratic feudalism. There's a loose hierarchy which gives its nodes the freedom to show their creativity without the boundaries of bureaucracy, and the chance to have your own team if you can prove yourself to your "lord". The hierarchy is not fixed, it's dynamic based on your merits.
  
• Complexity: What we're doing here is literally social operating system. If you think it's just a content management system or something like that (and if you're qualified enough) you're welcome to our office to see what kind of things and what kind of an architecture that we're working. I don't claim it's rocket sciences, but it's pretty close.
  
• Connection between Effort and Reward: GROU.PS is a global venture with chances of being acquired or going IPO. And besides the fixed salary, we are committed to give a generous amount of sweat equity and/or stock options to our employees according to their commitment and role in the team.