Organizational Culture and Environment

I was just reading Fortune 100 Best Places To Work 2006 this morning read about the best company, Genentech. They are one of the low-key Bay Area (as in San Fransicso) companies that has risen to the top through it's unique culture and environment. Genentech is a company for people who are smart, work for the greater cause, and are not necessarily pro-business. It's secret to success is its culture.

"Genentech: The best place to work now" This company has a very flat hierarchy, no titles, no special parking spaces, no dress code, has many onsite services (day care, Friday parties, etc.), spends a large percentage of its profits on research (the article states approx 40-50%), and has a culture and philosophy that prospective employees are carefully screened before hired. What is interesting is that Genentech's culture is compared to Apple and Google who are also low-key and high visibility companies. As a matter of fact, Apple does not even participate in the Fortune annual survey and Google is too young as a public to participate.

The Genentech CEO has an office that is 9x12 and has low-end steel furniture. For a multi billion dollar major biotech company, this reminds me of a Wal-Mart like mentality. If get a chance, read the book about Sam Walton "Made in America" and you will see the similarities in corporate mentality. Which has a very similar unique corporate culture.

Genentech stays laser focused on its roots which is research, innovation and the drive to a greater cause than the individual. Everything environment related appears to be centered around collaboration, progress, innovation, and value-added products.

So what does this have to do with software engineering? Everything. The culture and environment of an organization is critical to its long term success. This is something that organizations like Genentech, Apple, Google understand. If you are in a highly competetive field like IT services, internet, or biotech, you have to continue being innovative in order to survive. You must be able to atract the talent that shares your values, vision, remain focused, and passionate about that which you are doing. In Genentech's case it is research looking for cures to tough problems like cancer.

There are a several software engineering related books published that spend a great deal of time talking about the how the environment affects producitivity of the workers. Specifically in the Software Engineering field, "Peopleware" (Demarco, Lister) comes to mind. Others spend time discussing the impact of software engineering cultures and environments such as the quintessential "The Mythical Man-Month" (Brooks). The timeless classic by Brooks talks a great deal about mentalities, culture and environment back in the 70s.

It seems as though those companies who are extremely successful (i.e. Apple, Genentech, Google) have applied all the lessons learned from the past and make it happen today in 2006. As the saying goes, those that forget history are doomed to repeat it. Conversely, those that study history will learn from its lessons and will have the insight for steering the course to the future.