My first 60 days in a company with no managers and pay transparency

When I share with people some of the basic tenants of where I work, I am usually met with incredulous disbelief that this is a real company that actually makes money. (It is and we do.)

This company is what I will affectionately refer to as an anti-company. Here are some of the features of life at Galois. From Day 1, we know what everyone makes at our company—no exceptions. It's published on our intranet. So is any time someone moves a level in responsibility or pay. Also no one “has to” do anything. We make “offers” to work on things that we are interested in and we feel we can meaningfully contribute to, with no exceptions. We have models and frameworks for how decisions are made—going outside of those models is simply not how we get things done and following these models ensures that all those who should be involved in progress are appropriately included. There are no executives or bosses—just customers and performers (we are all customers and performers for each other, by the way).

For a little personal context, I joined the pandemic statistics and exited company life to work as an independent. I immediately worked half as much and doubled my pay, plus got my non-work life back which was important to me as a single mother. I have no regrets about that decision and spent much of that time unlearning what work, productivity, and success should and could look like. I did not plan to join another company because I find them too constraining for true results, innovation and sustainable productivity. But Galois is different. So here I am. Still, with all my unlearning over the past few years I am onboarding and integrating into this new way of working because I have never witnessed it in a company before. Below are some of my key initial observations:

Takeaway #1:

I have to redefine what a successful day looks like. I like to get things done. I like to cross things off my to do list. I like to be able to articulate progress. That will still happen for me at Galois, but more of my time is spent on communication and relationships and mobilizing others (or unblocking them). Things move slower than I am used to because it is not just about me doing the thing. A thing I used to do in a week maximum might take me three here. That being said, I am more confident that progress is moving with more lasting impact because of the conversations we are having. There is no stone unturned or perspective not included in anything I am doing. I am learning to embrace productivity as having the conversations that need to be had, and nurturing relationships and building trust to support forward momentum. I have never spent more time on this in any other job, and it makes progress more meaningful.

Takeaway #2:

I have to really get clear on why something is worth doing. I can’t just go make a decision in a silo, and in many cases I am not even making a decision but rather providing a recommendation of what should be done and how. When you have to lock arms in at least one other direction at all times (and sometimes 3-4 directions!) you have to get really clear about the value of what you are recommending, the reasons why it is worth doing, and with an approach that has been vetted by many. Critically thinking about everything in this way really forces one to examine the why of any one thing—and ensuring that nothing we do is disconnected from real value to our people and our business.  

All of this is different and not always easy, but I do fundamentally believe it is better and especially as I become more versed in it, more effective. It’s been a great opportunity to re-examine my conceptions of teamwork, progress, and productivity and become more thoughtful in my words and actions, more patient with progress and more intentional with my efforts.