Greg Schott of MuleSoft: Beware the Threats to a Positive Workplace; New York Times, 8/29/15

Adam Bryant, New York Times; Greg Schott of MuleSoft: Beware the Threats to a Positive Workplace:

"You worked at a number of tech companies before becoming C.E.O. of MuleSoft. What lessons did you learn about culture along the way?

I learned that it can take years to build a great culture and you can tear it down in very short order. It’s like a building — you can spend years building a beautiful building and then it can just collapse.

The problems I’ve seen have been lack of communication, which can lead to a lack of trust. If people don’t feel connected to the leadership and they don’t feel like they understand where the company is headed, people will fill in the blanks, and often not with positive things. It’s just human nature.

Another one is when you get leadership that looks like they’re out for themselves. People pick up on that when decisions are made that are not necessarily with everybody’s best interest at heart. It’s hard to put your finger on it, but it’s an attitude.

Factions are also a problem, and I’ve seen this in the tech world as companies grow quickly. There tends to be an old-timer group — the ones who have been around forever, which in technology is three to five years — and the new people who were brought on board later.

If there’s any kind of different treatment, like the folks who have been there since the beginning are treated as if they’re the only ones that can really figure things out, or if the new ones are considered the saviors of the company, that sends a terrible signal. We’re all here together to make it work."