Aaron Bell of AdRoll: The Truth May Hurt, but It Also Heals; New York Times, 3/18/16

Adam Bryant, Corner Office, New York Times; Aaron Bell of AdRoll: The Truth May Hurt, but It Also Heals:

"This interview with Aaron Bell, C.E.O. of AdRoll, an online advertising placement firm, was conducted and condensed by Adam Bryant...

Tell me about the culture of your company now.

I have this overall philosophy that a company is like a human body, which builds up toxins over time. Every company has problems and issues that build up, and you need to find outlets for those things.

I think a lot about how you come up with different practices in the company that are a kind of cleanse. So we do a weekly all-hands meeting, and it’s a weekly flush to get the toxins out.

Before our all-hands meetings, I send out an email with a question-and-answer board and I encourage people to post their questions. You can vote up your favorite questions, and they’re anonymous.

If you give someone a mask, they’ll tell you the truth. I also encourage people to post their fears, their uncertainties and doubts. And there’s a guarantee that any question that is asked will get answered or addressed by me, unless they are personal in nature about someone in particular.

The alternative, if you don’t do that, is that you have people behind closed doors chatting about the company, gossiping, saying negative things.

If you address everything, people feel much more trust. They feel like they know what’s happening. And they’re going to make better decisions because they know what’s going on.""