Quit your fucking Job! - Why we need to rethink German Company Culture

Yeah, just quit it. Why? Because, most probably you can get a much better one! Let me explain this bold statement in some detail.

Working as a software engineer, I had the chance to take a peek into many different tech companies in Germany. In my conversations with my fellow developers I got the strong impression that German company culture is on average quite depressing. Here are the main impressions, that led to my conclusion:

  • Blame-focused

Even more important than meeting a deadline, it is to have someone to blame in case you don’t make it. This leads to a vicious circle of ass covering and blame shifting.

  • Failure-focused

When looking at your work, colleagues and supervisors will look for mistakes you made and focus on that. Making mistakes is unacceptable rather than an inevitable fact of life and work that has to be dealt with.

  • Control-focused

Employees are being surveilled and micro-managed, a fact that your supervisor will let you know in more or less subtle ways.

  • Lack of motivation

The majority of employees see their work just as a necessary evil thing to do to get money. That’s understandable since you are just a small cog in the machine and have not much say.

Does any of this sound familiar to you? Ok, so much for the bad parts. Now, let me list a few good parts from my experiences here at 9elements and what I think a company should be like:

  • Trust-based

Your boss sees that you are motivated and is sure that you are doing your best to make a great job. Your focus is not on staying long enough in the office but on reaching the aimed target. Your boss is there for you if you need guidance or have questions. Actually, they are a good friend! If you fuck something up, they will tell you, but that’s ok, cause failure is an important part in the process of getting better.

  • Flexible working hours

And by flexible, I mean flexible. Some of my colleagues start at 8am, others start at 2pm. Everyone is responsible for their own hours and makes sure to be available when they are needed. Yep, it works!

  • Work-Life-Balance

It’s not unusual that professional life mixes with private life. But in my humble opinion, you shouldn’t even think about the difference between the two. I don’t know about you, but I am mostly alive during work, so the whole work/life divide doesn’t make much sense to me. ;)

  • Passion

I’m really lucky and proud to say, that everyone working at 9elements comes to the office every day because they love what they are doing. On a regular basis we have coding sessions after work and try out cool new stuff and work on internal tools and products.

So, what do you say? Wouldn’t you love to have less of the first list and more of the second list? In that case, I have something to tell you:

QUIT YOUR FUCKING JOB!

Why, you ask? How, you ask? Well, I have one more list for you:

  • Tech skills are in high demand

Tech is an industry with an unbelievably high skill shortage. In Silicon Valley, you just need to wear a tech-shirt and headhunters will offer you a job. (This actually happened to a friend of mine!) So, don’t worry about finding a new job.

  • Tech is well paid

Ask your non-IT friends about their salary or check out some stats. Even in a small or averaged sized company, you should get reasonable compensation.

  • Choose wisely

Sitting in your job interview, don’t forget that those people on the other side of the table are also applying for the job of being your employer! Try to figure out, if they want you to work for them or with them. Btw, you are not looking for a new job, you’re looking for a new mission.

  • It’s evolution, baby!

If you ask me, it’s just a matter of time until the industrial age company model will go extinct and trust-based company cultures will become the new standard situation. This global paradigm shift we are experiencing right now is moving our focus from earning money to self-actualization. If you are interested in such topics of cultural science, you can look it up yourself. You could start here and here. You should also read this brilliant article by Gustavo Tanaka.

If you want to see, how a trust-based company culture looks like, you are very welcome to visit us in our office in lovely Bochum, Germany.

And, what a coincidence: We are hiring! ;)

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