At Oxide, our mission, principles, and values are not mere corporate bromides; they comprise the emotional, moral, ethical and spiritual core of our company - they are the soul of Oxide.
Our Mission
"Kick butt, have fun, don't cheat, love our customers and change computing forever."
If this sounds familiar, it's because it's essentially Scott McNealy's coda for Sun Microsystems.
But we use this mission not because it happens to have been Sun's but because it is ours: it is a concise expression of why we're here and how we operate. So what does this mean, exactly?
Candor
We believe in being forthright, even when that's difficult. We avoid euphemism or otherwise cloaking our opinions or experience. We respect those who speak candidly, even if we disagree with what they are saying.
Courage
We are bold, willing to do things even if they are unconventional, difficult, scary or otherwise unproven. We are not, however, foolhardy: where we are contrarian, it comes not from mere desire to take a less traveled path, but from a deep and well-informed conviction.
Curiosity
We are lifetime learners, unafraid of learning something new – be it an intimidating new technology, a perplexing system behavior or a novel customer use case.
Diversity
We believe the best results come from combining different perspectives and uniting them with shared values and mission. We believe in and encourage diversity on any axis that remains consistent with our mission, principles and values.
Empathy
Engineers serve to deliver utility to others; to do this effectively, we must be able to see the world through the eyes of others. Empathy doesn't merely inform our engineering, it guides our interactions with our colleagues, communities and customers: we treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated.
Humor
While we are engaged in serious business, we don't take ourselves too seriously. We enjoy the company of our colleagues, and cannot imagine a day without laughing – even if occasionally with our mouths full.
Optimism
While we are in the business of figuring out why things will fail, we nonetheless retain a deep and fundamental belief that better things are possible.
Resilience
We believe in the words of the late mathematician Piet Hein: "problems worthy of attack prove their worth by fighting back." We persist even when problems are fighting back, pushing through the disappointment and setbacks endemic to our chosen domain.
Responsibility
We feel a duty to things larger than ourselves. We don't merely fulfill our obligations, but actively seek ways we can help. We balance our professional responsibilities with our personal and familial ones, and we honor those who do the same.
Rigor
Computing systems must be correct above all else, and we must be disciplined and thorough in our approach. We insist on getting at the root of things, and are unsatisfied to merely address their symptoms.
Teamwork
We are intensely team-oriented people: we draw strength and inspiration from the terrific people we are lucky to work with. We like to collaborate, and believe that our best work comes when we work not merely together but for one another.
Thriftiness
We believe in spending wisely, seeking to make our finite resources last as long as possible, while still making the necessary investments to achieve our mission. Our shared thriftiness allows us to empower ourselves to make the right spending decisions.
Transparency
We believe that secrets are often corrosive – and that we work most effectively when we are aware of broader context. We err on the side of transparency and communication: every Oxide employee should feel that there is a standing invitation to any meeting. At the same time, we are respectful of privacy: personnel issues should remain private.
Urgency
We have finite resources and limited time with which to achieve our mission; we must be focused in our approach however immense the task at hand. Urgency should not be conflated with pace; it is important to move deliberately rather than hastily.
Versatility
While we must naturally specialize, our bold mission also demands that any of us may need to apply ourselves in a new domain – and indeed, that many of us will be doing this much of the time.