Sometimes procrastination is just fear of success
Which explains why it took me forever to send this newsletter
TL;DR: Go to get.ethixly.com and submit some feedback on your current or previous workplace. Optionally, tell me what worked for you, what you loved, what was difficult. For more info on the idea, check ethixly.com.
If this works, we’ll inspire real change. And also some real rage.
If this works, some organisations are going to level up. Some are going to lash out.
If this works, we’ll be able to benchmark the impact of company values - and their abuse.
If this works, it will be a lot more uncomfortable than if it doesn’t work. After all, it’s easy to archive unsuccessful projects under “lessons learned” and never look at them again.
Good feedback can move your organisation from “good enough” to “amazing”
You know those annual performance reviews where you are asked to give feedback about colleagues you’ve worked with? I always start my writeup with “Hi, and for context - this is Val.” Personal feedback is so much more powerful when you know where it’s coming from, as long as you actually have interacted with the person.
Institutional or organisational feedback is trickier. You don’t know who’s going to read it. The people analysing the feedback may not know you. In that case it is indeed safer to keep it anonymous. But is it REALLY anonymous? And is anything going to happen on an organisational level?
This last question: how can we use employee feedback to improve our company culture in a tangible way - that’s a question I’ve been mulling over for years. But this time - I am doing something about it.
Enter: ethixly
In a nutshell: ethixly is a value-based anonymous feedback platform for startups and organisiations. Employees submit their feedback structured around four core values. Founders / executives respond (or not). And just like that, accountability becomes public, productively (this is now a word).
Time to stress the system (and maybe some founders)
The theory reads really nice, so it’s time to get some real feedback from real people. If you are working somewhere (or have recently worked somewhere) where the culture doesn’t quite match the promises, where the values are just decorations, I want your story. Or, if you have some great examples about how your org is doing exactly what they are saying, I want that story, too.
Go to get.ethixly.com and fill in the (anonymous) feedback form, following the guidance in the questionnaire. There’s no maximum word count. We then review all submissions before they get published to make sure there isn’t anything that could get you (or us) in trouble.
It doesn’t stop there though. We’ll reach out to your organisation to discuss the situation and help them to live up to their own expectations. This is not about blame. We believe that founders and leaders can change and learn, if given the right tools. Sometimes they don’t know what they don’t know - so this is a way to equip them for the future.
Here’s more: ethixly.com.
What if this works?
Seriously, what if this works? What if the feedback is really actionable? What if companies actually want to engage based on the feedback they receive? Can we create better work places, connecting people over lived values? Can we live up to our expectations of fairness and growth?
The world sometimes feels like humans are fundamentally flawed. This is an experiment whether these flaws are fatal, or the foundation for something different.
Seriously, share your story: get.ethixly.com
PS: Nov 10-13 (next week) we’ll be at WebSummit in Lisbon. If you are there, get in touch and lets meet up. And, obviously, subscribe to this newsletter and forward it to others who might enjoy it.