Codurance Values

One of the great things of Codurance are our evening catchups. For a software consultancy, it is a great opportunity to socialize and learn with colleagues, who are usually working at separate clients. During those catchups we have lightning talk sessions, bbq (in the summer), and round tables.

On one of those round tables, our craftsperson Francesco Gigli brought an interesting idea: The same way that the Software Craftsmanship manifesto takes inspiration from the Agile manifesto, could we take the same inspiration and have something that reflects us at Codurance? Could we distill values from our organisation that goes beyond the Software Craftsmanship manifesto?

On that discussion table there were a few people involved. And what we came out with is not an evolution but something more intrinsic to Codurance, something that define us. Everyone present at that meeting identified with these values, our pillars, if you will.

Here are those three values:

Growing Excellent Software Professionals

Everyone I have met at Codurance has a desire to improve, to learn further, to not just be a cog in the machine, but truly well versed in our profession. There is a culture, fostered by the founders, of continuous learning and improvement. We actively help and support each other on this journey.

But I want to attract your attention to the last word: “Professionals”. For us it is not just about developers. POs, BAs, UI/UX designers, DBAs, QA, and SysOps are all part of what is needed to deliver a successful product or service. We are actively trying to create the right balance in our company to ensure that we provide our clients with teams who have the complete skills needed.

We still need to improve the way we grow. There are areas where we lack ability, knowledge, expertise. But we are also growing as a company. Through regular feedback, we look at what we do, and how we do it, to provide the culture and the support for everyone to continue on their never-ending journey of being great at our professions.

Purposeful Software Quality

We don’t like badly done, half-cooked work at Codurance. We want to deliver software that is sustainable, that stands the test of time and evolves with the business. We want to create products and services for our clients that will perform well, will be secure and will be easy to maintain.

Again, let me point to the first word: “Purposeful”. There is no reason for software to be created unless it is with the intention of fulfilling a need from our clients (and/or their customers). Software for the sake of it is left to hobby coding. We want to deliver software with value.

Probably, of the three values, this is the easiest one for us to align with, because that is why we came to Codurance. Indeed, why Codurance was created. We do need to improve still, though. There is much that we want to achieve in getting the right software out.

A Lasting Positive Impact

Finally something that is very dear to me (check my bio ;-) ) I have been in the trenches not being able to improve. I have heard and seen the effects of consultancies that do their work and leave a mess behind. We want not just to deliver the product, but to make sure that the people left behind have the knowledge, tools and techniques to be able to continue the journey on delivering that Purposeful and High quality software. We want our clients to be happy for having us, helping with their needs.

But not only that, we want everyone inside Codurance to also feel a positive impact for being a part of us. We want to enrich their lives, their skills and their self-esteem. We want to make sure that they consider Codurance the best experience they had inside a company.

Are we there yet? No, but the direction looks promising and we will strive to provide that positive impact.