The Favro principles are the behaviors and attitudes we value. Living these behaviors and attitudes every day is what makes us successful. Therefore decisions made on who to hire, promote, and let go, are also based on these principles.
Every member of the Favro team needs to be a good leader in every situation. Being able to take the ball and run with it. Not drop it, and not leave it, but bring it all the way to the goal making the job done done. Sometimes this means independently leading yourselves, sometimes leading colleagues or customers. In situations when information is missing, you are actively seeking it out yourselves. It can mean finding what the acceptance criteria for excellence and success is, and it can mean finding who the person is that can help you solve your task.
In the highly competitive global market where we play, an awesome product and great service is necessary, not only for our business success, but for our survival. We need to have the best product that solves our customers’ problems better than anything else. We need the most efficient ways of working, and the most brilliant people. Without this, we will not succeed, since the opportunity of making and selling global software also means global competition with the best. In some situations, excellence means pure perfection going above and beyond, but far from always. More often the challenge is about striking the right balance between perfectionism, speed, cost, and effort. Always applying our best judgement to make those calls is what makes us great.
There is a difference between just hearing what someone says, and actually understanding what is being said. To do this successfully, one needs to not only focus and pay attention, it also requires empathy for the other person's perspective, and analytical skills computing what it means. At Favro, we have found that people who are good at deep listening are better at solving problems together with their peers and colleagues in all directions of the line of command, as well as customers and partners. The same goes for understanding data profoundly. We are a highly automated online business where our ability to understand the true meaning of metrics is key to our success. We are builders and operators of a machine and we all need to be good data scientists.
In many ways, Favro is like an awesome rock band. While it is true that we need stars on every instrument, we make magic by working efficiently together as a team. Everyone earns their way by showing results, not through previous experience, academic titles, a pretty CV or by playing the political game. This means that you are always putting the team and loyalty to what is best for the company before a personal agenda or prestige. We communicate candidly with each other and are generous with constructive feedback. This also means you see what the team needs in order to succeed, and not only yourself.
Being an entrepreneurial company breaking new ground and trying new things, we will, from time to time, inevitably run into problems that we need to solve. We have found that people who have a positive outlook tend to view each situation as an opportunity to learn, making them more successful. We have no tolerance for people seeing every challenge in a negative light, pointing fingers of blame. This spreads negativity and drains the team of energy. However, this is not to be confused with open-minded, purposeful, critical, Socratic questioning and discussion, which is an important part of constructive and methodical problem-solving.
The same goes for failure. Failure without learning is just failure, and winning without learning is just winning once. We value continuous experimentation with a methodical mindset. This means taking calculated risks, limiting downside and blast radius, and always trying to find a way of measuring success.
For brilliant people who want to accelerate their professional and personal growth, Favro is an amazing place. Everyone in the team can grow with the company as we take on challenge after challenge. However, no meaningful growth comes without intense effort and dedication. At Favro, everyone puts in that extra mile sometimes needed to get stuff done done. Success requires both inspiration and perspiration and we are a team that has got what it takes.