Designed from the ground-up for senior practitioners that want to remain hands-on and learn from each other
Pros
I thought it would be a bit cheeky of me to post a review of the company I founded - but then why not give my POV? We are at the same time a software consultancy and a global network that includes both permanent employees and long term associates (contractors). I designed the Equal Experts network so it is the place to be for all the senior practitioners with often well over 10 years of experience in technology - that want to remain hands-on and make things with clients that need their expertise the most, in a climate of mutual trust. One of the main reason to join is because you want to learn from so many other very experienced people such as yourself that surround you, both in the overall network and your own team. Then I think it's the culture. People point out how the organisation trusts people at scale, from the get-go. They also enjoy the autonomy to resolve a problem without being restricted to a particular way of 'thinking' or 'doing'. Everyone is expected to be a "grown-up" that picks up the trash from the floor. It's not that simple every day :). The company relies on everyone's intrinsic motivation and self-discipline to function. For instance, there is no annual performance review for employees. We keep the hierarchy to an absolute minimum. And any employee can make many decisions without following a traditional approval process - as long as they use our "Advice Process".
Cons
There are a number of drawbacks to the model we have: * for employees, the career opportunities are more limited than in more traditional places with a structured career ladder. * there is less structured support and guidance than in other places - you need to be comfortable networking and asking for things. * being surrounded by very sharp and experienced people means everyone can suffer of the "impostor syndrome" once in a while (I know I do!) * engagements can be challenging (and frustrating) - we usually end up solving the more "tricky" problems for our clients and we often need to influence people and improve their ways of working to succeed. Also there is no denying that we are a constant work in progress, for instance: * we do not collaborate across accounts and offices as much as we would like - * our gender diversity is below industry average - we do have many middle aged male contractors given our model. One thing we started focussing on globally is to improve the psychological safety of all our delivery teams so everyone feels included and safe to contribute and challenge.
