One of the best books on building teams is Rich Dad’s Advisors: Building a Business Team That Wins. It talks about making not just a ‘company mission statement’ or a ‘values list’…but a “code of honor”. For those that read this blog, you know how important I believe company values and mission statements are. When I read this book, it took my feelings to the new heights (Picture at right is from my capsule at the top of the millenium wheel in London, 2009). I’m so lucky to be able to start a new business and bring some of the ideas from my last venture (Bigfoot Networks) into the new one (Karmaback), and also to heighten them with new ideas such as “A Company Code of Honor”. So far, all the employees of Karmaback have agreed to the code of honor, and it is working well. Here is how Karmaback’s code of honor works, and publicly, here is our code of honor. We live this code not just with each other, but also with our suppliers, partners, end users, and customers.

Karmaback’s mission:
Karmaback is dedicated to developing new technology that combines rewards with social media and customer feedback to deliver new and unique buying experiences. We believe in being an ear-piece rather than just another mouth-piece.

Here are the rules of our Code of Honor:
We, the Employees of Karmaback, subscribe to a code of honor. A code of honor is a set of common beliefs and rules that we agree to hold ourselves and our peers to in all of our dealings (each other, our partners, and our customers).
We “call it” privately, when someone violates this code by telling them about their discretion ASAP.
We “reward it” publicly, when someone upholds the code in a novel or successful way.
We “accept it” internally, when we are called on it, or rewarded for it.

Karmaback Code of Honor:
We take complete ownership of our assignments.
We never abandon a team-mate or partner in need.
We always offer a chance for redemption.
We always celebrate wins as a team.
We are always direct and honest with everyone.
We never squash or punish ideas or opinions.
We are always passionate about our individual contribution.

What is your code of honor? What do you think of ours?
Have you ever worked in a place that not only ‘said’ these things, but believed and lived them?

To me, a great place to work is one where ownership is clear, direct, and everyone is passionate about their contribution.