As a part of the Book of Redgate, we have a series of (red, of course) pages with the title “What we believe”. These are our values, as set up by the founders. The first one of these is:

You will be reasonable with us

We will be reasonable with you

Two simple sentences, but they really encapsulate how we try to work together. We know there are stressful times, there are hard times, and while we all want to follow the golden rule (treat others as you would want to be treated), we sometimes fail. However, we try to be reasonable with each other.

If I ask for something, others should try to accommodate me. If I ask for too much, and they tell me that, I should try understand that. Being reasonable is having sound judgment, being fair and sensible, not being extreme.

We try to get along with others. Some good examples of this are us setting normal working hours, but being willing to flex with others. If someone goes above and beyond, we recognize that and perhaps go out of our way to make it up to them.

One example of this stands out in my mind. At our annual company meeting our CEO told a story of a deal that they were trying to close during the year. A crucial part of this deal was one employee, who had scheduled a holiday previously. As the deal was getting close, and in danger of problems, this employee came off vacation to help finish something. Our CEO not only recognized this, but personally thanked them in front of the company, gave them more holiday to make up for it and sent a gift.

We are reasonable with each other, all of us being willing to bend and flex, but not abusing that willingness.

Just like a family does with each other. At least, my family does.

I have a copy of the Book of Redgate from 2010. This was a book we produced internally about the company after 10 years in existence. At that time, I’d been there for about 3 years, and it was interesting to learn a some things about the company. This series of posts looks back at the Book of Redgate 15 years later.