Culture is what everyone does at work, every day. It's that air we breathe in the company.

Let's start with what really means Engineering Culture?  

Engineering culture is the set of common beliefs and values that will later impact the way people in the organization make decisions or actions around software development. — Ilan Pinto

Every software company has a unique, goal-oriented culture that can level up or break your company. 

Having an engineering culture is undoubtedly a key factor for companies' development and, thus, their growth. And to tell the truth, establishing a culture is not just creating a PowerPoint with bullet points, it is actually finding the proper process to set principles and values.

We don't touch culture, we don't see it, nor do we hear it, but it is the main reason why people don't leave companies! 

Oswaldo Alvarez, Head of Engineering, Digital Capabilities at Scotiabank and creator of Coffee Power Podcast, shared with us in an interview what is culture, why it is so important, and some tips to set an engineering culture based on his experience leading big tech teams.

We all want to experience an incredible engineering culture, but not everyone has the privilege of having it in their day-to-day lives.

A good software engineering culture is not a matter of decreeing it or putting it on a PowerPoint as I mentioned before, it is a matter of living it and infecting it day by day with a series of behaviors, actions, and practices that become part of the DNA of an organization.

There is no single way to achieve it, but in this video, Oswaldo Alvarez and our great mentor Anand Safi discuss about how every day Anand works to establish a healthy and amazing engineering culture in his company.

After listening to this chapter, I want to invite you to reflect on the next questions and share your thoughts in the comments section:

Does your company have principles and values?
How do you recognize them in your team?
What kind of practices do you implement in your team to live your company culture?

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As a complement to this interesting topic, in this episode of The Real Talk Show, I unfold what goes beyond the defined role of leaders and managers. Here I talk about work-life balance and freedom outside office hours as part of the cultural practices I’ve had the opportunity to set along in different companies with great success to increase retention.

I hope you enjoy this pill and get actionable insights to kick-start and build a great engineering culture in your company!