Menlo’s transparency breeds innovation, creativity and productivity
Commitment to democratic principles earns spot on 2009 WorldBlu List
Friday April 17, 2009 -- Jason Thompson
Menlo Innovations, a software design and development firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is celebrating its inclusion on the 2009 WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces.

“When we saw this award, we thought it was very consistent with our philosophy and the type of organization we’re trying to build,” says president Rich Sheridan. “We’re very proud of that.”

Menlo’s story begins in 1999 with what Sheridan describes as “frustrating and tortured” experience working for a large software design firm.

As a team manager, Sheridan says he would stick his nose into the conversations of his employees and tell them to stop collaborating and get back to their cubes.

“Clearly, if two people are talking to one another, clearly are talking to one another, at least one of them and probably both of them weren’t doing anything — that was the old Rich Sheridan,” he says.

“At the same time, I was frustrated by my team’s results. I was frustrated by the lack of communication that was occurring. What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was the problem.”

Determined to create a model for a higher functioning team, Sheridan used the next two years to develop the process that would later be employed at Menlo.

“We specialize in a process that is very unique in terms of how we execute our projects with our clients,” Sheridan says.

For starters, everyone works in one open workspace.

“There are no walls, no cubes, no offices, no doors — there isn’t even a corner office for the guy who is supposed to be running things,” Sheridan says.

When working on client projects, Sheridan says employees are placed into prescribed pairs and work two to a computer. The pairs are switched every week to prevent cliques in the office.

“This approach promotes a tremendous amount of learning. People don’t get to horde knowledge here,” he says. “You move up the ladder here based on how much you share your knowledge rather than how much you’ve collected and horded and kept away from other people.”

For instance, if two are at a computer and one is using the keyboard, they must think aloud so their partner knows what they are doing. The other person’s job is to comment and question the work that is being done. These roles will reverse throughout the day.

“We’ve institutionalized all of these practices and the result is an incredibly transparent organization.”

Sheridan says it wasn’t until they heard of the WorldBlu List that the company started thinking of itself as democratic.

“We were doing it all along, but we were doing for reasons of innovation and productivity and enjoying the workplace,” Sheridan says.

Visit www.menloinnovations.com for more information on Menlo Innovations or www.worldblu.com for more information on the 2009 WorldBlu List.

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