Obtiva’s Secret Sauce
Obtiva came from simple beginnings and we’ve grown slowly, conservatively, and frugally over the years. We’ve worked hard, and with small budgets, to reach where we are today. Where are we? We are one of the premier custom software consultancies in the world, and the most prestigious Rails shop in Chicago. How did we accomplish this without a cent of investment capital? Culture. We have a culture built upon the two fundamental activities of what it takes to become someone who delivers great software: the ability to learn, and the ability to communicate well. It’s simple in theory, but must be built intentionally.
Our founder, Kevin Taylor, has a passion for reading. When I showed up for my first week on the job at our first client, Kevin had already established a tradition there of weekly book clubs. A majority of the development team would spend one lunch hour a week discussing the assigned reading. I was impressed. As a consultant, I know how difficult it is to create lasting change in a development organization, yet Kevin had infected this place with a habit of learning. I joined in and read “Ruby for Rails” with the group, which, at the time, was the best introduction to Ruby for Rails developers. This book started Obtiva down the path of Ruby from our roots in Java. (We’ve come a long way, too! One of our senior consultants has just released the beta version of the Rails Test Prescriptions for the Pragmatic Press.)
A year later, I started our Studio practice with my first full-time Rails gig. At first it was just me in a little office in Wheaton, Illinois, where Kevin and I both live. Soon after starting the Studio, we hired a couple of apprentices to support me. What is an apprentice? An apprentice is someone who is willing to put themselves at the bottom of the totem pole for an opportunity to learn from experienced craftsmen. Our apprentices wanted to reach the next level as developers, and we believed that was a key strategy for growing our company: find high-potential, low-credential people, give them a learning-friendly atmosphere with challenging projects, and get out of their way. Naturally, one of the first things we did with our apprentices was start a weekly book club. We studied the manuscript of Refactoring: Ruby Edition. Our weekly discussions in this group slowly evolved beyond the book and took on a life of its own. Three years later, this weekly gathering of Obtiva geeks is still happening every week. We call it geekfest.
Geekfest has become the heartbeat of Obtiva. It is the only regular event that allows us to connect with all of the other developers in the company. (We also just had our first ObtivaCon, an internal conference we hope to repeat periodically.) Within a year of starting geekfest, Obtiva began recognizing its value and started providing free lunch for all attendees. Today, as many as 30 geeks attend Geekfest on a weekly basis. Sometimes we hear trial-run presentations from experienced mentors like Noel Rappin and Andy Maleh. Other times Geekfest provides a safe place for less experienced presenters, like Adam Walters and Ethan Gunderson, to practice. There are times when Geekfest is unstructured and we have an open discussion about current projects, new technologies, and hot topics in the developer community. Finally, we sometimes use Geekfest as a hackfest, spending the hour pairing with each other on our various pet projects, like Spittle or the Mad Mimi Mailer.
Geekfest is a tradition that embodies our commitment to accelerating learning and improving our communication skills. So does our apprenticeship program. Since 2007, Obtiva has been giving apprentices the opportunity to grow to the next level as developers. Over the years we have improved and adapted our apprenticeship program in order to maximize the experience for the apprentice, as well as increase the likelihood that our apprentices will be able to transition into the roles we need them to fill for our clients. Today, our apprenticeships last 6 months. For now, we only have a single apprentice at a time, giving the apprentice the opportunity to have our full attention. The apprentice has a contract-to-hire relationship with Obtiva and must successfully pass 3 milestones to continue through the 6 month program. These milestones give us the opportunity to judge the apprentice on the progression of their technical and communication skills. The milestone wraps up with a retrospective in order to incorporate feedback (from both sides) and adapt the next two months leading up to the next milestone.
Of the 7 apprentices we’ve had over the last 3 years, 5 of them are still with us. Our first apprentice, Brian Tatnall, is now employed at DRW Trading. Our second apprentice eventually moved onto other opportunities. Our third apprentice, Nate Jackson, is doing a stellar job pairing with Corey Haines (Obtiva subcontractor) at one of our newest clients. Our fourth apprentice, Colin Harris, has been consulting for us at Groupon for almost a year now. Our fifth apprentice, Leah Welty-Reiger, PhD., a particle-physicist-turned-web-developer is doing front-end and Rails development at our biggest client. Our sixth apprentice, Turner King, who, like Nate, is an absolute natural back-end developer, is doing JRuby on Rails work. Finally, our most recent apprentice, Ethan Gunderson is in our Studio, contributing to several projects, including Mad Mimi. He is also active in the Ruby community, contributes to RSpec, is being published in the Rails Magazine about HAML/SASS, just completed his apprenticeship, and is now an Obtiva employee. We have recently chosen our next apprentice: Michael Hines will start with us in a few weeks.
Our investments in our successful apprentices have paid off handsomely for everyone involved. Thankfully, the vast majority of our apprentices are successful. We have found that an aptitude for programming is obviously necessary, but that attitude has an amplifying effect on their aptitude. After interviewing countless candidates, and walking with these seven apprentices through their apprenticeships, we have developed a knack for spotting the ideal candidate. Thankfully, our job has become easier over the years: as we’ve risen in notoriety, we’re getting stronger and stronger apprentice candidates. For instance, our next apprentice, Michael Hines, is graduating from the University of Illinois’ computer science program a few days before starting with us.
Apprenticeship is not unique to Obtiva, but it’s something that we’ve embraced for over 3 years. It is a successful business strategy and a vital cultural contributor. We’ve found that apprentices bring enthusiasm and new ideas into a team that more experienced developers sometimes lack. For more on apprenticeship, from the apprentice’s perspective, have a look at Apprenticeship Patterns.
It sounds cliche, but the value of Obtiva is most definitely greater than the sum of its parts. Individually, our people are great. Each of them would be strong contributors in any software development endeavor. What is the secret sauce that multiplies our abilities? We’re all headed in the same direction: we aspire to become great at what we do and enjoy helping each other along the way. Over time, this common goal creates some amazing results, and our satisfied clients are the main beneficiaries.
