about/values-and-culture: Add reference on team values and culture

about/index.rst

@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ Science-IT
    :maxdepth: 2
 
    science-it
+   values-and-culture
 
 Science-IT is the organizational manifestation of Aalto Scientific
 Computing.

about/values-and-culture.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+Aalto SciComp values and culture
+================================
+
+As a team grows, it's useful to outline its values and the way it
+works.  This is our team's attempt at that.
+
+
+
+Core values
+-----------
+
+1. We are researchers who aren't academics.
+2. University research needs more than papers to succeed and help society.
+3. Superstar team and processes, not superstar people.
+4. Radical openness.
+
+Explanations:
+
+(1) **We are researchers who aren't academics**.  Research is far more
+    than publications.  We help round out the skillset that
+    high-performing teams need, even if we aren't directly involved in
+    publications.
+
+(2) **University research needs more than papers to succeed and help
+    society.**  Software, data, and general skills are important
+    university impacts.  We recognize this and help to keep it going.
+
+(3) **Superstar team and processes, not superstar people.**
+    "Superstar" isn't a good term because it glorifies single things,
+    but our society works because all the parts work together.  Even
+    our team only works because it's a part of a broader university,
+    national, and international ecosystem.  But still, if we have to
+    say something is our "superstar", it's the way our team works
+    together (people+processes), not any individual people.
+
+4. **Radical openness.** We are open by design, there are few reasons
+   to hide our work.  Something doesn't have to be perfect to be
+   findable.  We also want to set good examples for the university
+   community.
+
+
+
+Cultural practices
+------------------
+
+a. Remote first so that everyone can participate.
+b. Working at the speed and chaos of the research.
+c. Garage binds all our work together.
+d. Work is quite independent but we always help each other first.
+e. Technology is harder than it should be.
+f. Helping people use technology is hard.  We work hard to get good at it.
+g. No private messages so we can work together.
+
+Explanations:
+
+(a) **Remote first so that everyone can participate.**  We are
+    professionals in the middle of our careers.  We have many things
+    going on besides work, which we need to allow people to work
+    around.  All of our core activities should be attendable remotely,
+    so that our team members will never have to choose between their
+    personal life, health, etc. and taking part in the team.
+
+    On the flip side, we understand the need for team connections and
+    try to have good team-building and customer-interaction events,
+    in-person and otherwise.
+
+(b) **Working at the speed and chaos of the research.**  Research is
+    fast-paced and agile.  We acknowledge this and try to work at that
+    speed, getting stuff done at the right speed for research and
+    development, even if it's not the perfect solution long-term.  We
+    take these short-term lessons and work to make proper long-term
+    solutions once the patterns emerge.  We can work this way because
+    we are close to the research.
+
+(c) **Garage binds all our work together.**  The :doc:`/help/garage`
+    session is a time our team can come together to help others, but
+    also help ourselves.  It allows us a time to chat with each other
+    (internally) without having to book a meeting every time.  Garage
+    attendance isn't required every day, but people should come when
+    it makes sense.
+
+(d) **Work is quite independent but we always help each other first.**
+    Even though we work very independently, we are a team.  We should
+    take the time to help each other first, since that keeps the whole
+    team running smoothly.
+
+(e) **Technology is harder than it should be.**  These days, computing
+    is in every field (that's why we are here).  But computing is
+    harder than it should be: there is so much stuff to learn, user
+    interfaces can be so esoteric, and there are so many different
+    paths to people's final goals.  We acknowledge this and support
+    users where and how they are.  We should never blame users for not
+    knowing enough, but blame the technology for being so difficult to
+    use.
+
+(f) **Helping people use technology is hard.  We work hard to get good
+    at it.**  Continuing from the above, it takes skill to help others
+    with technology.  It's easy to fall into traps of user-blaming or
+    getting frustrated.  We need intentional effort and practice to be
+    the best supporters we can be.
+
+(g) **No private messages so we can work together.**  It's easy to
+    think "this is just noise, I will send private messages".  But
+    that means that only a few people can answer and no one else
+    learns the solutions.  Use public channels to ask generic
+    questions instead of choosing a recipient and asking them.  Zulip
+    chat is good at organizing lots of information without a person
+    needing to read everything.  Of course, purely personal matters
+    like absences, one-on-one meetings, continuing one-on-one work, is
+    quite fine by private message.
+
+
+
+Discussion
+----------
+
+(to be added)