share some stories<\/a> about sprint retrospective process, and how it makes space for people to show gratitude. It\u2019s felt good and true each year to title my reflections \u201cIt doesn\u2019t get better than this.\u201d<\/p>\nMy experiences in the last year continue to affirm my belief that growing this company, and the team that makes it possible, is a great way to be spending my time.<\/p>\n
Building a company is challenging work, and a great team is the key to success. Having talented, committed folks around me doesn\u2019t just make it easier – it makes it possible. At Rival IQ, we’ve been lucky enough to build a team that is highly collaborative and flexible. Either of these characteristics in a team would be a good thing. Having both feels a bit like winning the lottery.<\/p>\n
When I examine why I think both collaboration and flexibility stand out, I think it can only be because of one thing: a high degree of trust among the team. This Thanksgiving, I\u2019m incredibly grateful to know I\u2019m surrounded by a team that has a high level of trust.<\/p>\n
Collaboration requires trust<\/h2>\n
When I say that our team is highly collaborative, my guess is that you\u2019re thinking about a single team (e.g., marketing, engineering, sales, etc) that works well together, among their own team. While having departmental teams that function well is something we should all enjoy, that\u2019s not what I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n
To me, a company has found magic when individuals across different teams work together, consistently, in a low-friction way. When I see one of our engineers sitting with someone in marketing to test a feature we\u2019re building, I smile. When I see a customer success manager working with a developer to resolve a customer issue in a timely manner, I smile. Running a sales training with never-ending questions about ways we can help customers with a new feature makes me smile.<\/p>\n
Collaborating closely with people outside your own area of expertise requires trust. With trust comes openness – people sharing ideas without fear of judgement or failure. Watching our team operate with trust is one of the most rewarding things I have experienced as a founder. It is one of the things I\u2019m most thankful for.<\/p>\n
Flexibility requires trust<\/h2>\n
We\u2019re a company that has made a conscious choice to place a high value on prioritizing family. As a team with many parents in our ranks, flexibility, in all senses, is how many of us find success at work. As anyone with any kind of dependent knows, things don\u2019t always go according to plan. I\u2019ve said it in years past, but it bears repeating. I\u2019m thankful to work in a company with a culture that encourages me to ensure I prioritize caring for my family.<\/p>\n
Outside of caring for our families, flexibility is the entire company working from home two days a week and not missing a beat. Flexibility is cutting (or adding) large pieces of functionality weeks from a product launch because it is the right thing to do for our customers. Flexibility is stepping up to responsibility because it helps your teammate when they need it. Flexibility is putting our customers before ourselves and ensuring we support them in their work.<\/p>\n
Regardless of the specific situation, I believe flexibility works because we have a high level of trust in one another. For this, I\u2019m thankful.<\/p>\n
I hope that every one of you, our customers, teammates, and friends, have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Each Thanksgiving, I take some time to reflect on what I’m thankful for at work. In the past two years, I’ve been able to share some stories about sprint retrospective process, and how it makes space for people to show gratitude. It\u2019s felt good and true each year to title …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
I'm Thankful for a Trusting Team: Thanksgiving 2017 | Rival IQ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At Rival IQ, we've been lucky enough to build a team that is highly collaborative and flexible. It's kind of like winning the people lottery!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I'm Thankful for a Trusting Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At Rival IQ, we've been lucky enough to build a team that is highly collaborative and flexible. It's kind of like winning the people lottery!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rival IQ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-11-23T08:37:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-21T21:26:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/blog-thanksgiving-2017.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2880\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Seth Bridges\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"I'm Thankful for a Trusting Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"At Rival IQ, we've been lucky enough to build a team that is highly collaborative and flexible. It's kind of like winning the people lottery!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Seth Bridges\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/\",\"name\":\"I'm Thankful for a Trusting Team: Thanksgiving 2017 | Rival IQ\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/blog-thanksgiving-2017.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-11-23T08:37:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-21T21:26:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ccc346d11b6a7d2c3f83cac80bd26e0b\"},\"description\":\"At Rival IQ, we've been lucky enough to build a team that is highly collaborative and flexible. It's kind of like winning the people lottery!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/blog-thanksgiving-2017.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/blog-thanksgiving-2017.jpg\",\"width\":2880,\"height\":1440},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I’m Thankful for a Trusting Team: Thanksgiving 2017\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/\",\"name\":\"Rival IQ\",\"description\":\"Social Media Analytics\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ccc346d11b6a7d2c3f83cac80bd26e0b\",\"name\":\"Seth Bridges\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0f7e07ef98568bf54a3914745e948c7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0f7e07ef98568bf54a3914745e948c7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Seth Bridges\"},\"description\":\"Hey there, I'm Seth, one of the co-founders of Rival IQ, where I stay busy working on product design and marketing! When I'm not working, I'm probably playing with my sons. Follow me on Twitter for rantings and opinions on all the things.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/author\/sethb\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I'm Thankful for a Trusting Team: Thanksgiving 2017 | Rival IQ","description":"At Rival IQ, we've been lucky enough to build a team that is highly collaborative and flexible. It's kind of like winning the people lottery!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I'm Thankful for a Trusting Team","og_description":"At Rival IQ, we've been lucky enough to build a team that is highly collaborative and flexible. It's kind of like winning the people lottery!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/","og_site_name":"Rival IQ","article_published_time":"2017-11-23T08:37:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-11-21T21:26:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2880,"height":1440,"url":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/blog-thanksgiving-2017.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Seth Bridges","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"I'm Thankful for a Trusting Team","twitter_description":"At Rival IQ, we've been lucky enough to build a team that is highly collaborative and flexible. It's kind of like winning the people lottery!","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Seth Bridges","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/","name":"I'm Thankful for a Trusting Team: Thanksgiving 2017 | Rival IQ","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/blog-thanksgiving-2017.jpg","datePublished":"2017-11-23T08:37:20+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-21T21:26:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ccc346d11b6a7d2c3f83cac80bd26e0b"},"description":"At Rival IQ, we've been lucky enough to build a team that is highly collaborative and flexible. It's kind of like winning the people lottery!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/blog-thanksgiving-2017.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/blog-thanksgiving-2017.jpg","width":2880,"height":1440},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/thanksgiving-2017\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I’m Thankful for a Trusting Team: Thanksgiving 2017"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/","name":"Rival IQ","description":"Social Media Analytics","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ccc346d11b6a7d2c3f83cac80bd26e0b","name":"Seth Bridges","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0f7e07ef98568bf54a3914745e948c7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c0f7e07ef98568bf54a3914745e948c7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Seth Bridges"},"description":"Hey there, I'm Seth, one of the co-founders of Rival IQ, where I stay busy working on product design and marketing! When I'm not working, I'm probably playing with my sons. Follow me on Twitter for rantings and opinions on all the things.","url":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/blog\/author\/sethb\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13993"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13993"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17918,"href":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13993\/revisions\/17918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}