Characteristics that Define Xoran’s Culture

Integrity
In all dealings within and outside Xoran, we are always honest with ourselves and others. We don’t lie and we don’t make excuses. We do not mislead anyone by our words or our actions, and we can sleep at night with a clear conscience—knowing that we were forthright, accountable for our actions, and true to ourselves and to each other. There is a good reason this is placed first in the line-up: it is the most important characteristic of all.

Accountability
We stand behind our word, our work, and each other. We are all accountable to each other and for each other. If we don’t know something, we are not afraid to say that we don’t know. We don’t cover up our own mistakes—we correct them. We don’t cover up other people’s mistakes—we help them correct them. We learn from our mistakes. We admit when we’re wrong, and we take responsibility for our actions. We do not say or even think “that’s not my job” or “that’s not my problem.” We do not engage in “blame-storming” or “blame-shifting.”

Strong work ethic
Every one of us makes a difference in how the company does. We are passionate about what we do—which means we strive to excel at what we do. We work hard and we don’t want to stop until we achieve excellence. We don’t like loose ends, and we don’t consider a job done until it’s done so that it makes us proud.

Sincere desire to help others
Perhaps this is best described by an example we all deal with in our everyday lives. We all have had experience with good (and really BAD!) customer service people. When you call your cable company with a problem, when you’re trying to book a flight…it makes a huge difference to us how we are treated by the employees of these companies. Are we put into an endless loop of automated questions? Are we put on hold or transferred to other people so many times that we want to throw our hands up in the air or scream? Or are we greeted by a person who actually listens to us, who obviously cares, and who clearly wants to help us? When we treat everyone with a sincere desire to help them, this translates into a good image of our company. When we treat each other with the same respect, we boost morale. And in both cases, we get the wonderful sense of accomplishment that comes from making someone happy or helping someone in need. Xoran’s definition of “customer service” is not limited to how we treat our customers. It extends to how we treat each other, our vendors and suppliers, our consultants—in short: to everyone we deal with every day. Good “customer service” doesn’t just happen; it requires thought, effort, and attention to detail. At Xoran, we are passionate about providing excellent “customer service.”

Common sense
Just because something has been done before by others in a particular way, it does not mean it is “right.” Whether we are designing a new product, coding a new software routine, writing a letter or manual, speaking with a customer, a vendor, or a co-worker, we should use our “gut feeling” in addition to our “book smarts” and prior experience in determining the “right” thing to do. If something doesn’t feel right to you, trust your instinct and get to the bottom of it. At Xoran, we are good issue spotters and we trust in our own common sense.

Reliability
We can rely on each other. We are a team. We know that our teammates will ‘pull their own weight’ and be there when we need them. We can all count on each other to get things done, and get them done well.

Initiative
We do more than we are asked to do. If there is a snag in what we’re doing, we put our brains to work and figure out a way around it. We are always thinking of new and better ways to accomplish our own goals, our co-workers’ goals, and the goals of the company. When traditional solutions don’t seem to do the trick, we pool our resources to find a solution that works. We are not complacent. When we don’t have any specific task to accomplish at any particular point in time, we offer to help someone else, or we create a productive task for ourselves.

Independence (low maintenance)
We are self-sufficient, talented individuals. We are capable of accomplishing great things without burdening others. While we are team players, and like each other as friends, we do not impose our professional or personal problems on one another or on anyone outside Xoran. We get things done. We do not complain and we do not explain.

Curiosity and desire to learn
Have you ever noticed that really bright people are also really curious people who are hungry to learn new things? While we have a certain comfort level in doing things that we are trained or experienced in doing, Xoran employees also seek out opportunities to learn about what others are doing, and why. This inherent sense of curiosity is really helpful in an innovative business like ours—because every aspect of the business has a lot to gain from the opinions and ideas of others who are viewing it from a fresh perspective.

Being Courteous
We treat each other and everyone else with respect. We are polite, punctual, friendly, helpful, and caring. We live “in the moment” when we are communicating with someone—we do not let the fact that we may be busy or distracted interfere with our attention to the people and issues at hand. We are patient with others—we take the time to address their interests and needs.

Being Direct
We don’t play games. We are not evasive. We get to the point. We say what we mean, and we do what we say.