Values

Introduction

Infinity Works has four core values that we believe get to the core of what Infinity Works is all about.

These values have always been central to what makes Infinity Works special and are demonstrated in all aspects of how we operate. Part of this is down to how we surfaced and decided on these four key values over the past few years: through engaging with everyone at the company to crowd-source what they value about working here and tying this to what our overall vision is for the company. These help us to align well and prevent the values from being a hollow set of words, instead providing something that guides our actions and behaviours and defines who we are as Infinity Works.

Customer delivery first

We are nothing without our customers. We are relentlessly focused on customer success and approach delivery with passion and pragmatism. Helping customers by understanding and meeting their needs is what drives us.

We aim to develop long-term relationships where we are seen as a trusted partner and are recognised for the value we add.

We treat everyone with courtesy and respect. As our customers expect, we work effectively and collaboratively with other partners to deliver great results.

Demonstrating you put customer delivery first

• You deliver results.
  • You are led by customer needs, not by tech for tech's sake.
  • You champion iterative delivery.
  • You aim to "get live, get learning", starting with a walking skeleton.
  • You work to avoid the need for a big bang go-live.
  • You take responsibility for delivering quality results.
  • You plan — enough, but not too much.
  • You respond to change and adapt your plan and approach when needed.
• You are pragmatic.
  • You keep things simple and remove unnecessary complexity.
  • You focus on delivering value early.
  • You deliver to a quality standard, but don't seek perfection.
  • You adapt to constraints and don't take a one-size-fits-all or dogmatic approach.
  • You pick your battles and don't nitpick.
• You focus on solutions.
  • You seek to make improvements, you don't just complain about problems.
  • You demonstrate a bias for action and pitch in to resolve blockers.
  • You don't say "that's someone else's job" or "that's not our problem".
  • You speak up and make things better — you don't let yourself be complicit in failure.
• You recommend and advise.
  • You actively listen and give the right advice for the situation.
  • You work to become a trusted partner.
  • You don't dictate how things should be done.
  • You respectfully query and challenge when something doesn't seem right.

Clear, honest, and trustworthy

We are honest, transparent and trustworthy with our customers and colleagues, discussing things openly when they arise. We share our learning with each other and with our customers.

This value is integral to our culture and to the way we behave and act.

"Clear" highlights that we realise communication is hard. We are clear with customers about their requirements, needs and wants, which may not be the same thing. We are clear with colleagues about how we work together, what works and what doesn't. Clear is realising not everyone is the same and that you need to communicate in a way that works for others.

"Honest" underpins the fact that we realise feedback is key to continued learning and that giving the right message is more important than giving the easy one. This goes for customers and colleagues, and is always done respectfully and with empathy. It includes sharing our knowledge to help others rather than purely sticking to what our customer or colleague has asked.

"Trustworthy" recognises that trust is built on delivery and fostering strong relationships. It's what we pride ourselves on as an organisation: to become a partner that customers and colleagues can rely on.

Demonstrating you are clear, honest, and trustworthy

• You operate in the open.
  • You involve the whole team in decision-making.
  • You avoid making decisions unilaterally or behind closed doors.
  • You invite scrutiny.
  • You share information freely and publicly by default.
  • You don't withhold information that would benefit others.
  • You keep customers in the loop, not in the dark.
  • You champion open source.
• You lead by example.
  • You model the behaviours you want to see in others: you show people how to behave, you don't just tell them.
  • You work hard, do what you say you will, and do not shirk responsibilities.
  • You apply the same standards for everyone, treating those "in charge" the same as everyone else.
  • You admit when you are wrong.
• You respect others.
  • You empathise with individuals and respect differences.
  • You build and maintain relationships by continually earning trust, you don't lock others in.
  • You call it out when things aren't right, with empathy and respect and without holding grudges.

Technically excellent

We aspire to be the best at what we do, to be the best delivery partner our customers have. Technically excellent has always been right at the heart of this; we employ people who are great at what they do and more importantly are always striving to learn new things, to widen and deepen their knowledge and skills. This passion for learning, experimenting and tackling tough problems is central to our culture.

Being technically excellent is also important in binding people at Infinity Works together. People say that the level of respect and admiration for colleagues is something that makes Infinity Works unique. But technically excellent is never arrogant or self-aggrandising. Pragmatism, lack of ego and the enjoyment of working together ensure that technically excellent is more about helping your colleagues, sharing your knowledge and learning new things. Mastery of what you do is ultimately not just about your specialism but how you put your skills to use. It's how you help make both our work with customers, and interactions with colleagues both highly productive and highly enjoyable.

Demonstrating that you are technically excellent

• You focus on outcomes.
  • You value working systems over elaborate designs or plans.
  • You focus on customer needs.
  • You prioritise operability and service reliability.
  • You are persistent and resourceful, and try to avoid getting stuck waiting for others.
  • You avoid waste, doing just enough, not doing things just in case.
• You are pragmatic.
  • You are pragmatic, not idealistic, dogmatic or pedantic.
  • You keep things simple and remove unnecessary complexity.
  • You use the right tools and techniques for the job: modern, not trendy.
  • You draw inspiration from "no" and use disagreement as a two-way learning opportunity.
  • You refine and adapt based on feedback.
  • You learn from mistakes.
• You value autonomy.
  • You think full-stack within your discipline and end-to-end across disciplines.
  • You are T-shaped: you know your specialist areas deeply, but don't try to be an expert at everything.
  • You increase collaboration and break down knowledge silos.
  • You do what will make a difference, thinking globally, not just optimising locally.
  • You are a thinker and a doer.

Focused on our people

We encourage people to do what they do best, push their abilities, and be the best they can, knowing they have the support they need. We value diversity, equity and inclusion, contribution and hard work. At Infinity Works, everyone is seen as an individual — we don't do one-size-fits-all solutions here.

We empower and trust people. Even with appropriate analysis, mistakes will happen. We accept this, we are honest about mistakes, we learn from them, and we correct them quickly and without fuss. An atmosphere of trust is vital to make sure that we keep true to this.

We believe that our approach to people support makes Infinity Works different, and ensures our people focus. We support, mentor, coach and encourage each other to develop. We strive to embed a feedback culture, where person-centric, constructive feedback is shared between everyone, all of the time.

Demonstrating that you are focused on our people

• You empower others.
  • You aim to create psychological safety and an experimental mindset.
  • You don't scapegoat or blame individuals when things go wrong, you look for ways to improve tools and processes.
  • You share knowledge generously.
  • You thank those who bring you bad news.
  • You give people autonomy; you trust and don't micromanage.
  • You are a leader and encourage others to lead.
  • You work hard to meet the responsibilities of your role.
  • You support your colleagues and create an environment in which they can thrive.
  • You are egoless and seek to influence, not control.
  • You focus on meeting responsibilities instead of exercising authority.
  • You don't take yourself too seriously.
  • You encourage and celebrate others' ideas and achievements.
• You think and act "team first".
  • You are collaborative and inclusive.
  • You focus on team output over personal output, not heroes or rock stars.
  • You encourage collaboration and helping others.
• You value learning and development.
  • You create learning opportunities for yourself and others.
  • You seek rewarding work for yourself and others.
  • You seek and offer feedback that genuinely helps people develop.
  • You understand that everyone makes mistakes and can change.
  • You coach and mentor.
  • You call out when something goes against our values.
• You care for people.
  • You are empathic and assume good intentions.
  • You are inclusive and value diversity.
  • You know everyone is different and one size does not fit all.
  • You understand that everyone has things going on that you may not be aware of and respect their privacy.
  • You involve people in decisions that affect them.
  • You don't lose your temper at people.
  • You seek a sustainable work pace for yourself and others.