A designer with a soft pink cap. A programmer with a hair bun. These Indonesians have been growing proportionally in my product team. We speak different native languages, but we barter in the same currency – respect.
Despite dedicating an entire post deconstructing why I suck with humans, I fare pretty well with developers and designers. Insofar to say I get along well with them.
More than just being "the same"
I will like to think I am a good programmer, but my CTO will disagree. Since a while ago, I have mostly stopped programming. My design skills are at most 2/10. So it cannot be that these people joined my company because I am a rockstar. Instead, I postulate that I can convince these individuals to commit and work hard for the product team because I care a whole lot more about technical people than I do other "types" of people.
Trust
Royyan is a new remote designer, and I have spent no more than one hour talking to him over video chat. On the second day of his work, I purchased a Macbook Pro couriered to his house in Surabaya. A Macbook Pro that costs at least 5x of his last-drawn salary. I did it because a good chef needs a good knife and I believe any investment in tooling for my team will pay dividends down the road.
When Royyan received the Macbook Pro, he was extremely grateful, and it made my day.
Sure, it carried the risk of a stranger bailing on me with easy money. But I like to take a bet with my employees. At worse, I lose 3.5k. The flipside of the equation is that I got a dedicated designer for a good time.