Trivago

In the Palma office, we're all family by this point. We've been together for years. We put memes on the walls, got drunk together, made jokes on Slack, and eaten cake together. I walk into the office every morning, and I'm always happy to see everyone there. All the toxic people have left by now.

I have a lot of freedom in my duties, and my relationship with my current boss is stellar. I arrive whenever I want, leave whenever I want, I do not get micromanaged, and I suggest the topics I want to work on. It's pretty good. It's why I'm still around.

It looks like some smart people have recognized some of the problems the company is facing and may be working to fix them. Yay for the last strategy summit; I hope things move forward from there!

Approach this company with a plan. This took me a bit to figure out, and maybe it applies to all companies.

What do you want to do? How much do you want to earn? What do you want to learn? Where are you gonna be in 2 or 4 years?

If you do not have a plan, you will get complacent and fall behind on your career while at trivago. Do not expect good guidance from leadership. Do your homework. Stay hungry.

Since teams are very compartmentalized, what you get depends a lot on who you work with. There are two tech teams doing great in the Palma office, and there's one that's disintegrating before our eyes due to the toxic culture some people created.

Company culture declined significantly in the last two years. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's because the shares went down? Maybe the party magic wore off? Maybe Rolf lost part of his charm together with his weight? Perhaps we'll never know.

Management has two choices: Lose money by paying people fairly, or lose value by losing the top engineers. It's a tough hand for a company struggling for money, really. But they've chosen the latter by saying, "If you're looking for money, go elsewhere." This goes against the old saying that "Your most valuable asset is your employees." I hope they know what they're doing.

The HR/culture department has grown really large over the years. I find myself questioning what these people could possibly be doing. It's very difficult to see the value they might create, even more so now that most of the hiring has stopped. There are 10 people in T&O in Palma.

No career progression plan. Internal roles are not well defined. No CTO. No tech cohesion, no cross-pillar consultants. Isolated teams. The leadership model (TL/KL/RL) needs an overhaul.

Invent yourself and then reinvent yourself, don't swim in the same slough. Invent yourself and then reinvent yourself and stay out of the clutches of mediocrity.

Invent yourself and then reinvent yourself, change your tone and shape so often that they can never categorize you.

Reinvigorate yourself and accept what is, but only on the terms that you have invented and reinvented.

Be self-taught.

And reinvent your life because you must; it is your life and its history and the present belong only to you.