Most companies do this weird thing: they hire people for their experience and craft, then steer them away from the work they enjoy by moving them up the corporate ladder as a form of advancement. It’s incredibly easy for talented people to end up in careers they wouldn’t have chosen simply because of how companies are designed and organized. Shopify is changing that. We have a different approach. Shopify was built by crafters. And we are building a company where they thrive. Where you can do what you do best – your craft – as long as you want. No more punting to management roles just to advance your career. We’ve created a new system that prioritizes people who are continuously developing their craft. It’s called ~Mastery and it’s how we will allow people to infinitely advance their careers doing what they love.
Today we launched ~Mastery to Shopify, a new talent system that rewards our people for doing the work they love to do. Spoiler Alert: We don’t like the traditional corporate ladder so we decided to kick it down. This is the work that fires me up. This is another example of how we are disregarding outdated HR norms that aren’t in service of the kind of company we want to be, and the people we want to celebrate. This is what I love doing, and why I’m loving playing my own infinite game at Shopify. A company full of people who give a shit, who are all-in on doing the work they love? That’s what it’s all about. Take a look at how we launched ~Mastery today to our team.
Alix Kram
4mo
Congrats on taking a risk with a new direction - i love it. I've long said that often folks fall up into managerial positions bc they are good at their job, not because they particularly demonstrate leadership material - thereby creating a whole slew of poor people managers that continue to climb the ranks at the expense of their team. To your point, sometimes they just want to continue to evolving to being great at their job or rewarded for it and not take on the additional responsibility of managing people - this is a great opportunity to really focus on those that want to take on people management and leadership roles and celebrate that as an actual skill and not something coupled with business performance.
Joe Sasson
4mo
Whenever I have a conversation why Shopify is the best ecommerce platform, I'm asked why, and I always say it's not about where Shopify is today and what tools it offers (even though they are the best now also), but it's about the culture that Shopify built. Nothing exemplifies this culture than posts like this. Rethinking HR and career paths within their company is something that will give Shopify 10x longevity compared to a similarly talented company. Build on, Invest in, and Learn from Shopify, and you will not regret it.
Brilliant idea! This allows people to thrive and grow while doing the things that they love. Leading people isn’t for everyone. I’ve often shared with mentees that there is another way for people to grow in a role that they love through certifications and other learning and development opportunities. I love the idea of looking at a career as a craft and mastering that craft.
Mayur More
4mo
My user ID: 8793705703.See how your employees are deceiving people. They took my amount of one lakh and did not return even a single rupee. Instead they asked me to pay the amount and withdraw the funds. If I don't get my money then I will take action whether it is your government or anything else. When I asked him to deposit the amount in the bank account he told me UPI ID is wrong. My name must have appeared during the transfer. .Learn from your team how to create something and make money.I want my money on the 3rd. Otherwise I will recover in my own way. don't just read the message, take action on it....
Love it Harley Finkelstein .. I have seen this approach in martial arts where there are paths to master the craft as long as you want (belt after belts ) .. high time that corporates take a cue from that .. in fact this might be the pivotal change that almost all the corporates should be looking at right now and not force fit people into archaic heirarchies.. I know too many people in my network who actually have lost their craft / love of building meaningful softwares since they were promoted to so called “manager “ role after 6 - 8 yrs .. neither they became good managers who are real enablers nor they could persue what they liked the most at some point in time .. it needs leaders like you to talk about it openly and drive the messages .. Shopify can be that shining example in this space .. All the best !!
Megan Scheffers
4mo
This is something we do well at First Onsite Property Restoration ! We focus on human strengths which leads to a strengths based recruitment process. We design teams and strategize internally with hiring managers to ensure that the teams are stacked with different strengths so people can show up every single day to do what they do best and shine. When you focus on human strengths and what people love to do best you see amazing results and you build diverse and inclusive teams that shine ☀️ . You eliminate the competition and you see more success and collaboration. You call it mastery - you call it the “craft” and we call it the best recruitment strategy in our industry and it shows. It’s science driven by human data. Maybe we should brand our approach to “capacity” because with our human approach our teams are capable of delivering nothing less than the best. 🔨 Bam 💥 But I love what you say and do Harley Finkelstein and continue to admire your commitment to your work community and people. You know it takes a village!
Edward Taylor
4mo
I'm not quite sure how this is different from a typical Individual Contributor path (senior -> staff -> principle etc)? Which similarly promotes / expects mastery of domain. It's also very typical for Senior+ roles to have some flex on whether you're a specialist contributor v.s. technical thought leader etc Seems to be a rebrand of a common pattern unless I'm missing something here?
Keith C.
4mo
This approach is often used to justify flattening an org removing layers of management. Unfortunately after serious leadership staff reductions it comes across as corporate propaganda. There is an IC ladder and a management ladder and they both deserve equal value. I’ve watched this pendulum swing so many times I don’t get hypnotized by it anymore.
Ron Lovett
4mo
This what we call “sucess path” vs the traditional “career path”. Bam!💥 This is where I learned about the concept https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7rJN9haR5o
VP Eng @ Thirdfort | Zero BS Leadership Training | Certified Coach | Racoon Queen
4moMy slight beef is that this would imply mastery does not apply to management 🤔