Foreword

I am really proud that we were able to produce this compilation of inception good practices based on the experience of many Equal Experts people who worked over the years with hundreds of customers. It is a great example of the power of the Equal Experts network.

When I founded Equal Experts, I had a main driver. I wanted to create a haven where both IT expert practitioners and customers could work together in harmony, focusing on long-term mutual value instead of one-sided short-term gain.

I wanted to create an organisation of “grown-ups” - a working environment with fewer politics, less hierarchy and more autonomy. I wanted to create a space where it is easy for consultants and customers to have genuine relationships built on trust.

To make this happen, we pioneered a new business model. All our consultants have around 10 years’ experience or more in the industry. At Equal Experts, they can still be “makers” and practice their craft instead of moving into management positions, and they can keep learning from people as experienced as them.

One of our shared principles is that we value a passion for learning over knowing all the answers. We don’t pretend to know all the answers – but we are confident in our ability to find them.

We do not hire very experienced people because they know everything, but rather because they are better at knowing how and where to look for the answers. We trade on our ability to learn and share knowledge, rather than protecting or ‘guarding’ it. At its core, Equal Experts is a haven where this sharing happens freely and happily, between like-minded practitioners.

This is why we felt compelled to open-source this inception playbook, so that this knowledge can be shared as widely as possible.

I hope you find this playbook useful.

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Thomas de Cad’oro Granier

Equal Experts Founder