The values that guide us
At Dimagi, we care deeply not only about what we do and the impact we have, but also about how we do it. These five values are our operating manual, and they shape every decision we make.
Our values are how we work, not just what we believe.
They decide who we hire, who we promote, and how we hold each other accountable, in every office and every time zone.
Hear them in our own words. In a series on our High-Impact Growth podcast, Dimagi CEO Jonathan Jackson is joined by team members to unpack each value and what it means to us in practice.Listen to the seriesImpact, team, profit. In that order.
Dimagi's core value. This guides everything that we do as a company. We see that impact, team, and profit create a flywheel, building on its own momentum to rotate faster and faster. As such, our flywheel works to ensure that progress in any one of these areas (Impact, Team, or Profit) generates improvement in the other two.
- Impact: Achieving High-Impact Growth is both our mission and also helps us recruit the best team.
- Team: An incredible team is necessary to create profit and impact.
- Profit: Modest profit growth is necessary to sustain impact and continued investments into our team.
Be bold but humble
Achieving High-Impact Growth requires that we act boldly, knowing time and resources are limited and the need is great. We take bold risks even though we may be wrong. We act boldly but don't allow our ego to cloud our judgment. We take our work seriously, never ourselves.
- We own our outcomes. We take ownership of our commitments to each other and our stakeholders. We hold ourselves accountable for both good and bad results.
- We are not paralyzed by perfection. We prioritize creating over theorizing and shape ideas through collaborative iteration. Everything starts with an early draft, not a final pass. When in doubt, write it out!
- We make space to make choices. We can only be creative if we have the space to make decisions. We empower each other with autonomy to choose the way to achieve the best outcomes. We create space to try things that may fail, so long as we are clear on what we hope to learn.
- We don't walk by problems. We leave things better than we found them. We look for ways to improve systems, and when we find them, we roll up our own sleeves or inform and support the rightful owner in making it better. If needed, we create structures where there are none.
Lead with empathy and respect
We treat each other with kindness, empathy and respect, creating space for all voices and stories to be heard. We are building an equitable, inclusive and safe environment where we can bring our authentic selves to work.
- We work to improve equity. We understand that not everyone has equal access and opportunities. We strive to magnify underrepresented voices that we could otherwise miss, whether they be within Dimagi, users of our offerings, or other stakeholders.
- We challenge our biases. We acknowledge the existence of conscious and unconscious biases in our everyday interactions. We seek to actively understand, illuminate, and challenge them.
- We champion balance. We recognize that work is not life, and we respect our colleagues' lives outside of work. And we know our work is a marathon, not a sprint. To sustain ourselves, we need to take care of ourselves and look out for each other.
- We recognize each other's unique strengths. We know that everyone brings their own unique strengths to their work. We seek to discover these strengths, bringing out each other's full potential.
Evolve by openly learning and sharing
No single person or organization can achieve our vision alone. We must work as partners (not vendors) to proactively understand our respective challenges, the impact we want to make, and to collaboratively chart the best way forward. We learn from what we're doing and are unafraid in sharing those lessons, even when we wish the results were different.
- We start with "why?" The answers to the challenges we are working on may not exist, and we won't get where we are going by applying existing thinking. We're eager to explore new approaches, always starting by defining what we want to learn, which can sometimes be the hardest part.
- We out-collaborate rather than outcompete. While we're proud of our individual contributions, we are most proud of the collective achievements that our team and our partners are able to realize.
- We use data to drive decisions. We can't learn or improve from what we can't measure. We know that feedback loops are integral to our continual improvement.
- We speak up. We ask questions to unpack assumptions. We share feedback directly and with kindness, out of a sincere desire to help each other understand and improve. We receive feedback with humility and gratitude.
Solve the right problems for impact
Doing this work is by no means straightforward. We often come across forks in the road: the simpler path, or the windier one that drives High-Impact Growth. We choose the road for greater impact, while always keeping our destination in mind.
- We believe in the potential for positive change. While the work we do is hard, we believe in the potential to do ambitious things that create real, meaningful change.
- We are comfortable in the gray. The path to greatest impact may not always be clear. We close the loop when we can, and find patience and comfort in navigating the unknown.
- When we fall, we get back up. We will hit blockades along our winding road to impact. We persevere in the face of inevitable setbacks.
- We evaluate when to stop. We consistently evaluate whether we are doing the highest-impact work and actively choose work to stop doing. We try to avoid making the same mistakes twice.
Live these values with us
We are seeking impact-driven problem solvers to help build a more equitable world. If our values resonate, we would love to hear from you.