"I think it's important not to get wrapped up in your own narrative of 'I'm a Stanford software engineer, and I do AI.' It's like, clean up your desk. Our employees are also aware of their surroundings."
"The weekly habit is inspired by his time living in Japan, where students routinely scrub their own classrooms. Visitors to the office sometimes assume that the company pays for an army of cleaners because the place looks so pristine, but Younis said it is actually the engineers doing the work."
Applied Intuition, valued at $15 billion, maintains an office culture where all employees, including over a thousand engineers, clean their own desks during weekly "cleaning zen" sessions rather than employing janitorial staff. CEO Qasar Younis, inspired by Japanese school practices, also requires visitors and staff to remove shoes at the entrance. Younis believes this practice prevents employees from becoming detached from their work environment and maintains awareness of surroundings. He argues there is a direct connection between cleaning one's workspace and producing high-quality code, viewing the practice as essential to the company's disciplined culture.
Read at Entrepreneur
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