Read the Valve Employee Handbook

Valve is a chaotic company to work in. At least that’s what it would seem to a new employee. It doesn’t have an organization, it doesn’t have a hierarchy system of supervisors and general directors, your table have wheels for some reason, and most remarkably, there will be no one to hand you a project or an assignment to do. You have to select your own project, with the group of people you want to work with, move your table there and make things happen.

Valve is weird. And that’s what makes it what it is. It’s a workplace – a ridiculously cool-looking workplace – where creative people are hired and let loose. They make things happen without any proper set of organization. It is hard to imagine how work gets done, and it is probably telling why they take so long to make a single video game. But when games are like Half Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead and Counter Strike, you really cannot complain.

While most of us may never get to work for Valve or in a place similar to it (unless you are super creative, in which case email them!), this apparently “leaked” employee handbook gives an insight in how Valve works, what it is really good at, and what it is not. It’s a fascinating read that any Valve fan should read. It’s informative, it’s mind-blowing and it’s funny. Have a go here (it’s a PDF file).