I just got home from the Software Craftsmanship North America conference. As usual, Obtiva and 8th Light did a great job putting together an excellent event. In only its third year SCNA has grown to nearly 300 attendees, yet not lost its original passion and focus.

I gave a talk on Saturday morning entitled . I briefly described my idea of the innovation services firm, the common traits of such firms, and how important they are to the economy. I see innovation services firms as a great natural match for craftsmanship. That’s not to say that every innovation services firm on earth is a great place to work, respects craftsmanship and has established a culture that makes it a happy and satisfying place for skilled makers to work, but I see strong natural alignment between these two.

The common cultural elements I’ve found at companies that are good places for craftsmen include:

• Transparency – in their facilities, business practices, customer relationships, and projects; alignment across these dimensions is powerful
• Values – articulated, understood, strong and shared
• Trust – in many layers and directions, between employees, owners, leaders, and clients
• Friendship – a natural consequence of spending time solving problems together with people with whom you share values

There were plenty of interesting questions at the end of my talk, and conversations that continued into the hallway, that told me people related strongly to these common cultural traits of great companies for craftsmen.

One of the things I really enjoy about getting together with other companies like Atomic is the variety I see in business practices. While we share the common cultural traits above, we have a very wide and creative range of solutions to common business problems. I came away from SCNA this year with some new ideas to try, a strong sense of community and our place in it, and some new friends and kindred spirits.