Revolut’s ex-Singapore boss points out problems with the culture

Much of Revolut’s well-publicized, high-pressure work environment is attributed to its global CEO, Nik Storonsky. However, a former top executive from the fintech unicorn recently weighed in on the culture, hinting at both the good and the bad of the five core principles.

James Shanahan, formerly Revolut’s CEO for Singapore, recently wrote a book (using Chat-GPT 👀) detailing what makes Revolut’s core values ​​so effective. Within is a description of the risks that may arise from following them devotedly.

Never settle down

Never Settle, perhaps the most famous of Revolut’s values, tells us that Revolut employees work hard… very hard. That’s what makes leavers such an attractive source of talent across fintech and finance.

However, Never Settling has its drawbacks. Shanahan says that setting your ambitions too high can lead to burnout, resulting in “reduced job satisfaction, increased absenteeism and reduced work performance.”

Never Settlers can also show “over-optimism and unrealistic expectations”.

Dream Team

Shanahan says Revolut’s other core value is rooted in “the psychological concept of social identity theory.” By fostering a team, individuals gain “a sense of self-worth” that results in “higher levels of employee engagement, commitment and satisfaction.”

Shanahan says the big risk for the dream team is “the possibility of groupthink”. And this can reduce innovation, hinder diversity (note Revolut’s appalling gender pay gap) and result in rigid standards. If groupthink is about extreme effort, the downsides of Never Settle are back in play.

Think deeper

Another value rooted in psychology, Shanahan says Think Deeper is about cognitive flexibility, “the ability to adapt and shift thinking in response to changing situations.”

The most interesting risk proposed by Shanahan here was “analysis paralysis”, where the relentless pursuit of the optimal solution can slow down the process and reduce productivity.

Get it done

Revolut has high expectations of its employees and established these expectations through setting goals. Shanahan says that the rise of agile methods in the company reinforces this.

However, Shanahan notes that results-oriented strategies with “a focus on performance alone can lead to reduced learning and development” along with “increased stress and burnout.”

Liver Wow

Revolut’s ultimate core value focuses on prioritizing customer satisfaction, which Shanahan says can create “increased customer loyalty, positive word of mouth and higher profits.”

But like Never Settle, Deliver Wow has some issues. They mostly involve over-promising and under-delivering, which Shanhan says can hurt customer satisfaction and loyalty.

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