The Toilet Paper Roll Test

Complaining is contagious. Notice a problem? Offer solutions. Better yet, open a PR.

We have technical debt like any company, and we aren’t afraid to openly talk about the problems it causes. We also avoid complaints that don’t come with a plan.

We value initiative, judgment, decisiveness, and ownership. If you see something, fix it.

David Anderson has a memorable test for the embodiment of these values:

The best of the best hires all pass what I call “the toilet paper roll test.” When they walk into a bathroom and see the roll on backwards, they fix it. People who do that have three qualities:

Bias for action: you notice a problem and naturally solve it.

Comfort with judgment: you’ll insert your opinion even if someone might disagree.

Ownership mindset: you treat everything you interact with as your responsibility.

Devin saw our onboarding docs were outdated. He updated them.

Charles saw agents weren’t testing changes end-to-end. He wrote a skill and shared it.

George saw groundcrew didn’t support Linux. He opened a PR.

They feel like nothing in the moment, but they compound over time. They’re emblematic of the type of employee I love to work with.

Fix the roll.