Moloco Spark 0

Last month, I attended Moloco Spark, a leadership program at my company. It is a four-day program for employees who are newly becoming senior engineers. This time was the first, Spark-0 - a pilot program, so many senior members participated in it to provide feedback to improve the program. And I believe that all participants should give the two thumbs up.

The venue was Suncadia Resort, which is about an hour away from Seattle. It was in a tranquil place. The program was in a tech-free zone (no phones, no laptops, and no work), so we could genuinely enjoy the program without worrying about the daily work. The only thing I was sorry about was that I didn't have enough time to enjoy the great trail course of the site.

The program has the Vegas rule: "What happens in Spark stays in Spark." Most parts of the program were a secret before we got to the site. I just guessed that it would be something between a Marine camp and an AA meeting; partly, it was correct, but it was way better (and not physically demanding).

I heard that the program was based on Google's Edge program. And I also heard from my wife that she also had almost the same program (but a more extended version) in Standford (via an affiliation with her employer). It is a great program, and there should be many good intentions and ideas to materialize it. I genuinely believe that pursuing those values with this kind of program shows the company's respect for its culture. However, it is also true that company culture is made by individuals on site. Every company has a gap between the ideal and the real, especially in rapidly growing companies. This program will help close the gap by making believers, and I'm one of the believers.