The Internet is often a place for things that don't belong on it. Things like a 56-page internal manual written for the people that work at the most private gaming company in the world.
Yep, you can read that now. What appears to be Valve's 2012 Employee Handbook has crept onto the web, and it's just as insightful to read as that incredible blog by Michael Abrash from last week.
It's a rare, detailed self-description of the company that includes mantras like "We are all stewards of our long-term relationship with our customers," policies like "Nobody has ever been fired at Valve for making a mistake. It wouldn't make sense for us to operate that way," and expressions of Valve's independence that include "Fortunately, we don't have to make growth decisions based on any external pressures—only our own business goals."
Click inside to see the handbook .
The document is also filled with custom illustrations. And at least one Half-Life 3 logo. Sections of special interest include the entries:
- "What is Valve not good at?" (p. 52)
- "How does Valve decide what to work on?" (p. 13)
- "But what if we ALL screw up?" (p. 23)
The handbook (PDF) was originally found here . A bottom-page watermark claims "handbook courtesy Valve." Well, duh. I've uploaded a copy to our server that you can read here .
