Richard Sheridan shares the human-centric design that makes Menlo Innovations unique in its operations and aspirations.

Technology is often perceived — and presented — as the antithesis of human. Not so in Richard Sheridan’s world.

“Our goal is to end human suffering in the world as it relates to technology, which is a big mission,” says the CEO and co-founder of Menlo Innovations. Describing their approach as “high-tech anthropology,” he explains, “If you accept that one day the software will be used by humans, wouldn’t it be neat to study those humans in their native environment the way an anthropologist does and learn through observation more than interview and see what their goals are, where they make common mistakes and design those mistakes out of the system? So, the number one thing we’re trying to do is honor the people we intend to serve.”

But that’s all the way at the user end. Richard is equally focused on the creators of the technology. “We don’t believe for a second that you could produce joy out in the world unless there’s also joy in the room. So, we can talk about some of the human aspects of inside the room as well.”

In fact, he’s enthusiastic on this subject, noting, “We’ve created a culture that is intentionally focused on what we like to call the business value of joy.” For those who may question what joy has to do with business in general and specifically with a custom software design and development firm, his answer puts it in clear focus: “I often challenge people: ‘Hey, if you were bringing a project to us, and for some weird reason, half of my team had joy and the other half didn’t, which half would you want working on your project?’ And of course to a person, they’d say, ‘The joyful half, of course.’ And I’d say, ‘What difference would it make? Why would you care?’ And they’d say things like, ‘You’d produce better outcomes, you’d be easier to work with, you’d care more about the quality of the work you do.’”

His point, of course, is, “There is, in fact, tangible business value to joy.”

Menlo Innovations has a unique culture that draws 2,000 to 3,000 people from all over the world “just to come see how it works,” Richard says. And, he relates, “When people walk in, they often say, ‘Wow’ because you can feel the human energy in the room.” A big part of that comes from everyone working “in a big, open and collaborative space in conversation with each other all day long.”

But, while such an empowering, collaborative culture would generate a level of joy, there is a deeper level that drives Richard and everyone else at Menlo Innovations:

“Joy has a purpose-based meaning,” he says. “We think every business inside of its purpose should be able to ask and answer two simple questions: ‘Who do you serve?’ and ‘What would delight look like for them?’ For us, the people we serve are people who don’t pay us for what we do. We actually serve the end users of the software that we’re designing and building. … They often don’t know who we are because a lot of the work we do is built for someone else and they deliver it. But when those people who use the work of our hearts, our hands and our minds come back and say, ‘I love this software,’ that is joy for us. That is the kind of joy we are trying to produce in the world.”

These practices and philosophy have sustained Menlo Innovations for 25 years of profitability and success. In fact, Richard says, “We have no outside investors, so there’s no big pool of gold somewhere that we can dive into when our joyful practices are so expensive that we have to borrow money to take care of them. This is all built on the profits that we generate.” Making the point that the only way to stay in business for 25 years is to make sure it is sustainable from a business standpoint, he notes, “We’ve done that over 25 years. And these haven’t just been any 25 years — in the last 25 years, we’ve had 9/11, 2008 financial crisis.”

Asked to share a single reason to do business this way that would convince other people, Richard answered, “You just sleep better at night.” What is the “this way” of doing business? Click on the link below and listen in.

Editor’s note: Richard is happy to connect with people who reach out to him through LinkedIn and mention this interview.