“Build trust before velocity.”
That’s the guiding principle that can make a collaborative project truly successful — at least according to John Schulz, a senior software engineering manager at data and analytics platform EDGE.
Schulz shared that creating a foundation of trust between teams helps the engineers at EDGE when they are co-creating OKRs or setting expectations for an upcoming project.
“Product, engineering and design align on outcomes up front, not tasks, so success is defined collectively, not functionally,” said Schulz.
Built In spoke with Schulz in detail about how the fintech company keeps a culture of collaboration thriving.
EDGE is a data and analytics platform for consumer credit risk based on the latest alternative data.
What recent decision best reflected your values? What changed as a result?
A recent decision that best reflected our values at EDGE was choosing to slow down a planned launch so cross-functional partners could meaningfully influence the outcome, not just rubber-stamp it. The original timeline optimized for speed, but feedback from engineering and design made it clear we were risking rework and long-term complexity.
We aligned on a principle we try to live by — build trust before velocity. That meant resetting expectations with stakeholders, revisiting assumptions together and adjusting scope so quality and shared ownership came first.
The result wasn’t just a better release, it changed how teams engaged. Engineers were more proactive in shaping requirements, design felt empowered to push on usability tradeoffs and product moved from “hand-off” to true partnership. Since then, collaboration has started earlier, feedback cycles are shorter and teams are more willing to surface risks before they become problems. That decision reinforced that our values aren’t aspirational, they’re operational.
What collaboration habit keeps work moving and how do you measure it?
Our most effective collaboration habit is shared ownership through joint OKRs, paired with lightweight but consistent rituals. Product, engineering and design align on outcomes up front, not tasks, so success is defined collectively, not functionally.
In practice, that looks like weekly cross-functional check-ins focused on progress toward the objective, blockers and customer impact rather than status reporting. Decisions are documented and ownership is explicit, which keeps momentum high without creating overhead.
How EDGE measures collaboration in action
- Cycle time from idea to delivery
- Rework rates after launch
- Customer or internal stakeholder satisfaction
- Progress against shared OKRs
When collaboration is working, cycle times decrease and teams spend less energy realigning later. Just as important, people feel accountable to each other, not just their function — which keeps work moving even when priorities shift.
How do you recognize impact fairly and what’s the return on investment?
We recognize impact by tying it directly to outcomes and behaviors, not visibility or role. Recognition at EDGE combines manager feedback with peer input, so contributions that improve team success, unblocking others, raising quality or preventing issues, are surfaced and rewarded.
Peer nominations play a key role, especially for cross-functional impact that managers may not see day-to-day. Promotions and performance reviews explicitly consider collaboration, ownership and customer impact alongside execution.
The return on investment shows up in higher retention among high performers, faster promotion velocity for consistent collaborators, increased peer-nomination participation over time and stronger engagement scores related to trust and recognition.
When people believe impact is seen and rewarded fairly, they take smarter risks, support teammates more actively and stay longer. That creates a compounding effect: better outcomes, healthier teams and leaders who grow others, not just themselves.
