Half-Life Fallout: Jason Holtman On Valve's Flat Management Model - Half-Life Fallout

"Gabe moves around in groups and sits with us and talks with us," Holtman said as he described the role Valve's founder plays. "He goes to meetings with us, solves real problems with us, and has ideas and his ideas are like other ideas. You can easily say no, or tell more data on that and he'll work with you." If the bossless idea is to have any chance at all it has to be taken deadly seriously, and that means Newell is no more in charge than any other member of the company.

Holtman acknowledges that this can be a problem for new hires, used to the more rigid corporate structures found at other development companies. Some just can't handle the Valve culture, but when it works, Holtman claims, "it's totally worth it."