What's the Company Culture Like at Formation Bio?

Which of your core values most defines how your team works together?

The value, “Be a Scientist,” is especially important for my team because our work sits at the intersection of complex processes, evolving information and high-stakes decisions. It encourages us to stay curious, ask better questions and continuously improve rather than defaulting to baseline expectations.

“Being a Scientist” requires seeking out and evaluating the strongest counterarguments, testing assumptions and iterating quickly, especially when you don’t have complete information. These habits help us collaborate with rigor and humility while driving to outcomes that support the company’s growth.

How do you align new hires to your culture?

It begins at the first candidate touchpoint, and we screen for our values at every stage of the interview process. We’re explicit about their meaning, why they’re non-negotiable, and the patterns and anti-patterns we see in our most impactful employees. We assess our values deeply because we want to understand how candidates think, how receptive they are to different perspectives, and their level of intellectual humility.

If we’ve done our job during the interviews, candidates can make an informed decision to opt in to our culture. Once they start, it’s about reinforcing the expectations we’ve already set. New hires are walked through our operating model and how we deliver on our mission through adaptability, velocity, domain and business acumen, and decision-making.

We also expect new hires to tell us where we can improve. I tell every new employee I meet that there is nothing we do today that cannot be improved, and that it’s their responsibility to identify and empathetically communicate the highest-leverage opportunities to make us better. Culture alignment is a two-way street: We set clear expectations and expect new employees to strengthen the culture from the start.

How do you celebrate employees who live your values in action?

We make recognition specific, timely and tied to observable behavior. Peers and managers recognize colleagues by calling out what someone accomplished, which value it reflected and, most importantly, the impact it had on the business. Twice a year, we also nominate colleagues for our “Values Awards.” We recently recognized four “Formies” at our September company retreat in our new Boston office. What makes these awards truly resonate is that they come from peers who see how you show up and the impact you have every day.