How we avoid ‘Job Title Creep’ at our startup

Here is Mayor Mike Bloomberg's take on office titles (from his book Bloomberg by Bloomberg). I used to work at Bloomberg LP (and still work for the Mayor) - and I think the no title policy has worked really well.

"I once sent out an announcement to all the programmers [while at Solomon Brothers] that, henceforth, no one would have a title. I've always thought titles are disruptive at best. They separate, create class distinctions, and inhibit communications. If you don't get a title, you quit. If you do get one you start thinking other firms may want to pay you more, now that you're officially recognized as superior to what you were previously.

"The manure hit the proverbial fan as soon as I did it. The Salomon personnel department manager went ballistic. How could we manage without constantly reminding everyone who they were inferior to? ... The results of the policy change? There was no increase in personnel turnover. People worked together better than before."

Not a bad move, but the names could be a little flashier. I'm pretty sure that "Team Member" is what a lot of fast food joints call the folks behind the counter (not that there's anything wrong with that line of work).