Christopher H.
Culture within a company
Culture can be what inspires innovation within a company but can also be what kills it. But what really is Business Culture? My personal definition of Business Culture is “the beliefs, behaviors and attitudes within a company’s environment and employees.” The main ideas / principles within Business Culture are as follows: physical environment, values, personality / people and customs.
Physical environment sounds like a simple idea but it can really change how the atmosphere feels like to the employees working within the offices. Some main principles of this idea are how open the office space is as well as how neat it stays overall. Some tactics companies might use are Open architecture and non-monochrome coloration. Now, you might be wondering, how does this help with inspiring innovation? Well a physical environment where people feel comfortable and feel a positive atmosphere around them, they are more inspired to interact with others when the time comes as well as share their ideas in a setting they often wouldn’t have spoken up. This brings new ideas / people to the table that haven’t been there before, opening up more eyes into the situation.
Values can change through a business depending on what type of business it is but there are still more important principles that go for every company. Some of these principles are the standards / policies and purposes / goals. These principles must be set within a company in order for there to be order and organization. Some tactics some companies might use are a dress code, deadlines and flexible schedules. These help inspire innovation because it will create focus within a company and give the memo to people that there is a main goal that has to be accomplished within the business.
Personality and the people in a company are always different throughout every company but there are always regulations that can be put in place to make things work. Some main principles that are key are the attitude and behavior of the employees. Tactics that some companies use are giving comfortable roles / jobs to the right employees and creating good chemistry. This inspiring innovation because it helps build a good team that works well together in order to accomplish a goal. The right people in the right place and team can get things done efficiently and close to perfection.
Customs with a company all change depending on the business’s main purpose. One key principle in this are the practices that a company has set or regulated already. Tactics some companies use are setting a Hierarchy in the company , to set up managers and directors, and giving encouragement and feedback to the employees. This inspires innovation because it creates efficiency for communication.
A Culture of candor and freedom and the kind of constructive self-criticism that allowed our people, and the movies they made, evolve into their best selves. (Ed Catmull — Creativity Inc.)
One key example of all this is Pixar. Pixar takes all of this into place and creates one of the best corporate cultures a business has to offer. Their open environment, neatness and vibrant colors all bring this culture to seem like one of the best out there.


Now how can we take this in a life or school aspect? In life, wherever you work, either at a business or even if you own a business, you can always apply these ideas into that work. You can even apply all this into your own personal life, at your own home, the environment aspect of it can change how likely you are to get things done in that setting. At school you can bring these ideas into a group project or even the dorms that you are occupying.
Overall, every company has a culture if they know it or not, but it is up to them to take advantage of these ideas and set them in place to inspire innovation within their business. With the right people respecting the right values while using the right customs in the right place, creativity will emerge.
