The CULT-ture Myth
It’s your secret sauce but may also be your Achilles heel
Silicon Valley companies are unique in their obsession with culture. The theory is the most successful companies are devoted to the vision of the founders and that the workforce are zealots who will move mountains to execute that vision.
Ask CEO’s of fast growing start ups what their biggest challenge is and preservation of culture lands on their top five list. Makes sense since most consider their company’s unique culture as key to its secret sauce, worthy of fighting to protect. Frankly, it is a conventional wisdom whose time has passed.
The importance of preserving culture is an old wives’ tale.
By nature, we want to protect and scale the things about our company we deem precious. But the reality of it is quite different from the romantic notion. As a leader, your job is to evolve your culture rather than cling to what is really just nostalgia. In fact, stubbornly clinging to some cultural ideal can become an obstacle to creating a diverse, powerful workforce that benefits from a variety of backgrounds and styles. An even darker view is that culture camouflages a form of exclusion that has led to the gender and racial inequities pervasive in the industry. We are past-due re-examining the actual role culture plays in success and how to evolve our thinking.
Everybody has one
Every organization has a unique culture that takes root in its formative days. The tone is set at the top. If the CEO is at the office at 5:00 am, you can bet the seats are filled with early starters. If the founder rolls with hoodies and jeans, so will the minions. Of course it goes way deeper than dress code and work hours. A founder who is an engineer will nurture an environment of crisp logic and analysis. By contrast, one with a sales background will gravitate toward those who practice the art of the deal. Human nature will guide these people to hire like-minded colleagues and the culture will replicate from there.
The first four letters of culture
Entrepreneurship requires near-religious devotion to succeed. Any person willing to risk working at a raw start-up must, by definition, be inspired by the idea and the founders. When a start-up graduates to growth-stage there will be a hardy band of early employees who have survived the hard work and trauma of the early days. These people tend to become like a cult. From employee number one through 25ish, cult and culture are generally the same. As you grow to 100 and beyond, not so much. The newer employees will have joined under completely different circumstances and with varying motivations.
Founder cultists always have profound influence on a company as it matures. They carry pride of authorship and a sense of entitlement that comes from the shared bond of being the pioneers. They can be a great help in keeping the growing workforce enthused and connected to the mission. But they also can be like an immune system that produces antibodies which attack outsiders who bring new ideas or methodologies. That can mean trouble.
Xenophobia: “they just don’t fit in”
Next to skill set, most companies consider fit a major hiring criterion. This sounds good, but it can lead to workforce homogeneity that stunts growth. A perfect example is work ethic. Most founders are workaholics; long hours and months without downtime are considered badges of honor. The nine-to-fiver, a person who may just have a life outside of work, has absolutely no place in the culture.
By adopting this criteria you may miss out on some of the most talented people. Great people know how to work efficiently. That person you think has a bad work ethic may get twice as much done as the person who routinely pulls all-nighters (with regular breaks for Call of Duty, Twitch and Snapchat).
As a company grows, it requires a whole new spectrum of human capital. The product-centric CEO will need ace sales and marketing people. Experts in data and analytics will become an essential part of decision-making, anathema to the creative CEO. And (gulp) ultimately attorneys will join the shop. These new folks will come from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. It’s unrealistic to think that every great candidate will fit into a culture born of your earliest days. Many have the potential to actually bring new dimensions to your organization, if you’re willing to nurture an environment that is open to change.
Culture = exclusion
Every time a company passes on a qualified candidate because of fit it is an act of exclusion. It doesn’t mean that it’s not the correct move for that company, but it does beg the question what filters were used? Could you articulate to that candidate exactly why they didn’t fit? Or is it an amorphous judgement based on the knowledge of that so-called secret sauce. Perhaps it’s that very act of exclusion that is responsible for the gender and racial bias that plagues the tech industry.
Every Silicon Valley company is at DEFCON 1 on the issue of diversity. Formal programs are being rapidly adopted to insure a diversity is a priority. Yet at the same time no one seems to equate the very reason for the inequity is their focus on hiring for cultural fit.
Worse yet is the evolving exposé of sexual misdeeds in the workplace. As new cases of terminations relating sexual harassment emerge we hear the same company sound bite: “That person did not represent the cultural values of this organization.” Really? Then how is it they were there so long?
Culture vs. Values
Many people confuse culture and values. Culture has an intangible aspect that is atmospheric, a vibe. Values are definable, an adjunct to the company mission. Any person, no matter what their style or work ethic, can adopt values that are clearly defined by an organization. Instead of a focus on the amorphous notion of culture, shifting to an obsession with clear values would create more inclusive environments.
Begin with the presumption that you will benefit from a melting pot approach rather than cultural homogeneity, Instead of filtering for fit, filter for values. If you intend to walk the talk of your diversity program you better be prepared to evolve. Step out of box and hire people who mix it up. You will be rewarded with a richer, more tolerant organization, and you just may discover your secret sauce consists of an ever-improving recipe.
This is a refresh of an article that I published in Inc. Magazine.
