What is culture for?
Is it for increasing engagement? Is it for employee retention? Is it for making people feel comfortable? What if it’s none of it?
Whether we’re designing our culture or not, we’ve got one either way. And while company cultures tend to lean towards some PR bullshit on companies careers pages, we forget about what culture really is for.
In its purest form, culture is the ideas, the customs, and social behavior of a group of people. Which manifests itself in the work, the art, and the change our companies make.
The work we create is a reflection of our culture. A culture with a passion for excellence will create excellent products but might innovate slow. A culture where we have to move fast and break things is likely to innovate, but also likely to break the trust of the people we seek to serve.
Nice as they sound, these cultural statements aren’t enough to create the behaviors that will manifest itself in the change our companies seeks to make. One thing that we need to do, is that we need to move beyond cultural values that are like fairy dust on a careers page. We need to be super specific to what we value and devalue. It’s about making it clear, that people like us do things like this. It’s about making it clear it’s the responsibility of the individuals in the tribe to apply these principles. Because that way we can have all the autonomy we need to create work that matters for people who care. It also means that if you can’t apply our principles consistently over a period of time, you are not a person like us. It means that we’ll have to let you go.
Of course, this is opposite of what most companies want to communicate. They want to say they are for everyone. That they will never make you feel uncomfortable. That they will never let you go. Companies who say that are either scared for a PR shit show, they are lying, or they will not survive the next decade (probably it’s all of the options). As a result, the reality of their group behaviors differs vastly from the words they advertised to get people in the door.
Just like your product/service isn’t for everyone, your culture isn’t for everyone. Just like your mission isn’t for everyone, the way you believe people should behave isn’t for everyone. So stop pretending you are for everyone. You aren’t only lying to yourself, but even worse, you’re lying to people who choose to trust your word as well.
Yours truly,
Björn
Founder & CEO of Blindfeed.com
P.S. Thank you for your time
I hope you found my rant useful — don’t be afraid to share it with others👏👏👏👏👏.
P.P.S. One more ask
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