Solidify Your Startup’s Beliefs
Have you ever wondered why do you exist in this world?
Have you ever asked yourself about your mission and what you can do to change other people’s lives?
At Knowledge Officer, we ask ourselves these questions every day. That’s why we decided to dedicate our time to help people with their learning journey and achieve their career and life goals.
In this post, I will walk you through our beliefs and what drives us to work and exert more efforts every day. I will also share some tips about creating a culture of belonging within your startup and feeling connected to something greater than yourself.
My co-founder and I started this journey about a year ago. We detected a real need for an alternative that serves those who favor quality over ads-driven content, and evergreens over freshness and virality.
A few months ago, we decided to document our beliefs and share them with the team, and the results were truly impressive!
Not only was it much easier to communicate our messages and values to the rest of the team and any newcomers, but we also found that it’s easier to assess culture and idea fit during our interviews with candidates; having a set of core values upon which we judge whether the candidate is the best fit for the team. We also found that our product brainstorming is now much more effective; having the whole team on the same page of where we are and where we want to be.
At Knowledge Officer, we have four core beliefs that are strong motivators to what we are doing every day.
We believe that “Learning influences people’s decision.”
One thing you learn today can change your life forever. We live in a world where if you stopped learning, you become “obsolete“ in a matter of mere weeks. Every piece of information you process helps you make better-informed decisions. Learning introduces a world of unknowns and lets you fly in an endless journey of knowledge, self-sufficiency and ultimately, happiness.
We believe that “Learning is one of the main pillars for having a successful life.”
Treat yourself to a nice book or watch an interesting video and you can change your mood for the rest of the day, or even week. Learning doesn’t just help you become happier, it helps you succeed! Who on earth isn’t satisfied with that?! Looking for some inspiration? Check out my book wishlist on Amazon.
We believe that “The most successful people are lifelong learners.”
Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, etc… I can list names to fill pages and pages! These people are lifelong learners and they always talk about the effect reading has made on their lives. Check these links about how reading changed their lives, and could possibly change yours.
Bill Gates Discusses His Lifelong Love for Books and Reading
12 books that shaped the way Jeff Bezos, now the world’s richest man, thinks about success
We believe that “The world of tomorrow will change if people of today are learning every day.”
Having said the above, I can’t imagine a better world than a world of lifelong learners. People are talking now about advancement in AI and how the future will be completely different than the present. Can you imagine how we’d feel if we are not ready for it? We need to constantly learn and digest the stream of knowledge and information around us every day.
These are our four beliefs. These are what’s truly common between each member of our team. Your beliefs can be different than ours. They should be! But I hope that at the end of the day this article helps you reflect on your own startup, and your own set of beliefs, and helps you create a unique culture amongst your team.
Here are some quick tips to create a culture of belonging in your workforce:
- Treat everyone in the company as a co-founder. Forget about the boss-employee relation bullshit.
- Listen carefully to everyone. Have an inner belief that everyone’s input is valuable and that the best ideas arise when people come together and share their thoughts freely and openly.
- Interview for culture and idea fit before anything else. Don’t just look for technical gurus.
- Work towards a purpose that’s worth dying for and find people who share your dream.
- Document your beliefs and values. Don’t leave them in your head. Share them with everyone joining the company. Remind your team of them from time to time and keep reviewing, editing, and adding to them. Your beliefs evolve as you grow, and you should always be aware of that, and accepting of where they wish to take you.
This belief system had a tremendous effect on myself, and my team.
What about you? Have any stories to share? Leave your inspiring story for the world to read in the comments.
About Us
Knowledge Officer is a learning platform for professionals. Our mission is to empower a generation of lifelong learners and to help people, however busy, learn something new and relevant every day and achieve their career goals.
Want to be one of the first users to try our app? Subscribe at http://knowledgeofficer.com/
