Here’s How to Get Rid of Toxic Culture In a Tech Startup Without Spending a Fortune on Training: Use a Coffee Machine And a Cage
Small changes make a big difference
Life revolves around patterns.
A pattern is a sequence that repeats in a predictable manner, much like the steps you follow each morning as you prepare for work.
You wake up, brush your teeth, eat breakfast, get dressed, and then head out the door. This routine is a consistent, predictable sequence in your life.
I have a friend who is a almost a multi-millionaire.
He is a master at recognizing patterns. He knows how to transform bad patterns into good ones. That’s why companies pay him a lot of money.
The story I am about to tell you sounds surrealistic but it’s a true story he shared with me one evening at Tim Hortons in downtown Toronto.
Imagine you’re running a company and one day notice a sharp drop in productivity.
You don’t know what caused it. After hiring a consulting company, you realize the reason: Employees hate each other.
This is a downward spiral, they tell you.
When people dislike each other, collaboration between employees suffers. Without collaboration, there’s little motivation to work. This means, people come to work just to pass the time.
You’re paying employees to do nothing. You are loosing money every day. Your initial reaction might be shock.
But don’t worry, the consulting company has a solution (they need to justify their fee, after all).
Send your people to a communication workshop and everything will be OK, they will tell you.
Let me share a secret. As an employee, I’ve attended countless workshops, and everyone knew they were a joke.
I never believed a word they said. We all knew we just needed to get a passing grade and then get back to our usual work.
That was precisely the situation the company owner faced.
After hearing the entire story from the owner, my friend suggested a solution: “Listen, I can solve your problem for half the price you paid for those consulting companies”.
“If I fail, I won’t charge you a dime. Plus, because I know what I’m doing, I’ll pay you that money.”
Since he had nothing to lose, he agreed.
They met in his office the following week. “Here’s what I need you to do,” he told him. “Buy a coffee machine. The highest quality you can find.”
“Why?” the owner asked.
“Just buy it. Don’t ask questions for now.”
At their next meeting, my friend gave the next instruction: “Great, now you need to buy a cage.”
“What? A cage?”
“Yes, I already checked the measurements. This one will fit.”
“And one more thing,” the consultant added.
“What else?” asked the increasingly frustrated owner.
“Hire a guard. A frightening one. With big arms.”
“Okay,” said the confused owner, “I’ll do as you say, but this is the last thing you’re asking me to do because I’m losing my temper with these bizarre requests.”
When everything was ready, my friend gave him the final instructions.
You have approximately 100 employees who love drinking coffee, but currently, there’s no coffee machine available. You’ve just bought the best espresso machine, and the team is thrilled.
The access to the coffee machine comes with rules. The security guard will unlock the machine for only one hour each day.
When someone prepares coffee, they must first serve the person behind them before making their own. Each person makes two coffees.
Given the one-hour window, only half of the 100 employees will get coffee.
The following morning, the consultant and the owner sat down in the security room to review camera footage.
Here’s what they observed.
A person was making coffee using a coffee machine. According to the rule, he had to give the coffee to the person behind him first. He did so, but they noticed something strange.
When handing over the cup of coffee, he avoided eye contact, looking down or elsewhere instead of focusing on the person in front of him.
In some instances, people would pass the coffee to the person behind them without even turning their heads.
Remember, there was a lot of animosity among the staff in this company.
Each person follows the same routine, day after day.
Nothing was really chanign for a few days, until one of the employees started laughing.
I started realize that what I was doing is stupid and obsured he told the team later.
Soon, others joined in.
By the end of the week, employees were discussing how ridiculous it was to pass coffee without looking at each other.
The owner was stunned; he couldn’t believe what he saw. People in the company are communicating with each other.
“What happened?” he asked my friend. “It’s simple,” he replied. “People work based on patterns.
Your company had a toxic pattern, and all I needed to do was change it.
Changing patterns requires action.
Sending your employees to a workshop where they just listen doesn’t help; they need to do something. I thought about what would make them start treating each other better.
The answer was giving.
“I made them give to each other by making the coffee. This action created a new pattern. Once the new pattern was established, the process became automatic”.
As I mentioned earlier, life is all about patterns.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the coffee ritual story shows how small actions and changes in habits can greatly influence workplace dynamics.
By moving from a routine of neglect and hostility to one of generosity and involvement, the company improved communication and created a more positive work environment.
Clearly, even tiny, thoughtful actions can lead to big improvements, proving that simple solutions are often the most effective.
Nikita
