Engineering Culture
Over the last week a handful of the most inspiring people I know have been sitting around the boardroom table late into the night to collaborate in defining objectives for the next year of MADE’s growth. The the fact that this process has been an immensely challenging one is indicative of its success. We’re asking hard questions, and through this process developing a collective vision to grow our company.
Something that has surprised me in these meetings is how i struggle to articulate things I assume are basic and universally understood — realizing that sometimes I haven’t engaged these subjects properly myself. One such example is the subject of culture.
Its a term we are all familiar with when marketing products or selling our services. Everyone at our company has heard at least one of these terms before:
“We’re culture specialists.”
“We connect brands with a youth market through cultural experiences.”
“[Insert thing here] is a cultural vehicle to earn positive brand sentiment amongst your consumers.”
An outward-facing understanding of culture is a vital part of our offering. Its one of our unique selling points, and one of the things that makes MADE so hard to beat when is comes to pitches that call for valid social insight, and a connection to real communities.
However we have done little to define our own culture, and no two people in this organization will tell give you the same answer when asked the question: What does culture mean at MADE?
There are things that require decisions to be handed down by leadership, and then there are things that require collaboration. I believe that a company’s culture is a product of the people within an organization. The sooner we become mindful of our attitudes and how these affect our behavior, the sooner we can begin to collectively cultivate the traditions and mindsets that form our culture.
I’m not going to try to tell you what MADE culture is. The point of my talk today is to lay the primer for a company which values its culture above all else. The first step in achieving this is being able to answer a question that two weeks ago, i couldn’t.
What is culture?
Let’s start with a quote i found that reads a bit like some kind of a haiku for the disenchanted managers of the world.
“ Everyone agrees it’s important.
No one agrees what it is.
It’s both big and small.
Many definitions lack a final purpose.”
What these observations tell us is that culture can be a tricky thing to pin down. In lieu of a single definition, I’d like to share some things I’ve learned that helped me better understand what culture means.
1. Culture ≠ Lifestyle
Culture is not a dog friendly office, a boozy xmas party, or flapjack friday.
However, it’s important to note that socially reinforced values DO result in successful propagation of culture. For example, kicking off for drinks at 4pm on a Friday does not contribute to our culture in a valuable way, but coming together to share ideas before things get out of hand is an effective way of entrenching a culture of learning, togetherness, and creativity across all facets of our business.
2. Culture is not independent of our process or product.
It’s the “why” and “how” where our product is the what. Our culture provides a psychological framework for the way MADE functions, the initiatives we pursue, and our guiding philosophy as a creative business. It is a perspective that is integrated into everything we do.
3. The stronger our culture, the less corporate process we need.
When your culture is strong, you can trust everyone to do the right thing.
4. There is a difference between aspirational and practiced values.
In other words, culture is what you do, not what you say. For a something to be part of our culture we have to deliberately make it part of how we operate, and not just a statement written on the wall.
5. A healthy culture is uncompromising.
Values that are worthy of company-wide adoption do not need exceptions.
6. Culture is a shared investment.
Everybody needs to be on board for a culture to work. For this to happen, our core values should be accessible, easy to disseminate, and universally understood.
So How Do We Build Culture?
By planting the seeds of cultural mindfulness.
By nurturing our culture though actions and communication.
By observing, debating and documenting our culture.
By upholding our core values in everything we do.
There’s one more thing I’d like to share before I wrap this up. We’ve spent ages developing a welcome pack we can give to new employees as a kind of rapid on-boarding to our way of thinking. The pack contains a MADE branded moleskine, USB, patches, stickers, and a t-shirt bearing the slogan “Aliens Exist”.
Included in this welcome pack is a letter addressed to the new employee. The letter explains the significance of the Aliens Exist sentiment in a way that we haven’t been able to articulate before.
I’d like to share the letter with all of you.
If aliens exist, and the significance of our lives isn’t confined to the boundaries of this tiny rock floating around the galaxy, then a mundane existence is no longer acceptable. Suddenly we are faced with a choice. Stay within our mental constraints or acknowledge our limitless potential.
You just climbed aboard the mothership. We’re on a journey to expand our horizons, to push boundaries and make legend of our lives. You are here because you see potential in yourself to rise above the ordinary. And you recognize this quality in the rest of us.
We’re all individuals with personal ambitions. But there’s a gravity that draws us together. The connection we share is what propels us — A great burning discontent, and a willingness to change the world around us.
Welcome to MADE.
I delivered this talk at MADEx — a thought leadership forum hosted at MADE Agency once a month, where staff and external speakers are invited to share something that inspires them for 15 minutes on a Friday afternoon.
