A Ping Pong Table Isn’t Culture

So many companies think if we buy a ping pong table (or whatever) it will show that we have a “fun” culture or worse yet it will build fun into our culture. Often times whatever is that is purchased (ping pong, billiards, etc) just sits off in the corner and is never used or integrated into building the desired company culture.

When a ping pong table showed up at the Tanga office, I was a excited because I like ping pong. My heart started to sink because I thought “oh man we are becoming that company”. The kind that thinks things like ping pong tables build culture.

Fun is in our DNA. It is part of our heritage. We did start from a table top game company after all. My fears were quickly alleviated when a few days later I started to see these ads all over the office.

Then an office wide bracket showed up on the wall. It was made known that everyone was in the tournament. The expectation was regardless of your ping pong abilities that you would have fun. The following week some people were looking for match ups to start “practicing” to prepare for the tournament.

This week the tournament kicked off. After the first match took place, the office started to buzz about the match ups scheduled and by the end of the day everyone was cheering on each match in excitement. Someone expressed,

“Who would have thought that a ping pong table could unite an office so quickly?”

The difference between having a ping pong table and building culture is how you encourage behavior to reinforce the culture you want. It is more work than just dropping a ping pong table in the office.

What are you doing to encourage the culture you want in your organization?